Rising Sun (Bestseller Collection)

Crichton throws away his good beginning by slaving the story and his characters to the author's need to tell us how the US are allowing the Japanese to walk all over them. The two main characters were utterly unbelievable: one asks naive questions about US-Japanese relations on behalf of the author, and the other one gives the author's answer. They meet a series of 'experts' whose function is to tell us something new about Japan, not because it is relevant to the plot but because they are mouthpieces for the author who wants to build his case.

In the end, the characters and dialog were unbelievable, and the plot was buried so deeply under the ugly exposition that I gave up on the book when I finally decided that Chricton had given up on me as a reader.


Adrenalin rush   October 29, 2004
 5 out of 5 found this review helpful

What a powerful story! What a magnificant writer! If you have not read anything by Michael Crichton, after reading this book you will be hooked. Rising Sun has all the ingredients and spices of a breath-taking thriller: the pace, the characters, the storyline. If you decide to watch the film, please read the book afterwards. While the film is very good but after reading the book the film will seem weak. At least let a few days pass by before you watch the film so that the excitement of the book wears off a little.


Excellent Book   July 28, 2003
 3 out of 5 found this review helpful

For someone, like me, who is struggling to learn Japanese, this book is excellent as it not only contains a few (simple) Japanese words that you can feel proud of yourself for understanding, it shows an insight into the Japanese character too.

Add to that a compelling murder mystery for which you need no knowledge of Japan or Japanese to enjoy, and you have an excellent book.