Essay Database

A Case of Needing Serious Revisions Michael Crichton has penned some of the most engaging, timely, and thoroughly accessible tales tobe published in the last twenty-five years. What his novels lack in literary merit and distinctive stylethey make up for in crisp plotting and edge-of-your-seat suspense. From alien viruses to regenerated dinosaurs, from evil Japanese monoliths to the insidious maneuverings of the modern corporation, Crichtonlatches onto the scientific and political controversies of the day, and …

…situations, Crichton does manage to explore some of the more complex issues surrounding a medical crime. However, through excessive detail and an unwillingness to weigh in sufficiently on some of the more important ethical dilemmas inherent to his tale, Crichton ends up obscuring more than he reveals. A Case of Need is much like a botched autopsy: all the guts are ripped out into the open, but we are able to learn little from them.