Crichton is Michael Bay on Paper...Only Good.

I haven’t gotten too far into the State of Fear this weekend, but having watched one too many Michael Bay films (and let's be real, one is one too many Michael Bay films), I can already sense Crichton setting up for, to paraphrase Robin, “sex, drugs, explosions, car chases…” (or should I say, even greater demonstrations of "sex, drugs, explosions, car chases..." than have already occurred).  Although I find his writing style a banal at times (I mean, it’s like Wonder Bread, and you can’t eat that shit for every meal), I feel it’s palatability is intentional—this is a topic which, before all is said and done, will raise more hoopla and hell in our lifetime than any other.  I mean, what’s more important than the survival of our own species?  In short, this novel is all about accessibility—the obvious proliferation of simple sentences and apparently ‘pre-chewed’ themes allows readers from all backgrounds to travel a distance through Crichton’s unique perspective (or paradigm) to see that, perhaps, there is more than meets the eye.  I mean, maybe Elvis really is hiding out in the center of the earth. 

“These captivation generators are hypersonic,” Ling explained, “producing a radially symmetric cavitation field that can be adjusted for focal point, rather like an optical lens, except we are using sound.  In other words, we can focus the sound beam, and control how deep the cavitation will occur.”  P. 25

Having been through my fair share of lab manuals, I can tell you how frustrating it can be for a reader to have complicated technical procedures explained in complicated technical jargon.  As Einstein once quipped, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”  Obviously, for anyone who even glimpses the back cover of a Crichton novel, science is a huge part—the innovation, research, and speculation of it, to be precise.  The stuff that isn't possible right now but may be one day.  In this way, Crichton’s otherwise simplistic language fits in perfectly, and adds a crucial element of depth and captivation that keeps the reader (myself included) coming back for more.  I mean, something has to keep us interested between all those near-death escapes, right?