Timeline by Michael Crichton (Jon's post)

Timeline
by Michael Crichton
Science Fiction
Post by Jon


1. I recommend you read this book for these reasons:
I found it difficult to only give two reasons why I enjoyed this book. The first and foremost reason is the amazing portrayal of characters. The first two characters introduced are a bickering couple driving through the middle of the desert. This scene alone grabbed my interest right away. The couple was arguing about what road they took and should have taken, which is a typical topic and is usually not an interesting one to read. But right away the characters seemed as real as actual people. Crichton managed to take two characters who were never to be mentioned or seen again after page 22 and made them seem as important as the main characters. André, Chris, and Kate seemed like real people and were the most captivating characters I've ever read about. Another reason I liked this book is the descriptions; they were vivid and just the right length. After reading Into Thin Air by John Krakauer I was sick of lengthy descriptions with too much information. Crichton gave just enough to paint a mental picture but not too much to make the book boring. I also enjoyed how the plot was very similar to the movie but with many added scenes. Since I had seen the movie I knew the ending of the book. but I did not know what happened in some parts of the book. These scenes were blended so well into the parts that happened in the movie that I always felt that I was reading something completely different from the movie. This allowed me to really enjoy the book without having thoughts of "Oh yeah, I remember what happens to this character right here."


The next questions kind of fits both criteria. I will be writing the thoughts of Robert Doniger as a continuation of his last thoughts in the book.
8. Write a short dramatic monologue in the voice of the character in the novel, at a time when you wanted to hear their internal thoughts.
9. Pick up the story in the future and keep going; then explain the logic of your narrative.

Synopsis: The CEO of the company that sent the archaeologists back on time and got some of them killed is sent back himself by his employees. He stumbles upon a village in 1348 and sees many dead people with black lumps on their bodies: the Black Death. He falls down and begins to cough.

Continuation: This is it. I'm going to die. The Black Death can't be cured. I leaned in close to look at the dead guard and fleas jumped on me. I know they did. I felt them. They carried it. A third of the people here will die. 33%. I'm not part of that 33%. I can't be. I belong in the year 1999. I was sent here through a wormhole by my own damn technology. Maybe it will wear off... Maybe I'll be sent back... No, the others weren't sent back, we had to make them come back from the other end. The won't do that because they sent me here; they hate me. All my life I've had those worthless employees work under me. I should have gotten rid of them. but what does it matter now? I'm a goner. I have about an hour of life left then I'm going to die. Here... In the 13th century... No, the 14th century. 1348 in the 14th. Already I can't think straight. These people all around me don't know what's going to happen to them. I do. They have hope perhaps? It doesn't matter anymore. Nothing matters. It's over...

I personally enjoyed the ending moments of Doniger already in the book. It didn't need to be extended. But I would have loved to see his character suffer. So I wrote this.