Michael Crichton (1942 - 2008)

Michael Crichton died yesterday. He was my first favourite author (unless you count Dr. Seuss and R.L. Stine) and I think he'll continue to be so for a while since I've still got a handful more of his books to read. Everyone knows him for Jurassic Park and ER, however, most, if not all of his books, from Andromeda Strain to Next, are worth reading. Of course if you're not into sci-fi then you'd probably disagree. But for me, he always managed to get my brain juices flowing with the infamous, "what if?". His stories always seemed to have a feeling of realism to them as if they were actually possible. Even the most extraordinary events in his novels really made the reader ponder the likelihood of such a thing occurring.

Not only did he have the ability to make the impossible seem possible, a number of his books really changed my way of thinking. I've actually just finished reading one of his older books, Rising Sun. Very interesting read about the Japanese influence in American business, particularly the education and technology sectors. Now the technology is a little dated but it still really managed to change my perspective on how I viewed other cultures. It made me really notice how much people from the west expect other cultures to conform to western ideologies.

However, his book that really impacted me the most was State of Fear. If anyone has any opinion whatsoever on "global warming" this is a book to read. It is super controversial in that "environmentalists" believe Crichton was misinterpreting information and that the novel was hurting efforts to change government policy on carbon emissions. And, although that may be slightly true, I think the main purpose of the book is to simply force the reader to look at the other side of the argument. My opinion on global warming has significantly changed since I've read the novel (and I'll save my rant about that for another time), but more importantly, I've learned to look at both sides of any claim or argument. Just because you learn something from one source doesn't really make it true. There are always multiple sides to every story and until they are all considered, it is almost ignorant to form an opinion. Like I said, the novel is a great read, and will really cause you to look at things, particularly scientific claims, in a whole new light.

Random fact: Crichton was 6'9" tall. I didn't know that. And, I've also got to give thanks to a teacher at my high school, Mr. Grejtek, who introduced me to Crichton. I've been hooked ever since.

In other news, Obama is the new president. I was kind of hoping for McCain, but I guess the underdog wasn't able to pull through this time. Oh well, I guess we'll all find out what Obama is made of come January.