Thursday, November 6, 2008

Michael Crichton 1942 - 2008


On Nov 4, besides the U.S. Presidential election which took up most of the space in news media, a great author died on the same day. He is got to be my all-time favorite American author in terms of number of books that I read from the same author. I still vivid remember that I told my friends that the movie version of Jurassic Park sucks comparing with the book. Cos, I read the book first, also so as the Lost World and Rising Sun. As some critics had said, Michael Crichton didn't write novels, he wrote movie script. I think that is so true. His novel chapters, scene by scene are exactly like movie images running in my head. Also, he did a lot of researches to prepare for his works, not just ideas alone. Though, later on I was busy with many other things that I stop reading his novels. I thought I will pick up his books again in future when I have time. With his passing, I think we lost a great author in modern time. Yes, there are many great authors out there, but sorry, I don't know them well. I think Michael's novels should be able to test against time. Yes, there are always new technology there, but the characters in his movies are more or less timeless, they all reflect different aspect of human nature while wrapping in intriguing storyline and hi-tech concepts. Thanks him for providing us excellent entertainments through his words, and his body of works will live on for years to come!

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