There’s a line between our awe of science and technology, with all the possibilities they offer us, and our fear of same, that the sense of control they offer is a lethal illusion. Few authors made that line their own as skillfully — and as profitably — as Michael Crichton. The author/screenwriter/director, who died Tuesday at age 66, had a knack for finding and exploring hot-button issues in his techno-thrillers — sexual harassment (Disclosure), epidemiology (The Andromeda Strain), airline safety (Airframe), the importation of Japanese business culture to the U.S. (Rising Sun), nanotechnology (Prey), global warming (State of Fear), and of course, genetic engineering (Jurassic Park, The Lost World, and Next). But he did so in a savvy, populist way by using these complex issues as MacGuffins for flashy, genre-plotted novels and movies. This was true ever since he abandoned his medical career for fiction, starting with his first book, A Case of Need (1968), a mystery novel that was really a way of addressing the issue of abortion, just a few years before Roe vs. Wade. Crichton considered himself a storyteller, not an educator or polemicist ("What I do is entertain people," he told EW in 1994, comparing himself to Dickens and Robert Louis Stevenson, masters of narrative only later inducted into the literary canon), but he still wanted you to learn something, and he was adept at sneaking the spinach in there with the cotton candy.
Crichton’s frequent message, that the mixture of science and arrogance will get us into trouble, is as old as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein,but Crichton managed to play both sides of the street. His tales arefrequently about puzzle-solving, with his characters forced to usetheir ingenuity to get out of messes that ingenuity got them into. Hisattention to detail and verisimilitude made applied science lookdangerous but tremendously cool — think of the androids in Westworld, the virtual reality simulation in the big-screen version of Disclosure, the tornado chasers in Twister, the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park (awe-inspiring at first, and then terrifying), and even the 19th-century cleverness involved in pulling off The Great Train Robbery.
Crichton’s critics often complained that his lavish attention tocool toys, gleaming surfaces, and scientific detail came at the expenseof fully fleshed characters. It’s often forgotten that, in addition tohis wildly successful literary endeavors, Crichton had a long career asa Hollywood director as well (Westworld, Coma, The Great Train Robbery, Looker),and indeed, his later novels often read like he’s already been castingthe movie in his head. Which is why his greatest creation, actually,may be TV’s ER. (Sorry, Jurassic Park fans.) It startedout as a film script he wrote when he was still making the transitionfrom doctor to writer. It collected dust for a quarter century beforebeing adapted into a TV series that’s now in its 15th season. Likeother Crichton subjects, ER itself has mutated in ways itscreator probably did not anticipate. And like most Crichton works, it’sabout the limits of technology, where humanity is forced to kick inonce applied science (in this case, medicine) has done all it can. It’sabout great storytelling, sure, but it’s also about trying to solveethical dilemmas that are bound to occur when human potential runs upagainst human nature, or just plain Nature itself.
Have a Michael Crichton memory you’d like to share? Please do so in the comments below.
More on Michael Crichton:
Michael Crichton profile
Michael Crichton: EW Power Issue
Michael Crichton profile (from Jurassic Park days)
TV Review: Adaptation of Michael Crichton’s The Andromeda Strain
Book review: Airframe
Book review: Next
Book review: Prey
Book review: State of Fear
Movie review: Twister (Crichton screenplay)
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RIP Michael Crichton.
Thanks for writing this post Gary. You got it just right. I thought the same things about Crichton’s writing and always looked forward to learning something while I was hugely entertained by his work. He’ll be missed.
A great author and idealist. He will be missed.
I always thought that ‘Jurassic Park’ was one of the best science fiction novels ever written with a brilliant premise of combining plausible science and fiction.
‘ER’ has also stood the test of time and was pivotal in introducing steady-cam shots to the mainstream as a way to throw the audience directly into the drama. I will never forget 1st season’s ‘Love Labor’s Lost’. On a somewhat cynical note, I’m sure his estate will be getting royalty checks for years from Warner Bros. TV.
He will be missed.
I love Michael Chrichton’s books. I wish ER were’nt finishing this season. I love that show
I credit Michael Crichton with getting me into reading. I was a kid and very much into television. My mom ordered The Lost World from some magazine, and I remember being curious about it; I had of course seen Jurassic Park the movie, so a sequel, in book form (!), was curious. I would flip through to certain parts and reads bits and pieces. I finally read the book in 6th grade for a book report, and loved it. My dad caught me up one Saturday morning reading instead of watching cartoons. I collected as many of his books as my parents could find in thrift stores (excluding Timeline, which was bought new in paperback) and I read as many as I could before other novels were introduced to me, and my reading universe expanded.
So, thank you, Michael Crichton. I’ll soon need glasses because of you, and I’m grateful for that. RIP.
A great author who in my mind ruined his legacy by writing a book bashing climate change science. History will not look kindly on this gaffe. That being said I am sorry to hear the news.
Michael, thank you for making fiction believable and well researched; and thank you for taking disparate facts, linking them together, and creating imaginative possibilities. I’ll miss your work. RIP.
Michael Crichton — global warming naysayer, the man who made terrorists out climatologists (State of Fear).
Ignorant doctors are still ignorant.
He was a man of immense intelligence and had a gift for writing books that taught you something as well as kept you turning the pages. I learned new things in all his books.
My favorite piece of writing by him was the chapter in Travels on climbing Mt Kilimanjaro.
Chrichton’s attack on “rabid environmentalists” in _State of Fear_ was a severe disappointment that launched me on an investigation of global warming denialism after I recognized his “facts” on malaria deaths as a fabrication. Chrichton interviewed climate scientists and chose to believe what he learned from a non-scientist, Steve Milloy, who had labored on behalf of the tobacco industry for many years before taking money from Exxon to “create doubt” about global warming.
Arrogance was turned on its head, and Chrichton became an unwitting tool. A sad end for a magnificent writer.
“I am certain there is too much certainty in the world.”
RIP MC
From Andromeda Strain to the Great Train Robberies onward to The Terminal Man and all of this later works, Michael has me hooked on his narrative story telling. The wife hated when I pick up his books b/c I couldn’t put them down until I finish. One of his book ending, I think it might have been State of Fear, shaped my consciousness. It went something about a new life start when you just shut off the dam# television. So now, I do not watch cable television anymore (only guilty of video and youtube). How often do you get bad news from the tv tube than good news? Another moment was about Michael growing up and telling stories to his siblings and parent around the dinner table. I encourage my kids to do the same (they do) and try to learn from Michael that learning to tell stories is one of the wonderful pleasure that life can offer. I am truly sad that Michael has moved onto the after life. And only at 66 years of age. Kinda young I feel. His candle burnt bright. I will miss
Michael Crichton’s books greatly influenced my initiation into reading. Thanks for this reminiscent article. I was always interested in science & was into some of Robin Cook’s early writing along with Crichton’s. These are some stand-out sections that stay with me:
-His imagination of telepathy & mind-control in ‘Sphere’
-His vision of virtual reality in ‘Disclosure’
-His depiction of Chaos theory in ‘Jurassic Park’ & believably linking it to extreme effects of cloning/gene manipulation/artificial ecosystems
-A very vivid imagination of the Lost city of Zinj in “Congo” which was brought to life very well in the movie
Many more such snippets come to mind. Most importantly, he came across for his acute attention to scientific detail and respect for readers’ intelligence. His books were always extensively researched & he definitely had the edge over any of his contemporary authors when it came to squeezing in that “tiny bit of spinach in the cotton candy”.
RIP Michael
so politically uncorrect : Crighton helped a lot, since he used to write in a very easy way, and broke a lot of readymade ideas we are living on.
I’ll miss him
When I was in junior high school The Andromeda Strain was the first Crichton book I ever read. I read it after seeing the movie for the first time. Then I found The Great Train Robbery… got a little bit of whiplash from the genre change. This was the same guy who wrote the Andromeda Strain? The Great Train Robbery is still my favorite of all his books. There was a lot of wonderful totally dry humor in it. Every since reading it I always watch these movies and TV shows with some idiot falling off of a speeding train or out of a moving car in a different light. Knowing full well that they aren’t likely to walk away from it alive. I still have that image of Edward Pearce on top of that train in my head.
All of his books teach you something you didn’t know. Or at least make you research it. They made science EXCITING and fun. Even his controversial book about global climate change. Yes, people got a bit annoyed with his conclusions…. but… since I didn’t agree with him I had to do my
His science fiction thrillers were the best and his style of writing is amazing..
RIP.. Really sad to see you go. You will be missed.
State of Fear made me like him even more.. Many people think it was a disappointment.But the message underlying the book was simple..
We human beings are arrogant.We think we are the masters of this world. But, some things are inevitable. Should we try to stop what we cant or should we try to get ready for a change that is going to happen anyways,. He didnot deny that the phenomenon of global warming will occur eventually, but he did take on the hype that was surrounding it and that hype was taking us the wrong path. If you are going to do something to save the planet, do it the right way. We should set our priorities right cause earth will still be there long after we perish.
Thanks Gary Susman. This was a beautiful tribute to Michael Crichton and I was deeply touched. I, too, agree that his greatest achievement was ER. I was and am still mesmerized by how much that show can make me feel week-to-week. The characters get to the heart of why saving people matters so much because at the end of the episode, usually the ones they were saving were themselves. How is that not relatable to everyday life? I can still remember sitting down and watching ER with my parents while I was in Junior High and I remember what it was like to read The Andromeda Strain for the first time. It is still one of my favorite books. His talent and brilliance will be missed and I just wanted to say thanks Michael Crichton, for helping me love beautifully articulated stories that melded science into literature.
His books encouraged my young teenage son to read. He was so enthralled with Crichton’s books he sent him a fan letter. Low and behold, an envelope with a hand written word of thanks came. Michael Crichton is a class act. He will be missed in many regards. Rest in Peace.
RIP. One of my favorite authors. I was afraid of flying until I read Airframe. Jurassic Park made dinosaurs even cooler and Chaos Theory interesting. My favorite book is Eaters of the Dead his version of Beowulf.
I’ve always thought Sphere was one of the great overlooked novels of recent times.
I was a class clown most of my adolescence and did not dare pick up a book to read unless threatened and forced. Jurassic Park was the 1st book I ever chose to read -by accident- and deeply impacted my life. Because of that book, I learned to love and enjoy science and learning. Several years and several degrees later, I am a physician because Crichton game me a love for learning. People who say books and authors can’t impact your life, are simply people who haven’t read the right book yet. Thank you, Michael Crichton. You have impacted my life and will be deeply missed.
I recall how unbelievably excited we were when we found out Jurassic Park was being made into a movie. In this case maybe the movie was almost as good as the book, of course with Spielberg as director one would expect no less. We had read the novels Jurassic Park and Lost World and were big fans from then on. One of my favorites, not mentioned in this article, was “Timeline”. Mr. Crichton was one of the best modern day story tellers. We will miss you , Sir. Peace to you and your family.
I read every single one of his books, and I am very sad, he was too young to pass, and to lose a great mind like this… he will be sorely missed. I LOVED STATE OF FEAR – one of the best things about MC was that he chose to write books on controversial topics. For those of you that are “mad at him” for writing STATE OF FEAR, I think we truly do not know the answers to this and it’s a matter of who you choose to believe. I, for one, am happy that by writing about unpopular topics, Michael Crichton opened our minds to other possibilities than just what we are told.
The Great Train Robbery was the best book I read in junior high, and it is still one of my very favorites.
Michael Crichton was proud of the fact that his books were plot-driven instead of character-based, and he was one of the most exciting writers of fiction to come out of the last century. I loved the way he blended scientific fact with logical predictions and fast-paced plots to create novels that read like beach blanket thrillers but stayed with you for weeks, months, even years later. Rising Sun, for instance, might have been about Asian influence on American business, but one of the things that always stuck with me was Crichton’s assertion that very soon most videotapes and photographs will become inadmissible as evidence based on how easy and cheaply images can be manipulated. I feel sorry for Crichton’s family; I can’t imagine their loss. But I feel sorrier for myself in the most selfish of ways. I will never get to read another of his great novels. The world has lost a substantial talent, and my personal world is much darker and bleeker than it was yesterday. Rest in peace.
MC helped get me into reading as well. I picked up JP in 6th grade after seeing the movie in the theater and have been hooked on books ever since. He is still one of my favorite authors to read and it’s a shame that we have seen the end of his stories. RIP
Can’t believe he is gone, I was waiting for his next book…it was such a delight to read his mesmerizing narrative with such high referenced themes. I hope they release the last one in the pipeline soon.
I can’t believe I had to find this out from Entertainment f*ckin’ Weekly!!!
I echo Mark’s comment below. I was a goofy and misunderstood pre-teen who found out that it was OK to be a scientist, no matter how uncool the other kids thought it was. Reading his novels was like taking apart a clock radio to understand how it works. My finace’ calls me “Nick-i-pedia” for the wealth of useless information in my head, and I owe most of that to the insatiable curriosity that was set loose by Crichton’s books.
Travels, more than any other book, changed my life. In it, Crichton talks about his life and how he walked away from medical school to pursue adventure and something he loved (writing). I read it at a time when I was struggling with the similar decisions in my life. I have carried those lessons with me around the world; to the peak of Kilimanjaro, the reefs of Australia and through my life as a successful attorney. I just wish I would have had the opportunity to thank him.