Avoiding Life One Post at a Time

The Great Irish-American Novel

I've always wanted to write a book and although I've had many ideas, I never had one I could really sink my teeth into and write 160,000 words of! 

Last night however, I had a dream.  The kind of dream that makes me wonder why I don't have a note book by my bed to write down ideas.  Luckily this dream was the one that occurred right as I was waking, so I remembered it all, and let me tell you - THIS IS IT!!!

Masterful.  The crime thriller of the century.  The type of book that would make a killer movie.  I have already have contacts with people I would need to help with the research.  It would merge Irish and American culture and it would be extremely topical. (Don't you love how highly I think of myself?)

The problem?  It's about terrorism.  An extremely simple yet highly effective plot, that for some reason they haven't thought of yet.  Therein lies the rub.  What if I get published and someone copies it?

Think of the lawsuits! 

What should I do???

Books: Next by Michael Crichton

I just finished reading Michael Crichton's Next.  I've read two of his previous novels, Jurassic Park and State of Fear.  Given that I read Jurassic Park as a teenager before the movie even came out, I can't recall enough to compare it or make a comprehensive statement about his writing style.  What I can tell you though is that Next and State of Fear might as well be the same book.

Crichton uses both novels to make several points about pertinent issues in todays world and he does this very well.  He appears to be a highly intelligent and quite educated man.  Next focuses primarily on genetic engineering and brings up some very interesting points well beyond the standard debate about embryonic research.  State of Fear is about Global Warming and whether it is or is not an issue.  The global warming issue really made me think.  It focuses more on the fact that the majority unanimously accepts that although it is but a hypothesis in science terms, it is fact.  He presents evidence on both sides of the debate and enough contrasting evidence to make you really wonder. 

Both these books are in novel form and that is their downfall.  Both have multiple mini-plots going on that are vaguely connected but never really interact.  There are so many characters it's hard to keep them straight.  You expect some big ending that will tie everything together, but it ends in one chapter in a fairytale "happily ever after" type ending.  It makes for a very disappointing read.  I recall reading somewhere, that the reason he presents these issues and arguments in novel form is because he wants to appeal to the average reader/layperson and due to the fact that he is not an expert in the particular area and as such cannot write a scientific paper.  That's all well and good, but insulting your readers with a cheap novel is not exactly good marketing practice.

Having said all this, the books did really make me think about the issues at hand.  Did I change my mind on the issues? No, but I did think about my viewpoints and believe my mind is a little more open to questioning them. 

In summary if you want a good read, don't bother, but if you would like a quick, albeit disappointing novel that will educate you on some current and quite interesting issues, read away!