"Congo" was the first movie I ever bunked college to watch. It was a bold move considering that I hadn’t done anything of that kind before. Inside theatre, my eyes were shifty, afraid that someone might locate me! However, I enjoyed the movie. It was breathtakingly beautiful. Shot in the dense African tropical rainforests, it was all about transporting back a friendly Ape to the Congo basin in South Africa and searching for the Solomon’s temple where the promise of discovering diamonds loomed large.
However, what the expedition troop didn’t know was guarding this hidden treasure were apes. Apes trained to ruthlessly kill anyone who comes near the diamonds. The entire movie was gripping and fast-paced. I might have seen the movie like 5 times and over. Not just because it had a wonderful plot but also to watch Laura Linney on whom I had a huge crush then.
But only later I came to know the movie was an adaptation of the book “Congo” by Michael Crichton. My respect for the author swiftly rose. Crichton also authored Jurassic Park and The Lost World, which, we know, were later converted into big-budget movies that kept box-office registers ringing. This in itself is self-explanatory of Crichton’s abilities as a writer with superb imagination.
But his bulky books always dampened my reading spirit. I thought who has time to kill on such voluminous tomes? But the other day, when I read the blurb behind his book, Sphere, I found it very absorbing. I couldn’t stop bringing this book home.
Expectedly, Sphere turned out to be mind-blowing. Hinged around Einstein’s theory of relativity, accentuating on refraction of time, it’s about an alien spaceship that has suddenly showed up on the Pacific Ocean bed. Moreover, the unique mix of metal and plastic alloys on board speaks of a technology that is clearly not of this era.
With control manuals unmistakably scripted in English, it was imperative the spaceship has time-traveled from the future. But the crew on board somehow seems to be missing. What further remains an indecipherable puzzle is the existence of a Sphere on board. No one takes notice of it initially. But when it starts sending hostile messages onto the computer screen, that’s when complete chaos sets in.
The book was phenomenal. Hooked on to it, I didn’t realize it was 3 am and pitchy dark outside when I finally finished reading it.
However, what the expedition troop didn’t know was guarding this hidden treasure were apes. Apes trained to ruthlessly kill anyone who comes near the diamonds. The entire movie was gripping and fast-paced. I might have seen the movie like 5 times and over. Not just because it had a wonderful plot but also to watch Laura Linney on whom I had a huge crush then.
But only later I came to know the movie was an adaptation of the book “Congo” by Michael Crichton. My respect for the author swiftly rose. Crichton also authored Jurassic Park and The Lost World, which, we know, were later converted into big-budget movies that kept box-office registers ringing. This in itself is self-explanatory of Crichton’s abilities as a writer with superb imagination.
But his bulky books always dampened my reading spirit. I thought who has time to kill on such voluminous tomes? But the other day, when I read the blurb behind his book, Sphere, I found it very absorbing. I couldn’t stop bringing this book home.
Expectedly, Sphere turned out to be mind-blowing. Hinged around Einstein’s theory of relativity, accentuating on refraction of time, it’s about an alien spaceship that has suddenly showed up on the Pacific Ocean bed. Moreover, the unique mix of metal and plastic alloys on board speaks of a technology that is clearly not of this era.
With control manuals unmistakably scripted in English, it was imperative the spaceship has time-traveled from the future. But the crew on board somehow seems to be missing. What further remains an indecipherable puzzle is the existence of a Sphere on board. No one takes notice of it initially. But when it starts sending hostile messages onto the computer screen, that’s when complete chaos sets in.
The book was phenomenal. Hooked on to it, I didn’t realize it was 3 am and pitchy dark outside when I finally finished reading it.
Michael Crichton sure knows how to keep you glued to the book.
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