Scan barcode
leggup's review against another edition
3.0
There were far too many major characters in this book. There were also far too many minor characters in this book. There was no context to determine who was a major character and who was a throw away character, so the book took you on all sorts of detours that seemed important, only to show you, 4 chapters later, that the last character's only purpose was to get you from Plot A to Plot B.
I am still a little unsure about a few minor plot points, mainly- was Brad's lawyer working for his uncle, or someone else? What happened to the kids of the guy whose bones were stolen? What was the purpose of the chase scene in the beginning of the book; are those supposed to be important people later; who was the buyer? Was the Dr who found out he had an addict daughter connected in any way to any character, or was that supposed to be a "If we allow genes to be viewed this way, it's a slippery slope!" teaching moment?
The whole book was a slippery slope argument, which came off as exceptionally preachy, even though I agree with him.
The ending is very weak, especially for one character who "Gets what was coming to him" in a SOOOOooooOOOoooo ironic way.
I am still a little unsure about a few minor plot points, mainly- was Brad's lawyer working for his uncle, or someone else? What happened to the kids of the guy whose bones were stolen? What was the purpose of the chase scene in the beginning of the book; are those supposed to be important people later; who was the buyer? Was the Dr who found out he had an addict daughter connected in any way to any character, or was that supposed to be a "If we allow genes to be viewed this way, it's a slippery slope!" teaching moment?
The whole book was a slippery slope argument, which came off as exceptionally preachy, even though I agree with him.
The ending is very weak, especially for one character who "Gets what was coming to him" in a SOOOOooooOOOoooo ironic way.
emmalemonnz's review against another edition
4.0
3am review (do not expect good words-ing):
I like Crichton's ability to tell so many different stories and have them all tie together.
The final ruling from the judge in Oxnard makes the whole book kind of blah. Don't get me wrong, it's excellent, but I usually think of a book in terms of how I would teach it to a high school class. That part of the book means that the opportunity for students to debate and do their own thinking on the topic of owning genes etc, is removed. It's like "hey, here's a great book, with thought-provoking issues, but you don't actually have to do any thinking because, here, I did it for you". Blah blah didactic blah.
But I mostly enjoyed this book.
I like Crichton's ability to tell so many different stories and have them all tie together.
The final ruling from the judge in Oxnard makes the whole book kind of blah. Don't get me wrong, it's excellent, but I usually think of a book in terms of how I would teach it to a high school class. That part of the book means that the opportunity for students to debate and do their own thinking on the topic of owning genes etc, is removed. It's like "hey, here's a great book, with thought-provoking issues, but you don't actually have to do any thinking because, here, I did it for you". Blah blah didactic blah.
But I mostly enjoyed this book.
bookworm_meg's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
omair's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
If I'm being honest, I really didn't like this book for about half of it. The characters were too numerous, too nauseating, and just generally too noisy. It felt too distant from the works of Crichton I'm accustomed to. But, somewhere around the middle, I came to notice the amount of humor Crichton had injected and realized some of the absurdity was by design.
Okay, so I don't want to be super critical of a book that I apparently whiffed so hard on. But I can't go so far as to praise it when I didn't particularly care for anyone in it and I'm struggling to remember the entirety of what i just read.
So I'll leave it at that. It's a preachy book about transgenic animals. It reads like an attempt to weave an anthology into a coherent story.
If you remember the movie Crash... it was like that. Some of the plot lines you care about, many you don't, and by the end you either really felt spoken to and love the experience, or you felt it was too heavy-handed and you're over it.
Okay, so I don't want to be super critical of a book that I apparently whiffed so hard on. But I can't go so far as to praise it when I didn't particularly care for anyone in it and I'm struggling to remember the entirety of what i just read.
So I'll leave it at that. It's a preachy book about transgenic animals. It reads like an attempt to weave an anthology into a coherent story.
If you remember the movie Crash... it was like that. Some of the plot lines you care about, many you don't, and by the end you either really felt spoken to and love the experience, or you felt it was too heavy-handed and you're over it.
jb_slasher's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
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
3.0
geekwayne's review against another edition
4.0
I'm pretty iffy on Crichton as a whole, but a friend loaned me this to read thinking I'd like it. She was right, but it took a good 150 pages to convince me.
The first 1/3 of the book introduces a bunch of character stories. Some interact, some conclude. It felt a bit choppy and disjointed, then I read what he was attempting. He was trying to write to emulate (sort of) a strand of DNA. Random information, some of which is related. Clever, but messy.
Anyway, Crichton is good at exploring a subject and explaining it in layman's terms. Interesting to note is that many of the articles included in the book, as well as quite a few of the plotlines, are not speculative at all. Rather than a warning of future technology, as in Jurassic Park, this explores interesting questions we should be asking: Should someone be able to patent and own a gene? Is it in the best interest of science for universities to be able to patent and sell scientific finds? Just because we can do something, should we?
Not a bad read, and one of Crichton's better efforts.
The first 1/3 of the book introduces a bunch of character stories. Some interact, some conclude. It felt a bit choppy and disjointed, then I read what he was attempting. He was trying to write to emulate (sort of) a strand of DNA. Random information, some of which is related. Clever, but messy.
Anyway, Crichton is good at exploring a subject and explaining it in layman's terms. Interesting to note is that many of the articles included in the book, as well as quite a few of the plotlines, are not speculative at all. Rather than a warning of future technology, as in Jurassic Park, this explores interesting questions we should be asking: Should someone be able to patent and own a gene? Is it in the best interest of science for universities to be able to patent and sell scientific finds? Just because we can do something, should we?
Not a bad read, and one of Crichton's better efforts.
aliendaydreamer's review
2.75
I like the stuff about genetics and the implications of combining that with capitalism. What I did not like was the weird sexual stuff. Severe trigger warning to all who want to read this
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Animal cruelty, and Pedophilia
susannekennedy's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
3.0
drmroberts's review against another edition
3.5
I'm quite the big fan of Critchton and he's been my go to palette cleanser when I need something that I'd describe as easy entertainment.
And this book didn't disappoint. It's an entertaining read that builds plenty of layers with intersecting storylines and characters that condense together at the climax.
The characters are decent, the story is believable (in quite a scary way) although the writing is simple and it never goes beneath the surface, but that's not what you want or look for with Crichton.
What he does is deliver an entertaining story against the backdrop of ever advancing science. He pushes you to think of the positives, the negatives and all the consequences in-between.
This book is a classic sort of summer blockbuster story, but what is the worrying part is that we already live in the same era of science and we are posed with the questions we should be asking now before it's too late.
And this book didn't disappoint. It's an entertaining read that builds plenty of layers with intersecting storylines and characters that condense together at the climax.
The characters are decent, the story is believable (in quite a scary way) although the writing is simple and it never goes beneath the surface, but that's not what you want or look for with Crichton.
What he does is deliver an entertaining story against the backdrop of ever advancing science. He pushes you to think of the positives, the negatives and all the consequences in-between.
This book is a classic sort of summer blockbuster story, but what is the worrying part is that we already live in the same era of science and we are posed with the questions we should be asking now before it's too late.