Talented guy.
Way too young.
RIP

Well SHIT.

Was he the one who wrote State of Fear?

Too bad he died, he was indeed talented.

ha ha

(oh shit sorry about that. Getting a little carried away this morning........)

Terminal Man is one of the greatest books I've ever read on the subject of mind control.

Definitely one of the great minds of the later 20th century. I'll miss his work.

Goddamn it. Why couldn't they have taken Tom Clancy instead?

Goddamn it. Why couldn't they have taken Tom Clancy instead?

#6 | Posted by Jenny

you mean Dan Brown, right?

Either or.

Ya woulda thought he could of had himself cloned...

The research and detail in The Great Train Robbery was great. My favorite Crichton book.

I liked Eaters of the Dead. Timeline wasn't good. Sphere was a bit Tedious. Jurassic Park was fun.

RIP

"I liked Eaters of the Dead. Timeline wasn't good. Sphere was a bit Tedious. Jurassic Park was fun."

Read those and few others. I liked Timeline, although I haven't seen the shitty movie. Agreed about Sphere. Wasn't a fan of Congo either. Prey was pretty good.

Spud luffed The Andromeda Strain and State of Fear.

Spud also like Sphere although the ending wasn't as good as the rest of the book.

Jurrassic Park was a giggle.

Spud even watched ER fer a time.

Micheal Crichton was one of those touchstone writers whom everybody knew and everybody seemed to have an opinion on, good or bad.

Most people thought he was good.

Spud is one of those people.

66 is a good kick at the cat but it's still too young fer one as talented as he.

RIP Micheal Crichton.

Be Well.

I can still remember the first time I read Jurassic Park. It was the summer between sixth and seventh grade; one of my teachers lent me a copy, and then promptly told me he didn't think I could do it (he was one of those people who tends to overuse reverse psychology). On my first attempt I just gave up after the first few pages and put it down for a couple of weeks. My second attempt also got off to a rough start, but I blundered through the first few chapters and the story eventually pulled me in. It was the first sort of "adult" novel I ever read. It introduced me to subjects like law, corporate politics, paleontology, paleobotany, computer science, and, of course, DNA and genetic engineering. The character Ian Malcolm's (and also Harry Adams' from Sphere) enthusiasm for mathematics and many of the other characters' love of and devotion to science had an enormous amount to do with why I began to take those subjects seriously. By the time I made it to high school I had read most of his books multiple times, had read a number of other interesting authors, and was planning to study mathematics when I got to college (though I changed my mind and majored in engineering).

My point is that most of my friends and I saw him as more of a teacher than a writer of fiction. It's true that the science in Crichton's novels wasn't always perfect (much better than most), but it's also true that he never painted an idealized picture of what he thought it should be. He was interested in its virtues (square trees for easy lumbering, prehistoric plants and animals that make history come alive) as well as its flaws (private, for profit companies who can literally buy diseases, a deceptively cute dinosaur who pukes blinding acid into your face and then eats your guts while your still alive). A common tactic of his was to first force the reader to think about why something might be possible, and then to ask if it should be done. In the real world, advancements in science and engineering often have unintended consequences as well has valuable benefits, and he liked his readers to think about both.

These days many if not most of the books and movies aimed at younger audiences are pure fantasy and either have little regard for the scientific method, or completely ignore it all together (see Harry Potter). They often do not encourage the reader to think about why things happen - to think about the effects on the world around us and to ask questions - only to accept the magical or supernatural and then mindlessly be entertained.

I will miss him.

While I disagree on the Harry Potter bit (I think that they are fundamentally different books with different philosophies and methods of approach. To approach both books in the same manner is ridiculous) I pretty much know what you're saying. I have always had a love of literature, but at the same time I enjoy science. Most sci-fi I have read has left me wanting, but Crichton showed me that it is possible to blend the two. He really was more than an author to me. I even have to credit him with part of my SAT score, as I used only his books in my essay.
Thank you Mr. Crichton!

No one could have predicted what would happen the day that Michael Crichton died.

Deep within the cell walls of his recently deceased body the flesh began to release infinitesimal viroid carriers which quickly dispersed worldwide and sickened the population of the entire world.

Only Mike Crick, the genius embedded in a certain personal computer, the first real artificial intelligence, was able to provide the global medical establishment with the instructions to save humanity from this Armageddon.

THE END

While I disagree on the Harry Potter bit (I think that they are fundamentally different books with different philosophies and methods of approach. To approach both books in the same manner is ridiculous) I pretty much know what you're saying.

I apologize if it seemed like I was belittling the Harry Potter books (looking back at my #14 post I can see how it might read that way). Actually, I have only read one of them and it was a few years ago, so I don't really know much about them. I just meant that fiction in general seems to be having a hard time finding a place for science these days, and that it's a shame because young people are often introduced to science through stories that temp the imagination. In the old days we had Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, and for a long time we had Michael Crichton. It's possible I'm just not paying attention, but I don't really know of any mainstream authors who really embrace science the way these guys did.

I read Andromeda Strain and Congo in high school and Jurassic Park before the movie. I thought his writing style was a little dry, but the plotting was great.

I don't really like Dan Brown's writing style, but I thought there was a fair amount of theoretical physics in 'Angels and Demons.' Definately not on par with Crichton (I also read Jurassic Park in middle school, along with Sphere, Congo, The Andromeda Strain, and Eaters of the Dead...eventually The Lost World, too), and I have no idea if it's junk science or not, but I think there was some solid stuff. At the very least, I learned about CERN for the first time.

I didn't even know he was ill. Horrible news, really, I feel he was in some ways the current Carl Sagan, or as Lacigolli said, Jules Verne or H.G. Wells. While not perfect, his books were always well researched and on that border of science fiction and just science, where I often enjoyed the bit of free education as much or more than the plot.

Not that they're likely to see it here, but all my best wishes and sympathy to his family and friends.

While we're at it, a lot of people here are quite well-read. Anyone have any suggestions for current authors I might enjoy for similar reasons to Crichton?

Anyone have any suggestions for current authors I might enjoy for similar reasons to Crichton?

I don't know what your preferences are, but here's what's on my book shelf for the near future.

Altered Carbon, Richard K Morgan (sci-fi)
The Difference Engine, William Gibson/Bruce Sterling (sci-fi)
Brisingr, Christopher Paolini (fanasty). He's not necessarily on the par with Crichton, but he's a very young writer and I like to watch the evolution of his writing.

I remember an interview in which Crichton was asked what he'd found most interesting about Hollywood. He said that he was shocked at how dumb actors in general were. The host tried to give him an out by softening it a bit, but Crichton said, "no, I mean 2 plus 2 equals five dumb, really stupid."

I started liking him then..

His books were terrific... very smart guy.

Obama has already brought peace to the nation. 22 posts and not a single mention of Crichton's doubts about global warming.