Mini-Bio
Michael Crichton is a best selling author known for his work in science, medical, and thriller fiction. Some have said his books are 'actioned packed' and heavily play on technology. His most commonly known book is Jurassic Park, which has also been turned into a major motion picture. His books frequently reflect his medical training and scientific background.
The Back of the Book
"Henry Benson suffers from violent seizures. So violent that he requires a police guard when entering a Los Angeles hospital for treatment.
Dr. Roger McPherson, head of the prestigious Neuropsychiatric Research Unit, is convinced he can cure Benson through a procedure known as a stage three. During this highly, specialized surgery, electrodes, placed deep in Benson's brain, send monitored soothing pulses to its pleasure canyons.
The operation is a success-- until Benson discovers how to get the pulses with increasing frequency. Then he escapes from the hospital and lapses into murderous rampages, becoming a homicidal maniac with a deadly agenda..."
Brief-Retelling (spoiler alert!)
The book is told in days, from tuesday to saturday, and follows the operation procedures and post op of a man named Harry Benson. Benson was in a car accident and after he began to become transfixed with the idea that machines where steadily taking over humanity. After the accident he also began to have seizures which resulted in black outs when he would perform great acts of violence and he would not be able to recall what had happened.
Benson then is to become the first human ever to have a second brain inside his own brain in the form of a small computer and electrodes that would be surgically implanted into his brain. The purpose of this was for his doctors to monitor his brain activity and catch a seizure before it occurs. Once they saw a seizure coming they would send a minuscule shock in his brain which would stop the neurons that sent signals into his brain to begin a seizure and then promote happier sensations.
It all sounded simple enough, but then Benson began a learning curve with the computer until he was receiving shocks continuously. This induced a violent seizure that would lead him to a murderous rampage. The NPS, or research center that had approved the procedure was then accused of 'brain control'.
My Take-back
Michael Crichton was the author who first got me interested into the sci-fi genre. His scientific and medical uses in the book make it all seem so real. He definitely does not disappoint. He really does take his time to research everything and this gives his books realistic and believable qualities.
This book is a cautionary tale of the era of technology and how the merging of man an machine may be inevitable. In his author's introduction, Crichton says, "the technology for modifying behavior through psychosurgery, has been developing for nearly a century." So the idea that we can control the brain with computers and electrodes is becoming more and more plausible. It also leads to the question of "will we ever learn the secrets of the complexity of the human brain? and should we try to become master of it?"
Rating
4 out of 5 stars
