Wednesday, April 11, 2007

What's Dagromm Reading?

Right now, I'm working on A Case of Need by Jeffrey Hudson. Jeff Hudson is the pen name that Michael Crichton used to write under before he knew that he could become rich writing about dinosaurs and talking apes. It was written in 1968 and is filled with all sorts of scientific terms and data. In fact it's got even more than your average Crichton book because he hadn't yet found that balance between what is interesting to the reader and what bogs the book down.
A Case of Need has to be one of the top ten abortion mystery novels that I've ever read. Multifaceted and fascinating in it's background of hospitals, medical procedures, the Boston legal and social environment at the time. My criticism would mainly revolve around the number of characters that are used in the book. I haven't kept count, but whenever a name comes up I'm damned if I can remember who they are, or why I should know the name. Normally, after a few paragraphs I can recall why the main character is talking to them but it's an overly frustrating process.
This isn't a "must read", but if you like to see how Crichton has evolved as a writer or just enjoy books about abortion then I would say to pick this one up. I got it for $1.50 on clearance at half price books!

6 comments:

Nate said...

Wow! That book is clearly A- material. I can't wait to find it in the bargain bin.

Goo said...

What exactly are the other titles on your top ten list of abortion mystery novels?

plug said...

You're reading a book that doesn't have a map in the front? You have evolved as a reader. Meanwhile, M. Crighton now writes books with maps in the front. Mmmm...

heather said...

this picture is disturbing on many levels. lol

Dagromm said...

Gyuss-If you find it cheap then it's not a bad read. A-? Probably.

Goo-That's an entirely different blog post for a later time.

Plug-If this book had a map in the front then it might be a "must read".

Heather-Thanks, I found the picture a while back when surfing through other people's blogs and stole it. I just didn't know what to use it for until now.

heather said...

i know what you mean, i've become a flickr addict since i figured out how to post pictures, god only knows what i'll use most of them for. lol