Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton is a story of technology run amok. A wealthy man hires a team of scientists to clone dinosaurs and creates a park to display them. Of course things go wrong... very wrong. I've seen the movie (and the sequel) several times but never read the book- after seeing a recent review on another blog I decided to take the plunge. I'm glad I did.
The book starts out laying the groundwork and we meet all the players. Right off the bat the book differs from the movie, with a lot of more detail and nuance. At the same time the main characters- Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler and Ian Malcolm- seem very similar to the movie versions, right down to the dialogue. You can really tell that Michael Crichton wrote the screenplay as well as the book. Ian Malcolm in particular- he was totally Jeff Goldblum to me as I was reading.
The park is located on an island off the coast of Costa Rica, and the owner and developer John Hammond is forced by the attorneys representing the investors to send Grant, Ellie and Malcolm there to check it out for safety. The problems start out fairly early and soon the entire island descends into chaos as systems fail and dinosaurs escape from their enclosures. I was struck by how the entire book is basically an ongoing crisis- the characters are thrust into all kinds of predicaments, from going over waterfalls to, at one point, fighting a pack of velociraptors with a rocket launcher! There a re a lot of things that happen that are not in the movie- so if you're a casual fan of the franchise the book is not necessarily required reading, but if you're a big fan the book might really be for you. There's a lot of suspense right from the beginning, and Crichton masterfully ratchets up the tension and reveals new details.
Overall this was a fun read, I wanted to keep going and it was hard to stop because the crisis just keeps getting worse. I was starting to wonder if anyone was going to survive.
I was so fascinated by the film when it came out, and I love that it still holds up in terms of special effects today. The next film, Jurassic World, is being filmed now, and I'm sure that will be a huge hit.
ReplyDeleteStephanie @ Inspiring Insomnia
Loved this book and have read it several times :) Have you read Crichton's other book, that's also been made into a movie, Congo? It's my favorite book of his, and I loved it even more than Jurassic Park (the movie's a bit cheesy though).
ReplyDeleteI have not read any of Crichton's work prior to this, although I may tackle the JP sequel since I liked this so much. And I'm really curious about Congo, I saw the movie years ago and while yeah it wasn't great, I really like the lost city in Africa theme. I've always been a fan of that idea. :) So I will definetly check that one out too!
DeleteCongo, the book, is actually pretty intense and scary-I still remember parts of it and I read it years ago! The movie definitely doesn't do the book justice, they watered it down to make it PG-13 blech!
DeleteI definetly want to read this then, sounds right up my alley! I've always kinda wanted to read it, but never made time or got around to it. I will be picking this one up. Thank you for the tip!
DeleteOh I loved the movie when it was released and I think I saw it a lot of times but I don't know if I would like to read the book, because I think I saw it too many times to really appreciate it. Maybe later. But thanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteI did too, such a fun movie. I've seen it a bunch times too. It was interesting to go back and revisit that world. Thank you for reading!
DeleteThis was a classic, and very scary!
ReplyDeleteHarvee
Book Dilettante
It was scary at times! Very intense- again just felt like this keeps getting worse and worse, how are they ever going to make it through this mess? :)
DeleteI've been obsessed with the movie almost my whole life. I was 3 when it came out and I still remember how scared I was of it. I can watch it over and over again. I'm so excited about the new movie too. I remember reading this one years ago and liking it but I loved the movie more (rare for me). I've only read one other novel by him and that was NEXT which I really recommend. I thought it was fantastic! Glad you enjoyed this one Greg.
ReplyDelete-Kimberly @ Turning the Pages
Thank you for commenting! I love it too- it's one of those movies I can just watch over and over. And I like the second one a lot to (the movie- haven't read the sequel book yet)- just some great scenes in that one, like when they are chasing the animals around. This is one franchise I don't mind them going back to , if they do it right!
DeleteYes! The second one was so good, not many people I know liked it and I always stare at them like "C'mon people it's DINOSAURS!". The second book is good as well (I haven't read the whole thing yet) but I read the first half ages ago and enjoyed what I did read...pre-blogging that is lol.
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