I have survived a lot of horrible things in my life. But nothing comes close to the book State of Fear by Michael Crichton. This may be the most tedious book I've ever read, and that's coming from a guy who read Deception Point just a few months ago. Dan Brown comes off as a master craftsman compared to this stupid piece of pathetic trash.
The greatest lie in this book is in the blurb. It says: "...the novel races forward on a roller-coaster thrill ride..."
The only thing thrilling about this book is that if needed it is thick enough to be used to beat the living shit out of any Yale President that might hate your blog. And as for racing forward... Bull-fucking shit!
Now I realize that blurb is often a description of the book the publisher wishes for purposes of marketing and sales, but this is by far the most calculated and vile exaggeration perpetrated on the readers anywhere or any time. There is absolutely no way a book can "race forward" when nearly three fourths of the books 571 pages are dedicated to people droning on and on, preaching their views on global warming and other environmental issues but doing so in the most unimaginative and uninteresting way possible.
Mr. Crichton sends his characters around the globe in search of radical environmentalists who happen to be in far away places in order to allow his characters to have lots of time to rehash the same old arguments, spout facts, and drone on and on and on, killing any momentum his plot (unoriginal as it may be) may have gained in the previous chapter when one of his 'heroes" shuts up for long enough to actually do something. But even then they have to talk about it.
This book could be cut down to about a hundred pages and it still wouldn't be that great. And if there is a point to this book it is lost in the tedium, which is so painful I feel like I may have to investigate litigation against Mr. Crichton for the physical pain reading his book has caused me.
If I need to spend several hours listening to blowholes spout their opinions, I'll stick to Fox News.
2 comments:
I was really surprised to see you pull that book out the other day (when you were showing off how well your 3-year-old can identify letters...which ROCKS, by the way!!). I thought, WOW that sounded way boring and I couldn't make myself give it a chance. If he's reading it, maybe I should too. Whoo! Near miss!!
I know what the point of the book is, though. It's to convince you that global warming is a myth. Hence the tedious repetition. It's a brainwashing technique. :)
Did it work?
I thought the point of this book was to show how any kind of information--no matter how factual it may be--can be manipulated and twisted to support any argument and any point of view... that and to convince the reader that global warming is a myth, and that environmentalists are all unethical weasels that only want your money.
all of this is thinly shrouded in a veil of "powers that be controlling the masses with manipulative fear tactics." If anyone is interested in that, they should go see Bowling for Columbine. It will take much less of your time and will give you a few chuckles as well.
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