I’m told that in the fall I’ll be teaching this novel to my eighth-grade lit classes. I remember being impressed with it when I first read it years ago, but less so on this subsequent reading. It is certainly exciting in places, but I’m not a big fan of thrillers. The ideas, too, are much more fully explored than in the movie, such that the book has a lot more to offer. However, the characters struck me as paper dolls moving through their assigned roles; I couldn’t get attached to any of them. Perhaps partly because there were so many, and partly because we didn’t know enough about what made any of them tick, I never really got invested in any of them. Frankly, I was bored. ( )

I found this book titillatingly terrifying, as Crichton jumps into the minds of people just as they are about to meet their doom at the teeth and claws of the dinosaurs. He also takes the time to explain the science, but he does it so that it is part of the storyline. I never got bored with the scientific explanations. ( )

I loved the movie and expected to possibly be bored reading the book, since I already knew the storyline. The book is infinitely more engrossing than the film. Crichton steps into the minds of the victims before they are attacked by the dinosaurs, so you are actually reading what it feels like to be eaten alive. It's incredibly terrifying. The only thing I didn't like was the odd ambiguous ending, hence the lack of five stars. ( )

I end up watching Jurassic Park once or twice a year, but it has been about 15 years since I last read the book, so it is easy to forget about how well written and full of detail it is. The book is a lot more suspenseful than the movie, weaving the survival/escape plot with a doomsday clock in the form of two raptors that snuck aboard a supply ship heading to the mainland. Hammond is also both oblivious and self-centered, in stark contrast to Father Christmas from the movie. ( )

If you only read one Crichton novel let this be the one. This is one of the most well researched novels I have ever read and one I actually learned something from. The way Crichton explains genetics is simple yet not "dummed down" I am not a bioengineer or geneticist but all this seem like it could definitely be done. Also the movie is pretty fucking sweet. ( )