Monday, November 21, 2005

The Lost World - Michael Cricthon

On the day of Ramzan, I finally had the time to finish off reading ‘The Lost World’ written by Michael Crichton. This was a classic Crichton novel. And like all Crichtons’ classics, I loved it. It was really endearing to read from an author seems to know what he is talking about. And the good thing about ‘The Lost World’ is that it is devoid of the jargon which accompanies the later works of Crichton. Like ’Timeline’. ’The Lost World’ is relatively more amenable to your logical mind and more acceptable in its speculations. Lots of serious philosophy in this one. In fact towards the end you get the feeling that the author is questioning the whole pursuit of science itself. What is glorified in one generation is ridiculed by the next and so on and so forth. The characterization for this novel has been especially awesome. The iconoclastic Ian Malcolm, the eccentric Richard Levine, the sensible Thorne and the lovable Eddie. Each of them having their distinct personalities. It was especially enjoyable to read about their interactions. Though all of these above mentioned characters are on the same side of morality, it was so easy to see how each one of them complemented and sometimes frustrated the others. And as with all the Cricthton’s works, there is that characteristic villain who misuses science for the wrong purposes and who dies a horrible death in the end. Reading a fast-paced Michael Crichton on a cold November morning in Hyderabad on what is a weekday-holiday is indeed a bibliomaniacs’ paradise.

1 comment:

Palanidaran said...

So you too a fan of MC ah. Great. He's one of the best authours of science fiction and he can write such believable stuff. In my opinion as well "The Lost World" is his best book. I read it long back, so don't remember much, but its a book to be read more than once. Should find the time to do so.