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howardtaftmd's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
trueman0510's review against another edition
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
corprew's review against another edition
1.0
Michael Crichton would like you to know that his dislike of technology (as opposed to engineering) and things that aren't American also includes a dislike of women.
Back when I used to travel a lot on business, sometimes the only books available would be Crichton's in the airport bookshop. He has good writing craft despite his nationalistic luddite fervor. It was upon reading this book that I pretty much resolved not to bother with anything he wrote in the future.
Back when I used to travel a lot on business, sometimes the only books available would be Crichton's in the airport bookshop. He has good writing craft despite his nationalistic luddite fervor. It was upon reading this book that I pretty much resolved not to bother with anything he wrote in the future.
schuster_s's review against another edition
3.0
Very interesting perspectives on sexual harassment in the workplace. Crichton really goes in depth to show both sides of a story and how it can go down. Great ending.
billymac1962's review against another edition
4.0
Someone loaned this to me once and I really wasn't expecting to like it. My expectations were completely dashed after the first chapter. I could not put it down.
A riveting tale of sexual harrassment in the workplace where the man is the victim (yeah, he could have said 'No') of his beautiful boss.
Highly recommended!
A riveting tale of sexual harrassment in the workplace where the man is the victim (yeah, he could have said 'No') of his beautiful boss.
Highly recommended!
ajb24's review against another edition
2.0
Despite my low expectations for this book, the final third of the book that was more about the "corporate" drama did draw me in and kept me in suspense. Sometimes it was a bit too dense, like....I feel like my age and general lack of experience in a work environment put me at a disadvantage in fully understanding the "office politics" re management and the corporate ladder. There were assumptions in place about....IDK, how upper-level/management positions are structured and how people are "expected" to act in these situations that I don't fully understand, so the reasoning behind X chain of events was confusing. I can't explain it well, but the best example of when things went over my head is when Tom tells his wife about the event and that he plans to bring a sexual harassment suit against Meredith, and she essentially responds with "You're crazy to bring this up at the time of the merger...you're gonna be in deep shit *knowing looks pass between them*" Like,,she never explicitly says why it would be SO bad to come forward with a harassment claim, and although I can guess why, I was a bit lost during their exchange. And I don't think that's a problem with the writing, I think I'm just young and naïve lmao.
In short, this book is dated and it mires the whole reading experience. I can get past the dated tech..I think. At times it's so technical that it's boring. But I think the novelty of Tom's "cellular telephone" that has "enough memory for 200 phone numbers!" VERY funny. And the virtual reality database is also funny because the idea that you have this virtual world of information but the "world" is just a recreation of filing cabinets...it's very obviously an idea developed in 1993 xD. And this isn't something funny about the dated technology, just frustrating, but it KILLS me that it takes him until page 253(!) to remember that his phone died early the day of the Event because he was interrupted while leaving a message (so it follows that it was just on the whole time). I- is it a trauma response that explains why he forgets that part of the evening until like, a week later?? Because immediately once Meredith interrupted him and he sets his phone down, I thought "OH, there'll be a recording now that'll provide evidence for his side of the story!" but it doesn't occur to him at. all. until sooooooo long into the proceedings! I just- is it not obvious?? "Oh, why is my phone dead..hmm..oH, that's right! It was on the whole time!" I just ????
What makes me scrunch my face up in a frown when I think about this book is that it's also dated in its socio-political context. So I have mixed feelings. Because there are legitimate points made by Tom's lawyer, Louise Fernandez, about how sexual harassment is all about power, regardless of gender. And she rightfully points out the ways in which power structures protect the powerful, which is how men have gotten away with so much in the past (and it explains how Meredith had also gotten away with being manipulative and abusing past employees but still getting promoted).
But.
This is a cultural commentary that is steeped in 1980s/1990s discourse on feminism and gender politics. So, characters will make these grand assertions like "women and men are just different" and "Men can't control themselves around women that's just how they are!" And of course there's also the whining like "Oh, people can't do ANyThIng these days without risking a harassment suit, young people are too SeNsiTivE - in the ""real world"" there's going to be remarks made that make you uncomfortable, but that's not HarAsSmeNt that's life" And I said "of course" this exists because that kind of narrative still exists today. But I think now there's more of a cultural consensus/awareness that just because a behavior was tolerated in the past, doesn't mean it's okay or shouldn't be called out. And that's where I just get bad vibes from this book!! It places itself on this, pedestal almost, of being like the narrative that's asking the "tough questions" and "making a statement" about the state of society, but it has undercurrents of misogyny that have me waiting for like, a Yikes moment, where there'll just be something racist or homophobic said that is just accepted by the characters. And at the meta-level, maybe it's a bit "edgy" but it's not explicitly negative. This never happens...ehh, well, actually, there's some dicey lines, but they're not reoccurring themes.
There's two moments that stick out to me that I just wanna mention:
1. Tom and his wife Susan have this argument at the very beginning of the book that's SO awkward and not at all how real people talk. She's all "You don't understand because you're a mAn but I AM oppressed!" and he goes "No you're not, you have a high-level job as an attorney!" and it goes back and forth like that for a while. And it's just such...a blatant attempt to insert commentary into the book. It was cringe-worthy to read.
2. The Connie Walsh opinion column was a YIKES for me! She's supposed to be a "feminist" but she's saying things like "women *can't* rape men, this guy is just mad that he has to report to a woman!" And that's so
In short, this book is dated and it mires the whole reading experience. I can get past the dated tech..I think. At times it's so technical that it's boring. But I think the novelty of Tom's "cellular telephone" that has "enough memory for 200 phone numbers!" VERY funny. And the virtual reality database is also funny because the idea that you have this virtual world of information but the "world" is just a recreation of filing cabinets...it's very obviously an idea developed in 1993 xD. And this isn't something funny about the dated technology, just frustrating, but it KILLS me that it takes him until page 253(!) to remember that his phone died early the day of the Event because he was interrupted while leaving a message (so it follows that it was just on the whole time). I- is it a trauma response that explains why he forgets that part of the evening until like, a week later?? Because immediately once Meredith interrupted him and he sets his phone down, I thought "OH, there'll be a recording now that'll provide evidence for his side of the story!" but it doesn't occur to him at. all. until sooooooo long into the proceedings! I just- is it not obvious?? "Oh, why is my phone dead..hmm..oH, that's right! It was on the whole time!" I just ????
What makes me scrunch my face up in a frown when I think about this book is that it's also dated in its socio-political context. So I have mixed feelings. Because there are legitimate points made by Tom's lawyer, Louise Fernandez, about how sexual harassment is all about power, regardless of gender. And she rightfully points out the ways in which power structures protect the powerful, which is how men have gotten away with so much in the past (and it explains how Meredith had also gotten away with being manipulative and abusing past employees but still getting promoted).
But.
This is a cultural commentary that is steeped in 1980s/1990s discourse on feminism and gender politics. So, characters will make these grand assertions like "women and men are just different" and "Men can't control themselves around women that's just how they are!" And of course there's also the whining like "Oh, people can't do ANyThIng these days without risking a harassment suit, young people are too SeNsiTivE - in the ""real world"" there's going to be remarks made that make you uncomfortable, but that's not HarAsSmeNt that's life" And I said "of course" this exists because that kind of narrative still exists today. But I think now there's more of a cultural consensus/awareness that just because a behavior was tolerated in the past, doesn't mean it's okay or shouldn't be called out. And that's where I just get bad vibes from this book!! It places itself on this, pedestal almost, of being like the narrative that's asking the "tough questions" and "making a statement" about the state of society, but it has undercurrents of misogyny that have me waiting for like, a Yikes moment, where there'll just be something racist or homophobic said that is just accepted by the characters. And at the meta-level, maybe it's a bit "edgy" but it's not explicitly negative. This never happens...ehh, well, actually, there's some dicey lines, but they're not reoccurring themes.
There's two moments that stick out to me that I just wanna mention:
1. Tom and his wife Susan have this argument at the very beginning of the book that's SO awkward and not at all how real people talk. She's all "You don't understand because you're a mAn but I AM oppressed!" and he goes "No you're not, you have a high-level job as an attorney!" and it goes back and forth like that for a while. And it's just such...a blatant attempt to insert commentary into the book. It was cringe-worthy to read.
2. The Connie Walsh opinion column was a YIKES for me! She's supposed to be a "feminist" but she's saying things like "women *can't* rape men, this guy is just mad that he has to report to a woman!" And that's so
zainsdad's review against another edition
2.0
big michael crichton fan but this one didn’t age well - i can’t believe the mra incel crowd hasn’t latched onto this one yet
shychipmunk's review against another edition
3.0
I gave up after the first section because I couldn't stand the manipulation and emotional bullshit. But then after reading the synopsis on Wikipedia to see how it turned out, I thought the later part sounded interesting, so I jumped ahead to the third section and read the rest of the book (and later went back and read the second half of the second section).
The half of the book that's about unraveling the tapestry of deception is much more up my alley, but there's plenty of books that do that without spending as much time having the protagonist suffer at the hands of an unlikeable asshole, so I can't really recommend this one.
It doesn't help matters any that I'm still not sure whether I've read this before, or just a different corporate espionage book of Chrichton's that I didn't like either.
The half of the book that's about unraveling the tapestry of deception is much more up my alley, but there's plenty of books that do that without spending as much time having the protagonist suffer at the hands of an unlikeable asshole, so I can't really recommend this one.
It doesn't help matters any that I'm still not sure whether I've read this before, or just a different corporate espionage book of Chrichton's that I didn't like either.