Next by Michael Crichton Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Next
Book Review: Fast, Enjoyable Read
Summary: 4 Stars
I have read and enjoyed almost all of Crichton's novels (and am terribly sad that we've lost him too soon), and I enjoyed this one also. It is a quick read that kept me turning pages long after I should have turned out the lights and gone to bed. I finished it in about a day and a half while also managing to live normal life (sleeping, making dinner, taking care of the kids, errands, the usual). The story does jump around a lot and, as a whole, could be described as unfocused. Instead of one main character whom we follow throughout the tale, we are given several characters whose storylines sometimes converge and sometimes diverge. I found the unpredictability of the story kept me reading. The book does seem to lack something in the way of unity (there were several loose ends which remained loose when the book ended), but I still recommend it. It has lots of humor and interesting situations. Not being a scientist myself, I have no idea if the situations he describes are accurate or even possible, but they intrigued my just the same. I recommend Next as a fun read for anyone, and it might be a highly suitable "beach read" for those of us who like that sort of thing. Crichton fans will probably feel this isn't his best, but at this point I'd be thrilled to still have him around since even when he's not at his best, his books are worth reading and recommending, as I recommend Next to you.Book Review: Frightening and Fun
Summary: 5 Stars
"Next" is not a typical novel, not even typical for Michael Crichton. It seems to have been constructed from spare parts, an array of ideas, insights, and impressions arising from the author's research into genetic engineering. He takes current and potential outcomes of this emerging technology and extrapolates them into several almost believable interwoven short stories. The result is a novel-sized web of amusing and alarming accounts, peppered with some totally memorable characters.
Could a parent contract away rights to your chromosomes? Could a donor end up unknowingly parenting a partly-human chimpanzee? Could your pharmacist sell you a drug to help your teen act responsibly? Which of our genetic engineering experiments could emerge as an uncontrollable disaster? Crichton has thought about questions of this kind and uses the vehicle of well-told tales to prod and provoke the reader to consider the same cutting-edge issues. As a result, the book cannot be dismissed as mere entertainment. It invites us to think, prepare, and, perhaps prevent unwanted outcomes.
Because the saga jumps among several parallel but largely unconnected plots, it is a challenge to keep the characters and story lines straight in the mind, especially if the book is read in spurts over an extended time period. But is you miss a stitch or two, there is on harm done.
My favorite aspect of "Next" is the transgenic creations that blend human and animal characteristics. While I hope these concoctions are biologically impossible, the particular characters Crichton dreams up are endearing. Dave the chimp-boy strikes blows against boorish bullies and Gerard, the annoying genius dressed up as a parrot now perches on the shoulder of my mind. I applaud Crichton for giving us a book like no other.
Book Review: Fun Mix of Cautionary Science and Black Comedy
Summary: 4 Stars
Two things stuck with me after I finished 'Next': the dangerous potential of eugenics, and Crichton's black sense of humour. He takes most of his scenarios to extremes and has fun doing it--the talking parrot in particular is a riot. I enjoyed the satire, even the more perverse elements. But through it all is a rich vein of science fiction, from which Crichton has mined some fascinating ideas over the years. As a story, the narrative is too fractured and few of the characters make any real impact, but their ethical dilemmas certainly do. Numerous legal, scientific and moral grey areas are presented for our consideration and/or amusement.
It's not a great book, but I found it a worthwhile read.
Book Review: Genetically Mutant Book
Summary: 1 Stars
I love to sit back and gobble up a good Michael Crichton book. Next is not one of those books! Starts out great, as Crichton books so often do. Then it just falls flat. It goes everywhere. It's like Crichton was just shoving all his little bits of research on genetics into the book, not worrying about how or where they might fit in.
The plot bounces all over the place and never really held my interest after the first few chapters. The story just got more and more outrageous and never really came together coherently. Perhaps that was the point Crichton was trying to make - the field (and industry) of genetics has great potential for spinning out of control in ways that we can't yet imagine. Unfortunately, for me, Next just spun out of control and never recovered.
Book Review: Good book, but Crichton might be stretching this one too far
Summary: 4 Stars
As a Michael Crichton fan, I have a hard time rating any of his books below a 4. This again was a good book, excellently written, but he may have pushed science fiction a little too far. The beginning starts out great and intriguing, but as it progresses the plot seems to stretch too far from what could be the truth. Crichton always does a great job of making his reader re-think what is currently considered science "fiction," but this one might have been a little too much.