Timewaster's Guide Archive

Departments => Books => Topic started by: CthulhuKefka on November 05, 2008, 11:20:10 PM

Title: R.I.P. Michael Crichton
Post by: CthulhuKefka on November 05, 2008, 11:20:10 PM
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/05/print/main4575403.shtml


 :'(
Title: Re: R.I.P. Michael Crichton
Post by: Chaos on November 05, 2008, 11:34:13 PM
That is so sad...
Title: Re: R.I.P. Michael Crichton
Post by: Necroben on November 05, 2008, 11:49:48 PM
He will be missed.
Title: Re: R.I.P. Michael Crichton
Post by: MrPaperCamel on November 06, 2008, 12:16:28 AM
Wow.
Title: Re: R.I.P. Michael Crichton
Post by: GreenMonsta on November 06, 2008, 01:01:25 AM
It is sad.
Title: Re: R.I.P. Michael Crichton
Post by: CthulhuKefka on November 06, 2008, 01:27:04 AM
I think Andromeda Strain was one of the first sci-fi books I ever read.  :( Loved his work.
Title: Re: R.I.P. Michael Crichton
Post by: AvalonDreamer on November 06, 2008, 08:59:43 AM
Sad day for the world... This time of year seems to be a bad time to be an author, eh? RJ last year, and now Crichton... Too early to speculate on next year? I hope it isn't Card, I want that last Ender book...
Title: Re: R.I.P. Michael Crichton
Post by: Peter Ahlstrom on November 06, 2008, 07:49:59 PM
I really wanted to like Crichton's books. He had good ideas and set them in interesting stories with interesting characters—but the man could not write an ending to save his life. (Considering this news, that seems like a kind of gauche comment.)
Title: Re: R.I.P. Michael Crichton
Post by: readerMom on November 06, 2008, 08:39:01 PM
M.C.'s books were the first "best-seller" type I ever read.  I realised that best-sellers are readable, just not "thinkable".
Title: Re: R.I.P. Michael Crichton
Post by: Reaves on November 07, 2008, 01:10:17 AM
My sister told me about this the other day. His books are great, although I definitely preferred his earlier stuff. My favs are probably The Great Train Robbery and Timeline.
Title: Re: R.I.P. Michael Crichton
Post by: CthulhuKefka on November 07, 2008, 01:13:43 AM
I really wanted to like Crichton's books. He had good ideas and set them in interesting stories with interesting characters—but the man could not write an ending to save his life. (Considering this news, that seems like a kind of gauche comment.)

That is a little harsh. The man just died.
Title: Re: R.I.P. Michael Crichton
Post by: AvalonDreamer on November 07, 2008, 01:20:36 AM
And? Ookla's not going to hurt Crichton's feelings... He always accepted his due criticism with happiness.

That aside, aren't you an editor Ookla? If anyone can point out a literary flaw...

As for Crichton's endings... One happened. (Too soon, I know.)
Title: Re: R.I.P. Michael Crichton
Post by: CthulhuKefka on November 07, 2008, 01:25:21 AM
And? Ookla's not going to hurt Crichton's feelings... He always accepted his due criticism with happiness.

That aside, aren't you an editor Ookla? If anyone can point out a literary flaw...

As for Crichton's endings... One happened. (Too soon, I know.)

And? Are you serious? Even if it's true or not, it still is pretty cold.
Title: Re: R.I.P. Michael Crichton
Post by: Peter Ahlstrom on November 08, 2008, 03:31:39 AM
I remembered a Crichton book that didn't have a horrible ending: Rising Sun. It was a mystery book, and the mystery got solved at the end. It wasn't a spectacular ending by any means, but it was decent.
Title: Re: R.I.P. Michael Crichton
Post by: CthulhuKefka on November 08, 2008, 04:19:35 AM
Didn't they make a movie out of that book with Wesley Snipes and Sean Connery?
Title: Re: R.I.P. Michael Crichton
Post by: Peter Ahlstrom on November 08, 2008, 04:29:21 AM
Yes. The roles were reversed though; the old guy was supposed to be black and the young guy was supposed to be white. Though I can't remember the plot significance of that—I'm pretty sure there was one.
Title: Re: R.I.P. Michael Crichton
Post by: AvalonDreamer on November 08, 2008, 04:39:15 AM
They also made a movie out of Timeline and fouled it up... I had such high expectations.
Title: Re: R.I.P. Michael Crichton
Post by: CthulhuKefka on November 08, 2008, 07:17:58 AM
I vaguely remember the movie. I think they changed more than just the main characters. I think they also changed the race of the killer, iirc.

And Avalon, the only thing worth watching Timeline for was Billy Connolly and Neal McDonough.  ;)
Title: Re: R.I.P. Michael Crichton
Post by: AvalonDreamer on November 08, 2008, 07:31:35 AM
Saddly none of the female cast was that enticing... I was hoping that hollywood would manage to put out a well-translated version of a complex and detailed story, and not manage to mangle it up. In retrospect - I may have been a bit delusional.
Title: Re: R.I.P. Michael Crichton
Post by: MrPaperCamel on November 08, 2008, 04:35:54 PM
Didn't they make a movie out of that book with Wesley Snipes and Sean Connery?

You are correct.
Title: Re: R.I.P. Michael Crichton
Post by: Shaggy on January 06, 2009, 02:48:56 AM
In The Great Train Robbery, the way that Pierce attains the gold is simply astounding–so very ingenious. Crichton was certainly a master of his field.

[Sorry about retouching on old threads; I just had to say that.]
Title: Re: R.I.P. Michael Crichton
Post by: Peter Ahlstrom on January 06, 2009, 05:58:56 PM
I read the book long ago and can remember very little about it. I know it's based on a true story, but having read on Wikipedia the summary of the true story, I doubt the book bears much resemblance to that.
Title: Re: R.I.P. Michael Crichton
Post by: Shaggy on January 06, 2009, 11:06:04 PM
It doesn't much. The times are different (I think).