Sphere: Book Review

So Jurassic Park was my favorite book/ movie / slash everything growing up. The book was published in 1990, when I was eight years old but you can bet I read that sucker cover to cover till the movie came out in 1993. I know eight seems a bit young to read Jurassic Park but at the time I was reading several grade levels above my peers and reading almost constantly any book I could get my hands on. I was your typical late 80’s early 90’s dino nerd and loved science. Even in my professional life today I am reading science texts almost daily to keep up with the biology, chemistry and physics classes I teach on the high school level. The book just seemed written for me and I lapped it up. My mother, noticing my interest and always supportive of my reading, immediately went hunting for more Micheal Crichton books.

I am not exactly sure when I read Sphere, I know I did because re-reading it recently there were definitely elements of the book that I remembered vividly. I also remember seeing the movie adaptation which came out in 1998 to underwhelming acclaim. I do not intend to talk specifically about the film although I may mention why I feel that a film adaptation of this book would be very difficult to pull off. Largely though the book just did not stick with me like other Crichton books that I read in my youth. Congo, Jurassic Park, and the Lost World have largely stayed vivid in my mind over the years. Re-reading the book now I can honestly say why, even as a bright tween and teenager, I was not ready to appreciate this book for what it is.

Recently as my two year old had borrowed my phone I was hunting for something to read during a rare break in work. I walked by the bookshelf and studied quickly. I had picked up a copy of Sphere recently for a quarter at the local book swap in my small hometown and pulled it down off the shelf. The yellowed old pages were inviting and I thought, what the heck. Immediately I was pulled into the book and finished the entire novel in a single day. The book grabbed my attention and would not let go for the duration. Even more impressive though is how even after finishing it I can not stop really thinking about it. How I am still asking questions about it even days later.

Still processing my thoughts upon completion of the book I decided to do some research online, get some behind the scenes tidbits and maybe read some other reviews on the book. On good reads.com I found that the book is favorably remembered by many although the consensus is that the book is somewhere just under a solid 4 out of 5 according to 181,000 readers. Most of the criticism leveled at the book seems to revolve around the latter third of the pages and the escalation of some sexist and possibly even racist views put forth in the narrative at around that point. It is true that some of these ideas presented made me uncomfortable as a reader but I don't think they are put into the novel because Crichton is a bigot, quite the opposite in fact.

But I think I am getting ahead of myself. Let's rewind a bit and explain some themes at play in the novel. The inspiration for the book is the idea that encountering extraterrestrial life that is fundamentally completely different from us to explore the thesis that we would be completely unable to understand it much less interact with it in a productive way. In that sense the book is similar in theme to Solaris, written in 1961 by Polish author Stanisław Lem. Though in Lem’s take on the “alien” it is the sea on the planet whereas in Crichton’s book it is the sphere under the sea. The book is also centered in a modern setting, how would modern man handle an encounter with an extraterrestrial phenomenon? In Crichton's familiar academic approach he explains the theme to the reader directly through academic dialogue between a group of scientists debating the implications of the novel's themes. Very early in the novel our protagonist, Norman Johnson is called in for what he thinks is his expertise in handling trauma associated with survivors of plane crashes. It turns out the Navy actually wants him as an expert due to his involvement in the writing of a report related to first contact with aliens. He reveals through internal dialogue that while he did not take the request for the report all too seriously he did his due diligence to research the topic. He performed a battery of psychological tests on pressure exerted on small groups in isolation. So in one sense, while he does not take the question of extraterrestrials all that seriously he does in the novel take his job pretty seriously. This is contrasted in the film where he admits that he just picked names of people he knew. Here he knows them because he researched them and decided they would be able to handle the pressure. This Norman is set up as a credible academic and empathetic person in contrast to the character of the film. Both Normans come to the same conclusion to a central question they were given in their report. How would humans respond to discovery of such an incomprehensible and unknowable entity? The answer given based on Norman’s research is fear.

Norman arrives on a research vessel and realizes he is not there to counsel plane crash survivors. The Navy has stumbled on a 300 year old ship in the ocean that may or may not be extraterrestrial. From the outset most people see the ship's explanation as it has to be alien. It is too big to be anything else. This is the opinion of biochemist Beth Halpern and Ted Fielding, an astrophysicist. Both are excited by the potential scientific discoveries that may come from the wreck but mathematician Harry Adams is immediately skeptical but does not share his reasoning until they are confirmed. What he does do is call out the mission commander Harold Barnes for withholding information from them and is the first to cast doubt on Barnes for not being completely forthcoming with them. The team has one additional member that was not selected by Noman in his report, Arthur Levine, a marine biologist. Norman gives some insight into this oversight from his perspective. He did not include a Marine Biologist because he assumed first contact would be on land. However, more than 70% of the Earth’s surface is water. Levine does not end up making the trip to the sub-lab anyway due to his claustrophobia. I read some reviews calling this a mcguffin in the sense that the one expert needed to put them on the right trail early on, pointing out the unusual sea life is “conveniently” not present for the trip. While I agree that it is inconvenient for the characters he does not come along, the purpose of this character is to serve as a prop to point out Norman’s trustworthiness at selecting candidates for this type of mission. Levine is the only member of the team Norman did not pick and Norman selected people he believed could handle the pressure. This is a valuable piece of information that is shown to us subtly rather than told to us. It gives Norman’s position as the narrator credibility that will be needed later on in the story. Norman picked these people carefully in the book unlike the film. He picked them because they were bright and from his perspective stable.

Everything is fairly normal in the story for a while, they go down to the sub-lab and get set up but soon Harry is proven correct in his assumptions about the crash in that the ship is not alien in origin. Indeed the ship is from the future and is an American vessel built fifty years into the future. Harry deduced this because of the intact nature of the ship. It could not have crashed here, it arrived here from the future thus sustaining no damage. During these interactions we get some interesting character moments that come into play in psychology later. Ted is eager to leave his mark and take credit for discoveries much to the chagrin of all involved except Norman. Harry is incredibly competent and trustworthy, despite his early interactions with several other members of the crew portraying him as cold. Barnes is a capable engineer in his own right, but is consistently out of his depth and struggles to maintain command among the civilians in his group. Another interesting interaction with Barnes that again will be important later is his admission in the sub lab that women are better suited for sub service in every way but that most of the top brass would never accept that truth. This implies based on his selections and indeed his admission of the truth that he is not sexist. Later though when Beth continues to disobey his “orders' ' she accuses him of having a sexist mentality not necessarily because it is true but because she is very much used to it being true. All of the characters are revealed to have little prejudices like this. Ted envies Harry’s natural talent and youth. Norman feels insecure being the only “non-traditional” scientist on the team. Harry and Beth clash with Ted, an older white male who seems more interested in his own legacy than working with the team. These tensions escalate to paranoia and worse when the titular sphere is discovered on the ship.

The team's first interactions with the sphere are consistent with the theme, they do not understand what it even is. The book is marvelously ambiguous throughout, never committing to one idea, but postulating several as to the nature of the sphere. Is it alive? Is it a machine? Was it man made? Is it even from our own universe? We as a reader will never know because it is unknowable. At first the sphere is opened by accident, but eventually the brilliant Harry figures it out and enters the sphere. All of this occurs congruent with a storm that takes away the support craft above the waves isolating the crew from the outside world. I read a review that called this another mcguffin an unhappy coincidence for our protagonists. While I can see their point, especially since it is the same mcguffin that leads to the evacuation of Jurassic Park in Crichton's Jurassic Park two years later, I can actually forgive this one more than in JP. The storm is teased right from the beginning of the novel and while it's a pretty miraculous coincidence that there is a storm in JP the week they have to have the inspection or else lawyers. It makes sense to me that the American military would be willing to brave a storm to keep the Russians from possibly discovering the ship and its technology. In light of cold war tensions still in 1987 it comes across as believable in spite of its “convenient” timing.

Harry emerges from the sphere hours later and is disoriented and confused. He will not or can not really explain his experience in the sphere but remarks that he feels different even looks different though Norman insists he looks normal. Look this is a spoiler heavy review so if you have not read the book and want to stop here, you have been warned. Anyway, Through a cavalcade of weird and escalating circumstances slowly the crew is taken out by sea fauna. Things escalate when a giant squid attacks and kills most of the crew and cripples the sub-lab. In the midst of the turmoil the crew encounters a mysterious code they deduce is coming from the sphere or something released from the sphere. Harry cracks the code and they communicate with some sort of intelligence that names itself Jerry. The intelligence and the manifestations are revealed to be directly related. As if this consciousness can manifest its thoughts at will and seems to be toying with them.

But Norman, going over Harry’s notes on the code based on suspicions of the intelligence's behavior, discovers that the real name of the voice on the screen is Harry. He postulates that Harry was given the power by the sphere to manifest his thoughts as reality. But not just his conscience ones. He explains to Beth that this power can manifest a person's fears or desires even if they are unconscious of them.

Around here is where it seemed to me reading the book that most people went from five out of five to four or much lower. The best part of the writing for me in this book is Norman’s narration of the events. Norman is set up as being level headed, agreeable and most of all reliable. But starting with the first opening of the sphere, even before Harry goes inside, Norman starts slowly losing credibility as a narrator. He begins to forget things or notice things being different from before. There are gaps in his memory, the first brought to the reader's attention is he does not remember eating the desert while everyone else is watching the sphere. Sometimes he catches it and remarks on it, but other times he does not. But subtly the reader begins to ask the question, what is wrong with Norman? We think, did he go into the sphere? Maybe earlier than Harry? Why would Norman leave that out, does he not remember it? He remarks on the changing appearance of his peers and himself. He seems to get younger, and then suddenly grows older. He describes Beth as growing more and more attractive to him. His wounds heal unusually fast. Beth starts to try and seduce him and then suddenly completely stops, her appearance changing along with her behavior. After Harry is rendered unconscious by Beth and Norman to control him, strange occurrences keep happening and through his unreliable narration our suspicion as a reader falls heavily on Norman.

The growing unreliability of the narration is a brilliant storytelling device. It brings my mind back to stories like House of leaves or even Final Fantasy VII. It clues into the reader subtly that something is wrong with our protagonist that he is not aware of but we are. This dramatic irony is effective here because of the multiple explanations for it. Indeed the circumstances of being in the sub-lab alone would be enough to crack many people but it is especially noticeable here because of Norman’s established credibility. The film takes a completely different approach with all the characters. Putting their flaws on full display makes them seem unstable and untrustworthy from the start. The novel can convey information more sub-textually through Norman’s unique perspective as a psychologist through inner dialogue. It subtly changes the message of the work in some ways. The book shows how even well adjusted people can be undone by their trauma when presented with such unknowable and uncontrollable power. Which to me is more compelling than the movie's approach.

At the climax Beth shines a light on our suspicions, calling Norman out for going in the sphere. She points out all of our suspicions as a reader and seemingly confirms them before finally the truth is revealed. Norman has not been in the Sphere, but Beth has. What I think most people miss about this reveal is that the explanation for Norman being unreliable shifts not from Norman but to Beth and even Harry. As far back as Harry’s first trip, Norman argues with Ted about the validity of his field and remarks that he can not believe Ted got to him. But Ted got to him because of Harry. Consistently in the narrative Norman has moments of intuition that he can not fully comprehend. Even his checking of Harry’s work with the code is tied to this. Consciously Harry is unaware of his power, but unconsciously he longs for recognition. So when Harry is sleeping his unconscious self pushes Norman to the truth. When Norman confronts this dark Harry, its anger is stemmed from Norman being “unable” to appreciate its greatness. Harry alters Norman's appearance after this point to reflect his thoughts of Norman. Beth similarly alters her appearance as well. Becoming more attractive to the two men on the mission whom she admires and are reliable. Subconsciously she begins to influence Norman, healing his wounds, making him younger at some points and making herself more attractive to him. She does not do this consciously either, there is some deep phycology going on here in that the insecurities of those with the “power” are slowly changing not just the appearance but also the thoughts, memories and emotions of those around them. The more Harry thinks those around him are bigots the more bigoted they become and the same is true for Beth.

The power is not limited to manifesting physical phenomena. It can alter the mind, time and memory. This is why Norman forgets eating the cake, because Beth in the future is calling his actions into question, affecting his mind in the past. She reveals his middle name is Harrison, but the book shows records of Norman’s name several times and not even a middle initial is shown. When she tries to pin “Harry’s” attacks on him, Norman is confused and can not remember his own middle name. His middle name may not even be Harrison, but if Beth wills it so, so it becomes. This revelation reveals so much about all the events since the sphere. Would Barnes have normally really gone out to fight the squid head on or was he influenced subconsciously by Harry or Beth to do so? What really happened to Fletcher? All they found was a shoe and streak of blood, no further explanation is given to her fate? What about Ted, sure Ted starts out eager but was he really reckless enough to open that hatch? Or is that just how Harry or Beth see him?

When Beth turns on Norman she accuses him of the same masculan bigotry as others that have opposed her before. This is not a flaw in her character, it is a subconscious doubt, given form and grown by the power. She subconsciously thinks it because of the wounds of her past and the power makes her anxieties real. There are so many clues to this scattered throughout the narrative. Barnes became increasingly incompetent and less trustworthy throughout the story because that is how both Harry and Beth see him. This power they have been given is on a scale that even the reader struggles to understand and that is the point. I think that is why so many did not like this part of the book. In light of it all Norman is left with only one course of action. Take the power for himself.

He escapes Beth miraculously, probably due to Beth’s inner turmoil in killing him keeps him alive. He goes to the sphere and figures out that to open the sphere you just have to imagine it opening, a great test if you think about it. No one is able to use the power without the ability to imagine. Indeed that last theme in the book is revealed here. In the end it is not math, biology or psychology that connects the humans to the inhuman sphere. It is the ability to imagine. Norman asks if the voice in the sphere is God but even with his new found power he can not understand. He only has one action left, escape. But the “power of the sphere quickly corrupts him. Just like Beth and Harry his mind turns them into monsters, monsters that he hates and that deserve to die. His own wound is magnified again, their prejudices against him become real to him and to them. He proclaims on his way to the surface without them they deserve to die. This shocks his senses and he turns back to save them. When he arrives though Beth suddenly does not want to be rescued. He remarks it as ironic but the truth is his power is influencing her now. He thought she deserved to die, even just a moment, but now she believes it as well. This is made available to the reader as subtext but realistically is never picked up on by most of the characters. During the final assent Harry keeps saying they won't make it and Norman counters him with his mind saying they will.

The three survivors manage to escape to the surface. On the surface and in the decontamination tank they talk about what to do. They proved that mankind was not fit to have such power. They were stable, adjusted individuals but the power brought out the worst of them all. The internal struggles of the human psyche were too uncontrollable to be given such power. They decide as a group to forget the power, give it back in a sense and rewrite the events of the last few days to match their new story. But Beth doubts this course, should they forget, is it right? They count to three and Norman no longer remembers things as they were. They were completely successful. But the last words of the book imply that it is possible that all three of them did not give up the power and forget.

Some final observations before we wrap up. The power's ability to alter space and time is truly difficult even for the reader to understand. The final act of literally re-writing history, not just from their own perspective but the entire crew of the ship has massive implications and if anything made me want to go back through the later portion of the book and look for more times that the power did more than just make giant squid. For example, what if the Storm was a manifestation? What about Beth’s confidence in repairing life support, did the power enabled her to do things she might not have been able to do before? How about Norman being able to figure out the sub controls or the sudden appearance of weapons that can damage the squid and many more examples of “luck?” Speaking about the squid, the parallels to Vern’s 20,000 Leagues are also kind of brilliant. In the novel Captain Nemo seeks ultimate knowledge of the sea and the sphere in a way represents how unattainable ultimate knowledge is. Of all the fates in the book I found Ted’s to be the saddest. Ted wanted above all else to be remembered, and when Norman pulls the picture out of his pocket in the end and Ted's last few days have been re-written to mean nothing in the grand scheme of things it feels like a deep tragic loss.

The book is by far the most cerebral book that Crichton ever wrote. The Sphere is truly unknowable not only as an entity but even as a narrative. Even writing this review I am unsure which events, persons and creatures were altered by Beth, Harry or even Norman. Did Norman really go inside the sphere not once but twice? Did Ted or Barnes ever go in? Even the end of some of the crew is ambiguous, no more than a shoe and a blood stain. In most other books these would be negative strikes against the narrative, but in this book they are purposely placed. In the end the book may be too clever for its own good and in some ways not clever enough. Sometimes things were so chaotic I could not tell who was thinking or speaking at a given moment. Some of the science has also been updated or even expanded on since the book's publication and sometimes I feel like the language and phrasing of certain interactions would not translate well to a modern reader or audience. It is wonderfully futuristic and dated all at the same time and comes with all the strengths and weaknesses inherent in that kind of writing. I think the film fails because this is not a book that can easily be translated to film. So much is rushed through for the sake of runtime and the supremely valuable internal dialogue of Norman is completely lost. Even with a great cast this material just sort of transcends what a film can accomplish.

All in all I rather liked the book here and now. I am not sure that I could have truly appreciated it even a few years ago. However in a post covid world it was a fascinating read. The power of the Sphere itself could almost be a metaphor for the social media age. We live in a world today where whether something is true about another person is secondary to the desires of the creator's heart. This leads to a world of paranoia and prejudices being placed on everyone. Pretty farsighted considering the internet was not really a thing yet when the book was written. We live in a world today where sticks and stones may be preferable to words. At one point Norman quotes the sermon on the mount directing readers to the teaching that if one has committed adultery in the heart it is the same as committing the act itself. In this story that perspective is taken to its fullest expression. Murder in the heart literally manifests as murder in life through the terrible power given by an unknowable alien force. Humans are balanced by many different parts of their psyche and the force that holds back the darker parts of who we are is material manifestation. But what if an encounter with an “alien’ removed that barrier? Who would be able to escape the fear that would ensue? Sphere argues no one.