Travels by Michael Crichton
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Book Reviews of Travels
Book Review: Crichton traveled through his mind.
Summary: 4 Stars
"Travels" by Michael Crichton.
Michael Crichton didn't want to be a doctor, but he attended the entire course and worked in different department. At the end, he refused to receive his right to practice his art, despite he received his diploma.
This decision was based on his childhood, that was not easy. Actually, he never wanted to be a doctor, this was his parents' decision.
So after having written four very good novels including "Andromeda Strain", which became a tremendous success; after making a movie ("West World") which was a great success -the movie didn't cost much- and being a doctor, he settled in a apartment building in Hollywood. The right place to live experiences. He was THE DOCTOR in this building and he was bothered by the other tenants. After succeeding in litterature, in movies, and being a doctor, he suddenly felt sad, depressed.
Simply because he didn't have any goals to achieve. Then he saw a psychiatrist and after several weeks, he realized... (I don't tell you).
He spent his childhood to travel in America, Europe, South America and this was what he knew the best. He never intended, then to write other books. First, he had to clean up his mind and arrange all his things otherwise. He had too many ideas to write other books. So he was married, but was seducing several women.
"Travels" his a strange book, made from his souvenirs, corrected later. His style is natural since he didn't intend to publish it. It's the story of a gifted man who lacked of assurance and a goal in his life. It's funny, scary, surprising and he wrote about events that we would forget. Anything inspired him.
What saved him is that he decided to travel. You will travel through time and space, since his book tells us adventures happening years ago, in a different world, where Africa was not tamed. (He was not Tarzan, just a writer).
You will learn how doctors are prepared for their work since the first day when they dissect a corpse. This training for years change their mind, they have to see things otherwise which is the best thing that happened to Michael Crichton.
His book allow readers to know better about themselves. To take risks, to admit that reality differs from peoples and others; that culture can be strange and probably the result of varying conditions of living, with strange taboos in each society and to me, it meant that a Global Village can be something good or bad, strange, that forces our mind to open to these realities. It seems easy, but it is not.
We have to travel around the world to become a traveler, then we travel in our mind to face the ugly and the scary and tame the unconscious part which is protecting us clumsily.
I fought to have "travels" for Christmas and I have no regrets. And by the way, visit his site, there is a series of essays by Michael Crichton, texts. Michael Crichton raises questions and it's up to the readers to find the answers.
Book Review: Looking for more in Life?
Summary: 4 Stars
First non-fiction book I've read by Crichton. Of course this guy can write, almost everything he has put out has been entertaining so it's interesting to see how he does writing about his own life. This book consists of Crichton's anecdotes over his life, what he likes to do in his free time basically. Lately I've felt depressed and was looking for something to cheer me up. If you are searching for something in life this is will be interesting because so is he.
Some of the stories are straight up travel adventures intertwined with his personal life. I especially enjoyed reading about his hike up Mount Kilimanjaro. It's quite a detailed account of his ascent and made me want to try it on my next holiday. Also notable were visits with mountain gorillas in Rwanda, scuba diving on wrecks and with sharks, fighting with his girlfriend while on holiday in Jamaica. The woman inadvertently invites a convicted murderer and would-be mugger into their daytrip. He also explores the spiritual world and visits psychics, which is not my cup of tea, but quite interesting at times to explore through his eyes.
The capstone of this book is actually the postscript where the author argues with a group of leading scientists that they should not discount the paranormal and spiritual. If nothing else it provides an excellent basis for how one should go about in a serious debate. Personally I have never believed in mysticism, spiritualism, any of these non-scientific views of the world. I was interested to see the outcome after having read the book because Crichton really enjoys exploring these ideas. You could say he's a believer.
He writes, "science offers a picture of the world, but its picture is not to be confused with the underlying reality itself". For example a map of the world provides a detailed image of the geography, but it in fact it's not really a true reproduction of the underlying land. Science is able to express some of nature's unknowns in mathematical theory but it can only show a fraction of what is truly occurring. Crichton's argument is that there is much more to the world than science can explain and that we should be open-minded about where we might fight it. For some reason I found myself agreeing with him.
Book Review: Renaissance Man
Summary: 4 Stars
"Travels" is a collection of essays forming an autobiography of this amazing man's adult life. Michael Crichton is a modern renaissance man--a disillusioned doctor, a fantastically successful writer, a world traveler, an amateur practitioner of paranormal phenomena. Everyone knows his books, but you don't have to be a fan (I'm not particularly) to enjoy "Travels."
But what kind of guy is he really? Obviously extremely intelligent, tall and good-looking (just glance at the cover), at ease in all kinds of situations. Self-absorbed, over-confident, a bit arrogant? I thought so by the end of the book. I originally read this for the chapter on Kilimanjaro--he made it to the top, despite being foolishly unprepared and having ill-fitting boots. Only a supremely confident person would try something like this. Diving in Bonaire, he attempts several increasingly dangerous dives, ignoring warnings, pushing the edge of the envelope to near disaster.
I was also uneasy about how he described the one personal relationship he mentions--after what seemed to be many years of faithfully participating in his adventures, Loren and he simply discovered their hopes for the future lay in different directions. Or so he says. Maybe he was just being discreet, maybe just cold--I really wondered what was going on in her mind, though.
Overall, this is quite an interesting book--not too heavy, very well-written. You don't have to like Crichton's books--or him personally--to enjoy this collection.
Book Review: a fascinating book on Crichton's time travelling the world
Summary: 4 Stars
I've been a fan of Crichton's fiction since I first read Jurassic Park years ago. I love how he mixes reality with the potential science of the future. The events in his novels may not be possible, but when Crichton tells the story you believe that they are plausible. Perhaps it is Crichton's attention to detail that makes the stories both so interesting as well as believable. It is this same attention to detail that makes Travels such an interesting book. Travels is a series of essays broken up into two sections. The first section deals with Crichton's time in medical school. These stories are very interesting as we get to see some of the inner working of hospitals, and some of the stuff that we wouldn't see on TV (and might not believe if we did). This was a fascinating section. The second section of the book was most of the book and it dealt with Crichton's travels. I'm not a huge fan of travel writing (normally), but I was blown away by the depth (or length) of Crichton's travels. He truly is a world traveler and we are told of his experiences climbing mountains, exploring remote corners of the world. Not only has Michael Crichton had several lifetimes of experience, but he tells the stories very well. Most are very short, but very interesting.
I don't think that Travels will be a book that I have any interest in re-reading, but it was a good book to read once and I'm glad I did. Crichton has a lot of stories to tell and he tells them well.
Book Review: Starts well but doesn't maintain
Summary: 4 Stars
Authors are always trying to craft the ultimate opening sentence. In "Travels," Michael Crichton outdoes himself: "It is not easy to cut through a human head with a hacksaw." Crichton is off and running, and the first nine chapters, all dealing with his medical studies, simply fly by. It's absolutely engrossing material. The book takes a sharp turn into accounts of Crichton's world travels, and by the time he segues into the paranormal, the pace slows considerably.
Crichton discusses his experiences with psychic phenomena such as seeing auras, talking (and listening) to plants, palmistry, being possessed, and on and on. He is a skeptic with a medical and scientific background, so his perspective is an interesting one. He makes a good case for there being areas of consciousness that we have barely begun to explore.
I have read all of Michael Crichton's fiction, but this was the first nonfiction of his that I have read. One thing is clear: the guy can flat-out write. When I can read page after page and not even think about the mechanics of the text, I know the author is a good one. "Travels" is a fascinating book, particularly if you have an interest in exotic locales and the world of the paranormal.