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benbert's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
jamesrose's review against another edition
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
annkitsch's review against another edition
4.0
okay I have many many thoughts on this book and some of the reviews it has received
“the women in this book are one dimensional and all seemingly painted with bad light”
- I sort of disagree with this. There are men and women acting equally monstrous in this book. Some of the women who stood out for being helpful and intelligent were Stephenie Kaplan, Louisa Fernandez, Mary Anne, Cindy and Betsy. So when I see this opinion, I feel it’s coming from a place that is because they just disagree with these women for supporting the male protagonist in the sexual harassment suit. Louisa was the first woman to actually fully believe and see where Tom was coming from. Kaplan was practically the most intelligent and the one who had been saving him all along.
They also have the argument that Meredith was portrayed too terribly and honestly, I don’t know what’s so hard to believe about that. She’s a white woman in a place of power who thinks empowerment is acting as bad as a man, duh.
In contradiction, it was mostly men who were unsympathetic to Tom. Most of them couldn’t even believe he’d reject s*x from a beautiful woman just like that. One even yelled at him for complaining about his harassment to the attorneys because it jeopardised a merger. One tells him straightaway he isn’t even a victim.
Okay, that is one thing I wanted to address.
My overall review of this book was that it was intriguing and thrilling. I finished it in practically two days, but it was more like a silent three day read— because initially, I was bored of the corporate jargon in the beginning. So if you’re someone who absolutely hates stories dealing with the corporate, this book might not be for you.
Another thing I want to say is while I’m happy a book like this exists and confronts the topic of a man’s right to also refuse s*x, it still lacks a more humane touch. Crichton clearly wanted to make this a good and engaging corporate thriller while also addressing the idea that men can be victims too.
The problem is the book loses itself so much to the idea of corporate discussions and betrayals that it essentially leaves out Tom from forming solidarity with anyone who’s a victim like him. Crichton could have ended the book with a more emotion based ending of Tom realising what most victims— whether they’re a woman or a man— go through in such tricky and capitalist areas of hierarchy.
Instead, the book sort of champions the idea that the world is too sensitive to see the places of grey. I agree to it some extent, but it really doesn’t do anything to have an epiphany in the story. Tom could’ve easily had a moment of reckoning and empathy for so many more people but all he feels is relief that it’s over in the end. It’s not necessarily adding onto the discussion of workplace harassment, more like deflecting it with the whole “oh woe to the political correctness of people these days!”
But I like Louisa’s monologue at the end of the novel. She’s a very balanced woman with great critical thinking skills.
The long and short of it— it’s an interesting story that’s hard to put down. The only thing I would change is the ending and by making Tom a lot more emotive outside of frustration and anger. I think if that ending was put less on the idea of arguing with women spreading awareness about harassment, a lot many people would feel okay to read this book. But otherwise, it’s pretty advanced for the time it comes from about the whole “men need immunity too from workplace harassment and male victims should be included in that discussion too”. If this book was written today, maybe it would’ve had Tom in the end supporting the MeToo movement and unifying with others.
“the women in this book are one dimensional and all seemingly painted with bad light”
- I sort of disagree with this. There are men and women acting equally monstrous in this book. Some of the women who stood out for being helpful and intelligent were Stephenie Kaplan, Louisa Fernandez, Mary Anne, Cindy and Betsy. So when I see this opinion, I feel it’s coming from a place that is because they just disagree with these women for supporting the male protagonist in the sexual harassment suit. Louisa was the first woman to actually fully believe and see where Tom was coming from. Kaplan was practically the most intelligent and the one who had been saving him all along.
They also have the argument that Meredith was portrayed too terribly and honestly, I don’t know what’s so hard to believe about that. She’s a white woman in a place of power who thinks empowerment is acting as bad as a man, duh.
In contradiction, it was mostly men who were unsympathetic to Tom. Most of them couldn’t even believe he’d reject s*x from a beautiful woman just like that. One even yelled at him for complaining about his harassment to the attorneys because it jeopardised a merger. One tells him straightaway he isn’t even a victim.
Okay, that is one thing I wanted to address.
My overall review of this book was that it was intriguing and thrilling. I finished it in practically two days, but it was more like a silent three day read— because initially, I was bored of the corporate jargon in the beginning. So if you’re someone who absolutely hates stories dealing with the corporate, this book might not be for you.
Another thing I want to say is while I’m happy a book like this exists and confronts the topic of a man’s right to also refuse s*x, it still lacks a more humane touch. Crichton clearly wanted to make this a good and engaging corporate thriller while also addressing the idea that men can be victims too.
The problem is the book loses itself so much to the idea of corporate discussions and betrayals that it essentially leaves out Tom from forming solidarity with anyone who’s a victim like him. Crichton could have ended the book with a more emotion based ending of Tom realising what most victims— whether they’re a woman or a man— go through in such tricky and capitalist areas of hierarchy.
Instead, the book sort of champions the idea that the world is too sensitive to see the places of grey. I agree to it some extent, but it really doesn’t do anything to have an epiphany in the story. Tom could’ve easily had a moment of reckoning and empathy for so many more people but all he feels is relief that it’s over in the end. It’s not necessarily adding onto the discussion of workplace harassment, more like deflecting it with the whole “oh woe to the political correctness of people these days!”
But I like Louisa’s monologue at the end of the novel. She’s a very balanced woman with great critical thinking skills.
The long and short of it— it’s an interesting story that’s hard to put down. The only thing I would change is the ending and by making Tom a lot more emotive outside of frustration and anger. I think if that ending was put less on the idea of arguing with women spreading awareness about harassment, a lot many people would feel okay to read this book. But otherwise, it’s pretty advanced for the time it comes from about the whole “men need immunity too from workplace harassment and male victims should be included in that discussion too”. If this book was written today, maybe it would’ve had Tom in the end supporting the MeToo movement and unifying with others.
hlwhite's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
yvan_noir's review against another edition
4.0
Aunque tiene aspectos que ya son anticuados a estas alturas, aborda un tema que no pierde vigencia, y que hoy más que nunca, está en boga en la discusión pública.
woofwoofwoof's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
alykat_reads's review against another edition
4.0
When reading this, you have to keep in mind that this book was published in 1993, so a little bit before personal computers and the internet/email/etc became mainstream and household things in the early 2000s. I audibly laughed when he described what the internet, CD-Roms, and virtual reality were. At the time of publishing, they were considered high-tech, but now 30 years later those technologies have advanced greatly, so it's not really fair to criticize the book on that when that was just the current technology.
Anyways, I greatly enjoy Crichton's writing, even if the topics he writes about are foreign or of uninterest to me. The beginnings always seem to be a little slow, but once I get a little ways in I usually find myself hooked and can't stop reading. That was true of this one as well. It was interesting reading about allegations of sexual harassment in the workplace when the accused was a woman - it brought some introspection on just how differently those allegations are treated verses how allegations are treated when it is a man who is the accused.
There were a few things I had issues with though. Hiding them under spoilers, just in case.
It bothered me that he didn't play the video of Meredith talking to Arthur during the final meeting with Conley-White. He played the newsclip after having Meredith tie herself up in lie, which was great, but the second clip of her telling Arthur to hide everything and lie about things to Tom would have really substantiated and strengthened the evidence he had provided in the packets to the executives. He had it, so I'm not sure why Crichton decided he wouldn't use it.
I believe Crichton was trying to make some of the characters wishy-washy to really enforce the trust no one message that Tom received via email on the big scary internet (LOL, iykyk); but I think it was done poorly. Why he would engage with Blackburn at all after learning about the complaint that Meredith lodged against him knowing that Blackburn was the attorney for the company and would be representing Meredith's side, just doesn't make sense. This again ties into my first point that as intelligent as Crichton was trying to make Tom seem for coming up with this brilliant plan on how to prove he's telling the truth about what happened, he does some pretty dumb things, or things that don't make any sense.
Still giving 4 stars because I just enjoy Crichton's writing that much.
Anyways, I greatly enjoy Crichton's writing, even if the topics he writes about are foreign or of uninterest to me. The beginnings always seem to be a little slow, but once I get a little ways in I usually find myself hooked and can't stop reading. That was true of this one as well. It was interesting reading about allegations of sexual harassment in the workplace when the accused was a woman - it brought some introspection on just how differently those allegations are treated verses how allegations are treated when it is a man who is the accused.
There were a few things I had issues with though. Hiding them under spoilers, just in case.
Spoiler
First, the MC Tom, who is the main narrator throughout the novel except for a few chapters, has moments in the book that just don't really tie in with the rest of it. For example, when he finally tells his wife about the sexual harassment allegation against him and tells her he's retaining Fernandez, he seems to have this "master plan" because he's got some secret knowledge. The book is very ambiguous about what exactly his plan is and where he's heading with it - which in and of itself is not the problem - but then in the next few chapters when he talks to Max and Max is trying to drop clues on how to help him, Tom all of a sudden has zero critical thinking skills and can't for the life of him understand how Max is trying to help him. I get having a moment or two of brilliance, but it felt like Tom would come to these really intelligent conclusions, but then not have a clue how it tied into his situation. It was a little bizarre and I couldn't make sense of it.It bothered me that he didn't play the video of Meredith talking to Arthur during the final meeting with Conley-White. He played the newsclip after having Meredith tie herself up in lie, which was great, but the second clip of her telling Arthur to hide everything and lie about things to Tom would have really substantiated and strengthened the evidence he had provided in the packets to the executives. He had it, so I'm not sure why Crichton decided he wouldn't use it.
I believe Crichton was trying to make some of the characters wishy-washy to really enforce the trust no one message that Tom received via email on the big scary internet (LOL, iykyk); but I think it was done poorly. Why he would engage with Blackburn at all after learning about the complaint that Meredith lodged against him knowing that Blackburn was the attorney for the company and would be representing Meredith's side, just doesn't make sense. This again ties into my first point that as intelligent as Crichton was trying to make Tom seem for coming up with this brilliant plan on how to prove he's telling the truth about what happened, he does some pretty dumb things, or things that don't make any sense.
Still giving 4 stars because I just enjoy Crichton's writing that much.
jlink17's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content