The Andromeda Strain: read-along, pre-read discussion

The Andromeda Strain,
by Michael Crichton,
1969
Science Fiction/Thriller
Goodreads

Read-along, pre-read discussion

I recently had a great experience doing a buddy-read with Julie Anna at Julie Anna’s Books on Before The Coffee Gets Cold .
So we decided to do it again, this time with a classic science fiction novel: The Andromeda Strain.

Neither of us has read the book or seen the movie, so it’s total terra incognita, which I believe is the best way to discover a book.

We just started our reading yesterday, so feel free to join us, by commenting on her/my posts, or by creating your own.

Before our first report, Julie Anna had the great idea to ask pre-read questions:

1. Have you ever read Crichton’s work previously, or seen any of the film adaptations of his works?
2. What are your feelings going into The Andromeda Strain, especially as we’ve spent a year in a pandemic?
3. Do you often read science-fiction books? If so, what sub-genres do you typically read?
4. Have you ever read a book about a pandemic, viral infection, or contagion?
5. The Andromeda Strain was written in 1969. Do you anticipate that this book and the science/technologies it discusses will be as futuristic/realistic in 2021 as they were in 1969?
6. Do you anticipate that the portrayal of the epidemic in this book to be similar to our experiences?
7. What are your expectations of this book in terms of scientific accuracy?
8. Do you think that any recent historical events inspired Crichton to write this book?
9. Do you have any other expectations regarding what topics or points of discussion we might see in this book?

Please go visit Julie Anna’s post to see our answers

And please come back here on May 17 to see our Q&A on the first 2 parts of the book, entitled Day 1 and Day 2

HAVE YOU READ THIS BOOK?
IT WAS PUBLISHED IN 1969. WOULD YOU CONSIDER IT A CLASSIC?

8 thoughts on “The Andromeda Strain: read-along, pre-read discussion”

I haven’t read this but I love science fiction and stories about killer viruses (in spite of, yikes, Covid) so super interested in this.

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WordsAndPeace on May 12, 2021 at 8:43 am said:

Oh wow, I’m surprised, I know how you love classic scifi. It would be fun if you read it with us and add your comments

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- Greg on May 16, 2021 at 12:51 am said:
  
  I wish I would have! Especially since it’s Crichton and I find him interesting. If I weren’t so behind on time and life stuff right now I would absolutely read it.
  
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  - WordsAndPeace on May 16, 2021 at 7:07 pm said:
    
    which other book by him would you recommend?
    
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    - Greg on May 16, 2021 at 9:51 pm said:
      
      I’ve only read Jurassic Park but I like how he tries to bring science into his stories and make it mainstream for people. and I like his concepts- the Jurassic stories, obviously, but also Congo and The Andromeda Strain, and I’ve enjoyed some of the movies derived from his works- Eaters of Dead (movie version 13 Warrior), a few others w/ specualtive fiction tones.
      
      I commented over on the other blog but looks my comment must have gotten lost- I have that problem with Akismet/ WordPress blogs sometimes, sadly.
      
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    - WordsAndPeace on May 17, 2021 at 9:13 am said:
      
      Yes, his science data are pretty good, I do love that amount of scientific details as well.
      Too bad for your comment. I used to have issues with I can’t remember which types of blogs, so I used to copy my comment before submitting, so if it didn’t work, I could try to paste i again, or send it to the blogger through another way
      
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I read this a while back and yes, some of it has dated, but there’s so much that was still relevant when I read it and perhaps even now. I reviewed it here and tried to put it into some kind of context, as I usually do: https://wp.me/p2oNj1-2ht

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