Saturday, November 12, 2005
Book review
Duane Bowker quotes Dorothy Parker, writing, "This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force":
Michael Crichton, State of Fear [Fiction. I picture the author going to his publisher to say he'd like to write a book ranting against soft-headed wanker environmentalists. His publisher, in his best Dr. Evil voice, asks Crichton, "can they be EVIL, ILL-TEMPERED environmentalists?" The fiction in this book is really, really bad...I mean worse than Lost World bad, and I didn't think that was possible. The non-fiction segments, which are a large portion of the book, present arguments and data against the most simplistic interpretations of global warming. His point is well taken that there are a lot of unknowns in our understanding of the global climate and that things are certainly more complex than they are often portrayed in the mass media. But comparing environmentalism to eugenics? PLEASE!!! To quote Dorothy Parker: "This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force." On second thought, do the right thing and recycle it.]
Comments:
David,
I think the book is worth keeping on my shelf.
My interpretation of Crichton's message in State of Fear is that 1) since the dawn of time, the environment will awlays be in a state of flux 2) to worship the environment as a constant is a folly (see rule 1) 3) The causes of change to environment are many 4) The most recent history of climate change has a human component stronger than in the past (geolocially speaking)
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I think the book is worth keeping on my shelf.
My interpretation of Crichton's message in State of Fear is that 1) since the dawn of time, the environment will awlays be in a state of flux 2) to worship the environment as a constant is a folly (see rule 1) 3) The causes of change to environment are many 4) The most recent history of climate change has a human component stronger than in the past (geolocially speaking)
# posted by 
: 11/23/2005 3:51 PM
: 11/23/2005 3:51 PM
