Jurassic Park
by Michael Crichton
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Book Summary Information
Author: Michael CrichtonEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Published: 1991-11-13
ISBN: 0345370775
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Reviews of Jurassic Park
Book Review: Surprising SciFi Thriller
Summary: 4 Stars
I hadn't heard about this book until the first movie was released. My initial reaction was, "it's a horror flick with dinosaurs - no way!" Luckily, I ended up seeing the movie at a dorm party after it was released on DVD. I enjoyed the movie, despite my misgivings and thought, "how bad can the book be?" Turned out that, as is often the case, the book was far superior to the film.
I thought it would be a horror novel, but Jurassic Park is actually a science fiction thriller. A SciFi thriller that made me a loyal fan of Michael Crichton. John Hammond has found a way to recreate living dinosaurs. And he is far less grandfatherly and sentimental than the film version. He's a businessman out to make money, who will let nothing stand in his way. One of the things that makes the book so much better is the emphasis on the science. In the movie viewers are like, "yeah sure, they make dinosaurs, disbelief suspended." In the book, Crichton lays it out with creepy realism, formulas and charts. At some points, it becomes a little too much and I actually skimmed overly some highly technical bits, but overall it adds to the credibility of the story. Crichton also lays out the computer science in more detail, such as the motions sensor tracking, the flaws in a mainframe system, etc. I was drawn into the novel in a way not possible with the movie. The character development is also top notch. Ian becomes more than a loony fringe scientist, and Hammond is much better as a quasi-villain. However, the kids got on my last nerve. They weren't as well developed as the adult characters, too mired in stereotypical "kidness." The little girl's constant whining was really annoying . However, that was the only aspect of the novel that I didn't care for. The dialog was great, the action sequences vivid and the ending more than satisfying.
Overall, this was a tight, fast paced novel. Crichton obviously did his research, making the science very real, but the action and adventure made the story come alive. With the advent of cloning, the book still stands strong today. Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys a good thriller.
Summary of Jurassic Park
Unless your species evolved sometime after 1993 when Jurassic Park hit theaters, you're no doubt familiar with this dinosaur-bites-man disaster tale set on an island theme park gone terribly wrong. But if Speilberg's amped-up CGI creation left you longing for more scientific background and ... well, character development, check out the original Michael Crichton novel. Although not his best book (get ahold of sci-fi classic The Andromeda Strain for that), Jurassic Park fills out the film version's kinetic story line with additional scenes, dialogue, and explanations while still maintaining Crichton's trademark thrills-'n'-chills pacing. As ever, the book really is better than the movie. --Paul HughesAn astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Creatures once extinct now roam Jurassic Park, soon-to-be opened as a theme park. Until something goes wrong...and science proves a dangerous toy....
"Wonderful...Powerful."
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