It's not very often that I experience self-consciousness while reading a book. This book inspired that kind of feeling in me by its being so poorly crafted that I felt absolutely philistine. I'm not sure if Crichton just had a bad writing streak, or if my tastes in reading have moved on - but his most recent book, Next, was an astounding disappointment.

Next focuses on the potential that present day and up and coming genetic technologies may have upon our society and way of life. A cautionary tale not unlike many of Crichton's other novels, this book was designed to intimidate and bring forward the scarier possibilities that new genetic technologies pose. I was reminded of the multi-cultural movie "Babel" while reading this book, in that the author kept multiple and separate stories narrated in tandem, each story connected one way or another.

Although I remain critical about the worth behind the content and some of the choices that were made to communicate the information in the book, that's not to say that I didn't encounter portions of the book that kept me interested and reading longer than I intended so that I could see around the next corner of the twisting plot. Even though this book didn't cater to my desire for mental stimulation, I certainly can't deny that the book did have some page-turning thriller value with a wide appeal range because of the mixed plot lines ranging from John Grisham-like legal intrigue to some science fiction action. For these reasons, I would suggest that anyone looking for a fast reading 400 page book, this one is it. Just don't expect to come out enlightened by Michael Crichton's musings this time around.

I really enjoy Crichton’s writing, and this one is no exception. Not his best work but it’s a pretty fun read. Some parts became a bit dull like the monkey going to live with the family. I could have done without some bits. Overall a good weekend read.

Lots of interesting ethical issues come up in this book. Gene patenting, ownership of a person’s body cells, treatment of hybrid apes, blah blah blah…

Amongst all of this, and between the various news articles, is a confusing plot, or plots, about a woman being hunted for her cells, a man who invents a nasal spray that can make people mature, a talking ape, and a parrot called Gerard who can do arithmetic.

Although interesting and fast paced, there was not enough focus on any one character for me to really care what happened to anyone. Out of all the characters in the book, I have to say I liked Gerard, the talking parrot, the best. I was much more interested in what happened to him than anyone, and after reading the book I have hopes that he ended up in some tropical location and started a nest with a nice female parrot and is now bringing about a new generation of parrot who can have conversations with each other. Maybe they will take over from us stupid humans when we go extinct because we spend too much time arguing in court, or fuck up our genetics…or whatever.

Not a bad read though, filled a gap.

Not much of an ending, but definitely a page-turner. Very well-researched novel.

NEXT is one hell of a roller coaster ride. It is a chilling and cautionary tale about gene research, gene therapy, and experimentation with transgenic species. Can researchers patent genes? Can they own a person’s genes, and if yes can they take them from you whenever they want? Most chilling is can researchers use your tissues/blood after a procedure in any way they see fit because it was considered waste and unwanted?

There are multiple characters and storylines, but in classic Crichton form, they converge over multiple fast moving chapters and culminate in unexpected ways. A very engaging read. Was inspired to go back and read a Crichton book after watching WestWorld. I forgot how much I love his writing and miss it. Michael Crichton has a gift for writing about modern science/medicine in an engaging way for the everyday reader.

A fictional thriller with multiple storylines related to genetic testing and research. The story itself was only ok but the really interesting part is the science. I'm keen to follow this up with some non-fiction on the topic to work out how much of Crichton's creation is real.

It had so much potential, it could have expanded the Biopunk genre, a whole series would have been possible, but Chrichton failed epically after a promising beginning.

You certainly know that the human brain memorizes negative and traumatizing experiences much better, because it´s better for survival to avoid them in future, and I still vividly remember reading, being fascinated, reading some articles about genetic engineering inspired by the novel, to start wondering, and to be completely disappointed after reading it.

Well, Chrichton had his 2 to 3 good books and the rest is average to trash, in this case, it´s a hybrid of a good idea, a good first half, and a prime example of how to get completely boring, waste a perfect plot, and leave the reader angry and dumbfounded just thinking:

„Why no more subplots? Why no action, no further development of the genetic enhancement ideas? Why are the premise and the motivation of the main characters so unreliable? How could Chrichton be so popular at his time, was it just the lack of alternatives or did they think in 2007!!! that this is a good novel?“

Don´t read it, it will just disappoint you. Or get it free or cheap and just read the first half.

Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...

Disappointed by Crichton. Although he attempts to bring to the forefront some of the problems associated with genetic research and the complex legal, ethical, and social issues that the research leads to, the story doesn't quite hold together. There are way too many characters each doing their own thing but he tries to establish some common thread but largely fails. Then there are random sex scenes that detract from the main story. Leaving out the sex scenes would have no impact on the story itself, so they are largely irrelevant except, I guess, to attempt to titillate the reader (fail!).

When the epilogue to a book and the works that are cited in the epilogue are more interesting, that's a strong signal that the book sucks.

Komplain awal gw adalah di buku ini yg diceritakan adalah transgenik manusia dengan simpanse. Lalu yg ditemukan bisa ngomong dua bahasa, Belanda dan Perancis, di Sumatra adalah orangutan. Tapi, demi apa cover di buku versi Indonesia ini adalah gorila???!!!

Buku-buku Crichton selalu bertema ilmu pengetahuan (eh, gak tau lagi kalo Disclosure. Belum baca yg ini) dan minimal bawa-bawa hukum sedikit. Yg jelas topik yg dibahas selalu menarik. Kali ini, beliau menyoroti soal kecanggihan rekayasa genetika. Jaman sekarang sudah bukan ranah yg ajaib lagi, mengingat tempe yg kita makan aja kedelainya juga hasil rekayasa genetika. Di buku ini dikisahkan awalnya turis-turis yg melancong ke hutan hujan di Sumatra untuk melihat orangutan, mendadak bertemu dengan orangutan yg fasih misuh-misuh pake bahasa Belanda dan Perancis (kita pernah dijajah Perancis ya?). Sontak saja media langsung berusaha meliputnya yg berujung pada kemunculan orang-orang tamak yg mencoba menangkap si orangutan untuk dipamerkan. Masalahnya, sampe bab terakhir, nggak dijelasin bagaimana si orangutan ini dapat bicara. Lalu adalah Henry Kendall yg "bermain-main" dengan gen, sehingga tidak sengaja menciptakan Dave, simpanse yg memiliki gen manusia. Lalu ada Gail Bond dengan Gerard-nya, kakatua kelabu Afrika yg juga diberi gen manusia sehingga bisa berbicara layaknya orang biasa. Hal ini tentu aja bertentangan (paling utama) dengan masalah etika, ibarat kayak main-main jadi Tuhan. Dan pada dasarnya, penggabungan intraspesies (baik lewat inseminasi buatan maupun seksual) efeknya nggak akan berhasil untuk jangka waktu lama. Biasanya kalau nggak mati cepet ya mandul.

Isu kedua yg diangkat di buku ini adalah pematenan sebuah gen. Gw juga baru tahu bahwa gen-gen diteliti dan BISA dipatenkan!!! Jadi beberapa universitas "menggenjot" profesornya untuk menemukan gen baru lalu hasil penemuannya dipatenkan dan dijual ke perusahaan-perusahaan yg "memperbanyak" gen tersebut yg akhirnya memunculkan produk baru untuk kesehatan dan kecantikan. Yg ingin diangkat oleh Crichton adalah betapa berbahayanya model perdagangan tersebut, karena hal tersebut menuju ke monopoli terhadap sesuatu yg dimiliki semua makhluk hidup. Sampai-sampai, Crichton menganalogikan jika si A mematenkan sebuah penemuan misalnya tentang hidung mancung 10 cm, maka semua hidung mancung 10 cm di dunia adalah milik si A. Setiap saat si A butuh hidung mancung 10 cm, maka dia bebas mengambilnya dari siapa saja karena dia punya patennya. Serem kan?

Menarik sekali apa yg dibahas oleh Crichton. Namun, masalahnya, buku ini kelewat banyak memiliki kasus (dan tokoh). Jika dirunut, sebenernya ada keterkaitan satu dengan yg lain, tetapi karena cuma satu buku, pembaca kebanyakan kesulitan mengingat korelasi antara tokoh satu dengan yg lain. Belum lagi artikel-artikel sisipan macam transgenik kaktus-rambut manusia sebagai karya seni, kontroversi prediksi kepunahan gen pirang pada tahun 2202, lalu ada perusahaan yg membeli lemak-lemak selebriti untuk dijadikan sabun batangan bahkan ada chef yg masak pake lemak yg berasal dari (maaf) bokongnya. Belum lagi daftar pustaka yg dicantumkan Crichton di akhir buku. Dari situ tampak bahwa Crichton ini updated dan sangat kekinian, beserta mampu melahap buku-buku njelimet untuk riset novelnya. Namun (sekali lagi), entah kenapa, kayaknya cara beliau menuangkan pemikiran dan hasil bacaannya tersebut nampak terburu-buru dan dipaksa untuk dipadatkan dalam satu buku. Jadinya ya....kayak buku ini....



Kurang memuaskan -- apalagi kalo udah baca buku-buku Crichton yg lain.

What a truly frightening book. Unfortunately, the scenarios presented are all too real and happening now which is what makes it frightening. I don't won't to give anything away, suffice it to say that this book covers genetics, and is eye opening!

Un libro que me gustó bastante.
No le di las 5 estrellas porque son muchas historias pequeñitas y algunas no llegan a nada o se desinflan o se quedan a la mitad.
Pero como todas son entretenidas, y el libro tiene capítulos cortos que de pronto resultan incluso adictivos, lo hace merecedor de las 4 estrellas.

Me hubiera gustado que fuera un poco más largo o que algunos personajes fueran omitidos, pero en general, si la sinopsis te llama la atención, es 100% recomendable.
Eso sí, no resuelve ningún misterio, y al final todo eso de los chimpancés parlantes se queda en nada. Pero sí hay algo por el estilo (relacionado a los chimpancés) que está un poco mejor desarrollado.

También hay que entender que el libro es del 2006, así que si lo vemos desde esa perspectiva, tiene cierto encanto por todo lo adelantado que estaba a su época.

Fun fast read, ends kind of abruptly but if you need a page turner this one’s for you.