Goodbye, Michael Crichton

American popular literature icon Michael Crichton died this past Tuesday at age 66 due to cancer. His death was largely met with complete surprise by the public. It sure did hit me hard. I had just bought a few of his old novels (The Terminal Man, Congo, Sphere, and Rising Sun). I had just finished reading The Terminal Man and am planning to begin Congo in a few days. A few years ago, I read his Timeline, an exciting time-travel novel largely set in medieval France just before the Black Death devastated Europe. I greatly enjoyed it (the novel, not the plague). I’m also thinking of getting and reading Jurassic Park since, although I know how the movie ended, I missed most of it and would like to see how Crichton treated it on paper.

But my favorite Crichton work (and one of my favorite novels in general) is his Andromeda Strain. I saw parts of the movie that was made from it decades ago, and I have to say that the movie paled badly in comparison with the book. I liked how Crichton made the crisis in this story into a kind of puzzle that invited the reader to try to figure out its resolution. And the novel’s conclusion ranks right up there with my favorite, most-exciting endings.

Apart from his novels, Michael Crichton was also was responsible for movies such as Coma and Westworld, as well as the popular TV series ER. And who can forget Twister, for which he co-wrote the screenplay?

I think I’m going to continue reading Crichton’s novels. Although they usually seem to contain the formula theme of prideful human technological and scientific achievements-gone-awry, they do get the reader thoroughly immersed and interested in areas that normally wouldn’t be examined.

As an important side note, Michael Crichton’s death from cancer is a reminder to me (and hopefully, to you, cherished reader) to have regular medical checkups for early cancer detection as well as to live a lifestyle conducive to the prevention of this terrible disease.