by Michael Crichton
Who amongst us hasn't read a Michael Crichton book? I'd imagine that, next to Stephen King, there is no late 20th Century author whose work has been as widely absorbed as our late techno-thriller maestro, The Hon. Michael Crichton, M.D.
(To forestall the protest from the JK Rowling fans, I mean authors who have a varied oeuvre, as opposed to a series. If not George Lucas or Gene Rodenberry might trump everyone.)
ANYWAY.
This isn't one of his more well-known works. Its movie adaptation (or TV mini-series, depending on the source) has yet to materialize, due in part to the material. AIRFRAME is about a mid-air "incident" that results in the death of several people. The airline faces lawsuits, the manufacturer of the plane the same, there's a major deal in the balance and the media loves a crash and cover-up.
All of Crichton's books have a degree of technological detail and assumed knowledge thereof that many of their peers lack. It's not that other authors are bad, but Crichton was a smart man and researched. When he made stuff up, he had such a wealth of background material that he could make it sound real. Here, he doesn't need imagination. The details about airplanes, turbulence and aerodynamics are all very real - and that adds to both my enjoyment and others' boredom.
I found the investigation into what went wrong (and the side-plots of cover-ups and corporate shenanigans) fascinating, but that's because I don't know much about the mechanical operation of that beauty of engineering, the airplane! And in a way, that's the main character, not Norton aircraft quality assurance VP Casey Singleton, who heads the investigation. For the few weeks after reading this, were I asked, I might actually be able to explain lift in terms beyond the layman's.
This is a small story, in many respects. There is no big scientific leap taking center stage; the fate of the world, time/space or even any lives are not at stake. Instead, this is a real-life tech-mystery mixed with investigative journalism and a view of what some will do to close a deal. Casey has the unenviable job of finding what went wrong when there are no real indications of error. Did the pilot fall asleep? Was there a glitch that didn't get recorded in the plane's system? How about the parts -was something actually a Chinese knock-off added into the assembly without anyone's notice?
Frankly, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Others, again, were bored by the talk of wind sheer, ailerons, and elevators that don't carry people on cables. Unlike other Crichton, the chapters were short, the pace brisk. We got more/less right into the heart of the story and stayed with it for a speedy 350pp. The characters weren't drawn with Faulkner's sophistication, but existed as "more real" than anything you'd find in a James Patterson sizzler. A beach read...? Eh, remember that most get to the coasts via plane, and after reading about a near-crash, you may cash in your ticket for a train pass.
This is a perfect one for the snowy day with nothing to do. You'll polish it off in no time.
My enjoyment was high, the technological knowledge presented impeccable (though not futuristic or all-new), but compared to his other books it was a little light on substance, character development and some manner of thematic heft. To be fair, I need to knock off a half-star for that.
3.5/5
-Erik
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