For almost three decades, Michael Crichton has written novels that appeal to hisreader`s imagination and take a firm hold of their pocketbooks. Crichton`swriting stands out as much as his 6=9 frame. He has become one of the mostwidely read and bought science fiction authors of the past three decades. Fromhis first novel The Andromeda Strain, which he published while in medicalschool, to his most recent Airframe, Crichton has captivated his readers andleft them craving more. What makes Crichton`s novels unique are their topics.
Criction`s fiction novels have topics that range from little known historicalevents to indistinct scientific topics, such as cloning and primatecommunication. Crichton`s novels intertwine factual information with his ownfictional ideas to produce stories that sell. Crichton`s research is veryaccurate and detailed. This fact can be traced to Crichton`s extensiveeducation, both formal and informal. Born John Michael Crichton in Chicago,Illinois, he was raised in Roslyn, New York. Crichton graduated from HarvardUniversity, were studied to become an English major, but converted to studies inanthropology. After graduating summa cum laude, Crichton taught anthropology forone year at Cambridge University in England. After his tenure at Cambridge,Crichton attended Harvard Medical School, where he earned his doctorate.
Crichton also completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Salk Institute inCalifornia. (Jaynes 1) Crichton`s writing experienced a dry spell in the earlyeighties, when he said, A Writing was very difficult for me. Instead of writingCrichton traveled the world. Being an anthropologist, Crichton exploredcivilizations that are hard to reach. He traveled from Malaysia to Pakistan. Healso made a trek up Mount Kilimanjaro, and spent time in the South Pacific. (Jaynes2) Crichton has had many experiences and gained enormous amounts of knowledge,which he employs in his novels, and uses to create stories that climb the bestseller list quickly. Crichton also experimented with psychic phenomenon andbecame a professed spiritual pilgrim. Crichton admits to participating inpractices such as acupuncture and Aaura-fluffing. (Jaynes 2) Crichton himselfsays, A Sometimes I thought, You`ve been in California too long, and you`ve gonefrom a perfectly O.K. doctor to a guy who lies on a couch while someone putscrystals on him and you actually think it means something, but it`s nothing buta lot of hippie-dippy-airy-fairy baloney. (qtd. in Jaynes 2) Crichton hasexplored the landscape of the mind and the planet, and uses what he hasdiscovered to create stories that sell. Michael Crichton is the author of eleventhrillers under his given name. All eleven of these novels have made thebest-seller list, and earned Crichton a notable reputation. Crichton`s firstnovel The Andromeda Strain was written as a means of income for Crichton whilehe was in school. When the novel was published Crichton experienced minimal famearound the Harvard campus. More importantly, however, this novel establishedCrichton=s reputation as a writer. The novel itself is about an alien virus thatlands in the remote New Mexico desert, and the scientists that study andultimately get rid of the virus. This novel contains subtle hints comparing itthe alleged alien landings in Roswel, New Mexico and alien studies conducted inArea 51 in Nevada. Crichton puts his own creativeness into this work using thegeneral public=s curiosity concerning alien matters, only this time the invaderis a virus. Another aspect of this novel that makes it so compelling is asRichard Shickel of Harper=s Magazine states, AMr. Crichton has spared no effortin his attempt to make us believe that The Andromeda Strain could happen emailprotectedThe factual information and even the fiction aspects of this work are a productof Crichton=s exposure to the medical field at school. Crichton uses computerprintouts, biological references, and fictional government documents to lendauthenticity to this story. (Marowski 1) This is the first of many instanceswhere Crichton uses his knowledge and experience to excite his readers. Anotheremailprotected that Crichton is more popular for is Jurassic Park. In anarticle for the Los Angeles Times Book Review, Andrew Ferguson stated thatJurassic Park=s Areal emailprotected is A its genuinely interesting discussion ofdinosaurs, DNA research, paleontology, and the chaos emailprotected This work doesindeed display an acute knowledge of the scientific fields mentioned above.
Crichton incorporates factual information into his story of cloning actualdinosaurs. Crichton writes, A Y in 1953, two young researchers in England, JamesWatson and Francis Crick, deciphered the structure of emailprotected (Jurassic Park)This event is used to grasp the reader=s attention and is the basis for thebook. Although the story line may seem outlandish, Crichton writes in a mannerthat makes almost anything believable. He includes an account of paleontologistsexcavating a site in search of dinosaur remains, and also of geneticists cloningdinosaurs in a laboratory from blood in a mosquito preserved in amber. The novelas a whole is filled with suspense and scientific marvels. Again Crichton=ssuccess comes from his ability to give his readers what they want and againusing his vast knowledge of scientific and medical fields to create amasterpiece. In the Eaters of the Dead, Crichton uses history as base. Crichtongathered the majority of his research from an ancient manuscript written by anArabian man by the name of Ibn Fadlan, and is currently on display in a Vikingmuseum in Oslo, Norway. The manuscript chronicles Fadlan=s travels from Bagdadto Turkey and Russia in 922 AD. Fadlan goes on a journey with a clan of Norsemenwho are going to help a neighboring clan defeat an unseen evil called wendols.
These Aneolithic emailprotected come by night covered by dense fog and wreak havocon the inhabitants of the Norse villages. (Weeks 1) Fadlan survives with two ofthe other members of the war party. This novel is very reminiscent the epic poemBeowulf. In Crichton=s story the hero=s name is Buliwyf, which is similar toBeowulf. There are many parallels between the two works. Jack Sullivan of theNew York Times Book Review calls Eaters of the Dead A a tale of sword andsorcery,@ and Aa change of pace for emailprotected Crichton uses the knowledge hegained while studying anthropology and traveling the world to depict the Vikingsin an accurate manner. Crichton again uses a historical account to create abest-selling story. One of Crichton=s most popular novels is The Great TrainRobbery. This story is loosely based on a robbery that took place in VictorianEngland in 1855. This work has been praised for its authentic recreation ofVictorian lifestyles. It gives the reader a view into the life of everyone fromthe poor to the rich. It also shows the life and dealings of a master criminal.
Crichton writes from the point of view of the criminal, whose name was EdwardPierce, who was an upper-class wealthy man, who was very intelligent and verypatient. Pierce thought of every possible problem and made adjustmentsaccordingly. The goal of the robbery was to steal the army payroll with a valueof about 12,000 pounds in gold bullion on its way to Crimea. Crichton=s workseems more authentic with the incorporation of street slang that was used in theVictorian era. Words such as emailprotected meaning job and emailprotected meaning policemenare used extensively throughout the text. Crichton did a lot of tedious researchto produce such a story. Doris Grumbach in an article for The New Republicwrites, A Crichton has produced a narrative that which involves the reader inthe step-by-step strategies of a master emailprotected This fact alone makes for astory which is appealing to a wide range of readers. Grumbach also writes, A TheGreat Train Robbery combines the pleasures, guilt, and delight of a novel ofgripping entertainment with healthy slices of instruction and informationemailprotected Crichton does not leave out a single detail of the robbery plan.
His tiring commitment to detail leaves the reader with a nagging curiosity forwhat is to come next. In the end the extravagant heist is achieved, but thePierce is captured about three months later. He is found guilty of grand theftand sentenced to do time in Newgate Prison in London. Before he arrives atNewgate, Pierce escapes and the British government never recovers his stolenprize. None of Pierce=s accomplices were ever caught and the robbery wasconsidered a success. Again Crichton uses his love of history and his knowledgeof other eras to weave a story of mystery and adventure. Edward Weeks, ajournalist for Atlantic Monthly, describes The Great Train Robbery as A anexciting and cleverly written piece of emailprotected Crichton=s ability to meshscience, technology, and suspense is not limited to novels. Many of Crichton=sstories have been made into motion pictures because of their exciting contentand, most of all, their success as novels. (Chapman 5) Probably the most popularfilm made was of Jurassic Park, which broke many of the box office sales recordsthat stood at the time of its release. Many of Crichton=s other novels were alsomade in to movies such as The Great Train Robbery, The Lost World, Congo, andAndromeda Strain. Crichton has even directed some of these films. To mostreaders of science fiction the thought of reading historical or purelyscientific topics is not pleasant. Crichton writes in a manner that creates amood and takes his readers into the story. After the first few chapters thereader is emailprotected Just as people pay extravagant prices to watch sportingevents every year, people also pay millions of dollars annually for novels thattake them to places deep in their imagination. Michael Crichton=s stories havealways provided plenty of stimulation for the reader=s imagination. To upholdthe realism of his work, Crichton often displays scientific data and historicalinformation in the form of graphs, charts, maps, and computer printouts. Thesevisual aides are used throughout his novels to add to the scientific orhistorical tone. In an article for Book World-The Washington Post Alex Comfortwrites, A Science fiction has undergone an unwelcome change. It used to ministerto our need for prophecy; now it ministers to our need for emailprotected, as is thecase in Crichton=s novels. People seem to enjoy being scared. In many ofCrichton=s novels, as noted previously, the subject that involves something weas human beings fear but are curious about at the same time. Deadly invadersfrom space, creatures that come from the mist to kill us while we sleep, andeven enormous flesh-eating dinosaurs have long been the objects of our fears andthose objects which run wild in our imaginations. To totally grasp the scope ofCrichton=s success, it is beneficial to see actual sales figures. Crichton=smost popular book, Jurassic Park, has sold nearly 10 million copies. In additionto this book, Crichton has written 24 other novels of which 20 made thebest-seller list. (Jaynes 1) Three movies spawned from Crichton=s books did verywell at the box office. Congo, Jurassic Park, and The Lost World were eachpopular in their respective seasons. It is quite obvious that Michael Crichtonhas found a niche in the science fiction world. Whenever adventurous,knowledgeable, and exciting storytelling is desired Michael Crichton delivers.
English Essays
