Disclosure

I feel very ambivalently about this book. On the one hand, i was engrossed in the plot and really wanted to know what was going to happen. It is also very important for the stories of men who are sexually harassed by women bosses to be told.

On the other hand, this book's take on the subject did not come off as feminist or liberatory for people of any gender. Of the book's women characters, only one is decent; the others are "bitches" or neutral. The one self-identified feminist character in the book, sadly, falls into the "bitch" category. Add to that the many comments by various characters in the book disparaging women's right, anti-harassment laws, and women's position in the corporate world. All of those statements could have been over-ridden by the book's characterization of its female actors. Unfortunately, Crichton lost an opportunity to show how women in the corporate world can be allies of men in the fight against sexual harassment and how men can support other men in the same fight. His brief epilogue fails to counter the overall impression that the book leaves.

Thomas Sanders has a new female boss.He has known her in the past.But now,she has a lot of power over him.

She comes on to him after work,he finds that he has been passed over for promotion,and the next morning,she accuses him of sexual assault.This woman is now playing the innocent victim.

Now,he has a fight on his hands,to save his career,and his reputation.
Michael Crichton could come up with some interesting ideas for his books,and this is one of them.

But stretching this book,for over 400 pages,was not such a great idea.It drags a fair bit in the middle.The story could easily have been told in half the number of pages.

It became a motion picture,featuring Michael Douglas,and Demi Moore.It also became a Bollywood movie,Aitraaz.

And that movie,although it was a copy, was very good.Priyanka Chopra's performance,as the female villain,very early in her career,was unforgettable.

I recommend it if you are looking for a quick read. It's about 400 pages and I read it in three days. The story is extremely complicated. The plot is so convoluted that I'm still not quite sure it all ties together. There are plot twists every few pages. In fact, there really is nothing but plot twists. Crichton does not allow plot threads to play out before there is another turn in the story. This might make the novel sound like hackery, but a confusing and meandering plot is necessary to the themes Crichton wants to stress.

Crichton used a technique in this book I don't think I've ever encountered. A few of the major plot twists are incredibly obvious, even hundreds of pages in advance. They are so obvious that it is obvious to me that Crichton wanted them to be obvious to the reader. (How many times can you use the word "obvious" in one sentence?) These obvious plot twists depend on the characters putting things together that the reader, in a position of relative omnipotence, can't help but put together. This creates a different type of suspense to the novel. As you read, you keep waiting for the obvious plot twist to materialize, imploring the characters to connect dots, yet knowing they can't until they become educated on what the dots actually are. This suspense, combined with the suspense that arises with unexpected plot twists, makes for a fascinating read.

The book is not literature, but it isn't merely escape fiction either. It raises a lot of provoking questions concerning allegations of sexual harassment and how they are used as weapons in the business world; corporate politics and the moral ambiguities associated with "getting ahead" in the corporate structure; and the psychology of self-justification and self-delusion.

Good book.

Read the book and saw the movie fifteen years ago. It was nice to spend couple days with Sanders, happy with his personal life and work. Sexual harassment, office politics turns him inside out.

This is not a #metoo novel. Published in the early 90's, it might seem ahead of its time tackling the subject of superior-subordinate sexual harassment, but what we really have is a corporate thriller wrapped around the nugget of a litigious propriety claim. The nuance and negotiation of sexual interplay makes for a red hot core, though not a sordid one expressed with endless repetitions of bedroom farce; this is an airport novel, but not that kind of airport novel. The sex is the trigger. What unfolds is a tight thriller that is propelled along at ballistic velocity. Entertaining and thoughtful. My only complaint is that Crichton fails to make his antagonist anything more than a ruthless careerist with no background to provide motive or reason. Every other character is given dimension and credence as to what their part is; Meredith Johnson, whose bottomless appetite for shtupping her lackeys finally catches up with her, has no more dimension than the page she is printed on. Lost opportunity, because she could have been a compelling rather than a plot device villain.

I found this book really outdated.

Disclosure. Buku yang pertama kali diterbitkan pada tahun 1994 ini, agak berbeda dengan buku-buku Chrichton lainnya yang pernah saya baca, yang pada bagian awalnya saja sudah "to the point" sci-fi banget. Nah, Disclosure ini pada beberapa bagian awalnya, justru gak sci-fi banget. Malahan saya sendiri sempat mau DNF bacanya, hahaha.... If you know what I mean :P. Setelah dipikir-pikir, eh, ini bukunya Chrichton lho... penasaran juga dengan kejutan-kejutan dan ide-ide cerdas seperti apa yang akan disajikan Chrichton di bagian-bagian selanjutnya. Akhirnya saya coba lanjut baca, dan setelah selesai, sumpah ya saya menyesel. Menyesal sekali, karena pernah mengabaikan buku ini begitu saja selama kurang lebih 3 tahunan ini. Ternyata bukunya bagus!

Mengangkat tema sexual harrasment, cerita diawali dengan kejadian pelecehan yang dilakukan oleh seorang atasan wanita, Meredith Johnson, terhadap salah satu bawahan prianya, seorang kepala divisi, bernama Thomas Sanders. Namun keesokan harinya, justru Sanders menerima laporan dari atasannya yang lain, bahwa ia telah melakukan pelecehan terhadap Mrs. Johnson.

Sanders, yang sebelumnya hidup nyaman dengan istri dan kedua anaknya dan dengan prestasi di tempat kerjanya yang terus menanjak, kemudian harus mendapati kenyataan baru; dimutasi, kemungkinan dipecat, dituduh melakukan perbuatan yang tidak dilakukannya, dan dicibir bahkan oleh orang-orang yang tidak mengenalnya karena perlawanannya untuk membuktikan bahwa dia lah yang dilecehkan oleh Mrs. Johnson dianggap sebagai sesuatu yang tidak masuk akal. Dengan menempuh jalur hukum, Sanders kemudian menemukan bahwa ada motif lain di balik pelecehan yang menimpa dirinya. Motif yang tidak hanya berkaitan dengan keberlangsungan perusahaan, tetapi juga kasusnya ini dijadikan sebagai senjata taktik politik

Cerita yang diangkat dari kisah nyata ini, something that I was not aware of previously, bergenre thriller dan suspense yang memikat khas Chrichton. Seperti yang saya tulis sebelumnya, pada awalnya, saya mengira bahwa ini hanya tentang drama percintaan, selanjutnya mungkin tentang perselingkuhan dan berbagai macam permasalahan rumah tangga *Duhh berat ya... Tapi semakin banyak bab yang saya baca, dugaan saya itu ternyata salah, unsur-unsur seperti: hukum dan kriminal, politik, teknologi dan tentu saja sains tersaji dalam buku ini, juga hal-hal lucu terkait teknologi pada masa itu yang sudah tidak relevan dengan kecanggihan teknologi pada masa sekarang ini.

Dengan tema dan jalan cerita seperti yang saya sampaikan tadi, jelas bahwa buku ini diperuntukkan bagi dewasa. Sekalipun scene mengenai pelecehan itu hanya ada pada bagian awal cerita saja, namun saat pengungkapan kasus tersebut hingga menjelang penyelesaian konflik, kata-kata vulgar dan kasar kadang masih cukup banyak bertebaran dimana-mana.

Hal yang membuat saya betah mengikuti cerita pada buku ini adalah, seperti biasa, dengan cerdas Crichton sukses meramu kata-kata dan istilah-istilah sains yang njelimet menjadi sebuah cerita yang seru dan bikin nagih untuk dibaca. Seperti misalnya perusahaan tempat Johnson dan Sanders bekerja, yang juga menjadi setting utama pada cerita ini disebutkan telah mampu membuat sebuah teknologi virtual reality. Sesuatu yang biasa? Benar, kalau buku ini terbit pada masa sekarang-sekarang ini, hal tersebut sudah sangat biasa, tetapi ini diceritakan pada tahun 1994, bahkan dari informasi yang saya dapat Chrichton mulai menulis bukunya ini sejak akhir tahun 1980-an, dimana teknologi tersebut masih belum atau sangat jarang ditemui secara umum. That's why I never cease to be amazed by the genius who was Michael Crichton and this book opened my eyes to how the law looks impartially at the issue.

I couldn't find the cover that matches the 1993 edition paperback that shows the Seattle skyline n the middle. I was surprised to learn at the "AFTERWARD" that this book is based on a true story. There are sexual harassment issues. I don't recall ever being sexually harassed I believe I just assumed the air that you don't do it to me, ever. But then there are men who just don't get it, obviously women too