The IBIC Guide to Books By Michael Crichton

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Remarks from the IBIC Editor's Journal

Fall 1995

As usual, Michael Crichton delivers the goods in THE LOST WORLD (Random House Web site) by (Alfred A. Knopf). As you might expect, this sequel doesn't inspire quite the sense of surprise and wonder as the original JURASSIC PARK. But it's as gripping and intelligent as all of Crichton's other work. One interesting point is that this book is not a direct sequel to the previous story--that is, this novel does not pick up exactly where the previous one left off. The story of THE LOST WORLD is a self-contained one that leaves untied some major threads from JURASSIC PARK. It's clear to me that this book was written with the idea that there may be more JURASSIC books and movies--it is, as they say, a "franchise". Better to think of this book as one of "n" future JURASSIC books (perhaps not by Crichton?) than as "the sequel" or "the conclusion".

Incidentally, the Random House Web site is looking pretty damn slick.

1994

You can't judge Michael Crichton's DISCLOSURE (Knopf) by its cover, which is a beautiful piece of design. The book itself is not up to the author's usual standard. The plot--male computer exec is accused of sexual harassment by female boss and must fight to save his career--is, to put it bluntly, a yuppie fantasy, and it places the author's moderate but annoying level of misogyny front and center where you can't ignore it.


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Editor's Recommendations, Summer 1996

In this inaugural edition of IBIC's Featured Books, I'd like to draw your attention to several titles which have helped to shape my life and thinking.

  • When I was around fifteen, I came across Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's science fiction novel, INFERNO. This '70s remake of Dante's classic describes science fiction writer Allen Carpentier's descent into Hell. It's still a very fresh, accessible take on the classic. What a great movie it would make!
  • The Niven/Pournelle INFERNO immediately inspired me to read the original Divine Comedy. I've read a number of translations over the years, but my favorite is the one by Dorothy Sayers (INFERNO; PURGATORY; PARADISE). The notes are excellent, and Sayers had such a knowledgeable and witty mind that reading her prose is a pleasure in itself. (For those interested in a more contemporary translation, I should mention that Robert Pinsky received excellent notices for his 1995 THE INFERNO OF DANTE : A NEW VERSE TRANSLATION; it's a very handsome book.)
  • I also want to tell you about the late Henry Fairlie's THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS TODAY, which probably did more than any other single book to galvanize me into a lifetime interest in Christianity that led me, eventually, to faith. Ironic, because Fairlie was a self-proclaimed agnostic socialist! But reading between the lines of this insightful and deeply feeling book, one realizes that the love of God cannot have been far from Fairlie's heart.
  • Finally, I should draw to your attention a more recent acquisition, the very handsome NIV STUDY BIBLE (10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION) from Zondervan, indexed and bonded in leather in IBIC's theme color, burgundy (black and brown are also available). The notes to this Bible are amazing. They appear to provide you with a very substantial portion of what you need to know to have an intelligent layman's appreciation of the linguistic and historical issues involved in understanding Scripture.

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