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bites_of_books's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
This is probably the worst Crichton book I've read so far. He tries to do a gender reversal on sexual harassment in the office but it completely misses the mark.
We follow Tom, a man who is looking forward to a promotion that will happen along with a merger at his tech company. However, he's very surprised when a woman takes the position that he thought he'd be promoted into and that she's also his ex-girlfriend. From the start there are a lot of gaps in his memory that felt like justifications for all his thinking, he didn't remember how they broke up, etc. The first day that she's at her new position she sexually assaults him and he reacts by trying to get acknowledgement of the assault. In this case yes, he is a victim of what has happened and using this to set the scene, Crichton creates a lot of ambiguous arguments about the problem with women being in positions of power, has characters make misogynist, homophobic, and racist remarks, and just a lot of drivel that was simply unnecessary and awful.
There is little to rescue from this book unfortunately, he tries to also show a virtual reality system and how that mirrors our own reality but it doesn't quite work either.
I wouldn't recommend this book, if you want to read Crichton, maybe read one of his earlier works.
We follow Tom, a man who is looking forward to a promotion that will happen along with a merger at his tech company. However, he's very surprised when a woman takes the position that he thought he'd be promoted into and that she's also his ex-girlfriend. From the start there are a lot of gaps in his memory that felt like justifications for all his thinking, he didn't remember how they broke up, etc. The first day that she's at her new position she sexually assaults him and he reacts by trying to get acknowledgement of the assault. In this case yes, he is a victim of what has happened and using this to set the scene, Crichton creates a lot of ambiguous arguments about the problem with women being in positions of power, has characters make misogynist, homophobic, and racist remarks, and just a lot of drivel that was simply unnecessary and awful.
There is little to rescue from this book unfortunately, he tries to also show a virtual reality system and how that mirrors our own reality but it doesn't quite work either.
I wouldn't recommend this book, if you want to read Crichton, maybe read one of his earlier works.
howardtaftmd's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
trueman0510's review against another edition
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
corprew's review against another edition
1.0
Michael Crichton would like you to know that his dislike of technology (as opposed to engineering) and things that aren't American also includes a dislike of women.
Back when I used to travel a lot on business, sometimes the only books available would be Crichton's in the airport bookshop. He has good writing craft despite his nationalistic luddite fervor. It was upon reading this book that I pretty much resolved not to bother with anything he wrote in the future.
Back when I used to travel a lot on business, sometimes the only books available would be Crichton's in the airport bookshop. He has good writing craft despite his nationalistic luddite fervor. It was upon reading this book that I pretty much resolved not to bother with anything he wrote in the future.
schuster_s's review against another edition
3.0
Very interesting perspectives on sexual harassment in the workplace. Crichton really goes in depth to show both sides of a story and how it can go down. Great ending.
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!