A Case Of Needing: Serious Revisions :: essays research papers

A Case of Needing Serious RevisionsMichael Crichton has penned some of the most engaging, timely, and well accessible tales to be published in the last twenty-five years. Whathis novels overleap in literary merit and distinctive style they make up for incrisp plotting and edge-of-your-seat suspense. From alien viruses to regenerateddinosaurs, from evil Japanese monoliths to the insidious maneuverings of the advance(a) corporation, Crichton latches onto the scientific and politicalcontroversies of the day, and squeezes out of them every last ounce of fogvalue. At least, thats usually what he does.A Case Of Need could nourish used quite a bit more shock value. The enigmais largely a matter of timing when the book came out in 1969, the moral dilemmasurrounding illegal abortions was still a resilient enough topic to seem ripped fromthe headlines. Though abortion certainly remain a hot-button issue, the debatehas shifted. For the time being, at least, the argument centers on whethe r ornot the act should be legal, not on whether or not doctors are currentlybreaking the law by performing them.The archaic plot line is not the storys main flaw. The biggestdrawback here is a one-two thrusting of highly technical prose employed to relate athoroughly thudding story. Karen Randall, the daughter of an eminent physician, diesas the result of a botched abortion. artwork Lee, a Chinese obstetrician, is accusedof performing the D & C that has resulted in her death. Though Lee is known tobe an abortionist, he vehemently denies all involvement in the case. Lee callsupon his friend, forensic pathologist John Berry, to discharge his name.John Berry careens back and forth from one Boston hospital to another,trying to figure out who actually performed Randalls abortion, and why itkilled her. The investigation is involved by the fact that Randall was noteven pregnant. Slowly, a picture emerges of Randall as a freewheeling, loosewoman with several abortions in her past, an d connections to some incensedunderworld characters. Berry ultimately discovers that a drug-dealing musicianwas actually at fault for Randalls death.Why did Michael Crichton write this book? The answer seems fairlyobvious. simmer down fairly immersed in his medical school learnings, Crichton musthave seen it as a chance to demonstrate just how much knowledge he had gainedduring his time at Harvard. Numerous medical procedures are described in detail,supplemented by footnotes and appendices for readers not in the know.All of this technical gobbledygook turns out to be almost totallysuperfluous. Berry clears Lees name largely through passe detective