WWTBAM Bored

Noted author and creator of TV's "ER" died unexpectedly today at age 66.

Wow! I didn't realize that he had cancer.

This is really sad news.

I have more of his books in my apartment than any other author. Tonight I'll have to drag em out. I haven't read Timeline in a very long time anyway.

Sigh

One of my favorite authors. I probably have read more of his books than any other author.

What a shame.

I haven't read Timeline in a very long time anyway.

Excellent book - horrible movie.


t.

NellyLunatic1980 wrote:Noted author and creator of TV's "ER" died unexpectedly today at age 66.

The first real date that elwing and I had was to see The Andromeda Strain. I hadn't read the book, but did so afterward. Like so many other books, it was a much better read than the movie was.

earendel wrote:

NellyLunatic1980 wrote:Noted author and creator of TV's "ER" died unexpectedly today at age 66.

The first real date that elwing and I had was to see The Andromeda Strain. I hadn't read the book, but did so afterward. Like so many other books, it was a much better read than the movie was.

And that was the best of the films that have been made from his books.

This is truly sad news. He was, in my opinion, the best "techno-thriller" writer in the world. He immersed himself in the subject matter so deeply that readers became smarter.

Airframe was my favorite.

Damn.

Dang. He WILL be missed.

I have read many of his books.

The Andromeda Strain
The Terminal Man
Congo - my personal favorite
Sphere
Jurassic Park
Rising Sun
Lost World
Airframe
State of Fear

I have read few of the thrillers except to remember that the twist on the very last page of one of them was that the......

Well, I better not conclude that sentence.

I remember reading "Five Patients", a non-fiction story of 5 Mass General patients of the late sixties, which I believe he wrote after already becoming famous as a fictionalist. Costs were rising at 15% / year, powerful interests prevented any change beyond the vision of the Great Society, and so on, with consequences for all, or most. His version of roundsmanship repartee of Internal Medicine sticks with me: (Was a rectal biopsy done, doctor? No, the tongue was not enlarged), although the bizarreness of hospitals which still operated under the feudal system is captured better fictionally by the MD who wrote as Samuel Shem: The House of God.

Crichton probably had more good books turned into bad movies than any writer I know.

He did fairly well as a writer/director too. I loved Westworld.

silverscreenselect wrote:Crichton probably had more good books turned into bad movies than any writer I know.

I wonder if one William Shakespeare might come close. Although they werent books to begin with.

etaoin22 wrote:I have read few of the thrillers except to remember that the twist on the very last page of one of them was that the......

Yeah, and the movie really sucked.

I didn't realize he was 66. I think of him as younger.

I haven't read everything of his but enjoyed Congo very much.

Read some of his stuff, but got tired of the constant "science gone awry" theme that played into the public's lack of understanding of how scientists REALLY operate. Still, too young.

mellytu74 wrote:I didn't realize he was 66. I think of him as younger.

Same with me.

silverscreenselect wrote:Crichton probably had more good books turned into bad movies than any writer I know.

Stephen King would give him a run for his money there.

This sucks. I think I've read all of his stuff. I don't know what my favorite book is, but Prey, while sort of a throw away novel, if there is such a thing-it seemed even more made for a movie script than anything-just intrigued me. Especially considering the nanotechnology that really is beginning to be implemented medically lately.

Watch out for buzzing swarms!

I loved Jurassic Park and Timeline and State of Fear.

clem21 wrote:This is really sad news.

I have more of his books in my apartment than any other author. Tonight I'll have to drag em out. I haven't read Timeline in a very long time anyway.

Sigh

I was going through DVDs a few days ago looking for one that I wanted to loan to somebody and came across Timeline. I happened to think that I never finished watching it and put it to the side for watching sometime, just in case.

Is it worth finishing? I've of course totally forgotten the part I did see some years ago when I got it and would have to start from scratch (I recall something about archeology students and a necklace).

I've never read the book, so don't give anything away!

Beebs52 wrote:I loved Jurassic Park and Timeline and State of Fear.

Please see previous post. Is it a good flick to scrub grout by?

WheresFanny wrote:

Beebs52 wrote:I loved Jurassic Park and Timeline and State of Fear.

Please see previous post. Is it a good flick to scrub grout by?

Only if you have an HDTV on your shower wall.

Bob Juch wrote:

WheresFanny wrote:

Beebs52 wrote:I loved Jurassic Park and Timeline and State of Fear.

Please see previous post. Is it a good flick to scrub grout by?

Only if you have an HDTV on your shower wall.

Now that was funny and I don't care who y'are.

Anyway, I haven't seen Timeline, but have seen Jurassic Park repeatedly. It's socko. But, you must read the books. Timeline is convoluted so I don't know how it translated to the screen. I don't think State of Fear is in film mode yet, but I could be wrong. Is/was it?

WheresFanny wrote:

clem21 wrote:This is really sad news.

I have more of his books in my apartment than any other author. Tonight I'll have to drag em out. I haven't read Timeline in a very long time anyway.

Sigh

I was going through DVDs a few days ago looking for one that I wanted to loan to somebody and came across Timeline. I happened to think that I never finished watching it and put it to the side for watching sometime, just in case.

Is it worth finishing? I've of course totally forgotten the part I did see some years ago when I got it and would have to start from scratch (I recall something about archeology students and a necklace).

I've never read the book, so don't give anything away!

Wish I could help Fanny but I've only read the book which is, if any indication, one of my all-time favorites

WheresFanny wrote:

clem21 wrote:This is really sad news.

I have more of his books in my apartment than any other author. Tonight I'll have to drag em out. I haven't read Timeline in a very long time anyway.

Sigh

I was going through DVDs a few days ago looking for one that I wanted to loan to somebody and came across Timeline. I happened to think that I never finished watching it and put it to the side for watching sometime, just in case.

Is it worth finishing? I've of course totally forgotten the part I did see some years ago when I got it and would have to start from scratch (I recall something about archeology students and a necklace).

I've never read the book, so don't give anything away!

If you have a choice between watching Timeline on DVD and watching paint dry, watch the paint.

Classic Crichton movies

None

Solid Crichton movies

Jurassic Park
The Andromeda Strain (original)

Decent Crichton movies

Westworld
Jurassic Park II
Coma (directed and wrote the screenplay from Robin Cook's novel)
Pursuit (a TV movie)
The Carey Treatment (not on DVD but on TMC type channels occasionally, a medical thriller directed by Blake Edwards)

Guilty Pleasures

Runaway
The Great Train Robbery

Mediocre but passable in a pinch

Rising Sun
Disclosure

Disasters

The Terminal Man
Looker
Sphere
Timeline
Congo
The 13th Warrior
The Andromeda Strain (TV miniseries remake)