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8 internautes sur 9 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
4.0étoiles sur 5
An important, timely novel but not without its flaws, Nov. 30 2006
Michael Crichton does in Next what he's always done so well in his novels- he explores the scientifically possible and shows us how our decisions to use (or misuse) new technologies can lead to unintended, even disastrous consequences.
Although a case could be made that there are enough characters and plotlines in Next for three or four novels, Crichton's intentions seem to be to deliberately overwhelm us with the dizzying pace of genetic research and all the opportunities for both tremendous good and alarming malevolence in its application. A true Pandora's box in that our scientific curiosity can sometimes get the better of us, the more we learn how to tinker with the very building blocks of life, the more temptations we face to play God. And as Crichton correctly demonstrates in his multi-layered novel, these temptations will not be meted out in some easily digestible fashion, they will come screaming at us in ever increasing numbers until our ability to distinguish the good from the bad is overwhelmed. And just like those multitude of spirits Pandora set free, there will be no going back into the box- discoveries might be lost, but they aren't unmade, particularly ones of this significance and magnitude.
The upside in Next: the end to most diseases and genetic defects is finally within sight. The downside: with all the money involved, there comes a loss of individual privacy and even certain freedoms.
Crichton's first question: are these remarkable discoveries truly worth the price? Crichton's next two questions: will we ever really know the answer to the first question, and will it come too late?
One misstep on Crichton's part: the abrupt switches between story lines- he makes readers work harder than they should have to in order to follow along. But given the timeliness and importance of the story, it's worth the extra effort even though the problem could have been mitigated by some restructuring.
Nonetheless, as thrilling as anything he's ever written- made even more dramatic by the potential for some of it to come true, and sooner rather than later- Next is a worthy read.
-Mark Wakely, author of An Audience for Einstein
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2 internautes sur 2 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
4.0étoiles sur 5
WISECRACKING GREY PARROTS & GREY ETHICAL AREAS, Mars 8 2008
This is the best of Crichton and the worse of Crichton. Ever since the ANDROMEDA STRAIN, this is the writer that rides not just the zeitgeist wave but the very edge of biomedical breakthroughs - and makes great novels on the issues they raise. The SPHERE, CONGO, JURASSIC PARK are all excellent biothrillers. In NEXT he seems to have managed the first but neglected the later.
This is collection of loosely related stories, all linked in some way or the other to either transgenic organisms or gene patenting; and all dosed under the light of the human science...being, well, all too human. Family obligations, personal choices, ambition, shortsightedness and pure greed bear much more influence on the outcome of the scientific process than most scientists will ever admit. I should know, I am a NeuroBiologist myself...
I found NEXT to be quite interesting, and eagerly followed some of the story-lines in the early morning hours. Yet, at the same time, there was no backbone to the story other than the cautionary message. This made the novel, at first to give the feeling of never-actually-taking-off, only to finally turn into an informative episodic collection of characters I hardly cared for.
This is, at most, a 3.5 stars novel. I rounded it up (rather than down) because of the great books Crichton has given us in the past. My advise to Michael Crichton would be "no writer is big enough to totally ignore his editors".
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3.0étoiles sur 5
Order Up!, Déc 21 2007
a "torn from the headlines" book, i recognized some of the "news" flashes inserted between chapters - it's hard to tell fact from fiction though. Lots of talking animals, lawsuits, greedy scientists, scientific technobabble, multiple storylines that start, leap forward, then petri out. The narrative style seems to suit the modern quick-jump movie styles (Traffic, Babel, etc.) MC slams US policies in a number of areas and the ineffectiveness of the courts and Congress. On the whole, an entertaining, almost believable, book.
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