Michael CrichtonArrow Books Ltd Jurassic Park Book

I am a huge fan of the movie - who doesn't love a Steven Spielberg flick? Yet weirdly, I have only just got round to reading the book that inspired the dino quadrilogy.Surprisingly I feel the movie did a great justice to this novel - they pruned what was necessary and nothing was really lost. I particularly like the following adjustments (which aren't spoilers, not really I promise!):1) They made Hammond a decent human being in the movie - in the book he's a right ruthless bastard (he doesn't care for his grandkids and it's him who wants to charge thousands for tickets to the park, not the lawyer!).2) They gave the main female roles - Ellie and Lex - proactive, strong roles in the film - in the book they are much more secondary characters, although Ellie is still a precocious, confident individual who holds her own. However, Lex is really 8 years old - not nearly 15 - and is much more of a drag, relying heavily on her brother to bring her safely through the park (understandable but still, annoying and whiney!).I loved the dinosaurs - they had great, individual personalities and interesting, justifiable behaviour -, the park was much more realistic and there was a lot more background information and world building than I expected. I can see they pruned a lot of the ideas for the second and third movie from this original book, which lets you know how packed it is with cracking plot lines.I cannot wait to grab a copy of The Lost World.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for 25 or so years, you’ve probably already seen or at least heard of the original Jurassic Park film which was based on this novel, so, I’ll start with the inevitable question...is it better than the film? I don’t really have an answer, you can’t really have a definitive answer. Both film and novel are two entirely different mediums with pros and cons. A film has the advantage of being a visual medium and is generally more accessible, but is more or less limited to a couple of hours in length and therefore loses a lot of depth and detail. This is exactly why I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, despite having seen the film dozens of times ever since it first came out and although the book follows the same milestone plot points of the film, there is a lot more fat to chew on here and it’s all very tasty!I won’t spoil it for anyone, but there is a lot more background to the story here than the film. The opening chapters (of which there are many) follow a few loose ends and covers the background, plot and some characters that don’t really figure in the main story, but show the overreaching effects of the park’s development. Unlike the film, this novel doesn’t really have to depend on the dinosaurs and action set pieces to intrigue. There’s hardly any dinosaur action in the opening 200 or so pages easily, it is quite the slow burner, but when it hits the fan, it hits harder than an angry T Rex! It really does go through the gears fast, so strap in!The characters are vastly different from the the film too, Genaro is almost the total polar opposite of the cowardly, snivelling, greedy lawyer in the film and that characters’ fate is reserved for another character. Lex is a total airhead brat, Dr. Satler hardly features at all and a certain disgruntled Park employee is even somewhat of a sympathetic character...who still does a terrible thing. Dr. Malcolm’s chaos theory goodness is expanded upon greatly and Alan Grant is more macho than Sam Neill’s portrayal. Everyone’s backstory and the reasons they do the thing they do appear more logical. There are other characters that don’t get more than a background cameo in the film that are significantly more fleshed out here, oh, and don’t assume that just because someone survived the film that they’ll get through the novel...I’ll leave it at that!The dinosaur rogues’ gallery is more or less identical, barring a slight different in species in some of the lesser characters and there is one action set piece in particular that is lifted to one of the original films’ sequels. Another watery set piece is somehow even more thrilling than seeing it ever could be.Overall, this book is exactly what I’d hoped it would be. Similar enough to the film that I am nostalgically happy and satisfied and different enough that I’m learning something knew of the Jurassic Park lore. Michael Crichton was an excellent novelist and this book still stands as his Magnum Opus.

The construction worker's injuries are not consistent with a 'mechanical trauma'.....'it really did look like a maul'. Babies and small children are being attacked by lizard-like creatures in Costa Rica. Concerns about John Hammond's work on Isla Nublar are mounting. Enter Jurassic Park.I never thought I would read this book. I'm not a huge fan of movies and whilst I like the Jurassic Park film, I loved the book. I was surprised that a relatively long book was so packed full of action from start to finish. Characters die who don't die in the film, there is no T-Rex vs raptor face off, Hammond is pure evil, the scenes are darker and more graffic and Lex is younger and extremely irritating! Crichton makes you think about the issues raised, making the book much more than an entertaining thriller.Would definitely recommend.

I have been fascinated by dinosaurs since I was a wee child, and Jurassic Park is easily one of my all-time favourite movies. That being said, I was a little hesitant when I picked up the book it was all based on - I mean, how could it possibly invoke the wonder I had seen on the big screen?!It certainly didn't disappoint!The book better explained the Mary-Shelley-style creation of the dinosaurs. It is quite heavy in scientific descriptions - having studied genetics, I found this to be an easy read. The language wasn't too technical, and there wasn't much jargon, so even if you don't have a background in genetics, I think it would still be reasonably easy to grasp.There are a few differences that I think the movie did a little better. The strong women we know from Spielberg's movie weren't as notable in the book. Though Ellie is present and strong, albeit a watered-down version of the Ellie we know from the movie, Lex is a lot different. In the book, she isn't the smart, capable, teenage hacker who grows in strength - she's a frightened 8-year-old. And while her youth certainly explains her meekness, it was nice to see that the movie had created stronger female roles.The description of the dinosaurs was fantastic, and I found myself hungrily devouring this book!It's a 4.5/5 for me!

Jurassic Park is one of my favourite films of all time. I know it off by heart, inside and out. I can't believe it's taken me almost 30 years to read the novel!It's incredible, I couldn't stop reading. The world built is vivid and full of imagination. You feel like you're in some tropical paradise where everything is going wrong.The best part of the book for me was how different it is to the film. It hits a few of the same inevitable beats, but I loved reading the many differences. It's a lot more gruesome too. Despite me having a clear image of the dinosaurs, how they look and move, from the films I was surprised to find the novel describing totally different animals. The T-Rex, a great slow monster in the films is almost like a great fast lizard, and it's these little changes that made it such a joy to read.