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diydickgrayson 's review for:
Prey
by Michael Crichton
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was the first Crichton novel I've read and honestly? It didn't do a great job convincing me to read much more of his work.
The plot of this novel is good... once you get past the first 100 pages. While I am not typically one to scorn a long contextual build up for the purpose of a well-founded plot and deep characterization, Crichton drones throughout the first act. Part one is a slow, laborious, and exhausting trench of suffering attitudes. The "i, a man, am subverting gender roles by taking care of my children while unemployed!" perspective is tired---even for 2002. This is not to say that the main character is completely unsympathetic, only that he is insufferable. The first person lense of the novel does nothing to improve the circumstances and judgement found within, and actually becomes worse, when coupled with the factual references Crichton makes to the different scientific disciplines he drew inspiration from, which come off as pretentious or condescending, rather than as genuinely interested to share. Once the main character makes it to Nevada, the plot picks up to a bearable pace and much of the snivelling is lost. However, at times it then runs so quickly as to give the impression of a storyboard rather than a finished narrative.
This is all in addition to the irritating ways in which women are described throughout the book---which I can only summarize as "man who does not know that he hates women, mistakenly believes that he respects them." There are five women in the book: 1) the adulterous, unmotherly, career driven wife, 2) the condescending and controlling older sister, 3) the hypersexualized black woman, 4) the secretly brilliant but stunningly quiet and submissive Asian woman, and 5) the Latina housekeeper who only speaks in broken english. Others more well-versed in the subject have written better criticisms of these tropes and misogynistic and racist stereotypes than I can put here. Just be forewarned: the language Crichton uses to discuss women (when they even show up on directly on page) is minorly offensive at best, and outright prejudiced at worst.
Spoilers ahead!
All this said, I found the concept to be highly intriguing and ripe for adaptation---but only if there are higher standards for the treatment of women and black and brown folks. The thought ofa highly intelligent and rapidly evolving swarm of bio-mechanical nanobots and the manufacturing company which mistakenly releases them into the wild has uncountable parallels to the world in which we live today. A truly poignant, scifi/thriller criticism of the real-world industries this book models could be easily made from this work with very little adjustment needed, despite the 23 year difference in technology.
It is very disappointing that such an interesting concept of fiction is only accessible while couched in this drivel.
The plot of this novel is good... once you get past the first 100 pages. While I am not typically one to scorn a long contextual build up for the purpose of a well-founded plot and deep characterization, Crichton drones throughout the first act. Part one is a slow, laborious, and exhausting trench of suffering attitudes. The "i, a man, am subverting gender roles by taking care of my children while unemployed!" perspective is tired---even for 2002. This is not to say that the main character is completely unsympathetic, only that he is insufferable. The first person lense of the novel does nothing to improve the circumstances and judgement found within, and actually becomes worse, when coupled with the factual references Crichton makes to the different scientific disciplines he drew inspiration from, which come off as pretentious or condescending, rather than as genuinely interested to share. Once the main character makes it to Nevada, the plot picks up to a bearable pace and much of the snivelling is lost. However, at times it then runs so quickly as to give the impression of a storyboard rather than a finished narrative.
This is all in addition to the irritating ways in which women are described throughout the book---which I can only summarize as "man who does not know that he hates women, mistakenly believes that he respects them." There are five women in the book: 1) the adulterous, unmotherly, career driven wife, 2) the condescending and controlling older sister, 3) the hypersexualized black woman, 4) the secretly brilliant but stunningly quiet and submissive Asian woman, and 5) the Latina housekeeper who only speaks in broken english. Others more well-versed in the subject have written better criticisms of these tropes and misogynistic and racist stereotypes than I can put here. Just be forewarned: the language Crichton uses to discuss women (when they even show up on directly on page) is minorly offensive at best, and outright prejudiced at worst.
Spoilers ahead!
All this said, I found the concept to be highly intriguing and ripe for adaptation---but only if there are higher standards for the treatment of women and black and brown folks. The thought of
It is very disappointing that such an interesting concept of fiction is only accessible while couched in this drivel.