NOTE: I reiterate: I wrote this in November 2008. The Obama delusion has since blurred down)
I can't believe I didn't even have a chance to mourn for Michael Crichton. Weird that this politico-legal-media obsessed world didn't even thrive on this "event" even after the global excitement over "rise of a real/legitimate, biethnic, multicultural, with some- real- ASIA- exposure HERO" died down. I was beyond excited/euphoric over Obama's triumph (esp. now, with some promise of economic repair, look at the market today, and with the naming of his economic team and some introduction, too, today of the economic rescue operation--- (couldn't wait for that jolt in economy), BUT then not to give Crichton the mourning he deserves is beyond comprehension.
Well, I still think he's the best doctor-writer even though he went straight to do fellowship in public policy, and his discipline of choice (maybe not first choice) was computer ops/prog, whatever.
STATE OF FEAR is one of the best contemporary books I read in 7 years, it is like a reference book with a complete bibliography on global warming, ecoterrorism, politico-legal-media agenda. I still would have loved to see him debate Al Gore. The latter sort of maligned him in the latter's book AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, which I had the misfortune of reading maybe 3 times (it was my son's choice for his book report).
Just to think that I thought Crichton was very corny. I had the misfortune of reading his very first novel (was it really his first?): A CASE OF NEED. He even developed a habit of NOT including this novel in his list. For me that novel big-time sucked. And I really think that ER is so made-up.
He wrote ANDROMEDA STRAIN when he was a medical student. How and when did he do that? During his radiology rotation?
TIMELINE was so believable you'd think Crichton time-machined himself to the medieval period.
DISCLOSURE disclosed the malignancy of corporate and human competitiveness.
NEXT had the twists and turns of a DNA molecule.
AIRFRAME proved that benign neglect is an oxymoronic phrase.
THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY robbed me of my belief that there is always an iota of goodness in everyone.
JURASSIC PARK and THE LOST WORLD... well, other people would have a better one-liner to these. But both novels are so imaginative and anxiety-provoking. This was when science scared the living shit out of me.
I guess I'm writing all these because I know nobody would tolerate my mental diarrhea.
I guess this is just my way of quasi-expressing some kind of mourning, albeit disjointedly, over a hero of mine. Too bad my literary love affair with him was just of late.
Arlyn M. Valencia, M.D.
