The Terminal Man by Michael Crichton

While I am not a fanatical follower of books by this author I have a read a fair number of his books. There is a gripping quality about his books that compels you to keep reading. This book is focused on the ground breaking treatment for psychomotor epilepsy. The patient is getting these fits after a bad car accident and is getting violent during these fitting episodes. Now it is set in the early part of 1971 when serious research was being done into understanding eh brain function and the possibility fo manipulating these functions.
The detail of the medical aspects of the patient’s condition and the treatment to be carried out as well as that of the research that leads to this phase 3 of the human trial is pretty good. It certainly raises all the ethical issues that even after a few decades, of when this book was written, stand. There is a look at the view points of the researchers and those indirectly involved in it. It hard not to feel excited by the advances being made in technology but when one just stops to give it some thought it is quite a frightening speed with which it is all moving forward. It makes you think about the consequences of where this headlong rush is taking us. Reading it in 40 years on I can understand the sentiments of those advising caution in the story and personal sentiments on the ethics of research that can radically alter life as we know it. Well technology has certainly changed life as it was when I was growing up. The world of children is so much more different now. The same can be said about health issues as we live longer, we are exposed to much more processed foods, chemical in the air, water and food and much more sedentary lifestyle for most people, all of which bring out different health problems.
The core fear and paranoia of the patient is that machines are taking over and paradoxically he has electrodes implanted in his brain to prevent his epileptic episodes and of course they are connected to a computer……. Even as you reach the implantation part of the story you can see it rushing to a certain end at an ever increasing fast pace. I think a lot more people should read these old fictional stories which help us to examine our ethical stance and be more discerning in our debate about medical and technological advancements.
Besides raising some philosophical questions it is a very good read and very good story. One must remember it is a piece of fiction that could very well be true as we know science is advancing fast…

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

I first saw this Swedish film a couple of years back. I had been watching the other Swedish series ‘Wallander’ on TV and while looking for information about it we came across the Stieg Larsson trilogy that was turned into films. Recently the English version was released and I also acquired the novel itself. I know it might sound strange that I am kind of reviewing all three together – 2 films and the book.

This story starts as a couple of different strands – one where a financial journalist, Mikeal Blomkvist, has been found guilty of libel. He is unable to divulge his source as he finds that he has been supplied with fake evidence. The other strand is Lisbeth Salandar, who is an IT geek and an extremely talented one. She is employed by a security company that also takes on private investigations into people’s background. Lisbeth has been profiling Blomkvist for an industrialist. On the basis of this report Henrik Vanger, the industrialist, offers Blomkvist a job to find out what happened to his great niece. Harriet had disappeared at the age of 16 over 40 years ago. He is convinced, along with the inspector who handled the case of disappearance, that she had been murdered and most likely by someone in the family. The background to the case that Blomkvist lost is discussed in detail in the book and not in either of the films. It provides a better understanding of the whole case and why Blomkvist was unable to defend himself. The 3 month jail sentence was carried out in the Swedish film and of course in the book.

The story is actually very dark and not a comfortable watch / read at times. Blomkvist takes up Vanger’s job offer and the cover he is to use is that Vanger wants him to write the family history. There are boxes of records that have been maintained by Vanger and both he and Inspector Morell cannot seem to forget the mystery of Harriet. At first Blomkvist does not find anything which points to new evidence or even a new line of thought. There are snippets of newspaper cutting, police notes, diaries and pictures which all point to in effect a closed room mystery, as the island was cut off due to an accident on the only connecting bridge for nearly 24 hours, at the time of Harriet’s disappearance.

Meanwhile Lisbeth is shown to have problems with her new legal guardian as the old one had a stroke. The book gives a detailed description of Lisbeth’s current situation and the fact that the new guardian begins to use his position of power to sexually abuse her. While I might not agree with her response to it morally I would applaud her courage to defend herself. In this book it becomes clear that she is a troubled young lady who has no one and relies on no one but there is not enough of her background to actually know why she is like this. She is certainly gifted and talented with photographic memory, ability to see the wider picture when confronted with complex data but with limited social skills.

Eventually Lisbeth’s and Blomkvist’s path come together and he has to hire her to do some investigating with regards to finding out what Harriet was up to when she disappeared. By chance he finds the real meaning of the list of names and figures which have so far been thought of as phone numbers. This starts them into a totally new line of inquiry and is much darker and violent than anyone anticipated. The Swedish film was much more true to the book than the English version. Both the films did hold me in one place and we never even paused the film to have a quick break. The book was actually a lot longer than the films as the thoughts, feelings and background to every player in this drama has been superbly described by the author. I have seen the other movies of the trilogy in Swedish and also will be reading those books and then write the reviews. The ending is unexpected and again the details are much more elaborate in the book with a change of fortune for Blomkvist and Lisbeth to some extent.

The Guns of Navaronne by Alistair MacLean

I had read this book over 30 years ago as it was a part of my Alistair MacLean collection. I was always fascinated by the characters in the story and enjoyed reading it many times. After I left home my parents got rid of my collection and I lost touch with all the old ‘friends’. I finally got all these old books again and read these books once more. It was such a joy to meet old friends. In the intervening years I had seen the movie of The Guns of Navaronne on TV almost every year. Since my memory of the original story had dimmed I had only vaguely remembered the changes that are in the film as one generally cannot stay true to the original details of the story.

The team is a bunch of the top professionals in various combat fields sent to silence the big Guns of Navaronne. These guns are on a small Greek Island now under the German control. These guarded the straits which formed a passage for ships and were a thorn in the allied forces side. The British wanted to evacuate a nearby island before the Germans got there and this was not possible while the guns of Navaronne were intact. The journey to the island was fast and furtive. On reaching the island they had to climb the massive cliff for which the team leader Captain Mallory was ably qualified as he was the famous mountaineer from New Zealand. His second in command was a Greek Colonel, a giant, called Andrea who also had a very colourful history and was past master of the art of war. Then there was Corporal Dusty Miller, an American, who was their explosive expert, a Petty Officer Casey Brown, radio man and engineer who knew how to handle boats and lastly Lt. Andy Stevens who was to navigate the boat and also an accomploshed climber but not in the same league as Mallory. They were to have support from 2 locals once they reached Kheros.

This is a typical Alistair MacLean novel with twists and turns that keep you glued to the book. There are tight spots, capture and betrayal that almost seem to defeat the team but they dig deep within their reserves and manage to come out fighting. The movie has a major deviation in that one of the locals aiding the team is a woman. She is the one who betrays them but it comes out that she has been coerced into spying. Also it seems that the movies depend on some romantic angle even in a war film and show that one of the team ends up in love with her!

The Guns have to be silenced but how? They have lost their food and shelter items while climbing the cliff, the fuses and detonators and bomb equipment have been tampered with and rendered useless. Lt. Stevens is in a bad shape after his broken leg starts rotting. The Germans are carrying out house to house search in order to catch them. All I can say is I am so glad to read this book again. The dry humour and understatements are really amusing and bring a smile to my face. There are so many little incidents that make me smile and it was nice to renew their acquaintance. Enjoy your read that is definitely better than the movie, which in its own right is a fantastic film.

The Golden Gate by Alistair MacLean

The beginning of the story leaps right into some operation that is being managed very precisely by the central character Peter Branson. As the details of the operation taking place are revealed over the first 60 odd pages, it suddenly occurs to the reader that this is something illegal and at a very large scale. Again Mr MacLean’s attention to detail in a plot is marvellous. The plan is audacious as a group of men under the leadership of Peter Branson kidnap the president of USA and his guests a King and a Prince from Middle East plus of course their entourages and journalists. They hold not only the people hostage but also the Golden Gate Bridge where the drama is being played out.

It all looks futile and the authorities from the police, to the army, to the FBI are stumped as to how to deal with this situation as the ransom is half a billion dollars and another half million to reimburse the gang for their expenses in planning this job. Not to mention the loss of face for the President in the world. There is one spy in the entourage of journalist who is not what he seems, a photographer. This man Revson makes his appearance briefly at the start but we almost do not notice him till after the kidnap has taken place. He is ingenious at finding ways to communicate with authorities and gains help from a female journalist and a doctor called for helping with medical emergencies. Soon it becomes something of a psychological contest between Branson and Revson.

It is interesting to see how Revson manages to create dissent and reduce the members of the gang on the bridge. He also manages to get the bombs fixed to the bridge disarmed and the inevitable remote button to blow up the bombs and so on. It is a book I found hard to put down and would have read through all the way had it not been for the need to cook and eat and sleep come evening. Here is a book that has a smile on your face at the end as the dialogue throughout has the dry humour and masterly understatements which are very characteristic of Mr MacLean’s writing. A thoroughly entertaining book and does not seem dated in the least.

The Black Shrike / The Dark Crusader by Alistair MacLean

Am back to reading some of my old favourites. While I have not remembered anything of the plot and characters of this book from past readings, one phrase from here has stuck in my mind. The hero a spy tells, ‘You and me and the lights of London’, to the lady who is his partner in this story as a reassurance that when and not if they got home they would have a night out in London. Not sure why that line has always remained with me, could it be because some of my family lived there and that I subsequently went there myself?

This is a spy thriller where a bunch of world famous scientists (who were developing a new kind of rocket) and their wives have disappeared. Note that in the newer spy thrillers like those by Colin Forbes the scientists are of both genders. It says something about the times when these were written to indicate more of a male dominated society. So Benton from Her Majesty’s Secret Service is sent out with a female partner as scientist and wife team in response to an advertisement just like the earlier disappearances. They are of course kidnapped and seem to be doing well despite the adversities. They seem to be falling from frying pan into the fire as the plot progresses. They reach an island which is inhabited by famous archaeologist and his team but Benton thinks there is something fishy about the whole dig and sets to find out what they have got themselves into.

The discovery of what is happening on the other half of the island suddenly puts a completely different light to the crux of the plot. While the lady is a supportive of all the forays of investigation by Benton he soon realises that she is not a tough spy and that he had fallen in love with her. This is one story where everyone does not live happily ever after. Of course the hero wins and the baddies get their comeuppance. The epilogue is where the final twist is. This was something I am sure the reader did not anticipate while reading the book. It is this twist, that makes reading Alistair MacLean always a pleasure to read.