Top 10

Top 10 of Crisis by Robin Cook

1. This book is on third person’s perspective view that oversees and reveals the overall situations but tells only limited information which intensifies the readers by creating a mysterious mood. Overall, the figurative languages such as simile, metaphor, and sarcasm, are widely used, and for each dialogue, there are strong characters showing which I liked.

2. Generally, I wouldn’t recommend this book to others only because it is too long to be a fun book. It was pretty boring since all it dealt about most of the time was whether they should have an autopsy on the dead body or not; and also the issue of how, after agreeing upon to have it.

3. Long book (about 550 pages); but while the characters were nicely developed. Each characters shows strong personality and virtue which leads to many conflicts and incidents all over. This whole story is about a doctor who gets into the medical malpractice suit. The question is, “why did the patient died of the heart attack? If not, who killed her?”

4. One example of characters, Craig Bowman, a self-centered, darkened-spirit man who had mourning and lousy childhood, is a doctor who is very professional at his field whom everyone seems to envy his success. Although he gets into the medical malpractice incident for his patient Stanhope’s death, his selfishness nevertheless dies out of his mind. He is a father of three daughters but has divorced with their mom Alexis. She helps him out very much during the malpractice trials proceedings and seems as if she stills loves him.

5. Additional other character; of another example, Jack Stapleton, who is Alexis’s older brother living in NY, who is a pathologist who carries out autopsy. Likely Craig, he also has a bad memory in his past that his wife and two daughters died in a plane crash. He had to go through a lot of depression until he meets a new woman named Laurie. One day a call from his dearest sister Alexis brings him to Boston, Massachusetts, where he helps out his brother-in-law to exonerate him from being accused of murder. With his brilliance he figures the “murderer” out at the last minute of the trial as he presents obvious, clear evidences found in patient’s body and the medicine vial that was responsible for her death.

6. There is a twist at the end which surprised me a little bit; it wasn’t that much not expected, so I was neither lost nor confused. It was kind of disappointing though, thinking that for the last two chapters that barely includes ten pages I had to waste my time reading through the previous 23 chapters that were about 500 pages long. Spoiler: Craig was actual murderer.

7. When it was revealed that Craig was a murderer, he suddenly disappears from the court, which left everyone to think that he was the one who killed the patient Stanhope, and it was the truth! Where did he go? Nobody knew where he was; except there had been papers all over to find the criminal Craig.

8. About the Epilogue that is of three pages; when Jack went on a honeymoon to Cuba with Laurie he meets a guy who exactly looks like Craig. He wondered if he could actually be Craig and reached him and asked his name while introducing himself, and after knowing his name was Ralph Landrum he checked on the name with Alexis on the phone. Alexis said, “He was Craig’s patient who died before one year ago,” woo~ then who would be that guy whose name is Ralph Landrum but still alive?

9. I think that the meaning of this book is “don’t be corrupted.” Craig first of all, was a corruptor of his family, then his profession, and then to himself. He disrupted then tended to destroy what it had been peaceful. It would cause others to bleed but the most importantly; you would be the one with all the scars and scabs.

10. Summarizing, the actual murderer was Craig, who pretended that he wasn’t even charged with the medical malpractice. He was the one who hated Patient Stanhope so much because she had bothered him very much as a problem patient (PP) but then inpatient, selfish doctor Craig wasn’t fitted to her enough to control his own emotions of anger around her.

ENG (01/09/08) Posting B

ENG (01/09/08) Posting B

Dear Jack:

The story is hurrying up to its end! I can't wait until I figure out who actually "robbed" Craig's house. I feel so sorry for the girls, and for their parents, too. And nevertheless, I am very concerned about you and Laurie. You guys shouldn't be separated any longer like this despite the fact that you aren't able to move to anywhere. Woo... that's bad considering that your wedding is less than three days from now. I wish that everybody sets okay at the end so that Craig can do his job as he did before, professsionally and that he could rejoin his family after figuring out how big love and supports his family had given him during his harshest time of his life while his girl friend was testifying against him at the trial.
Additionally, I hope for the best that Randolph is doing well until the end so that he is able to win victory over that villain lawyer Tony and his fella.
And please be more careful. For the past week you’ve tried hard to gain the permission for the exhumation for that you had to sacrifice your dearest body. Well, I know that you had hit some of the hits back to the friends you gave you a knots, but still you don’t want to stand in front of a bride with a bluish face that worries everyone at the wedding, do you?
For the ones that might read this book I won’t reveal the ending; that is why I tried to write from the pov that I do know nothing. I suppose that other readers would have much fun and excitement as I did, and definitely this book by Robin Cook was one of the most recommendable books.

And Bye,

Tina Jung

ENG (01/09/08) Posting A

ENG (01/09/08) Posting A

A Crisis by Robin Cook

A Medical Thriller!

Vocabulary

1. incapacitating (p.251): v. to deprive of ability, qualification, or strength; make incapable or unfit; disable

2. dumbfounded (p.287): v. -To fill with astonishment and perplexity; confound

Figurative Language

1. simile: "Like a statue, he was staring at the flat-screen television, completely motionless." (p.229) -it describes Jack's motionlessness comparing as a statue that how much he was standing still without any movement.

2. Tone: "Dr. Stapleton, this is Jordan Stanhope. Are you okay?" "There have been happier times in my life, but basically I'm okay" (p.227) -Jack's being very cynical about his fight between Jordan Stanhope's lawyer and himself. He was hit by him; but after he hit him back though.

3. metaphor: "What does it look like he's doing?" Alexis responded. "He's vegetating. He's depressed." (p. 231)-Alexis tells Jack that her ex-husband Craig is very deeply concerned about the trials that goes on curretly that actually made him look like he was a vegetable, immobile and boring.

Quote

"This was the second part of the message. No autopsy, No police." (p. 348)

Explanation: It was the message that the two criminals left to the daughters of Alexis and Craig. They didn't want the autopsy to be happening and they also didn't like the fact that this incident could actually get them in trouble, so they left another message, no police.

How it relates to the Theme
It shows how corrupted the society is, and therefore how dangerous and unfair and unjust it is, too. The message cannot be delivered to the police nor it could be safe to just be quiet. What choice would Craig and his fellows make?