re: On the opposite end of the spectrum....
I knew there must be a reason why I started that book but never finished it. Couldn't get into it. Now I can quit feeling guilty about it. I thought it must be my ESADD (Ex smokers Attention Deficit Disorder).
Please don't go back before he wrote his other books, though, some of which I found delightful, i.e. Andromeda Strain (damned good movie out of that one) or Jurassic Park. Re: the movie--I still look around at night to make sure there are no velociraptors lurking about. I have writer's curse: because of an overactive imagination, on some level I believe everything I read, that is, if it's written well. Of course, then reality knocks again. But for a split second, I DID look around for those damned velociraptors.