A Reread and a New Read

Greets BLAG readers. I come to you with another literature post. A (hopefully)spoiler free post. When I last left you, I finished "The Hunger Games" and covered "Rollback". Today I have an Old Classic previously mentioned and high praise for a thriller.



Lets start with Harper Lee's beloved bildungsroman. That's right, post "The Hunger Games" and "Rollback" I had another "what to read next" moment much like the Post-Hunger Games moment. I decided to revisit Maycomb, Alabama. What a wonderful read. "To Kill a Mockingbird" deserves all the prior praise I gave it and more. For those of you who are unaware, need a refresher, or need a preview before cracking it's spine(please do, you will not regret it) behold! TKAM is a classic Bildungsroman, a coming of age story. The protagonist is Jean Louise(Scout) Finch. She is also the voice of the story, penning the story of events leading up to the incident that saw her brother's arm broken. The story takes place in the Deep South, during The Great Depression when racism was more widely practiced than it is today. The main fascinations of the story are Boo Radley, whose storyline has a wonderful climax, and the court case of Tom Robinson, which concludes horrifically in more than one way(and may or may not coincide with Boo's climax). Many themes are touched on including compassion, racism, equality, kindness, responsibility, and a plethora of bildungsroman themes. Seriously, if you have not had the pleasure of reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" get out your smartphone, go to your local bookstore, or go to a library and get it. You can thank me later with your PM's, to which I will respond with my address for mailing your checks to. Theatrics aside, get a copy of TKAM and read it.

While TKAM was wonderful in the reread, not much can compete with discovering a wonderful story for the first time. As I have mentioned previously, I love Michael Crichton. The "Jurassic Park" set, "Sphere", and "The Andromeda Strain" are all amazing Sci-Fi thrillers.I have a few more books by him resting on my bookshelf that I have yet to read. But, I just finished reading one of them mere minutes ago. "The Terminal Man". What a thrill. I was towards the end of the story waiting for the conclusion. I finished a chapter, turned the page, and found my jaw open as I was staring at the bibliography. This doesn't mean there is no conclusion, far from it actually. I was just surprised that the conclusion was itself; I expected different. Let me set the stage. Late 60's or early 70's L.A. Our protagonist is a female Therapist who feels out of place in Man's medical world. Cutting through Crichton's excellent story telling leaves us with the plot. A man is having seizures that cause him to become extremely violent. He is in trouble with the law. Diagnosed with a damaged brain, he is brought in for a surgery that will make him the first human to be interfaced with a computer. That's right, the computer will connect directly to his brain. The idea being that the computer can provide electrical stimulus at the moment of the seizure, and prevent it. As with most Crichton stories(especially "Jurassic Park") things do not go as planned. The computer is supplying him with jolts of pleasure to prevent the seizures. The brain becomes addicted to these jolts quickly. Without ruining too much, he escapes and a thrilling chase ensues. The ending left me turning blank pages for more.

Crichton's stories always focus on some technological breakthrough, whether it be the discovery of an unidentified object, the replication of extinct lifeforms, or interfacing a brain with a computer. There is always some ethical issue with the technology hinted at(or delved into). Ashamedly I must admit, I was not really looking forward to "The Terminal Man"("Rollback"?). However, I was more than pleasantly surprised with it. As usual, Crichton captured my imagination with his prolific story telling.

If you have not, read TKAM, and take a chance on a Crichton novel. "Sphere" is definitely my favorite, although any of the others I mentioned are very good as well. I have heard that Crichton's "Congo" is very good(plus it has a full length movie) and it is on my current short list, so I will get back to you on it. I guess that's it for now, excluding one final question; Although, does anybody have any good Sci-Fi or Thrillers that you could suggest to me?