Scan barcode
A review by mafiabadgers
Sphere by Michael Crichton
1.0
First read 09/2024
Basically an infinitely shittier version of Solaris. Crichton has a real talent for inserting pop science in obtrusive, jarring ways, so that you know that it's going to come up as a plot point later on. The protagonist is a psychologist, so naturally everything comes down to psychology in the end—or popular psychology, rather than, say, a nuanced and thoughtful exploration of the analyst's role and their relationship with the analysand(s), which is probably about what you should expect from a self-confessed climate change skeptic. Of the three principal characters are an intelligent, one is a slightly sexist black man with a chip on his shoulder (on account of his blackness as much as his intelligence, both of which have led to deep-rooted insecurity), and another a muscle-bound feminist whose politics spring from her misandry, which springs from her insecurity, which springs from her having been so silly as to have been victimised in the past. This also makes her suicidal. Fortunately, our white male protagonist is unaffected by both his whiteness and his maleness, and is thus able to confront his personal issues and save the day. Some decent, if predictable, moments of tension are not able to make up for the book's failings.
Basically an infinitely shittier version of Solaris. Crichton has a real talent for inserting pop science in obtrusive, jarring ways, so that you know that it's going to come up as a plot point later on. The protagonist is a psychologist, so naturally everything comes down to psychology in the end—or popular psychology, rather than, say, a nuanced and thoughtful exploration of the analyst's role and their relationship with the analysand(s), which is probably about what you should expect from a self-confessed climate change skeptic. Of the three principal characters are an intelligent, one is a slightly sexist black man with a chip on his shoulder (on account of his blackness as much as his intelligence, both of which have led to deep-rooted insecurity), and another a muscle-bound feminist whose politics spring from her misandry, which springs from her insecurity, which springs from her having been so silly as to have been victimised in the past. This also makes her suicidal. Fortunately, our white male protagonist is unaffected by both his whiteness and his maleness, and is thus able to confront his personal issues and save the day. Some decent, if predictable, moments of tension are not able to make up for the book's failings.