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RIP, Michael Crichton
by Jason on 11/05/2008
Yesterday, amid the hoopla of the presidential election, the writing world lost another bright light. Michael Crichton, author of several decades' worth of groundbreaking thrillers from the Andromeda Strain to Jurassic Park and the man who almost single-handedly invented the TV medical-thriller genre with his work on E.R., passed away at age 66 from a private battle with cancer.
Crichton's books number more than any of us are likely to ever write, let alone publish. Although his writing has sometimes been criticized as being too plot-driven and populated by one-dimensional characters, surely no one can deny that Crichton had a magic touch for drama that kept readers turning pages by the millions.
Arguably, nobody knew more about building suspense and layering in the complications than Michael Crichton. Reading Jurassic Park is practically a graduate level course, for anyone who's paying attention, in smoothly implementing the maxim "no matter how bad your characters' situation, it can always be made worse." First, the dinosaurs that aren't supposed to be able to breed, do. Then they get out. Then a storm comes up. Then the power goes out. Then the T-Rex escapes. The difficulties keep mounting, higher and higher, and Crichton does a flawless job of making each new trouble seem entirely plausible, entirely believable, and in fact almost inevitable. It's a thrill a minute, scary as heck, and we love every word of it.
Rest in peace, Mr. Crichton, and thanks for all the great adventures.
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