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billymac1962's review against another edition
4.0
Someone loaned this to me once and I really wasn't expecting to like it. My expectations were completely dashed after the first chapter. I could not put it down.
A riveting tale of sexual harrassment in the workplace where the man is the victim (yeah, he could have said 'No') of his beautiful boss.
Highly recommended!
A riveting tale of sexual harrassment in the workplace where the man is the victim (yeah, he could have said 'No') of his beautiful boss.
Highly recommended!
ajb24's review against another edition
2.0
Despite my low expectations for this book, the final third of the book that was more about the "corporate" drama did draw me in and kept me in suspense. Sometimes it was a bit too dense, like....I feel like my age and general lack of experience in a work environment put me at a disadvantage in fully understanding the "office politics" re management and the corporate ladder. There were assumptions in place about....IDK, how upper-level/management positions are structured and how people are "expected" to act in these situations that I don't fully understand, so the reasoning behind X chain of events was confusing. I can't explain it well, but the best example of when things went over my head is when Tom tells his wife about the event and that he plans to bring a sexual harassment suit against Meredith, and she essentially responds with "You're crazy to bring this up at the time of the merger...you're gonna be in deep shit *knowing looks pass between them*" Like,,she never explicitly says why it would be SO bad to come forward with a harassment claim, and although I can guess why, I was a bit lost during their exchange. And I don't think that's a problem with the writing, I think I'm just young and naïve lmao.
In short, this book is dated and it mires the whole reading experience. I can get past the dated tech..I think. At times it's so technical that it's boring. But I think the novelty of Tom's "cellular telephone" that has "enough memory for 200 phone numbers!" VERY funny. And the virtual reality database is also funny because the idea that you have this virtual world of information but the "world" is just a recreation of filing cabinets...it's very obviously an idea developed in 1993 xD. And this isn't something funny about the dated technology, just frustrating, but it KILLS me that it takes him until page 253(!) to remember that his phone died early the day of the Event because he was interrupted while leaving a message (so it follows that it was just on the whole time). I- is it a trauma response that explains why he forgets that part of the evening until like, a week later?? Because immediately once Meredith interrupted him and he sets his phone down, I thought "OH, there'll be a recording now that'll provide evidence for his side of the story!" but it doesn't occur to him at. all. until sooooooo long into the proceedings! I just- is it not obvious?? "Oh, why is my phone dead..hmm..oH, that's right! It was on the whole time!" I just ????
What makes me scrunch my face up in a frown when I think about this book is that it's also dated in its socio-political context. So I have mixed feelings. Because there are legitimate points made by Tom's lawyer, Louise Fernandez, about how sexual harassment is all about power, regardless of gender. And she rightfully points out the ways in which power structures protect the powerful, which is how men have gotten away with so much in the past (and it explains how Meredith had also gotten away with being manipulative and abusing past employees but still getting promoted).
But.
This is a cultural commentary that is steeped in 1980s/1990s discourse on feminism and gender politics. So, characters will make these grand assertions like "women and men are just different" and "Men can't control themselves around women that's just how they are!" And of course there's also the whining like "Oh, people can't do ANyThIng these days without risking a harassment suit, young people are too SeNsiTivE - in the ""real world"" there's going to be remarks made that make you uncomfortable, but that's not HarAsSmeNt that's life" And I said "of course" this exists because that kind of narrative still exists today. But I think now there's more of a cultural consensus/awareness that just because a behavior was tolerated in the past, doesn't mean it's okay or shouldn't be called out. And that's where I just get bad vibes from this book!! It places itself on this, pedestal almost, of being like the narrative that's asking the "tough questions" and "making a statement" about the state of society, but it has undercurrents of misogyny that have me waiting for like, a Yikes moment, where there'll just be something racist or homophobic said that is just accepted by the characters. And at the meta-level, maybe it's a bit "edgy" but it's not explicitly negative. This never happens...ehh, well, actually, there's some dicey lines, but they're not reoccurring themes.
There's two moments that stick out to me that I just wanna mention:
1. Tom and his wife Susan have this argument at the very beginning of the book that's SO awkward and not at all how real people talk. She's all "You don't understand because you're a mAn but I AM oppressed!" and he goes "No you're not, you have a high-level job as an attorney!" and it goes back and forth like that for a while. And it's just such...a blatant attempt to insert commentary into the book. It was cringe-worthy to read.
2. The Connie Walsh opinion column was a YIKES for me! She's supposed to be a "feminist" but she's saying things like "women *can't* rape men, this guy is just mad that he has to report to a woman!" And that's so
In short, this book is dated and it mires the whole reading experience. I can get past the dated tech..I think. At times it's so technical that it's boring. But I think the novelty of Tom's "cellular telephone" that has "enough memory for 200 phone numbers!" VERY funny. And the virtual reality database is also funny because the idea that you have this virtual world of information but the "world" is just a recreation of filing cabinets...it's very obviously an idea developed in 1993 xD. And this isn't something funny about the dated technology, just frustrating, but it KILLS me that it takes him until page 253(!) to remember that his phone died early the day of the Event because he was interrupted while leaving a message (so it follows that it was just on the whole time). I- is it a trauma response that explains why he forgets that part of the evening until like, a week later?? Because immediately once Meredith interrupted him and he sets his phone down, I thought "OH, there'll be a recording now that'll provide evidence for his side of the story!" but it doesn't occur to him at. all. until sooooooo long into the proceedings! I just- is it not obvious?? "Oh, why is my phone dead..hmm..oH, that's right! It was on the whole time!" I just ????
What makes me scrunch my face up in a frown when I think about this book is that it's also dated in its socio-political context. So I have mixed feelings. Because there are legitimate points made by Tom's lawyer, Louise Fernandez, about how sexual harassment is all about power, regardless of gender. And she rightfully points out the ways in which power structures protect the powerful, which is how men have gotten away with so much in the past (and it explains how Meredith had also gotten away with being manipulative and abusing past employees but still getting promoted).
But.
This is a cultural commentary that is steeped in 1980s/1990s discourse on feminism and gender politics. So, characters will make these grand assertions like "women and men are just different" and "Men can't control themselves around women that's just how they are!" And of course there's also the whining like "Oh, people can't do ANyThIng these days without risking a harassment suit, young people are too SeNsiTivE - in the ""real world"" there's going to be remarks made that make you uncomfortable, but that's not HarAsSmeNt that's life" And I said "of course" this exists because that kind of narrative still exists today. But I think now there's more of a cultural consensus/awareness that just because a behavior was tolerated in the past, doesn't mean it's okay or shouldn't be called out. And that's where I just get bad vibes from this book!! It places itself on this, pedestal almost, of being like the narrative that's asking the "tough questions" and "making a statement" about the state of society, but it has undercurrents of misogyny that have me waiting for like, a Yikes moment, where there'll just be something racist or homophobic said that is just accepted by the characters. And at the meta-level, maybe it's a bit "edgy" but it's not explicitly negative. This never happens...ehh, well, actually, there's some dicey lines, but they're not reoccurring themes.
There's two moments that stick out to me that I just wanna mention:
1. Tom and his wife Susan have this argument at the very beginning of the book that's SO awkward and not at all how real people talk. She's all "You don't understand because you're a mAn but I AM oppressed!" and he goes "No you're not, you have a high-level job as an attorney!" and it goes back and forth like that for a while. And it's just such...a blatant attempt to insert commentary into the book. It was cringe-worthy to read.
2. The Connie Walsh opinion column was a YIKES for me! She's supposed to be a "feminist" but she's saying things like "women *can't* rape men, this guy is just mad that he has to report to a woman!" And that's so
zainsdad's review against another edition
2.0
big michael crichton fan but this one didn’t age well - i can’t believe the mra incel crowd hasn’t latched onto this one yet
shychipmunk's review against another edition
3.0
I gave up after the first section because I couldn't stand the manipulation and emotional bullshit. But then after reading the synopsis on Wikipedia to see how it turned out, I thought the later part sounded interesting, so I jumped ahead to the third section and read the rest of the book (and later went back and read the second half of the second section).
The half of the book that's about unraveling the tapestry of deception is much more up my alley, but there's plenty of books that do that without spending as much time having the protagonist suffer at the hands of an unlikeable asshole, so I can't really recommend this one.
It doesn't help matters any that I'm still not sure whether I've read this before, or just a different corporate espionage book of Chrichton's that I didn't like either.
The half of the book that's about unraveling the tapestry of deception is much more up my alley, but there's plenty of books that do that without spending as much time having the protagonist suffer at the hands of an unlikeable asshole, so I can't really recommend this one.
It doesn't help matters any that I'm still not sure whether I've read this before, or just a different corporate espionage book of Chrichton's that I didn't like either.
adcarva's review against another edition
3.0
A good book.
I picked three stars, not because I found it lacking on its own merits, but because at the end of the day you have to gage the quality of a book to other books out there. I have decided to compare Disclosure to other Crichton novels. And it is hard to say that it should rise to the level of Jurassic Park or Timeline.
I picked three stars, not because I found it lacking on its own merits, but because at the end of the day you have to gage the quality of a book to other books out there. I have decided to compare Disclosure to other Crichton novels. And it is hard to say that it should rise to the level of Jurassic Park or Timeline.
emilymalonzo's review against another edition
3.0
Decent thriller but I was not thrilled with the way women are represented and discussed.
pio_near's review against another edition
4.0
An a-political, neutral review...
I first read this book over a quarter century ago when I was a mid-teen, when I regarded the world with a fairly cavalier attitude.
However, I feel like this may be one of the most important books of this generation. A quick note on Micheal Crichton. Mr. Crichton has long been a personal favorite of mine, and has a long history of being held high in public esteem in both his literary works and film adaptations. This is mainly because he poses a question... mostly one that is techno-philisophical, and is able to build a compelling storyline to maybe not answer the issue, but certainly prove it out by human experience.
Disclosure is certainly a profound example of this. Back in the early 1990's Crichton tackled the prickly issue of sexual discrimination from a reverse perspective. Quickly adapted into a movie that hyper-sensatiinalized the storyline, Disosure is a book that really speaks to inequality in all senses. Racial, Sexisit, Religion or Political, it shows that targeting any 'ism' is just a road to discrimination.
Again, this is an a-political, neutral review.
But I think it is safe to say that in 2008 we lost one of the most important Fiction writers of our day. I shudder to think of a what he would make of the state of the world today, but revel to imagine what his brilliant mind would have thought up for our future.
Probably a 4.5 for me, this is the pinnacle of literature taking political views and humanizing them. Before you 'protest', read this book.
I first read this book over a quarter century ago when I was a mid-teen, when I regarded the world with a fairly cavalier attitude.
However, I feel like this may be one of the most important books of this generation. A quick note on Micheal Crichton. Mr. Crichton has long been a personal favorite of mine, and has a long history of being held high in public esteem in both his literary works and film adaptations. This is mainly because he poses a question... mostly one that is techno-philisophical, and is able to build a compelling storyline to maybe not answer the issue, but certainly prove it out by human experience.
Disclosure is certainly a profound example of this. Back in the early 1990's Crichton tackled the prickly issue of sexual discrimination from a reverse perspective. Quickly adapted into a movie that hyper-sensatiinalized the storyline, Disosure is a book that really speaks to inequality in all senses. Racial, Sexisit, Religion or Political, it shows that targeting any 'ism' is just a road to discrimination.
Again, this is an a-political, neutral review.
But I think it is safe to say that in 2008 we lost one of the most important Fiction writers of our day. I shudder to think of a what he would make of the state of the world today, but revel to imagine what his brilliant mind would have thought up for our future.
Probably a 4.5 for me, this is the pinnacle of literature taking political views and humanizing them. Before you 'protest', read this book.
temporaryhouseplant's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
puppywaffle's review against another edition
Too painful to read about such a dysfunctional relationship
trash_reader_'s review against another edition
I wanted to DNF this at page 7, but I was unfortunately stuck at work with nothing else to read so I was forced to read this until I got home. I should have just suffered with nothing to read.
At first, it was just boring. I don't want to waste time reading a book I'm not enjoying. And then I kept reading, and I went from just bored to bored and slowly growing more angry with every page. I didn't even hate Game of Thrones this much, and my review for that disgrace of a book is basically an essay.
The misogyny was disgusting. I'm aware the book is 30 years old and its obvious because it did not age well at all, but you don't have to have every single male character bitching about women in the workforce on every page. And that's ignoring the sexist "jokes" and comments (that were just as abundant as the bitching) and also the racist "jokes" and comments that were peppered throughout as well.
We also were given an extremely old man who's just oh-so eccentric and quirky. He's so smart he talks in circles and riddles and thinks it's funny to get under people's skin instead of just answering their questions. Oh and let's not forget about his disgustingly sexist and misogynistic comments and actions towards women "because he's just such an old man, what do you expect."
The characters weren't even the only ones being misogynistic. The author decided that every woman he gives a few lines of dialogue to is stereotypically so intense about her career that nothing else - NOT EVEN A CANCER DIAGNOSIS??? - matters to them. Not a single day taken off of work for cancer? And magically it's gone now? Shut the fuck up. And if the women weren't "hard as ice," they were just a pretty face for the receptionist.
Along with every single man complaining about women in the workforce, you have the same women who are so intense about their careers they'll never take a day off work for a medical crisis bitching and complaining about misogyny and accusing everyone of being sexist and misogynistic and throwing a fit over fucking pinup posters? Again, shut the fuck up. It's so dramatic for absolutely no reason.
The only woman who wasn't so intense about her job was Meredith, and that's only because the lovely author decided that SHE would be the only person in the book with a career to have slept around in order to get her position. Which then led into an ALMOST SIX PAGE rape scene? Why do we need 6 pages for that? I read the first two and had to skip the rest because it was disgusting, pointlessly long, and so overdramatic that it was almost laughable.
And then the author had the audacity to not have Tom get mad because he was being sexually assaulted, oh no. It was "male fury." Because "men can't be pinned down and dominated by a mere woman, oh that's so disgraceful, I must get angry and dominate." And then he proceeds ro take it out on his wife and scream about how she isnt oppressed because she doesn't sweep the floor? Shut the fuck up.
I want to rip this book to pieces and burn them.
At first, it was just boring. I don't want to waste time reading a book I'm not enjoying. And then I kept reading, and I went from just bored to bored and slowly growing more angry with every page. I didn't even hate Game of Thrones this much, and my review for that disgrace of a book is basically an essay.
The misogyny was disgusting. I'm aware the book is 30 years old and its obvious because it did not age well at all, but you don't have to have every single male character bitching about women in the workforce on every page. And that's ignoring the sexist "jokes" and comments (that were just as abundant as the bitching) and also the racist "jokes" and comments that were peppered throughout as well.
We also were given an extremely old man who's just oh-so eccentric and quirky. He's so smart he talks in circles and riddles and thinks it's funny to get under people's skin instead of just answering their questions. Oh and let's not forget about his disgustingly sexist and misogynistic comments and actions towards women "because he's just such an old man, what do you expect."
The characters weren't even the only ones being misogynistic. The author decided that every woman he gives a few lines of dialogue to is stereotypically so intense about her career that nothing else - NOT EVEN A CANCER DIAGNOSIS??? - matters to them. Not a single day taken off of work for cancer? And magically it's gone now? Shut the fuck up. And if the women weren't "hard as ice," they were just a pretty face for the receptionist.
Along with every single man complaining about women in the workforce, you have the same women who are so intense about their careers they'll never take a day off work for a medical crisis bitching and complaining about misogyny and accusing everyone of being sexist and misogynistic and throwing a fit over fucking pinup posters? Again, shut the fuck up. It's so dramatic for absolutely no reason.
The only woman who wasn't so intense about her job was Meredith, and that's only because the lovely author decided that SHE would be the only person in the book with a career to have slept around in order to get her position. Which then led into an ALMOST SIX PAGE rape scene? Why do we need 6 pages for that? I read the first two and had to skip the rest because it was disgusting, pointlessly long, and so overdramatic that it was almost laughable.
And then the author had the audacity to not have Tom get mad because he was being sexually assaulted, oh no. It was "male fury." Because "men can't be pinned down and dominated by a mere woman, oh that's so disgraceful, I must get angry and dominate." And then he proceeds ro take it out on his wife and scream about how she isnt oppressed because she doesn't sweep the floor? Shut the fuck up.
I want to rip this book to pieces and burn them.