A Case of Need

One part of me loved it because it delved into the medical world - and that brought back so much. The funny things about working with other doctors/nurses and treating patients. The sad/shocking things. That part was really interesting - and showed Crichton's typical obsessive research tendancies (which I love - it makes it believable when the author has researched his topic thoroughly so that he can speak with correct terms, context, etc). This was Crichton's first novel ... and his researching skills have remained one of the reasons his books are usually so well written.

The other part of me was turned off from the book right from the start simply because of the topic: a pathologist is trying to find evidence to free a friend of his - a doctor who is accused of doing abortions illegally. He does actually do abortions ... and sometimes for people who are using it as a form of birth control. Married women trying to hide affairs. Ugh. Come on people ... don't be having sex if you can't handle the consequences. If you aren't mature enough to be a parent ... you aren't mature enough to be having sex. Crichton was a Harvard Medical School student when he was writing this (and it was originally published under a pseudonym) - and evidently it stirred up quite the controversy.

Abortion is and always will be a hot topic. But if you've ever worked in a hospital ... when you're talking about a persons body and their health ... you can see that it's not always a black and white issue. (I have a friend who is doing an OBGYN rotation in Memphis right now - and he wants them to start offering free sterlizations. He sees 20-30 pregnant teenagers a day. Potheads who are on their 6th and 7th child - whose babies are immediately taken into custody by the state. He's pretty down right now and is ready to move on to his next rotation where things might not seem in such a hopeless cycle.)

I still say that if what I wrote about here was a reality ... many of these issues wouldn't be issues anymore!!

Or ... maybe Stargate SG-1 could bring the Aschen here to sterilize those who seem incapable of mature and responsible actions! (cool wiki on stargate there!)

I much prefer Crichton's later novels. Loved The Andromeda Strain (I haven't seen the 1971 movie so I don't know if it's a good adaptation or not!), Timeline (the movie was a pretty good adaptation), Sphere (the movie was .... ok), Airframe (I think this is being turned into a film?), and Jurassic Park (amazing film and effects - great adaptation).