Michael Crichton's Travels

Michael Crichton

Travels

Monika says:

When you think about Michael Crichton the first thing that comes in mind are best sellers like "Jurassic Park", "Rising Sun" or "Airframe". "Travels" is one of his lesser known books that is different from the others because it is autobiographic. Crichton writes about his travels to various parts of the world. His travels were vacations, but at the same time they were challenges for Crichton fled civilization and travelled lightly to experience different cultures.

In various chapters Crichton tells about his bhuddist experience in Bangkok, a traumatic scuba dive on the island Bonaire, his climbing of the Kilimanjaro, his ambiguous feelings for his father, the shooting of the movie "The Great Train Robbery" which he directed, his encounter with spiritualism and more.

Crichton weaves his personal memories into short stories that are amusing as well as melancholic. His travels are not only physical journeys but also inner journeys motivated by his curiosity. Readers may be surprised to find out that Crichton, whose trademark is his somber and technical style, once was interested in spiritualism. In spite of his interest he remains a sceptic and calls the Spiritualist Association of Great Britain a "psychic smorgasbord". He acknowlegdes though that some people have access to information that remains hidden for mere mortals. Something he takes more seriously is meditation. He finds out a lot about himself, but is convinced in the end that he still doesn't know who he is.

What's so fascinating about this book is that Crichton by analizing his own life and trying to see himself with the eyes of others he makes us think about our own behavior in certain situations. But he never resorts to lecturing his readers. "Travels" is just as entertaining as his best novels. The main difference is the much more formal style of the novels. "Travels" is more like a personal diary. Any Crichton fan should read it.

Publisher: Ballantine Books, New York

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Monika Hübner