Travels

By: Michael Crichton

Narrated by: Christopher Lane

Length: 15 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

From the bestselling author of Jurassic Park, Timeline, and Sphere, comes a deeply personal memoir full of fascinating adventures as he travels everywhere from the Mayan pyramids to Kilimanjaro.

Fueled by a powerful curiosity - and by a need to see, feel, and hear, firsthand and close-up - Michael Crichton's journeys have carried him into worlds diverse and compelling - swimming with mud sharks in Tahiti, tracking wild animals through the jungle of Rwanda. This is a record of those travels - an exhilarating quest across the familiar and exotic frontiers of the outer world, a determined odyssey into the unfathomable, spiritual depths of the inner world. It is an adventure of risk and rejuvenation, terror and wonder, as exciting as Michael Crichton's many masterful and widely heralded works of fiction.

For Michael Crichton, being a Harvard-trained physician, the author of two bestsellers, and a movie director is not enough. It is, he resolves, time to travel. From swimming with sharks in Tahiti to psychic experiences in the American desert, Crichton records his exhilarating quest through the familiar and exotic frontiers of the outer world.

©1958 Michael Crichton and © 2014 by Taylor Crichton's Family Trust (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. Grateful acknowledgment is made to Harper & Row Publishers, Inc., for permission to reprint an excerpt from “The Way In” from The Selected Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke. Translated from the German by Robert Bly. © 1981 by Robert Bly. Reprinted by permission of Harper & Row Publishers, Inc.

A Little Different

This book didn't catch my interest at the begining, but since I love Crichton's books I stuck with it. After a while I didn't want to stop listening. I thought the narrator was going to ruin the book as he appeared to be in monotone, but again he captured the dry sense of humor that is throughout the book. All in all I loved this book.

Intriguing insight to the world

I definitely did not expect to hear the stories shared by Michael Crichton in Travels. His life has been quite interesting, full of diverse experiences, from medical school to Hollywood to the paranormal world. Whether or not you agree with everything he does, Crichton writes so wonderfully, you can’t help to ponder, “well, maybe...”. Thoroughly enjoyed!

Wonderful book, but wrong choice of narrator

I have always loved this little known memoir by Michael Chrichton, and was looking forward to listening to the audiobook. Unfortunately the audiobook was hard for me to enjoy. To clarify, the narrator is clearly skilled and seasoned and there was nothing wrong with his performance, but I feel he was a poor choice to narrate this particular book. 'Travels' is about Chrighton's adventures, both physically and spiritually, and he details often extreme adventures such as climbing Kilamanjaro, tracking great apes in Rwanda and scuba diving with sharks. I found the narrator's tone somewhat formal, almost upper crust, which felt at odds to me with the spirit of the memoir.

A fantastic journey!

The narrator pulled me in as if I were there, as if I experiences these events personally. Michael Crichton was a master story teller. A very interesting man, an explorer, an adventurer, with an open mind, open to all things possible.
I highly recommend this book.

Very entertaining!

This is more than just a book of travel stories. Crichton shares deep insights about humanity, self, society, the world. Whether he is describing his days in medical school or a trek up some mountain, he weaves in his incredible perceptions and sensitivity. I highly recommend this book. And the narration was very good too.

Captivating, but turns ultra metaphysical

Once he begins going to the psychics, skip to the last chapter to hear is rationale for having an open mind to metaphysical phenomena, then go back if you can stomach it. He admitts to having psychogenic neuropathy in medical school, but to my disappointment, he never retrieves this information to reflect that all these metaphysical experiences are likely psychogenic.

Some excellent bits but too much woo woo.

I really loved the start of this book. However toward the end I started skipping chapters it both got a little boring and it started to spin off into woo woo.

Toward the middle of the book Michael starts to describe how he became to believe in spiritualist and bends spoons. That's a bit over the top for me.

However worth a listen as there is at least 6 hours of quality audio.

So good. Thank you Mr Crichton for sharing this.

The narration was excellent. Crichton delivers again. The purchase of this audiobook is worth every penny.

This is my favorite book ever

literally this book changed my life. I've read it about three times and listened to it several other times If you haven't read it get it and read it do it Don't hesitate

I felt tricked and further more I like it a lot

I’ve been immersed in a world of math described physical phenomena for years and felt this piece was the perfect way to gain my trust and help me think about parts of my life that I was often to skeptical or proud to approach. Thank you