(3)Mid-winter Break

140-408 of PREY

Over mid-winter break I read The sections titled DESERT and NEST of PREY.

Beginning in the section titled DESERT, Crichton sets aside Jacks previous worry about his wife's possible dalliance with another, and focuses on a much more interesting and captivating section of the plot. In the section DESERT, Jack is asked by his Wife's business partner to act as a consultant for her company, and to help them fix problems with the quickly evolving insect like machines that they are manufacturing. Once Jack gets to the manufacturing plant, he is told that some of the machines have escaped into the wild, and have begun to reproduce, and kill off wildlife in the area. He is faced with the task of eradicating the machines before they evolve to the point of being a real threat the outside world. In the next section titled NEST, Jack is simply faced with the task of discovering the nest of the machines and destroying it so that they will stop reproducing, which he successfully does by the end of the section.

Thus far in the book we find that Crichton has done an amazing job at keeping the story very captivating by continuing with the amazingly descriptive writing that he had used before, but at this point adding a fascinating plot to accompany it. All of this makes Crichtons writing a spectacularly easy read, the likes of which I have only experienced in such books as the Harry Potter series, The Da vinci Code, and a very few others. At this point I have found that Crichtons writing resembles the type of plot and style that we see in the movies more than ever. I think that I may be able to write my paper on something to effect that Michael Crichtons writing is the first to bring the movies to literature. Literature has been molded to fit into cinema ever since the beginning of cinema, but Crichton is a pioneer in the field of bringing the style of cinema into literature. Part of what gives his writing this style is his heavy use of dialogue.
"Jack you've got to come back in.
I can't just yet.
Below seven knots, the swarms can move.
Okay...
Ricky: What do you mean, okay? Jesus, Jack, are you coming or not?"(328)