Artykuły > Film > Novel Project – Sphere by Michael Crichton
Novel Project – Sphere by Michael Crichton
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Michael Crichton
Michael Crichton was born in 1942 in Chicago, Illinois. Writing surrounded him and his main sources were his parents. His father was a journalist, “…journalists tend to have a broad range of interests…” (Michael Crichton “Current Biography”) Crichton said. He was exposed to all kinds of writings and at the age of fourteen he wrote and sold articles for The New York Times. This made him such a well-rounded person. In addition his mother took him, and his three brothers, to museums, stage plays, concerts, and movies on a weekly basis.
Michael attended Roslyn High School and graduated in 1960. He played basketball during his high school years. When he graduated, he wanted to go to Harvard University and become a writer. He finished it after four years with a B.A. in anthropology. In 1965 he returned to Harvard to medical school. While he was in school he became a full-time writer. He earned his MD in 1969. He used his experiences in medical school for his books, which was the worst way to aggravate the officials in Harvard.
He writes his books about sophisticated technology and future. One of the most famous books is Jurassic Park, which was made into a movie, and now it’s three movies all together. When he was in medical school he used to write a lot of spy thrillers like, Odds On, Scratch One, and Easy Go. He writes books that will keep you in suspense.
He won many awards, Edgar Award for A Case of Need, was his first. Then came the Mystery Writer’s of America Edgar Award in 1980 for The Great Train Robbery. He also directed movies such as The Great Train Robbery, Westworld, and Coma. Crichton was the creator and executive producer of the television series ER, which was actually created right after his medical school. He won eight Emmy’s for ER in 1995.
Criticism
I have started reading Sphere, by Michael Crichton, because I have seen the movie already, and I wanted to see if the book was as good as it. The beginning of the book wasn’t that interesting. It was mostly introducing the story by giving information where it will take place and what is the problem, which is the unidentified object laying on the bottom of the sea.
The plot is very coiled up and you really have to think about it when you read. It really helps when you imagine the environment where the action takes place. Crichton keeps you in suspense even when everyone is sleeping and you never know what’s going to happen, “…Part of the fun of Sphere is that it keeps you going even when you’re pretty sure of what will happen next…” (New York Times, Robert McKinley). Even though you might suspect something, the least expected thing happens, “Norman awoke to a shrieking alarm and flashing red lights…’What’s happening!’ he shouted…All the screens flashed: ‘Life Support Emergency’…’What’s going on!’…’Sorry about that-false alarm’” (Sphere 173).
The book is science fiction therefore you can’t really compare anything from it to your own life. But it shows the way that people act and think during an extreme situation. A group of scientists are 1000 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. The next thing, they get trapped inside of the habitat and they’re stuck there for about three days. This intrigued me and I was curious about the rest of the book. I really liked this kind of a beginning and it drew my attention to the book.
In my opinion Norman Goodman is the character I would like to be. He is the psychologist in the group, and I think he is the smartest. He’s the only one who knows how the brain works and he would know what to expect from a person in some extreme situations. Besides, I always wanted to be become a psychologist, to be able to understand humans and the way they work. It is very interesting and maybe sometime I’ll be able to understand it.
The title of the book is Sphere. The book is about an alien sphere in an American spacecraft from future. When I read the reviews that really intrigued me and I wanted to know more about it. Especially when I finished reading I was thinking of some questions. What happened to the “sphere”? Will anyone be able to control it? What is inside? There are many more questions but I guess I will never get answers for them.
I would like to recommend this book to any sci-fi lover and someone who really has a good imagination. This book contains action, suspense, and drama. You will not be able too pull your self away from it.
Novel Response
“A page-turner, Crichton’s writing is cinematic, with powerful visual images and nonstop action” (Newsweek). Sphere, written by Michael Crichton in 1989, is about a group of scientists gathered together by the government in order to explore the unidentified object lying 1,000 feet below water. It is later found to be an alien “sphere”. This is where the action begins and the suspense will not let go until the very end. Michael Crichton creates a mood of suspense through setting, plot, and characters.
The setting of Sphere is an under water habitat located 1000 feet below the water. The habitat consists of five large cylinders labeled from A to E. It was very cold because of the large amount of helium in the atmosphere. The lightness of the helium increased evaporation and that is why it felt like a cold wind, “It felt as if a wind was blowing across their bodies – except there wasn’t any wind” (Sphere 54). Cylinder A was the airlock. Power and the life support systems were held in cylinder B, “At fist glance, it looked like a large boiler room, all multicolor pipes and utilitarian fittings” (Sphere 56). Cylinder C was the living quarters; cylinder D was the laboratory; and the last one, cylinder E, was the kitchen. Outside of the habitat there was the spaceship. It was very big, “The cylindrical object is half mile long. The shape consistent with a rocker or spacecraft” (Sphere 33). Inside of the ship there was a dense network of catwalks. They were suspended high in the air, “Surrounding them, dimly visible in the darkness, was a network of struts and grinders”. There was a control room with highly developed control panel. Further into the ship there were large rooms-almost as big as football fields. In one of them there was a perfectly shaped sphere, “And they saw, nestled in the padded claw of one hand, a large, perfectly polished silver sphere about thirty feet in diameter. The sphere had no markings whatsoever” (Sphere 104). The setting is interesting as it’s set down below the sea level on an ocean floor, and the only way out has just been cut off.
The plot is built upon the alien “sphere” found in the spacecraft. The crew immediately starts research on the new finding and tries to open it. One member of the group, Henry the mathematician, finally discovered how to open the sphere but did not tell anyone else. He went into it and after he came out, he was tired with a pounding headache, “Harry was holding his head in his hands delicately, as if it were made of glass…You’ll have to excuse me, I’m very tired. Maybe we can continue this some other time” (Sphere 135). Since that time there were very strange things happening. The whole ocean floor burst into life, filled with fish and all kinds of plants. This made the story very intriguing. There are other abnormalities that appeared around the characters, “Jesus! He’s got to be thirty, forty feet across! No fish in the world is that big” (Sphere 209). This is only one of many scary and exciting moments in the story. I think that the plot is extremely complex and it really creates tension.
The characters in this book consist of Norman Johnson, psychologist, Elizabeth Halpern, zoologist/biochemist, Harold J. Adams, mathematician/logician, Theodore Fielding, astrophysicist/planetary geologist, and Arthur Levine, marine biologist/biochemist. Arthur didn’t play a big part in the book. He was deported back to the land because of his seasickness. Each of the characters has different values and differences in the way she/he thinks. This all adds up to the overall suspense that is created by the author. Characters’ lives, thoughts, and fears are showed further in the story. The sphere found by them helps them make those thoughts and fears come true. Some fears become very dangerous but only if you do not know how the sphere works, “Will you give me the power? What power? The power you gave to Harry and Beth. The power to make things happen by imagination. Will you give it to me? No. Why not? Because you already have it” (Sphere 334). The overall effect by the characters on the story is very critical because it helped the book become very exciting and intriguing, “’It can’t be me, it can’t be me,’ Harry moaned. Another jolting impact, staggering them…and then Harry screamed, and his body twisted, and Norman saw Beth withdraw the syringe from his shoulder, the needle tipped with blood” (Sphere 290).
The key point that need to be focused upon when reading this book is the plot. Trying to keep track of everything that happens; is like a giant jigsaw puzzle. The plot helps to do that because it is very exciting and the book cannot be put down. You should really read this book if you enjoy science-fiction themes combined with suspense and great action.
autor: Szymon Siewior
