I cannot fault a book for when it was written, but it is a huge understatement to say that this book has not stood the test of time. It is a book about implanting a computer into someone's brain in order to treat a violent form of epilepsy. Computers were brand new technology in 1971 and Crichton's book focuses on the fears that people had about computers getting too powerful. Usually Crichton's books are chilling in their accounts of science going awry but, unfortunately in this case, his imagined fears are not so scary or believable in 2010.

The technology is not the only thing out dated about this book. This book depicts people smoking like chimneys in hospitals, the female doctor in the book is presumed to be a nurse or a pediatrician (not a real doctor), her psychiatrist tells her it is masculine for a woman to take a shower instead of a bath, the characters assume that in order to build a smarter computer it must have to be the size of a skyscraper, etc. The only thing he correctly predicts is the depersonalization of the US, except he contributes that to the introduction of highways and not to computers.

Overall, forgiving the fact that this book is from a different time, the plot is still predictable and the characters are not that interesting. I'm a big fan of Crichton and, unfortunately, this is not one of my favorites.

Since I lost my mind I have formed what is fair to call a morbid fascination in the human brain. I am equally intrigued as I am disgusted by it. So I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered the premise for The Terminal Man. Basically a man who suffers “psychomotor epilepsy” is the subject for a new and controversial experiment where computer chips are placed inside his brain. A control receptor thingy - (I’m not good with science; spare me the jargon) - is placed in his shoulder. The idea is that whenever he shows signs of lapsing into an epileptic seizure - (which in this case will not just have him convulsing on the floor, but beating people indiscriminately) - a pleasure signal is stimulated inside his brain, cancelling out the attack. Since this is a Crichton book, however, it does not take long before shit hits the fan. Seems to be a bad combination when you mix artificial intelligence with a fucking nutcase. What a surprise, huh Michael? Guess these bozos will never learn.

Published in 1971, this is Crichton's second official novel - (that is, one not published pseudonymously). It is also maybe the best Crichton book I have read so far. Oh man, it feels good to say that. You see, I’ve always loved Crichton since my wide child eyes scoured Jurassic Park in two days during high school. Unfortunately I found most of his stuff since then to be average at best. Being fair, I actually loved The Lost World when I gave it a second chance. And while Prey and Micro have their moments, they certainly weren’t amazing. Congo, on the other hand, was so fucking boring I went off reading him for over two years.
On deciding several weeks ago I ought to try another one, this is what I went with. And yeah, I’m happy to say that as soon as things kick off, this book is one hell of a fun read. Clocking in at just over 200 pages, it’s shorter than my orgasms. You begin thinking maybe it’s gonna be boring and overly scientific, but actually it gets interesting straight away. Like any good book by this man, it’s not just the mesmerising combo between high concept science and page-turning thrills, but the exploration of whatever idea was currently giving him nightmares. This time around it isn’t dinosaurs, giant insects, microchips or gorillas. It’s simply the idea that man will one day lose his individual self, replacing his brain - (his very soul) - with computer technology. Nearly fifty years later, with speculative talk of one day being able to access Google from our heads, I really think this idea is scarier - (and more relevant) - than any others he has had.

Also, while good Crichton is always fun, even his best books suffer from flat, unlikable characters. And while I’m sure that some would say the same for Terminal Man, I actually liked everyone in this book. Even the villain was essentially sympathetic. They felt more like real humans in this early book before he became established and was obviously still trying to prove himself. It’s a shame that later work does not reflect the same level of effort in fleshing out his characters. This book just felt different to the Crichton I was used to. There were so many minor features I really enjoyed. One of many was the abrupt ending which leaves you thinking, Shit, that’s it?
I actually wished this book was longer, which for the most part is a compliment, not a complaint. It did exactly what it should have done, and I am grateful for this book because now I feel much more inclined to read more of Crichton’s work.

Brief synopsis; neurologists implant electrodes into a patient's brain in an attempt to calm his violent seizures. As 'playing God' goes, these doctors fall short of Frankenstein or Jekyll, but they engage in quite a lot of back-slapping, words-of-caution-ignoring and unhatched-chicken-counting. Needless to say a garden-variety thriller breaks out.

What sets The Terminal Man apart is how thoroughly researched it is; we're talking five pages of bibliography and technical references for a short novel. Perhaps Crichton binged Neurology articles because the subject fascinated him and he figured he might as well pen a paperback using his new knowledge.

The bulk of the story comes pre-op; with doctors debating and detailing the experimental procedure. The inevitable rampage ends up feeling rushed and perfunctory by comparison. It makes me wonder whether Crichton could've cut the thriller elements entirely and just given us a story of complex people and their complex experiments. Medical dramas work better on TV I guess.

Edited 12/22/2018

It was rather ironic to jump from Henry Marsh’s account to Michael Crichton and both these books are based on neurosurgery. The important point to note was that these two books are as different as chalk and cheese. Having read through almost all of Crichton’s oeuvre, I think this is one of his weakest books.

The premise is standard Crichton fare of science running amok and how we finally fix it. It goes like :

Scientists goof up.
Trouble begins and goes unnoticed.
Trouble escalates.
People die.
Heroes step in.
Wham, bam, thank you ma’am and sirs !
The end.

There you have it ! Science, you are too naughty !

FIORI PER ALGERNON



Immagino che nel 1972 quando è uscito avesse potenza rara.
Che per me è rimasta intatta anche tredici anni dopo, quando l’ho letto.
Il mio primo Crichton.
Alla luce dell’oggi probabilmente fa un po’ ridere. Ma credo succeda a tanta fantascienza che si affida molto all’aspetto scientifico: la scienza va avanti, cambia, e quello che oggi sempre una bomba domani rischia die ssere meno che un petardo.


L’uomo terminale è interpretato da George Segal, attore che negli anni Settanta visse un periodo di splendore artistico.

È chiaro che nel terzo decennio del terzo millennio, con il mondo dominato dall’intelligenza artificiale, il procedimento scientifico qui descritto fa ben meno effetto, è già stato superato (ma non risolto).
È chiaro che con computer infilati in tasca o allacciati al polso pensare a un’intera stanza dedicata a un elaboratore elettronico di dimensioni pachidermiche nutrito con nastro perforato fa un po’ “mamma e papà”, un’altra generazione, ancor più un’altra epoca e un altro mondo. Matusalemme.
È chiaro che immaginare il tutto con telefoni fissi, senza cellulari, senza pc, ma solo il mainframe IBM mammut…



Il protagonista è un programmatore di computer, e forse perché soffre di epilessia, o forse perché lavora sui computer, è ossessionato dall’idea che le macchine vogliano conquistare il mondo: più pragmaticamente, la sua epilessia del lobo temporale gli causa improvvisi irrefrenabili raptus omicidi. Dei quali dimentica tutto completamente: nel senso che gli attacchi vengono seguiti da amnesia totale.
Per curarlo, e salvarlo, decidono di impiantargli nel cervello una specie di pacemaker collegato a un computer che regoli, o anzi, blocchi in partenza gli attacchi epilettici, e quindi, disinneschi i raptus omicidi: un minicomputer dotato di elettrodi nel cervello che attraverso micro scariche elettriche possa controllare gli attacchi di violenza. In pratica, come dice il titolo, un terminale umano. Una periferica.
Qualcosa va storto, nell’operazione, o nel progetto. Qualcosa va così storto che l’uomo diventa ancora più violento. E parte la caccia per acchiapparlo.


Il film è del 1974 diretto da Mike Hodges.

Già allora Crichton intuiva la possibilità di operare chirurgicamente a distanza utilizzando un computer come braccio del chirurgo… Come altri prima e dopo di lui, Crichton indagava sui limiti della scienza, sulle implicazioni morali di certe scoperte, sul controllo dello sviluppo scientifico.
E se anche tante cose oggi sembrano superate, il thriller regge, ed emoziona, e si capisce che Crichton aveva vista lunga, e intuiva in anticipo gli sviluppi scientifici.

I più potenti controllori mentali del mondo sono i genitori, e sono anche quelli che fanno più danno.

Michael Crichton really knows how to write an exceptional and captivating book. I noticed the bibliography includes a great deal of other books where he has researched the subject he is writing about, Machines vs. Humans. I thought it was a very good read and highly recommend it.

"The Terminal Man" is one of those rare instances of a book where my 3-star rating has very little hint of negative criticism attached to it, because nearly all of the negative things I could say about it simply due to the book's age or it being too short! I wanted to rate this one 4 stars, but find that hard because of how much it feels like it lacks in on-screen events.

But that said, "The Terminal Man" is still a very fun book. After over 2 years since reading "The Andromeda Strain" (boy does that make my zoomer-ass feel old), I had forgotten how quickly Crichton reads and how engrossing his plotting and ideas are - how addictive it is to read a Crichton novel because of how simple he is able to make complex topics come across. I had no idea what "The Terminal Man" was about before starting it. I just knew it was going to be my next Crichton read, so I was almost surprised to see him explore the ideas of neurotechnology. Doing a couple brief Google searches, there are people who seem to think neurotechnology wasn't even a thing for a couple decades after this book (like, the 80s or 90s), though it seems the 60s is a more accurate time. Which makes sense based on the dates and information provided in the expositional portions of the novel.

Now, in fairness, Michael Crichton always seemed to be ahead of his time as far as his scientific exploration and plotting therein, but this subject matter for a book published in the early 70s was almost whiplashy based on the lack of awareness and knowledge I have the era. I think I fall into feeling like technology wasn't advanced enough for this book to be about what it's about...but again, that's kind of Crichton's whole spiel.

I found the expositional material very interesting. Though Crichton's characters aren't exactly the deepest, they are deep enough, and they do quite well to set up the topics at hand. The neurotechnological aspects and the subject of the technology are intriguing and really drive the whole narrative. The plot itself and the tidbits of personal strife from the main few doctors is all handled quite well.

But on the "lacking" issue...well, not enough of the book is on screen. In my copy, this thing is only 200 pages, and I feel like it could've been anywhere from 25-50% longer without overstaying it's welcome. There are some elements that move the plot forward that I would've liked better foreshadowed early on; there are plenty of spaces of time that are not covered deeply enough - time skips, basically, where there could've been active participation on the cast's part; and it would've been nice to get a little more time for certain character's experiences to sink a bit deeper. The exhaustion for example over the last couple "days" of the story doesn't come across too well because Crichton doesn't spend enough time on it.

Very little of the material was bad, and what I would consider mediocre about "The Terminal Man" is merely to the degree that expansion of the novel could've fixed them without any issue at all. Well...I guess the cognitive dissonance that the technology and subject matter yielded in my brain was a little off-putting at times (and didn't age well in some cases), but that might be a personal problem more than anything. There's at least something to be said for the thematic material regarding mingling man and machine and even the simple overreliance on machines and computers...and Crichton was DEFINITELY ahead of his time on this front given that it would be 2-ish decades before home computers were becoming commonly popular or affordable and we probably didn't have any true collective notion of "AI" at the time of the book's writing. So yeah, my criticisms are very minor - negligible, even - in the grand scheme of things, and prove that Crichton was definitely on the right track with his work.

[EDIT: I forgot that I'm not huge on the status of the ending of this book - potentially my only TRUE insightful criticism...I definitely would've liked more resolution there.]

Like I said, I wanted to give this one 4 stars, because the story (combined with the surprising handling of the themes I just brought up) are pretty great, but there was just enough "empty space" so to speak throughout the book that I was left a bit wanting in the end.


But if there's anything I will never forget about "The Terminal Man", it's the déjà vu that it gave me. This book references some very specific material about, well, the p-terminal of the human brain that I had read about in "Infinite Jest" like 1 or maybe 2 days before. If you know the context from IJ, you know exactly what I'm saying. If you've only read this, recall the one guy came in wanting to get the chip for the sheer hedonistic pleasure of it, and again you know what I'm talking about. The fact I read that section in this book within 48 hours of reading it in "Infinite Jest" - especially when I started this one having no idea what it was about at all and having intended to start it much earlier (which would've still given me the déjà vu but backwards to be honest) - will never not be hilarious to me because I genuinely thought I was going crazy for a few hours until a friend confirmed my suspicions with a search in the "Infinite Jest" e-book.

It may seem like I didn't love "The Terminal Man" - and I guess I didn't *love* it overall - but I did enjoy my time thoroughly, and cannot wait to get to my next Crichton read soon...

...or at least, hopefully sooner than 2+ years from now.

The Terminal Man was interesting, in its way. It's an older Michael Crichton book and isn't as polished or as intense as his later works. It's another of his books that I would recommend only to hardcore Crichton fans. I had some difficulty understanding Harry's actions, even though they were fully explained in the book. I'm not sure if this was more about me not comprehending the psychological/medical/technological aspects of the book or if the book wasn't basic enough for a lay-person.

I really enjoy Crichton's work and the immersive environments he creates and the hard-science edge he adopts. Tis is no different in that respect. It moves along at comfortable pace and I found myself going through it quite quickly. A great work that once again explores morality combined with science.
A recommended read for the sci-fi/thriller fan.

Plot ***Spoilers***
Harry Benson, a man in his 30s, suffers from psychomotor epilepsy. He often has seizures followed by blackouts, and then wakes up hours later with no knowledge of what he has done. During one of his seizures he severely beats two people. He is a prime candidate for an operation to implant electrodes and minicomputer in his brain to control the seizures. Surgeons John Ellis and Morris are to perform the surgery, which is unprecedented for the time. In modern medicine, such a device would be called a brain pacemaker.
The ramifications of the procedure are questioned by psychiatrist Janet Ross, and by an emeritus professor named Manon at the lecture about the surgery. Manon raises concerns that Benson is psychotic (pointing to Benson's adamant belief that there is no difference between man and machine) and the crimes he commits during the blackouts won't be curtailed. Ellis admits that what they are doing isn't a cure but just a way to stimulate the brain when the computer senses a seizure coming on. It would prevent a seizure but not cure his personality disorder. Despite the concerns voiced, the team decides to go ahead with the operation.
The operation implants forty electrodes in Benson's brain, controlled by a small computer that is powered by a plutonium power pack in his shoulder. Benson must wear a dog tag that says to call the University Hospital if he is injured, as his atomic power pack might emit radiation. While he is recovering, a woman named Angela Black gives Morris a wig for Benson, whose head was shaved prior to the operation.
Morris goes back to his normal work, where he interviews a man who volunteers to have electrodes put into his mind to stimulate pleasure. Morris refuses him, but realizes that people like Benson could potentially become addicts. He recalls a Norwegian man, who was allowed to stimulate himself as much as he wanted, and did so much that it actually gave him brain damage.
McPherson, head of the Neuropsychiatric department, interviews Benson, who is still convinced machines are taking over the world. McPherson realizes Manon and Ross were right and orders nurses to administer thorazine to Benson.
After resting for a day, Benson goes through "interfacing". The forty electrodes in his brain are activated by computer technician Gerhard, one by one, to see which ones would stop a seizure. Each produces different results. One of the electrodes stimulates a sexual pleasure. Ross asks Gerhard to monitor Benson.
Gerhard shows his findings to Ross, who realizes that the seizures are getting more frequent. She explains that Benson is learning to initiate seizures involuntarily because the result of these seizures is a shock of pleasure, which leads to him having more frequent seizures. Ross checks on Benson, and discovers that, due to a clerical error, Benson has not been receiving his thorazine. She then finds out that Benson has escaped from the hospital.
Ross goes to Benson's house, but finds two girls instead who say he has a gun and blueprints for the basement of University Hospital (where the computer mainframe is). Ellis searches at a strip club where Benson, who is fascinated with all things sexual, spends a lot of time. He doesn't find him. Morris goes to his job, and meets Benson's boss who said that Benson feared the University Hospital because of its ultra-modern computer system, an upgraded IBM System/360
Ross is contacted by Anders, a policeman who found Benson's dogtag at the murder scene of Angela Black. After answering questions at the police station, Ross goes home. Benson arrives at her house, and has a seizure, which causes him to attack Ross. Ross manages to turn on her microwave, which disrupts the atomic pacemaker in his shoulder. He runs away. Ross goes back to the hospital and goes to sleep.
When Angela Black is brought back to the hospital for autopsy, pathologists find a book of matches that have the name of an airport. Morris goes to this airport, and a bartender says he saw Benson an hour ago leaving with Joe, who took him to the hangar. Morris goes to this hangar and finds Joe severely beaten. He is in turn attacked by Benson, who smashes the lower part of his face in with a steel pipe and then flees.
Ross, back at the hospital, is awakened by Gerhard. She has a call from Benson. When Anders traces the call he realizes that Benson is inside the hospital. Gerhard's computers begin to malfunction, as if somebody was messing with the mainframe. Anders and Ross go down into the basement in search of Benson. Anders locates Benson and has a brief firefight, injuring and disarming Benson before becoming lost in the maze of corridors. Benson goes back to the computer room to finish shutting down the computer mainframe and finds Ross. Ross picks up Benson's gun, Benson returns to the computer and goes to steal the gun from Ross. After an intense (and tearful) internal struggle finally shoots and kills Benson unintentionally.

The full review is available at the following link:
http://bookunderthesun.blogspot.com/2...

Although he is not the protagonist of the story, the whole event revolved around Harry Benson, a patient suffering from a violent seizure known as Acute Disinhibitory Lesions, or ADL (not sure if it is a real syndrome). Harry's seizure came and go, and was so violent that a police guard was required to escort him into the hospital in case his epilepsy occurred. During the course of the seizure, Harry would have no control over his actions nor his behavior, and would act violently towards anyone in his immediate surrounding.

The core of The Terminal Man portrayed the relationship between man and machine. Computers are created to aid human in the development of technology and as computing power gets stronger by the decade, the question arising in everyone's mind is whether computers will take over human as the intelligence of our civilization. The story explores the psychotic fear of Harry against machines as he viewed machines as an intelligence that will ultimately take over human, and the implantation of a computer chip to help control his seizures is only adding to his fear.

3.66 stars

A re-read after 27 years was good. The book speaks about technology that was (probably) being researched upon in the 1960s about 'mind-control' mechanisms using surgically implanted electrodes in the brain and the brain-computer interface, and the fear of the idea that computers as machines that may take over humans, since that was an era when the computer was a new and evolving device. Fun to read again after so many years. Not as interesting as The Andromeda Strain, but still it does what it had to do: speak about the dangers of certain technologies that could be thought about as dangerous at that time when the book was first published (1971).

'The Terminal Man' by Michael Crichton

The Plot:

Harry Benson is a man who suffers from seizures, caused by brain damage incurred as a result of a car accident. These seizures are unpredictable & distressing for Benson who has blackouts, can't remember where he has been or his actions whilst 'unconscious'. What happens, invariably, during these blackouts, is that Benson becomes involved in fights. He attacks his victims with a ferocity that belies his diminutive stature.
Benson comes to the attention of a group of surgeons, doctors & a psychiatrist collectively called the Neuro-Psychiatric Service, at the University Hospital, who have been experimenting with 'interfacing' a computer with the human brain to control aberrant behavior, by the use of electrodes implanted in the brain. Benson appears to be a perfect subject for this procedure, to everyone but the psychiatrist in the group, Janet Ross. Ross is concerned about Benson's apparent schizophrenia, as Benson has a phobia about machines taking over the world from humans & becoming a machine himself, as a result of the operation. While the doctors & surgeons in the group concede that the operation won't 'fix' Benson's delusions, they decide to proceed with the procedure.
What follows Benson's operation is a predictable realization of Benson's worst fears & confirmation of Ross' misgivings, culminating in the murder of a companion of Benson's & Benson's demise at the hands of Ross, when Benson attacks her.

I recall reading 'The Andromeda Strain' as a teenager & enjoying it tremendously. I didn't read 'Jurassic Park', but like many others, i watched the movie made from the book. Who doesn't enjoy the spectacle of dinosaurs chomping on humans?
It's been 40+ years since Crichton published this novel & if it were good it would be considered a classic, instead of merely dated. Crichton has never been known for his ability at building believable or sympathetic characters, but in 'The Terminal Man' he takes this to new heights (or depths, depending how you look at it). His characters are more wooden & less believable than either his earlier or later efforts, in my opinion.
At one point the psychiatrist, Ross, is asked by the Detective leading the inquiry into the death of Benson's companion, to meet him at the scene of the crime to discuss Benson's state of mind. How likely is this? Not very, i believe. At this meeting, there is a brief conference between the Detective, Ross & the attending Coroner. The coroner tells the other two he has confirmed the murderer was Benson. How does he do this? Well, in the hour since the murder occurred he has tested the blood & other bodily fluids & has ascertained they are indeed Benson's. Really? I didn't know that such forensic tests could be carried out so swiftly 40 years ago. I'm fairly sure the same tests would take much longer even today. This was only one of the glaring examples of illogic in this novel. It's as if Crichton came up with a good idea for a plot, then sleepwalked through the writing of it.
At the back of the paperback edition i own, there is an exhaustive list of various references supposedly consulted by Crichton, relating to brain research blah, blah, blah. I don't buy it. To have consulted so many references & served up such a pallid & wafer thin novel beggars belief. I believe his list of references are no more than 'smoke & mirrors'.
By all means read 'The Terminal Man' if you are credulous & able to suspend all commonsense. I give this 2 out of 5 stars, although i was tempted to give it one.

Good reading!