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71st out of 85 books
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18 voters
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Travels
Often I feel I go to some distant region of the world to be reminded of who I really am.
When Michael Crichton -- a Harvard-trained physician, bestselling novelist, and successful movie director -- began to feel isolated in his own life, he decided to widen his horizons. He tracked wild animals in the jungles of Rwanda. He climbed Kilimanjaro and Mayan pyramids. He trekk
...morePaperback, 400 pages
Published
November 5th 2002
by Harper Perennial
(first published 1988)
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This book came highly recommended, but I was disappointed in Crichton's travel book. There were several stories relating to Crichton's experiences in exotic places, but much of it was preoccupied with his early years in medical school and later, dealings with meditation, mystics, and his inner journey, which was not at all what I was expecting or looking for. And the picture the author paints of himself through these adventures is not altogether a flattering one.
The one good thing that ca...more
The one good thing that ca...more
I love travel adventure books, so I was excited when I saw one written by a prominent author while I was wandering about a local bookstore. I bought it and started reading it immediately over lunch. I quickly realized that it’s a lot more than just a travelogue. It has essentially three main focuses: his training at medical school, his travels, and his spirituality.
The book begins with his medical school horror stories and then moves on to his quirky travel adventures. Both topics were...more
The book begins with his medical school horror stories and then moves on to his quirky travel adventures. Both topics were...more
Usually I avoid the most popular books, but because of a high recommendation I decided to read up on Michael Crichton, the author of books like Jurassic Park and Congo.
The book begins with Michael, the medical student, figuring out how to use a chainsaw to cut the head of a cadaver in half. First I thought that he was a de Vinci doing some research for a book. However, he did attend medical school supported by his “side-job” of writing books. In the end he just didn’t fit the philoso...more
The book begins with Michael, the medical student, figuring out how to use a chainsaw to cut the head of a cadaver in half. First I thought that he was a de Vinci doing some research for a book. However, he did attend medical school supported by his “side-job” of writing books. In the end he just didn’t fit the philoso...more
The book’s called Travels. It was shelved in the travel section of the bookstore. The cover photos show the author hiking with a backpack, posing with an African tribesman, scuba diving. It’s not a leap to assume from all this that Michael Crichton had written a book of travel essays.
That’s where you’d be wrong. In fact, Travels opens with the line, “It is not easy to cut through a human head with a hacksaw.” The first 80 pages of the book cover Crichton’s four years of medical school,...more
That’s where you’d be wrong. In fact, Travels opens with the line, “It is not easy to cut through a human head with a hacksaw.” The first 80 pages of the book cover Crichton’s four years of medical school,...more
Michael Crichton, ubermensch (medical doctor, best-selling novelist, screenwriter and film director--all by the age of 30), wrote a book about traveling, both to places like Borneo and Tibet, as well as to inner destinations: spirituality, astral-projection, self-hypnosis, spoon-bending, channeling, etc.
Clearly, for all his remarkable intellectual gifts, Crichton was not given a spiritual barometer when he was young. So, after seeing his inadequate responses to life's difficulties, h...more
Clearly, for all his remarkable intellectual gifts, Crichton was not given a spiritual barometer when he was young. So, after seeing his inadequate responses to life's difficulties, h...more
So,
AWESOME book. Especially the first two thirds.
#1: he travels around the world
#2: he gets all new-agey, progressively more and more.
As always, and as the ultimate critic I like to try to focus my reviews on my own personal experiences with a book. So here goes:
Pros: How amazing are some of the experiences he has and what he's willing to put his mind and physical self through. His writing is so solid and killer. Good ole MC is genius an...more
AWESOME book. Especially the first two thirds.
#1: he travels around the world
#2: he gets all new-agey, progressively more and more.
As always, and as the ultimate critic I like to try to focus my reviews on my own personal experiences with a book. So here goes:
Pros: How amazing are some of the experiences he has and what he's willing to put his mind and physical self through. His writing is so solid and killer. Good ole MC is genius an...more
I first picked up this book in the mid-1990s knowing that Crichton was responsible for Jurassic Park and later learned that he was the creator and executive producer of the TV show ER, a favorite of mine after it launched in 1994. Once I began reading 'Travels' which opens with his early years as a Harvard med student, ER made more sense to me. The first few chapters are devoted to him retelling school days studying psychotherapy and even autopsy.
Each chapter shares another tale of hi...more
Each chapter shares another tale of hi...more
I thought I was really going to like this book, despite the fact that it really is *very* different than what you'd think. Much less about travel, and more about his life, period. The whole first section was about his experiences earning his medical degree, for example. That part was great, if quite dated. But then he began to come across as a very repulsive person, and I'm just glad he isn't an author I read much of, or he'd have ruined his books for me. Lots of dangerous, ridiculous New A...more
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Travels is one of my favorite books. I've read it at least three times in my life. It is Michael Crichton's autobiography detailing his life in medical school, but most of all his travels around the world. Each chapter is a new adventure and Dr. Crichton makes you feel as if you are right there with him! I definitely recommend this book to anyone that likes to travel or just wants a fun, entertaining, read.
This is a collection of short essays about Crichton's days at Harvard Med School and internship, the various travels and expeditions that he made throughout his life, and his metaphysical journeys. I was very interested in reading the chapters about the latter, expecting that I would be reading about his experiences with meditation, zen, religion, philosophy...etc. Indeed, it began with that, but before long we find Mr. Crichton visiting psychics, going on retreats, playing with auras, and atte...more
This book narrowly edges out Fyodor Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov" as the best book I have ever read. I now read this book yearly, sometimes twice a year if I cannot wait long enough to read it again. Let me say, first of all, that I have read damn near all of Michael Crichton's work, from books to speeches to magazine articles. To me, Crichton is only an above-average writer. What makes him special is the way that he thinks. Crichton is, in my opinion, one of the greatest and m...more
I read this book as a young one in the 10th grade in an english class. I remember it being pretty integral to my forming world view, now i see it as one man's way to look at the world and tear it apart to death without really living. It seems michael crichton just cannot get over his framed western view of the world even though at the end he trys to write an essay about how its important that even scientists realize the short sightedness of a limited worldview, ie. not being able to explain EVER...more
I found it appalling that Michael Crichton so calmly depicts waiting outside a brothel in Asia while his host has sex with children. I suppose we're supposed to think he's a good guy for not indulging himself, but the fact that he is having a conversation with someone while they wait, and never objecting or contacting authorities is shocking to me. As Edmund Burke said, "all that's necessary for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing". After reading this book, I don't know that ...more
A friend of mine raved about this book. He said it was his favourite book, ever, and it changed his life and how he thinks.
OK, that’s a lot to live up to.
This book isn’t an autobiography. It begins when Crichton is in medical school and already feeling like he has made the wrong decision. Still, he is convinced to see his medical training through and has some horror stories to tell about this time. He seems astounded by how little doctors actually know and how much they b...more
OK, that’s a lot to live up to.
This book isn’t an autobiography. It begins when Crichton is in medical school and already feeling like he has made the wrong decision. Still, he is convinced to see his medical training through and has some horror stories to tell about this time. He seems astounded by how little doctors actually know and how much they b...more
This has certainly changed the way I view Michael Crichton as an author. His autobiography shows that he is a "normal" person just like everyone else, which of course I knew but had trouble really believing when he has such a heroic status in my mind. One of the most interesting aspects of this book is this scientist's exploration of the paranormal and psychic realms. He honestly believes in things like telekinesis, fortune telling, visible auras, etc., and his explanations for why the...more
I didn't expect this memoir to be very interesting, and the cover description gives no indication that it is heavily focused on Crichton's deeply-felt experiences with the occult and "new age" spirituality. I was fascinated with the lack of concern he expressed about preserving any duality between the scientific worldview versus his spiritual extrasensory experience. For example, he recounts his ability, since childhood, to induce his consciousness to leave his body.
While e...more
While e...more
I'm wavering between 3 and 4 stars... I think my mom gave me this book from one of her many book clubs. I can't say I would have picked it up on my own, but I found this travel memoir quite addictive. Crichton begins with several chapters about his time in medical school, which I found quite interesting to read, especially as he decided he wanted to quit in his first year and then finished all four years. The rest of the story is about fascinating places he has visited and his experiences th...more
This isn’t the story I thought it was going to be. Instead of really being about traveling, it was about his exploration of the paranormal.
However, once I got over the story not being at all what I expected, I was able to enjoy it. I liked getting to see real insight into the life of a famous popular author. It was interesting to read about his medical school experience, the challenge of deciding not to proceed, and the glimpses of a very imperfect person. At times his arro...more
However, once I got over the story not being at all what I expected, I was able to enjoy it. I liked getting to see real insight into the life of a famous popular author. It was interesting to read about his medical school experience, the challenge of deciding not to proceed, and the glimpses of a very imperfect person. At times his arro...more
This books will tell you everything about Michael Crichton while he still young enough in medical school, as a writer, traveling around the world to satisfy his knowledge and in the end his spiritual journey besides his interest in metaphysics. In the beginning perhaps this book will be very boring for you who don't expect almost 1/3 books tell you about whatsoever will be happen if you are medical student. After that he will tell you about his journey to Africa and Asia which was very cool enou...more
This was a very interesting memoir of Michael Crichton's travels and search for his inner self. For such a talented and educated man, with the opportunity to travel all over and explore different cultures and have a variety of professional experiences, he was a very insecure person. It makes one wonder how ones own life experiences have affected ones sense of self and ones own spiritual journey. This book (1989) could have been an inspiration of the more recent "Eat, Pray, Love". Bu...more
I am thoroughly enjoying this book. I'm reading it straight through for the most part, b ut occasionally dip in wherever the chapter title captures interest or the book falls open. Crichton went to some amazing places and did some extreme things; what makes these stories/essays interesting is that he portrays himself as is. No pretense at bravery nor exaggertion of any emotion/event in order to seem more interesting. He is examining himself and his reactions in these tests/travels that he ...more
A fascinating look into a fascinating mind. Michael Crichton led an adventurous life, not only as an author but as a medical student at Harvard, a world traveller, and as a man seeking to understand the workings of his own mind. This book reflects Crichton's brilliance and curiosity as well as a surprisingly clumsy approach to human relationships. His emotional struggles are a a minor part of the story, however, and the book abounds with adventures in remote Asian jungles, encounters with psy...more
This is an fascinating account of Michael Crichton's travels throughout his life. It spands his trips around the globe, as well as his consciousness expansion adventures. His account is unflinching in many ways, in which he often puts his hubris and insecurities out to dry. I appreciated his honesty and his dedication to understanding himself and the world more fully. He was a very busy guy. TRAVELS is an interesting read, if a little self-indulgent at times, but I enjoyed it especially for...more
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The stories of Crichton's time in medical school are incredibly witty, interesting, sophisticated tales. The rest of the book is somewhat less appealing. Though there were many humorous and interesting stories to follow, I personally grew tired of reading about his vacations. Had I been the editor myself, ten or so stories may have been cut from this section, and many others would have been cut down in size. I would recommend reading the first section of this book, and only finishing the res...more
Loved it! I really didn't know that Michael Crichton had such a rich and well-traveled life. And obviously, he writes about it in a style that keeps you reading. I have read his more "traditional" sci-fi books (not many), but I was interested to learn that all of that effort started because he made money writing those books to put himself through med school (became a medical consultant to ER--the TV show). As a writer and having the ability to pick up and travel (and with the means ...more
This was the book that made me forget all my favorites before it and compare my interest in all others to it. I read it first in the 90's. I have two children that get to have a book read to them in increments nightly and they picked this one so I read it again. He's a doctor, not that I trust doctors with my body but I would trust them to look at auras or cacti! I have had a conversation with a plant too. Maybe that's why I feel a kinship with this read. MC did a lot of travelling for me that I...more
I loved Travels - I loved reading about all the different places that Michael went and the experiences that he had. There were a couple of points in this book where I thought he went on about a particular subject longer than I think was necessary, but it showed me how passionate he was about those subjects.
Crichton is, sorry was, ((sniff)) a very smart man, very very smart. I knew that before reading this book, and it must have took alot of guts for him to be that honest about himse...more
Crichton is, sorry was, ((sniff)) a very smart man, very very smart. I knew that before reading this book, and it must have took alot of guts for him to be that honest about himse...more
I really liked this book. However, I don't think the name best reflects the book. Journeys, Adventures or Experiences would be better since only about a third the book is about travel. The first third is about his time in the Harvard Medical School. Not really what I signed up for and seems a bit stuck in. But, it is very interesting and the rest of the book is great. The rest is a combination of stories about his travels and his interest in alternative spiritual discovery/enrichment. Two ...more
I haven't ready any of Crichton's bestselling thrillers, and don't really have a desire to. But I heard some good things about this book, so I decided to give it a read.
The title is a bit deceptive, since along with accounts of travels around the world, the beginning of the book is focused on his time at medical school, while near the end it becomes more concerned with 'New Age'-type phenomena the author got involved in pursuing.
What's probably most striking through the ...more
The title is a bit deceptive, since along with accounts of travels around the world, the beginning of the book is focused on his time at medical school, while near the end it becomes more concerned with 'New Age'-type phenomena the author got involved in pursuing.
What's probably most striking through the ...more
This was another life-altering book for me. While it is a travel narrative, not a fictional book as Michael Crichton usually writes, I found something in each of his travels that challenged my thinking, stimulated my imagination, or sparked a desire to follow in his footsteps. I'm not sure why but his telling of his climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro was amazingly enlightening for me. Perhaps it's the mental challenge that accompanied the physical challenge. Whatever it was, I immediately...more
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Michael Crichton was an American author, film producer, film director, and television producer. His books sold over 150 million copies world wide, and among his best-known works were techno-thriller novels, films and television programs. His works were usually based on the action genre and heavily feature technology. Many of his future history novels had medical or scientific underpinnings, reflec...more
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“Often I feel I go to some distant region of the world to be reminded of who I really am. There is no mystery about why this should be so. Stripped of your ordinary surroundings, your friends, your daily routines, your refrigerator full of your food, your closet full of your clothes -- with all this taken away, you are forced into direct experience. Such direct experience inevitably makes you aware of who it is that is having the experience. That's not always comfortable, but it is always invigorating.”
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“The minute we look, we cease being afraid.”
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