Considering how disappointing Michael Crichton's last several books have been for me (everything written post-"Jurassic Park"), I was hesitant about picking this up. I'm glad I did. Crichton has written a fascinating, funny, horrific, and spellbinding story about genetic engineering and the political/ethical/socioeconomic ramifications surrounding it. And he actually tells a pretty decent story. Stem cell research? Genetically modified foods? That's nothin' compared to the shit Crichton is writing about here. Scary stuff.

Μια εισαγωγή περί σαπουνόπερας πριν μπω στα του βιβλίου
Η σαπουνόπερα είναι μια ραδιοφωνική ή τηλεοπτική σειρά που ασχολείται ειδικά με οικιακές καταστάσεις και συχνά χαρακτηρίζεται από μελόδραμα και συναισθηματικότητα. Ο όρος "σαπουνόπερα" προήλθε από ραδιοφωνικά δράματα που αρχικά χρηματοδοτήθηκαν από κατασκευαστές σαπουνιών.


Ένα κρίσιμο στοιχείο που καθορίζει τη σαπουνόπερα είναι ο ανοιχτός χαρακτήρας της αφήγησης, με ιστορίες που εκτείνονται σε διάφορα επεισόδια. Κάθε επεισόδιο τελειώνει με μια υπόσχεση ότι η ιστορία θα συνεχιστεί σε ένα άλλο επεισόδιο.

Οι ιστορίες μιας σαπουνόπερας τρέχουν ταυτόχρονα, τέμνονται και οδηγούν σε περαιτέρω εξελίξεις. 

Ένα μεμονωμένο επεισόδιο μιας σαπουνόπερας εναλλάσσεται γενικά μεταξύ πολλών ταυτόχρονων αφηγηματικών νημάτων που μπορεί μερικές φορές να διασυνδέονται και να επηρεάζουν το ένα το άλλο ή μπορεί να τρέχουν εντελώς ανεξάρτητα μεταξύ τους.


Ας εφαρμόσουμε τα πιο πάνω στο συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο

Το ΝΕΧΤ από τον Μάικλ Κράιτον είναι ένα μυθιστόρημα ασχολείται εκτός από την τεχνολογία της γενετικής και της παραβιάσεις ηθικής που προκαλεί (αλλοίωση γονιδίων, κλωνοποίηση, διασταυρούμενη αναπαραγωγή κλπ.) ασχολείται επίσης και με τις οικιακές καταστάσεις ατόμων που είτε είναι γενετιστές είτε ασθενείς τους όπως επίσης και το κοντινό οικογενειακό και φιλικό περιβάλλον. Εκτός από ανάλυση ιατρικών όρων υπάρχει άθφονο μελόδραμα και συναισθηματικότητα.

Ένα κρίσιμο στοιχείο που καθορίζει αυτό το βιβλίο είναι ο ανοιχτός χαρακτήρας της αφήγησης, με ιστορίες που εκτείνονται σε καμιά εκατοστή κεφάλαια μικρής έκτασης . Κάθε κεφάλαιο τελειώνει με μια υπόσχεση ότι η ιστορία θα συνεχιστεί σε ένα άλλο κεφάλαιο.

Οι 7 τουλάχιστον ιστορίες του βιβλίου διαδραματίζονται ταυτόχρονα, τέμνονται, και οδηγούν σε περαιτέρω εξελίξεις. Εναλλάσσονται γενικά πολλά ταυτόχρονα αφηγηματικά νήματα που μπορεί μερικές φορές να διασυνδέονται και να επηρεάζουν το ένα το άλλο ή μπορεί να τρέχουν εντελώς ανεξάρτητα μεταξύ τους.

Και ξέροντας ότι ο Μάικλ Κράιτον δημιούργησε το ER (Στην Εντατική) την φημισμένη ιατρική σαπουνόπερα με πρωταγωνιστή στον 1ο κύκλο τον Τζορτζ Κλούνεϊ, δεν μου φαίνεται που αυτό το βιβλίο ήταν όντως ιατρική σαπουνόπερα με στοιχεία επιστημονικού θρίλερ.

Τελευταίο βιβλίο που έκδωσε ο Κράιτον ενόσω ήταν εν ζωή. Εκδόθηκε το 2006 και 2 χρόνια αργότερα το 2008 ο Κράιτον πέθανε από την επάρατη νόσο. Αν και το τελευταίο του βιβλίο που είδε να εκδίδεται δεν είναι από τα καλύτερά του (για μένα).

Αν πάλι θέλετε λίγη ιατρική σαπουνόπερα με άφθονο μελόδραμα αυτό το βιβλίο είναι ό,τι πρέπει για σας.

4.5 Stars for Next (audiobook) by Michael Crichton read by Dylan Baker.

This was an interesting jump back into one of the author’s favorite subjects. This story looks at genetics from several different perspectives with some of those stories intersecting each other. Hold on it’s a deep dive into a crazy world that we might be living in soon.

A really great scientific/slightly futuristic thriller-style novel that gives you an insight into the dog eat dog world of genetics and biotechnology. The way all the stories intertwined was entertaining, and the book was obviously well researched, although the scientific language was easily understood. My only negative criticism is that the abundance of characters, chronologies and narrators was occasionally difficult to keep track of.

The book has a great moral (well, several) that are littered throughout the story and in the author's notes at the end of the book, and it definitely opened up my eyes to the power of science in our modern world.

Fast paced story with a ton of subplots that plays like a popular soap opera of your choice. Topics range from legal battles over human tissue (including the right to have bounty hunters go after the descendants of said tissue), transgenic apes, one transgenic parrot (that talk tough if provoked), biotech espionage vs. competitors, gene patenting, and a lot of angry people.

There's some scientific info woven into this tale as well but not too much yet I still learned about some new things like chimeras and how close animals and such are closer to us than we want to admit. Tons of moralistic questions and ones that should concern us as we aren't terribly far from this possible future. Although the book is long the chapters are short with cliffhangers so it flows nicely. The ape kid is one of the best top four characters in this novel.

CHARACTERS/DIALOGUE: B plus to A minus; STORY/PLOTTING: A; HOTNESS OF SAID TOPIC AND FUTURE DISCUSSION: A; NEW WORLD EXPOSURE: B plus; WHEN READ: October to January 2011 (review formatting change 8/23/2012); MY GRADE: B plus to A minus.

This could have been a thrilling book, really, but it definitely isn't! Crichton picked a very interesting topic (genetic engineering) but failed to make a coherent book out of it: a chaotic plot, uninteresting characters, disjointed storylines that are woven together towards the end of the book but don't make much sense, an ending that left characters and situations unresolved (not to mention the cuttings about the evolutionary fate of blondes?!)... "Completely brilliant", it says on the front cover of this novel, which makes me wonder, did we read the same book??? This was definitely a thorough disappointment for me. Michael Crichton has written some great novels in the past, but "Next" isn't up to their standards.

I read this a long time ago but apparently forgot to add it to Goodreads. If you want a quick summary of my thoughts:

The number of characters, stories, and plotlines in this book were probably way too many for a single book. They might have even been too many for a duology of books. From reading the reviews, I know that this was the single most antagonizing thing of the book. I, however, found that I really enjoyed how he laid it all out. I love character insights at the worst of times, but coupled with death, drugs and other illegal sh*t? That's a match made in heaven.

Science runs amok when introduced to the profit motive.

This is a work of fiction, but firmly rooted in the possibilities of today. Genetic capitalization, that is the name of the game and Crichton spins multiples stories that all revolve around how the progress of science can be (and likely already is) used and abused for capital gains. In a world that has seen the proliferation of drug commercials, sky-rocketing drug costs, and morally ambiguous legal decisions regarding big pharma, much of what lies between these pages is completely believable. Of coarse, Crichton has to wrap it all up in a thriller/adventure dressing, but that's okay, it's the 'spoon full of sugar' theory in literary action.

The multiple story lines are okay, there is little to no real character development, but in the end is that what you expect from Crichton? I think not - I know I don't. It's a page turner that will make you think a bit, and that is kind of his shtick, and there is certainly much worse out there. It's solid and entertaining. The most engaging characters, Gerard and Dave, are not even human (though not completely non-human either), but they seem to have more depth than the rest of the cast all rolled together. The events will keep you reading; it's plot driven with a steady rat-a-tat drum line.

Crichton is a mass seller, I understand that, and I am not about to criticize making STEM topics palatable or consumable for the masses, but there are times that his writing seems patronizing. Do people really not know the difference between apes and monkeys? Do we need to have the fact that there is a difference between the two repeated soooo many times? Please no more Gomer Pyle characters yelling about monkeys while face-to-face with an Orangutan. I mean, every character seemed to understand how genetic engineering would basically work, but the concept of ape not monkey was beyond them - Yarg.

Fantastic book. Immensely futuristic even as it shows you what is actually happening today. The fact that transgenic animals have been created for decades was an eye-opener. The book clearly has a viewpoint on genetic engineering and there is an author's note at the end which is a must-read. Highly recommend this to anyone who is looking an intelligent thriller, even though the book is also satire.

3.5

Science Fiction Thriller published 2006

4 stars for a book that got me thinking about things I know nothing about.

This might be a work of science fiction but what’s scary is that it’s all based on fact.

This book takes a long hard look at the human and animal genome and the lengths we are prepared to go to manipulate it.
But that’s not the scary part, the scary part is how the human genome has become corporatized.
It beggars belief that an intelligent, responsible judge could give ownership of a persons genes to a corporation or a university. As hard as that is to comprehend this has, in reality, happened.

The thriller part concerns a family who are relentlessly persuade by the company who owns the genes of a family member, the grandfather. The intention is to remove, forcefully if need be, body tissue from his grandson.
The legal precedent is because as the company owns the grandfather’s genes and the genes of the grandson and the grandfather are one and the same they are, in law, the property of the company.
Now if that’s not scary I don’t know what is.

This is just a small part of what is a very complex story line
All I can say is that it gave me a lot to think about.

My only problem with the book was the excessive amount of medical and technical information. I had trouble enough reading some of the words let alone understanding their meaning. And there were pages and pages of the stuff.

But that apart, I am in awe of the amount of research the late Michael Crichton must have done in the pursuit of writing this book. The word that comes to mind is ‘dedication’.

It’s a great read but can be a slow slog at times.

Actually I liked this book. Don't know why majority readers thought this book was overrated. I was hooked from the word go. Well researched book, the author has taken pains to learn about genes and weave a story around it. The book was also interspersed with articles and essays on biotechnology related subjects.

To make it short, the book is about genetic technology and experiments around it including the discovery of various genes with behavioural traits. There are three or four plots in the book which are unconnected. There are greedy tycoons, unethical scientists and immoral health workers and abundant technical jargon thrown in to make the book interesting to the reader.

Simply put a very engrossing book.