NEWS > ENTERTAINMENT > DESPITE DEATH MICHAEL CRICHTON REFUSES TO DIE

DESPITE DEATH MICHAEL CRICHTON REFUSES TO DIE

August 29 2009

Hollywood, CA – In the celebrity realm there are people who never truly die. Thirty-five years after his death sightings of Elvis Presley continue to occur throughout the world. Tupac Shakur continues to make the rounds despite his demise in 1996. Even
Adolf Hitler has been at the centre of rumours of a falsified death and has been seeing roaming around the world no worse for wear. Whether a product of wish fulfillment, genuine fear, or some other aspect of the human condition there are those who insist that the mortal coil does not bound the famous.

Part of the perception may be the continued release of work from those artists who have passed on. Shakur as an example has had more music released post-mortem than when he was alive. Presley has maintained his legendary status all these years after his death. No such rumours have swirled around author and screenwriter Michael Crichton since his death last year but despite that the ‘Jurassic Park’ creator has persisted with announcement that Steven Spielberg will adapt his latest novel into a major motion picture. Written before his death, ‘Pirate Latitudes’ is due to be published in November and will mark the first of a handful of posthumous releases for the popular author, much to the chagrin of many.

“There are many authors from whom new work would be welcome. John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Hardy are all authors who could add something significant and worthwhile to the literary community and possibly the film world as well. Instead we have a new novel from Crichton, the dinosaur guy,” said literary critic David Cupping. “I suppose his work was entertaining enough but even that had declined in recent years. For all the people who could have left work behind one really has to wonder what the fates were thinking allowing Crichton to continue after his death. True this is the Jurassic Park guy but that was fiction, this is reality, very unfortunate reality as it turns out.”

Contrary to popular belief Crichton has not been resurrected via DNA manipulation, a scenario depicted in his most famous work. ‘Pirate Latitudes’ and an unnamed forthcoming novel were written before his passing.

“There is little doubt that Crichton added a great deal to the entertainment landscape. His partnership with Spielberg, not only with the Jurassic Park films but also ‘ER’, was
enormous and very influential. That impact had declined in recent years and his novels had become more and more drab and uninventive but there is little debate as to his influence throughout the 1990’s,” said Scrape TV Literary analyst Samuel Lee. “Despite that I don’t think there was anyone in the literary community who was particularly mourning his death, at least when it comes to writing. His passing opened up new shelf space for young writers and guaranteed, we had hoped, that there would be no more of his patented blend of marginal science and even more marginal science fiction. Nonetheless, here we are.”

Few details regarding the novel have been released. It’s expected that Spielberg will add some science fiction to the pirate tale and if not already present, will make the lead character into a bad parent looking for redemption.

“There are some artists who live well beyond the time when they were contributing to
society and culture and Crichton was no doubt one of those. He certainly has fans but a lot of that is based on previous success. In way many people were forcing themselves to read his latest work which really didn’t match up to his peak production. That will likely be the case with the new book too,” continued Lee. “Unfortunately we will be subjected to his work for a few years to come especially if Spielberg does direct the new film. This isn’t a ‘Congo’ or ‘Sphere’. People will be obligated to see a movie from Steven Spielberg which ensures that Crichton will persist for many years to come, just as we were getting used to not having him around.”

Crichton’s family reportedly has little interest in the content of the new novel. HarperCollins who will be publishing the book has reportedly not read it either.   

Samantha Dryden, Entertainment Correspondent

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