Jurassic Park

Very good. The short chapters make the pace feel fast even during the sections when little is happening, and the story is written in such a manner that the reader (even should you not have seen the film the novel spawned) cannot help but know with certainty how bad things are about to get long before the characters do -- well, excepting perhaps Ian Malcolm. This gives an underlying tension that further adds to the page-turning feel of the story, which is particularly impressive considering the novel's rather many academic asides about everything from computer history to mathematical paradigms.

My main complaint, I suppose, is the almost complete lack of emotional ramification for traumas and deaths. Whenever a character dies, people show more (even people with no experience with such things) behave with a stiff upper lip 'well, that's a shame, let's soldier on' attitude that I might buy from hardened veteran soldiers or explorers mentally prepared for danger, but that seems a bit off from academics, engineers and lawyers who have been told they're to tour an unopened amusement park. They're afraid for their own lives (and to some extent, that of others), and you feel that fear, but there's no tangible grief following the loss of human lives at any point in the story. Even the two children seems not at all traumatised by the things they go through, quipping and quarreling again as soon as immediate danger is over, and happily petting dinosaurs even after they've multiple times survived attacks by other animals -- often of the same species. I didn't exactly mind any of this, as lengthy hand-wringing of how sad and horrible this and that was doesn't exactly make for exciting reading -- but it did take a tiny bit of believability away, and it also made it harder to differentiate supposedly hardened characters from the ones less used to danger and hardships.

But this is a minor concern. I spend so much time on it only because it struck me as odd, not because it weakened the story much. Crichton is otherwise excellent at making things feel horrifically real, including the terror the characters experience over and over again, and the ebb and flow of the threats throughout the book works wonderfully. All the thumbs all the way up. Between this and "The Great Train Robbery", I'm two for two on highly satisfying and memorable Crichton novels, and am considering making a point of trying out more. show less

Jurassic Park. JURASSIC FRIGGIN' PARK PEOPLE.

Now if you know me you know that this is one of my top 10 movies of all time. Action packed with dinosaurs ripping people apart and some legendary characters like Muldoon hunting some raptors and Dr. Ian Malcom dropping knowledge about Chaos Theory. I was 8 years old when it released and I can still remember sitting in that dark theater watching the Tyrannosaurus Rex step out of the paddock and hearing her deafening roar shake the room.

And with that said... I think the book was better than the movie. Wait! Don't shoot me just yet!

The story that Michael Crichton wrote in this awesome novel plays out very differently than the movie. The book seems more action packed and Dr. Alan Grant and the show more kids get into way more precarious situations. Characters behave and have different roles in the book. John Hammond is the protagonist and not he's not such a likeable character. I don't think anyone really liked him in the movie either but in the book he's a dick.

Biotechnologist Henry Wu plays a way bigger part here compared to his 5 minutes on screen in the baby raptor scene. Crichton goes into more detail about how the DNA splicing process works so things do get a bit technical.

Dr. Ian Malcom's speech on how the earth will survive despite the mistakes and follies done by mankind is one of the best I've ever read. I enjoyed his character in the movie and here he sounds like a true scientist.

Both mediums have their individual charm. I enjoyed the book and I thought it was great and it would've been cool to see the book be adapted a bit more than where Spielberg took it HOWEVER the film is still damn amazing! show less

For lovers of the film I can honestly say you will not be disappointed, and if you're like me and loved the film so much you wished there been more of it then buckle up because this is the book for you!

It opens with a sort of prologue about strange 'lizard' attacks in rural mainland Costa Rica, which gave the whole story an extra depth that I really adored.
The author did go into a lot of detail about genetics and the state of scientific advancement that, while interesting, was a little too long... but nothing a little skim reading can't fix.

As you might have guessed, the characters - Dr Grant, Ellie, Muldoon, Ian Malcolm, Arthur, Dennis, Dr Wu, Tim, Lex and Hammond - are all excellent. Muldoon surprised me a little because he is a show more much bigger and more detailed character in the book, and its all the richer for it. The lack if a romantic subplot between Ellie and Grant was also a nice change of pace and I found it to be a surprising improvement.

And need I mention the dinosaurs? If the movie did it well, then my word the book did it magnificently. The T-Rex was utterly terrifying, decidedly disgusting and totally brilliant. The collective of different herbivores were astoundingly detailed and well developed, with just enough science to keep it interesting...
And then there are the velociraptors. The film did a good job of them, but it can't hold up against the sheer awesomeness of the books counterparts. Their seemingly hive minded intelligence and coordination, the violence and raw power they demonstrate, their hierarchical nature... everything went towards creating beautifully detailed predators, and creating a wonderfully realised threat.

All in all it was a brilliant read and I wasn't ready for it to end! I would (and have) recommend it to anyone who likes the sound of a dinosaur action thrill. Definitely a favourite for me. show less

Brilliant. Great ideas explored from various angles, woven into a riveting story. Raises lots of discussion points about scientists wielding genetic power versus the inevitability of nature.

I never thought I would like a dinosaur book. I would have laughed if you told me that some day I would consider myself to be a "huge fan" of Jurassic Park, but the amazing thing about Crichton is that he so skillfully weaves the fantastic with hard science that I feel as though I am learning a thing or two about genetics and enjoying myself immensely in the process!

I forgot how much pontificating was in this. I don't find it as charming this go round.
Undeniable sexism in the treatment of Elle and Lexi in the text as well as the extremely dated technology kind of ruin the memory.
Still fun, fast paced once it gets going and cleverly written.

An inventive and perfectly-paced thriller. The story is one known to everyone who hasn't been living under a rock, so I won't waste time going over it. Suffice to say that Spielberg and co. kept their film very faithful to the book, no doubt because of its strong world-building and pacey, almost movie-like prose.

It really does tear along, despite oodles of scientific exposition (even when some of the characters talk like encyclopaedias, for some reason it doesn't grate). Author Michael Crichton is excellent at creating a sense of impending doom early in the novel, even better at keeping track of things as the disaster unfolds – he even makes graphs interesting – and intensely gripping when it comes to the action and carnage. He show more makes his dinosaurs come alive: they behave like animals, displaying traits similar to modern birds and reptiles. This really makes his world believable and threatening – a difficult skill (one of the few flaws in the recent franchise reboot Jurassic World was how it seemed the dinosaurs' actions were dictated by the requirements of the plot, rather than the plot seeming to be driven by the dinosaurs' unpredictable behaviour). Crichton is a bit clumsy at times with the anti-science hubris stuff, but it comes across as more of a passionate quirk than a flaw. It doesn't burn any of the reserves of goodwill built up throughout the book, which is an excellent feat of imagination and storytelling. Crichton's footprint on popular culture is larger and more emphatic than that of a tyrannosaur's. show less