Travels (Michael Crichton, 1988)

ISBN 0-3303-0126-8

Crichton is a best-selling novelist - author of The Andromeda Strain, Congo, Jurassic Park, and others. So, of course the man can write. And, in fact, the early chapters describing his medical years are riveting.

But despite all that, I find that during the course of reading this book I have gone from admiring an author to despising a man. At the root of it, Crichton reveals himself as nothing more than the usual spoiled Hollywood brat. The endless relationships may well have fed his own ego at the time, but to me they are simply tedious; his attitude to the various psychics and mystics he couples up with is feeble-minded; his 'travels' are, for the most part, guided rich-kid tours. Contrast Crichton's excursion to Baltistan – which I think is where I finally lost patience with the man – with that of Dervla Murphy. She travelled more extensively with only her six-year-old daughter as a travelling companion. (Crichton joined an army, and still manages to manufacture high drama out of thin air. What a plonker.)

Not only that, but get a load of this:

'The kind of evidence that I have seen for clairvoyance or telepathy – evidence that leads me to accept these phenomena as unquestionably real....' — p. 339

And, in respect of spoon bending á là Uri Geller:

'At first the event seems exciting and mysterious, but very quickly it becomes so mundane that it can no longer hold your interest. This seems to me to confirm the idea that so-called psychic or paranormal phenomena are misnamed. There's nothing abnormal about them. On the contrary, they're utterly normal. ... Spoon bending is like doing the laundry, or riding a bicycle. No big deal. Not really worth much conversation.' — pp. 355-356

The man's obviously as mad as a cut snake. I wonder if Bob Bakker would have been so keen to cosy up to this fellow on the Jurassic Park project if he'd read this twaddle beforehand.

Recommendation: Tedious, ego-centric self-indulgence – not recommended.

Look and Feel: My Ballantine Books edition is a matt-finish paperback of unusually poor quality.

I've not bothered with any out-takes: the whole book from 'chapter' seven (Heart Attack!) onwards is an out-take.

Peripatus Home Page

Books >> Genre >> Biography >> Travels

Contact me.