one of my new favorite books ever. so incredibly well written. the message is still fresh even 30 years after it was originally published. a must read from a classic author.

4.75 stars



Verily, "Disclosure" by Michael Crichton hath been a tale most intriguing and engrossing to this humble reader's mind. This tome hath stirred many thoughts within my soul, and I would give it a rating of 4.75 stars out of 5.

One aspect that pleased me most in this book was the boldness of the theme; the issue of sexual harassment of men by women. The author hath crafted a tale that is not afraid to confront this topic head-on, without portraying women as angels or granting any undue sympathy to them. The villainess depicted within these pages is not merely a caricature, but a fleshed-out character with her own delusions and motivations.

The author's approach to the subject of sexual harassment is both nuanced and thought-provoking, and doth force one to ponder the complexity of such matters. This is not a book that shies away from uncomfortable truths or difficult questions, and for that I am most grateful.

Furthermore, the writing style of this book is most impressive. The author's use of language is masterful, and the story flows with ease and grace. The characters are well-drawn and memorable, and their interactions doth ring true.

Overall, I found "Disclosure" to be a book of great merit and significance, that doth tackle a topic of much import with bravery and skill. This is a tale that doth linger in one's thoughts long after the final page is turned, and I doth heartily recommend it to all who seek a thought-provoking and well-crafted work of fiction.

TW: Sexual Harassment

I must admit that this was not what I had expected at all. Based on my first impression, I thought the story was about employees who were romancing at the office, but boy was I pleasantly surprised! The plot was more complex than I thought. In hindsight, I should not be shocked at all. After all, Crichton was a prolific storyteller and although he was famous for his Jurassic Park, he was also the genius behind ER and many other notable works.

There were so many good lines in the book that I feel compelled to share every single one but by doing so, I’d probably risk spoiling the story. Here’s one to bait you into reading the book if you haven’t already:

“Unfortunately, the law has nothing to do with justice, Mr Sanders. It’s merely a method for dispute resolution”.

What’s interesting to me was that the one being sexually harassed was the male protagonist, whose shrewd new female boss preyed upon for power. From the beginning, Crichton pointed out that "Power is neither male nor female” and while we usually hear cases where women are being harassed by their male superiors, it’s good to remind ourselves that the reverse is also not uncommon.

Throughout the book, I wondered if Crichton himself was a feminist, but I couldn’t find anything concrete to substantiate this. I thought Crichton did a good job with some of the characters. I was grateful for the representation of the women in the story; those who were great at their job, and also those who abused their power to get what they want in life. However, there were some figures who were often mentioned but lacking in character growth.

This was written in 1994 so a lot of ‘technology’ mentioned was outdated. I’m sure at the time it was written, this was ground-breaking but as we all know, technology evolves rapidly so reading it in 2021 I couldn’t help but chuckle. CD-ROMs anyone?

I was hyped up to see Malaysia being mentioned in the book, but after some paragraphs, I realized that they were not representing Malaysia in a good light. Although to be fair, they weren’t necessarily wrong either. Haha yikes

Crichton also mentioned that the book was based on a true account of a male employee being harassed by a female boss. I truly felt that Crichton was ahead of his time, where it was probably the norm that people would deride the idea of a man showing more of the characteristics usually associated with women due to the assumption that the latter is the ‘lesser’ gender.

Thought-provoking and ahead of its time, I’d recommend this book especially those interested to learn more about power play.

I hated this the first time I read it back in the summer of 2008. Reading it between research projects in a hot stuffy room meant I was already in a sour mood, and the toxic feminism in the book did not help. This time around, I figured that I could read it with a more open mind and have a different opinion.

I still hate it. Not just because of the toxic feminism, but the toxic office politics and gaslighting. Too much of a reminder of the job environment I left.