Michael Crichton: Next (2006, HarperCollins)
Digital Audio
English language
Published Nov. 28, 2006 by HarperCollins.
The Number One international bestselling author of Jurassic Park, Congo and Sphere blends fact and fiction to create a near-future where genetic engineering opens up a whole new world of terrifying, page-turning possibilities… Bonus feature: Includes a special Q&A session between Michael Crichton and Jonathan Burnham, publisher of HarperCollins.
Is your loved one missing some body parts? Are blondes becoming extinct? Is everyone at your dinner table of the same species? It's 2006: do you know who all your children are? Do you know humans and chimpanzees differ in only 400 genes? And why does an adult human being resemble a chimp foetus? There's a new genetic cure for drug addiction – is it worse than the disease? Ever want to design your own pet? Change the stripes on the fish in your aquarium? Ever think to sell your body fat – or donate it to charity? Or sell your …
The Number One international bestselling author of Jurassic Park, Congo and Sphere blends fact and fiction to create a near-future where genetic engineering opens up a whole new world of terrifying, page-turning possibilities… Bonus feature: Includes a special Q&A session between Michael Crichton and Jonathan Burnham, publisher of HarperCollins.
Is your loved one missing some body parts? Are blondes becoming extinct? Is everyone at your dinner table of the same species? It's 2006: do you know who all your children are? Do you know humans and chimpanzees differ in only 400 genes? And why does an adult human being resemble a chimp foetus? There's a new genetic cure for drug addiction – is it worse than the disease? Ever want to design your own pet? Change the stripes on the fish in your aquarium? Ever think to sell your body fat – or donate it to charity? Or sell your eggs and sperm online for thousands of dollars? Did you know one fifth of all your genes are owned by someone else? Come to think of it, could you and your family be pursued cross country just because you happen to have certain genes in your body?
Welcome to our genetic world. Fast, furious, and out of control. This is not the world of the future – it's the world right now. Most of the events in this book have already happened. And the rest are just around the corner.
Get used to it. source: www.harpercollins.co.uk/9780007254903/next/
Leider kein übergeordneter Handlungsstrang. Wirkt wie die Zusammenfassung der Publikation zum Zeitpunkt des erscheinens. Nicht wirklich ein Thriller.
вислухав аудіоверсію перекладу французькою. сам роман не вразив: сюжет сшито з кількох ліній, жодна з котрих не витягує до рівня технотрилера, якого ми чекаємо від крайтона. деякі перебільшення, до яких автор вдається, аби надати гостроти перспективі генетично-заклопотаного майбутнього, особливо в галузі юриспуденції, викликають лише посмішку. коротше, не вразило.
In true Crichton-esque style, this is one part education in genetic research and practices, and one part warning about the things that have gone or may go wrong. As usually, it all ends with the author's note which summarize his fears and points out how much wrong has already been done by gene patenting practice.
In a court case in the book, a judge rules that the genetic research company which bought cell tissue from a cancer survivor, OWNS the cells. That leads to the absurd situation in which the genetic company loses the sample cells, then pursues the donor to replace what's loss, since the cells are ruled their property. Even more bizarre, when they can't find the original patient, they pursue his daughter and grandson, who are "in possession of stolen property", i.e. they inherited grandfather's cells. Spooky.
Sadly, such unexpected twists are few and far between. Mostly …
In true Crichton-esque style, this is one part education in genetic research and practices, and one part warning about the things that have gone or may go wrong. As usually, it all ends with the author's note which summarize his fears and points out how much wrong has already been done by gene patenting practice.
In a court case in the book, a judge rules that the genetic research company which bought cell tissue from a cancer survivor, OWNS the cells. That leads to the absurd situation in which the genetic company loses the sample cells, then pursues the donor to replace what's loss, since the cells are ruled their property. Even more bizarre, when they can't find the original patient, they pursue his daughter and grandson, who are "in possession of stolen property", i.e. they inherited grandfather's cells. Spooky.
Sadly, such unexpected twists are few and far between. Mostly we are bombarded with weird cases of genetic research, patenting and scandalous experiments on wildlife. There are too many storylines, few of which never come to conclusion, and few others never intersect. The main characters, human and animal, are so numerous, they are hard to follow. There are hybrids - and I'm not talking about cars, but rather products of crosses between human and animal DNAs. The ones I can't quite swallow are the talking orangutan and chimp. A shorter, more focused and more action-packed story would, to my opinion, better emphasize the author's concerns.
