Defenestrating Thoughts from the Bivouac

I finished reading Michael Crichton’s Rising Sun a couple of weeks ago. I bought this book back in April, and finally got around to reading it since I was in the mood for something quick and fictional. So I took Rising Sun out of the ever-growing “to read” queue and got through it in a few hours. While Crichton’s other works have deep scientific and philosophical discussion, this one was more political and made it a quicker read.

It read pretty fast, with a fairly linear plot. This reminded me of the Da Vinci Code, but Rising Sun is a slightly more realistic fiction. Crichton has a bibliography in the back, implying that the book was pretty well researched. In that way, I found the book to be pretty educational as a window into Japanese culture. I know that a lot of people say Crichton is racist in his portrayal of the Japanese, but I didn’t get that impression. I thought it was a fairly even-handed approach; while it may be inaccurate (I’m not that familiar with Japanese culture), I don’t get the impression that it was written to be misleading.

In the book, the subject of the Japanese buying up American companies and properties and their growing influence is discussed extensively. I had forgotten that this was one of the major political issues at the time (early 90’s). Now the latest fear is the Chinese economic influence over America and we don’t hear as much about the Japanese. I wonder where the balance is between logical, legitimate concern and falling prey to the latest bogeyman.