FINAL BOOKBLOG for NEXT by Michael Crichton

Comment on the perspective from which the book is told and how the
author’s choice affects your relationship with the book’s content.

okay, i know i did this one last time, but i guess i just always end up reading books that are written differently than any other ones i have read:

Next is written from the perspective of many characters. There are workers from different genetic companies, random nobodies, expedition leaders, and reporters. The book is written in chapters, each chapter being written from someone else's point of view. There are a few characters that have many recurring chapters about them to keep the story going; there isn't a real story present though. Because of the many characters' stories, the book is able to keep the reader interested and keep on learning. Because this book is fictional nonfiction (fictional stories representing and explaining nonfictional science), when a chapter is about a character who is in the scientific work force, there are numerous vocabulary words I wouldn't know if I wasn't in biology right now. Intricate descriptions of the way genes are inserted into other genes, the ribosomes, the nucleus, the helix, transmission ribonucleic acid. All of these and more are found within the text. Whenever a chapter is from the perspective of the expedition leader, profanity is used; the same goes for when a chapter is about an average Joe. Aside from the chaos of the many characters and the stories they have to tell, there are news articles found periodically in-between chapters. These articles seem extraneous initially, but within the next few chapters, the articles are obviously relevant. The main purpose of the book is too intrigue the reader with science most people don't know about and to explain it in an interesting way with situations the reader will sometimes be able to relate with, and sometimes not.
I would reccommend this book to anyone interested-or not- in genetics/biology. I would also reccommend this book to anyone willing to learn something new, more often than not, jaw dropping information.

oh, the scientific articles #5

"MIT scientists have grown a human ear in tissue culture for the first time. Australian performance artist Stelarc collaborated with labs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to produce an extra ear for himself. The ear was one-quarter scale, slightly larger than a bottle cap. The tissue taken from Stelarc was cultured in a rotating micro-gravity bioreactor while growing. MIT issued a statement that the extra ear could be considered 'a partial life form-partly constructed and partly grown.' The ear fits comfortably in the palm of the hand."(159).
This excerpt is one of many faux-Scientific articles that help move the story along by demonstrating the intensity of the scientific world. These articles help the reader understand how much people can do in science that they don't actually hear about. The understanding of the extremities science has reached is vital for the understanding and plot movement of the book. Although I'm already on page 159 and not much plot has occured, with little character development, there has been a lot of scientific information put out there which allows me to understand how CRAZY this world is, which refers back to my first-ever post for this book's quote. When will some plot start to show up? What role does this human ear development have to do with the orangutan? Is the orangutan even that important? -I feel like Jack Skellington trying to figure out the meaning of christmas..

the development of the orangutan NEXT #4

"unfortunately," Hagar said, "we're in the jungle. It happens when it happens. We're in the natural world." "not if it talks, it's not natural," the cameraman said, "and we haven't got all f*$&#ing day." " I don't know what to tell you," Hagar said. "Find me the f&*(^&*ing monkey!" the guy yelled (124).

This passage indicates the development of the sighting of the "speaking orangutan" (possibly partially genetically human). As soon as word gets out, the media is all over the place trying to find this orangutan. Even though people don't know much about orangutans in general, they are dying to see this phenomenon "FIND ME THE F-ING MONKEY"- orangutans aren't monkeys. All of this frenzy in the outside world mimics what is going on in the business of genetics world (in the book). The main characters, who are workers for genetic engineering companies, have much pandemonium breaking loose within the companies. Many don't know whether to believe it or not, and all the competing companies gossip about other companies that might have had something to do with this genetically altered orangutan. Will there be more than one dutch-speaking orangutan? Can they speak any other languages? How did this come to happen?

#3 for NEXT

"'Yeah, now the mother's all upset. Wants more tissues. What've we got?'
'I'd have to check. Probably the usual. All major organs.'
Marty said, "Any chance the material got displaced? So we couldn't find it?'
'Might take months."
'Or years. Or never.'
'That'd be a shame.'"(90)
This passage is a conversation between two doctors who are basically trying to avoid a lawsuit, and are therefore pretending like they can't find certain tissues belonging to a dead man whose family is attempting to sue the hospital where the body is. This depicts the corruptness of the world we live in today, and how there is so much data that it can be easily hidden or "overlooked". I am personally freaked out by this passage because it makes me feel unsafe in a hospital, where people are supposed to be saved and feel like they are in good hands. There are clearly many mishaps in hospitals that are probably just coverups. Will the authorities really believe the stories that workers in hospitals tell? Will they look farther into these issues? Are there problems like this at MY hospitals?

the author of my book is dead

"Ten yards. Hagar held the microphone out in front of him. The tourists were pulling out their cameras. The orang stared directly at Hagar and made an odd sound like a cough. "Dwaas." Hagar repeated the sound back. "Dwaas." The orang stared at him. The curved lips moved. A sequence of guttural grunts: "Ooh stomm dwaas, varlaat leanme." One of the tourists says, "Is he making those sounds?" "Yes," Hagar said. "Is he....talking??" "Apes can't talk," another tourist said, "orangs are silent, it says so in the book." A man pointed at the orang. "That's Dutch, " he said." (43)
In this excerpt, a group of tourists, led by a guide, venture into an orangutan-populated part of the jungle, and an orangutan begins speaking. The author introduces the topic of mixing genes between different species, and allows the reader to assume that perhaps, this orangutan has human genes introduced to it. Orangutans are our closest relative, so intertwining human genes with those of orangutans wouldn't be impossible. Is this orangutan really part human? What role will it play in the story? Does the orangutan pose a threat?

NEXT Michael Crichton

"Is a loved one missing some body parts? Are blondes becoming extinct? Is everyone at your dinner table of the same species? Humans and chimpanzees differ in only 400 genes; is that why a chimp fetus resembles an adult human being? And should that worry us? There's a new genetic cure for drug addiction-is it worse than the disease? We live in a time when one-fifth of all our genes are owned by someone else, and an unsuspecting person and his family can be pursued cross-country because they happen to have certain valuable genes within their chromosomes. We live in a new world where nothing is what it seems. The future is closer than you think."
So go the words of the first page of Michael Crichtons book, NEXT. This is the introduction to the novel, and presents many mind-twisting questions that many people ponder, but never realize the strangeness of the world we live in. What is the story about? Will the book be about the future, as a historical account? Or will it be about a certain person's story taking place in this future? What do all of these questions have to do with the story?

final post (in a separate post woohoo)

Comment on the perspective from which the book is told and how the
author’s choice affects your relationship with the book’s content.


The narration and re-telling of the strange and disgusting events that take place in Palahniuk's book, Haunted, are told in a form that allows the reader to get inside the brains of the characters and of Palahniuk. Palahniuk plays the role of a nonexistent single character that knows everything that all of the other characters know, but nothing more. He narrates using "we" rather than "I," giving the reader a sense that the book is the recollection of events compiled by all the information on the writer's retreat that the writers can recall. "We eat turkey Tetrazzini while Lady Baglady toys with her diamond ring"(40).
Along with Palahniuk playing the role of all of the characters, each chapter consists of the following: a section from the "we" point of view that contains the plotline and actual story of what is happening at the writer's convention, a poem that is about a single character "Miss America onstage, her blond hair coils and spirals, /billows and looms,/to make her face look as small as possible"(46), and then a short story about (and by) that single character. This style gives insight into each character's history and is where the majority of characterization takes place, which is very useful, seeing as there are many different characters with different nicknames.
Palahniuk also has very interesting descriptions and his phrasing is so interesting and suspenseful, I have trouble putting down the book. His comments are hilariously disgusting and disturbing "She wiggles what's left of her hands, and says, 'I don't have the fingers I need.' Her fingers are just stubs and knuckles. Only her index fingers are left for dialing telephones after she's famous"(172).
I thoroughly enjoy the style of writing that Palahniuk has decided to engage in this book, because it gives the reader a sense of knowing exactly what the characters know, and it makes the book ten times more interesting.