Oct 04, 2005 09:30 PM
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(Updated Oct 04, 2005 09:30 PM)
If you haven't read a Crichton ever, this probably isn't the right book to start. I'd rather recommend Jurassic Park to you, movie not-withstanding. Trust me, you'll never regret it. Not that State of Fear is a bad read.. far from it. But unless you've read the Jurassic Park and The Lost World and found yourself becoming a die-hard fan of Crichton, I suspect you might not have the patience to read beyond the first 100 rather confusing pages of State of Fear.
State of Fear is a thesis on Climate, sans an inference. Like all other works of MC, it throws at you a mass of conflicting opinions, and lets you form your own. MC typically has one character in his plots who acts as a mouthpiece for his own views. In the Jurassic series, it was Ian Malcom.
In SoF its Kenner. Kenner revels in throwing revolutionary ideas at you, contesting the very beliefs that you've formed and cemented through numerous science classes in high school, and through environmental outcries in newspapers and on TV. Ian Malcom's forte was the Theory of Evolution, a very common-sensical theory that even arm-chair scientists can buld from scratch. Its easy to explain such theories to readers and make them gasp in wonder.
Unfortunately for Kenner, Climate cant be packaged into a simple one-size-fits-all theory. To back up his revelations, he ends up having to give you references to numerous scientific research papers. To a common reader, it can get quite tiring just seeing the growing number of footnotes with each page, and to expect the reader to actually look up those papers would be a tad too much to ask for.
Nevertheless, given the nature of Climactic Science, Crichton has done a marvellous job. Packaging genuine, unglamorous theories and experimental results on Climactic Science into a fast-paced scifi thriller is a stunt not many authors would dare to try pull. And he's pulled it off rather well.
What you get in the bargain, is a thrilling page-turner (once you're through the first 100 pages, trust me, it all starts making sense) that packs in it a whole lot of information on the environment.. information thats very essential to today's paranoid global citizen. It also brings you back to the ground with a thud, with a revelation on how precious little man knows about his environment, research labs notwithstanding. A sampler: CFC's (Chloro-Flouro-Carbons) were banned across the world a few years ago with a major hue and cry, because they caused ozone layer depletion. Even today, you might see 'Nil CFCs' signs on refrigerators. Was the ban for the better? Read the book to find out.
One over-riding theme of most Crichton novels is his belief that mankind is grossly over-rated. He loves scoffing at 'Save The Earth' campaigns, and novel after novel, his characters patiently explain to you that the earth can take care of itself, atomic bombs not-withstanding. New forms of life will evolve even from an earth ridden with nuclear radiation. Nature is far more violent than mankind can ever dream of being.
Everyday, thousands of species naturally become extinct and thousands more are created by the process of evolution. Entire forests can perish in natural fires, and they form themselves again after a hundred years, yet stronger. A hundred years is too long into the horizon for an average human. And so he goes around putting out forest fires... which is great. But to preserve forests, and few species, and then have grand notions of 'saving the earth', 'preserving nature'.. is just that.. a foolish notion. Nature has no concept of preservation, on the contrary, nature thrives in change. The history of the earth is far more violent and chaotic than the average human can imagine.
To summarise, State of Fear makes a good read, and is highly relevant to today's times. I recommend it.
