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A review by alykat_reads
Disclosure by Michael Crichton
4.0
When reading this, you have to keep in mind that this book was published in 1993, so a little bit before personal computers and the internet/email/etc became mainstream and household things in the early 2000s. I audibly laughed when he described what the internet, CD-Roms, and virtual reality were. At the time of publishing, they were considered high-tech, but now 30 years later those technologies have advanced greatly, so it's not really fair to criticize the book on that when that was just the current technology.
Anyways, I greatly enjoy Crichton's writing, even if the topics he writes about are foreign or of uninterest to me. The beginnings always seem to be a little slow, but once I get a little ways in I usually find myself hooked and can't stop reading. That was true of this one as well. It was interesting reading about allegations of sexual harassment in the workplace when the accused was a woman - it brought some introspection on just how differently those allegations are treated verses how allegations are treated when it is a man who is the accused.
There were a few things I had issues with though. Hiding them under spoilers, just in case.
It bothered me that he didn't play the video of Meredith talking to Arthur during the final meeting with Conley-White. He played the newsclip after having Meredith tie herself up in lie, which was great, but the second clip of her telling Arthur to hide everything and lie about things to Tom would have really substantiated and strengthened the evidence he had provided in the packets to the executives. He had it, so I'm not sure why Crichton decided he wouldn't use it.
I believe Crichton was trying to make some of the characters wishy-washy to really enforce the trust no one message that Tom received via email on the big scary internet (LOL, iykyk); but I think it was done poorly. Why he would engage with Blackburn at all after learning about the complaint that Meredith lodged against him knowing that Blackburn was the attorney for the company and would be representing Meredith's side, just doesn't make sense. This again ties into my first point that as intelligent as Crichton was trying to make Tom seem for coming up with this brilliant plan on how to prove he's telling the truth about what happened, he does some pretty dumb things, or things that don't make any sense.
Still giving 4 stars because I just enjoy Crichton's writing that much.
Anyways, I greatly enjoy Crichton's writing, even if the topics he writes about are foreign or of uninterest to me. The beginnings always seem to be a little slow, but once I get a little ways in I usually find myself hooked and can't stop reading. That was true of this one as well. It was interesting reading about allegations of sexual harassment in the workplace when the accused was a woman - it brought some introspection on just how differently those allegations are treated verses how allegations are treated when it is a man who is the accused.
There were a few things I had issues with though. Hiding them under spoilers, just in case.
Spoiler
First, the MC Tom, who is the main narrator throughout the novel except for a few chapters, has moments in the book that just don't really tie in with the rest of it. For example, when he finally tells his wife about the sexual harassment allegation against him and tells her he's retaining Fernandez, he seems to have this "master plan" because he's got some secret knowledge. The book is very ambiguous about what exactly his plan is and where he's heading with it - which in and of itself is not the problem - but then in the next few chapters when he talks to Max and Max is trying to drop clues on how to help him, Tom all of a sudden has zero critical thinking skills and can't for the life of him understand how Max is trying to help him. I get having a moment or two of brilliance, but it felt like Tom would come to these really intelligent conclusions, but then not have a clue how it tied into his situation. It was a little bizarre and I couldn't make sense of it.It bothered me that he didn't play the video of Meredith talking to Arthur during the final meeting with Conley-White. He played the newsclip after having Meredith tie herself up in lie, which was great, but the second clip of her telling Arthur to hide everything and lie about things to Tom would have really substantiated and strengthened the evidence he had provided in the packets to the executives. He had it, so I'm not sure why Crichton decided he wouldn't use it.
I believe Crichton was trying to make some of the characters wishy-washy to really enforce the trust no one message that Tom received via email on the big scary internet (LOL, iykyk); but I think it was done poorly. Why he would engage with Blackburn at all after learning about the complaint that Meredith lodged against him knowing that Blackburn was the attorney for the company and would be representing Meredith's side, just doesn't make sense. This again ties into my first point that as intelligent as Crichton was trying to make Tom seem for coming up with this brilliant plan on how to prove he's telling the truth about what happened, he does some pretty dumb things, or things that don't make any sense.
Still giving 4 stars because I just enjoy Crichton's writing that much.