-
Crichton Way Ahead of His Time
Mar 27, 1999 (18 of 20 found this helpful)
Michael Crichton must be a psychic. Thirty years before researchers discovered the effects of microorganisms, Crichton predicted a virus just as deadly. The Andromeda Strain is a classic, terrifying novel of biophysics. The way Crichton combines facts and fiction results in a masterpiece. With the exception of some intense scientific vocabulary, the descriptive language used by Crichton in this novel is brilliant.
When an unmanned satellite returns to earth lethally contaminated, four American scientists are ordered to a secret lab to work against the threat of a worldwide epidemic. There are no villains in this novel - only the microscopic organisms of earth's extinction. This is a perfect story line, written with immense detail. Crichton does a superb job of setting the scene and describing the characters. He leaves his reader not wanting to stop, having great cliffhangers at the end of each chapter. The suspense builds inevitably to a heart-stopping conclusion. It is an intelligent and tightly plotted suspense-thriller.
Many of Crichton's works masterfully combine fact and fiction. The Andromeda Strain is no exception as the scientific elements are expertly interwoven with the fictional world of underground laboratories and secret agents. Crichton's facts about bacteria and viruses are right on - he goes as far as using quotes from professors and scientists as well as diagrams to support his arguments. When he switches to fictional mode, Crichton does not lose a step. His theories about government testing grounds and secret government projects, written thirty years prior, do not seem at all unrealistic in today's high-tech world.
Although the novel grabs the reader's attention from the very first page with its crisp prose, there are some minor impediments in that this is a highly technical narrative, centering on complex issues of science. Even Crichton, in his acknowledgments preceding the novel, apologizes "...if the reader must occasionally struggle through an arid passage of technical detail." Fortunately, Crichton was also able to mix up his writing style. Here is an example of a beautifully written verse:
"He often argued that human intelligence was more trouble than it was worth. It was more destructive than creative, more confusing than revealing, more discouraging than satisfying, more spiteful than charitable."
This passage clearly shows how diverse Crichton can be in his writing. The metaphors he uses fit perfectly with the plot of the story at the time this passage is used. Crichton constantly switches from technical to figurative language as if to cater his novel to all of his readers.
-
Strain Relief Sep 5, 2001 (9 of 9 found this helpful)
This book is the best, and I could never put it down! It describes the search for an organism that is killing people. The way Crichton portrays all of his characters is magnificent, which is why I really connected with this book. I felt as if I was the missing scientist from the team! I sincerely liked the way Crichton concealed the identity of the person who deciphered the mystery. I genuinely enjoyed reading about the long hours spent down in Level V of the Wildfire base. This is where Hall took care of Mr. Jackson and the baby, where Burton performed his autopsies, and where Stone and Leavitt worked on finding the organism. The other part I thoroughly enjoyed was reading about Burton and Stone while they were in Piedmont, looking for the satellite. What they found was so startling, that you hardly new what to expect next. I really believe you should buy this book, because it is such a wonderful scientific mystery!
-
Engrossing - but the writing flaws ruins the enjoyment Sep 22, 2006 (5 of 5 found this helpful)
Andromeda Strain is a (surprisingly) well-written book by Michael Crichton (whom I usually loathe). I was actually interested for most of the book and the parts when I nearly fell asleep, only rested my eyes for the action that was to come later. Typically, I dislike books that can be easily dated, but in this case, the obvious 60's/70's feel of the book (you could practically smell the bell-bottoms) helped, rather then hindered this novel. Rather then try to hide the time period it was written in, Crichton brilliantly writes this novel, as if telling about an actual event. The little diagrams that he sticks in of the computer printouts and the maps, while doesn't further the story line, does give the novel, a decidedly realistic feel.
This "true story" novel unfolds over four days, documenting a top-secret government team, called Project Wildfire. It starts out with the discovery of the death of an entire small town, with the notable exception of two people. The Project Wildfire team (consisting of only four members and assistants), race to find the cause and cure, documenting the course of this viral threat from outer space. Once you get used to the techno-babble, which Crichton filled the book with, the story is engaging and the excitement builds as time runs short and no apparent cure can be found.
Contrary to the proper way things should be done, I'm going to do this backwards and start with the ending (because it bothered me so). I won't ruin it for you, but know that he totally copped out at the end. However, I will say that I was incredibly disappointed that Crichton used the expected "deactivated the bomb with seconds to spare" device. The action, up to that point was understated and tense with the scientists mental race against the virus, but the use of the bomb device, changed the story from one of understated subtly, to a crass pandering to the masses. The tension and excitement is already there, this was completely unnecessary to the plot.
Not surprising, there were no character developments; all of the characters were just static and flat, virtually undistinguishable between each other. Important details about these characters aren't revealed early on in the story, but just sentences, before certain character quirks were needed (such as one scientist's epilepsy...the moment it was revealed, it was obvious that this would start a chain of events). This rather shoddy unfolding of the details quickly became tedious, and made otherwise unexpected, predictable and trite.
However, I do have to compliment Crichton on his technical details. I think I learned more about chemistry and biology then I ever did from college, however he quickly glossed over some basic facts (that was needed for the reader to come to the same conclusion that he did) with big long words. Also, he has a horribly heavy hand in the foreshadowing of events (the best example of this heavy handedness was in his book Disclosure). This seems to be a classic Crichton trait, as are the incredibly tedious flashbacks (they are totally pointless, and he flashes back to the same scene, from 20 different angels...and is NOT necessary for the continuous flow of the story).
All in all, it was enjoyable reading for a long flight back from Dallas, but I was disappointed in that it was also a very typical Michael Crichton book. One of his better ones, but still typical...
-
An excellent early book, worth reading even in the 21st Cent May 3, 2003 (20 of 26 found this helpful)
I've enjoyed a number of Michael Crichton's novels, finding his erudition and dedicated research and some of his philosophy in sympathy with my own interests and concerns. In looking through a list of his books, I found that I had read most of the later works but had missed one of his very first, The Andromeda Strain. I decided to correct the omission and fully enjoyed the book. Although it's a little dated (having been penned in 1969), it bears up well. I was amazed at the number of scientific discoveries that were already put to technological use as early as the 60's (fiber optics being the one that comes most readily to mind).
As in so many of his other works of fiction, Crichton introduces underlying issues of modern society, bringing some of the behavior we tend to accept as a "given" into question. In the case of the Andromeda Strain, he focuses on the hubris of the US military and of the scientific community. He highlights society's blind faith in technological "fixes" for every miss management of the environment, as though scientists and engineers can unfailing forestall the effects of every misdeed perpetrated by humanity on the rest of the planet.
In Andromeda Strain, the space program has been more or less subtly commandeered by the military to probe Earth's upper atmosphere for non-terrestrial bacteria with which to culture biological weapons of mass destruction--sound familiar? They succeed more fully than they are prepared to handle when the tiny organisms get loose among the naive biota of the earth, wrecking havoc with every living thing. To the rescue is a team of 5 carefully chosen scientists from a variety of fields, sealed away in a hyper-isolation facility in the middle of the Southwestern Desert. Can they save the earth in time? Read on!
An excellent early book, worth reading even in the 21st Century.
-
A very good techno-thriller Feb 26, 2000 (14 of 18 found this helpful)
"The Andromeda Strain" was Michael Crichton's first best-seller and set the stage for what was to come in his subsequent books: one-dimensional characters and an irresistable story. Crichton missed his true vocation; he should have been a high school science teacher. He has a rare gift for taking difficult and incomprehensible scientific topics and making them interesting and even fun for all us techno-dummies. "The Andromeda Strain" tells the story of a space capsule returning to earth bringing a very unwelcome hitch-hiker in the form of a microscopic organism that reproduces exponentially and acts out in all kinds of nasty ways. It's timely and topical and raises the age-old question, could it actually happen? As Crichton suggests, there may be all kinds of surprises, both pleasant and unpleasant, lurking out in deep space waiting to be brought back to Earth, and we had better be ready for them. The 58 references for further reading listed in the back of the book are probably meant to whet our interest further, although none of them are probably half as interesting as this book is. You turn the final page of Crichton's books feeling you've been both entertained and educated, which, flat characterizations and all, makes him so much fun to read.