Week 25 Review: Next

From Goodreads:
Welcome to our genetic world. Fast, furious, and out of control.


This is not the world of the future-it's the world right now.


Is a loved one missing some body parts? Are blondes becoming extinct? Is everyone at your dinner table of the same species? Humans and chimpanzees differ in only 400 genes; is that why an adult human being resembles a chimp fetus? And should that worry us? There's a new genetic cure for drug addiction-is it worse than the disease?

We live in a time of momentous scientific leaps; a time when it's possible to sell our eggs and sperm online for thousands of dollars; test our spouses for genetic maladies and even frame someone for a genetic crime.

We live in a time when one fifth of all our genes are owned by someone else, and an unsuspecting person and his family can be pursued cross-country because they happen to have certain valuable genes within their chromosomes. . . .


Devilishly clever, Next blends fact and fiction into a breathless tale of a new world where nothing is what it seems, and a set of new possibilities can open at every turn. Next challenges our sense of reality and notions of morality. Balancing the comic and bizarre with the genuinely frightening and disturbing, Next shatters our assumptions, and reveals shocking new choices where we least expect.

The future is closer than you think. Get used to it.


My Review:
I enjoyed this book. There was a lot of scientific aspects that were a bit confusing, and long winded, and some of the character jumps made it hard to make all the connections, but near the end, it was all coming together, little pieces that just fit, and suddenly made sense, it was like reading a puzzle, with all the pieces, and we got all the edges at the beginning, and slowly we worked our way inward to the more complicated pieces, until it was almost done, and there were just a few snaps, and everything fell into place and it made sense.

And that was a very long analogy of how reading this book felt to me. Might not feel that way for others (since everybody's different) but for me, that was what it was.

The ideas in the novel were very scary, if you think about it. In the back, the author has 5 points that he made from his research.

1. Stop patenting genes.

2. Establish clear guidelines for the use of human tissues.

3. Pass laws to ensure that data about gene testing is made public.

4. Avoid bans on research.

5. Rescind the Bayh-Dole Act.

And from reading this book, I agree. The things that people did...if half of the things that happened in this book, happened in real life, it'd be enough to think what the future would hold, if there'd really be any life at all.

I agree with the Washington Post, "chilling" is a very apt description of this book, but "amazing" and "complex" suffice, too.

It you're looking for a medical, scientific, or a thriller, then check this book out, you won't want to miss it!

Author: Michael Crichton
Read: June 22nd, 2011
Source: Library
Reason Why: Sounded like a really fantastic book! And it was!
Publisher: Harper
Published: November 28th 2006

4/5 Hearts

4/5 Books

4/5 Stars