State of Fear (2004)by Michael Crichton
"I can't continue this," Ann said. "You enjoy arguing. I don't. I just want to make the world a better place. I'm going to go read a magazine now." She went to the front of the plane and sat down, her back to Kenner.Reading this novel by Michael Crichton, I could not help but be reminded of the Da Vinci Code. But instead of targeting organized religion and the destructive potential of crusading religious militants, State of Fear is aimed against beauracratic environmental organizations that have, in the past couple of decades, deteriorated into quasi-religious, brainwashing propagandists that effectively dictate the environmentalist movement based on misguided "faith" in their ideals rather than hard science, and without the appropriate concern for the consequences of their lobbying.
Sarah stayed where she was. "Her intentions are good," she said.
"And her information is bad," Kenner said. "A prescription for disaster.". . ."I think you're being harsh," Bradley said, in his presidential tone. "Why should you call someone like Anne a 'a prescription for disaster?' She cares very much about these issues. She has devoted her life to them, really. She cares."
"So what?" Kenner said. "Caring is irrelevant. Desire to do good is irrelevant. All that counts is knowledge and results. She doesn't have the knowledge--and, worse, she doesn't know it."
To some degree, I find the deconstructionist method of "Everything-you-know-is-wrong"-storytelling (such as in the Da Vinci Code) to be the mark of a weak, condescending writer, but I do have to admit that Crichton was able to bring me towards his side of the "global warming" debate. To his credit, his research was extremely thorough, and I was particularly impressed with how he was careful to include footnotes that referenced articles from various, respected scientific journals. Having followed up on a few of these references, Crichton is guilty of, in many cases, overly simplifying the results of complex research to fit his views, but that only made the inclusion of those articles a testament to his sense of responsibility to his readers.
Again, I do not want to go into the issues of the book too thoroughly, because the villains of the story are far from obvious, and even knowing the details of the threat in the novel would effectively spoil many of its most surprising and finest moments. State of Fear is the equivalent of a Hollywood blockbuster in novel form, and is mostly driven along by action and suspense, written as simply as possible. Readers expecting Dickens will be disappointed, and at times the book was close to unbearable (I dropped the book in disgust a number of times due to its style), but ultimately it was a rewarding experience that answers (or at least discusses) a lot of questions. What is global warming? What are its symptoms? Have the average global temperatures been increasing due to human activity/carbon dioxide emissions? Are there alternative explanations? What do studies show is happening to the world's climate? Are natural disasters increasing, on average, in intensity? Are we seeing more extreme weather patterns?
Somewhat recommended, but no need to fall over yourself to buy it. B
