Customer Reviews

Jurassic Park

5 star:		(531)
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3 star:		(29)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

Although all three of the "Jurassic Park" movies were visually spectacular, and although Crichton's "Lost World" followup was a good novel, in my opinion you have to go here, to the original "Jurassic Park" novel, to experience the true greatness of this story.

Probably just about everybody knows the basic premise - scientists clone dinosaurs to create a massive theme park on a tropical island, and everything goes terribly awry. What may have been forgotten in the years since its initial release is that this is one of the most thrilling, imagination-igniting, adventurous and frighteningly Believable (an aspect which didn't quite make it through to the film versions; most of the ethical questions, pro and con, also struggled to be heard in the movies) novels ever written. In quoting early on actual tinkerings with the biological makeup of living things for man's scientific curiosity and potential profit, the book made it seem not only plausible that this could happen, but that, if this was in Any Way possible that it could happen, that someday, somehow, somebody is actually going to go and do something like this. Not necesarily a dinosaur theme park (although who knows?) but some kind of cloning/genetic engineering scheme on this gargantuan scale. And this book was written Before humanity started cloning sheep, cats, dogs and whatever else strikes its fancy (with huge rates of failure in terms of deformities and early deaths that just get swept under the rug), before the longtime specter of genetically engineering 'designer children' started to become feasible, and, if I have my dates right, before it was known that if somebody wanted to go ahead and attempt this we don't even need to go through amber-trapped insects for prehistoric DNA; we already have reasonably well-preserved, non-fossilized dinosaur marrow. And the scientific community has been openly talking for years now about cloning mammoths from fresh specimens that were frozen in the last ice age.

To get off the subject of the book's plausibility and its connection to current real-life states of affairs in ethical and scientific circumstances, and get back to the book's own merits, this is one of Crichton's alltime gems. Vivid desciptions of everything that make you feel like you're there, deeper and better characterization than in some of his earlier works, and some of the most amazing chase scenes and 'first appearance' of the monster' type scenes ever written, with more implied 'what if's and (that the author wisely doesn't than you can shake a Sauropod tail at. It's also worth noting that not all of the dinosaurs are ferocious; some are non-threatening, even charmingly oafish.

Captivating from the get-go; hand a copy of this to a person who's never willingly (that means school assignments excluded) read a full novel and you might get a book-lover for life. Other recommended Crichton titles: "The Andromeda Strain", "Sphere" and especially "Congo" (his other crowning achievement). Also recommended in the dinosaur novel genre: "Raptor Red" by Robert T. Bakker, taking place in the Cretaceous. "Balook" by Piers Anthony is another great book, involving prehistoric mammals instead of dinosaurs, and offering one of the few reasonable theoretical arguements in favor of cloning I've ever encountered.

It's a shame that a lot of people won't read this book because they saw the movie and thought it was stupid. Yes, it was a pretty good movie, but this book is a lot better, simply because it focuses more on the scientific and character development aspects, rather than pure thrills and suspense (not that there isn't any of that). Also, the movie didn't follow the book at all, there are many parallels between the two. What's cool about this book is that dinosaurs aren't definately a part of the story until over 100 pages into the book! Indeed, if the movie was not so famous and you had just read the book first, you might not have known it was about dinosaurs until rather far into it (but the title of course, gives it away). But just look at the explanation of how the dinosaurs were created, among the various other scientific aspects of the book, everything is explained in painstaking detail, without ever becoming boring. Crichton really did his homework on this one.

If you are putting off reading this book because you think it is some stupid and unrealistic fantasy about the rebirth of dinosaurs, then not only are you totally wrong, you are missing out. This is a must read.

It's been a few years since I've read this book, but it still stands out to me as one of my favorite works of (modern) fiction. This book is very fast paced and when I read it, I had a really hard time putting it down. I read it cover to cover almost non-stop. I can imagine this book becoming a little more popular again with all the talk of cloning going on and while the ideas in this book are far-fetched, I'm sure it will help some people make opinions on whether or not cloning is good or bad. So, if you're looking for a great, faced paced sci-fi thriller, you may want to pick up Jurassic Park. I also feel the book is much better than the movie despite the fact that Spielberg directed JP in 1991. The story line is MUCH more devolped and the ending is entirely different! So, if you've seen the movie and liked it and have yet to read the book, I suggest you do - you will definitely enjoy this book.

Nowadays, the title "Jurassic Park" conjures up images from a trilogy of films which began with Steven Spielberg's apatosaurus-sized blockbuster and started going (quality-wise, at least) down the path to cinematic extinction with wan sequels (The Lost World, Jurassic Park III -- the latter, thank Gene Siskel's soul, NOT directed by Spielberg). This, of course, is to be expected and is not exactly a new concept in Hollywood; Jaws, which was Spielberg's first real blockbuster (and is in fact the grandfather of the modern "monster hit movie") also started out as a decent horror film about a predator with sharp teeth that, um, snacked on people...and should have, like its 1993 cinematic heir, should have been left as a stand-alone film.

What some people tend to forget is that both these franchise-starting Spielberg films were adaptations of best-selling summer-season beach reads (Jaws, for instance, was written by Peter Benchley). Not meant to be literary classics in the same category as, say, the collected works of William Shakespeare or Ernest Hemingway, Benchley's shark novel and Michael Crichton's original 1990 novel, Jurassic Park, are an entertaining -- if easily disposed of -- mix of science, horror, and melodrama.

Crichton's novel contains the same basic premise as the screenplay he later co-wrote with David Koepp (The Lost World): eccentric billionaire John Hammond, through his huge bio-genetics company InGen, funds a top secret scientific project to clone dinosaurs from fossilized DNA and populate the Mother of All Theme Attractions, Jurassic Park. But after a series of incidents that Hammond manages to keep hidden from public view (velociraptors snack on unsuspecting Costa Rican laborers, for instance), InGen's board of directors sends attorney Donald Gennaro and a team of independent observers to inspect Hammond's theme park on Isla Nublar off the coast of Costa Rica. Their mission: to evaluate Jurassic Park's safety measures and its viability as a money-making tourist attraction.

As in the movie, everything that can go wrong, does, especially as a result of a deliberate act of computerized sabotage by greedy and super-geeky Dennis Nedry, who has been hired by InGen's rival Biosys Inc. to steal some dino-embryos from Jurassic Park's cryogenic storage facilities. This, of course, places Gennaro's team of Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler, and Ian Malcolm in peril (along with Hammond's two grandchildren, Tim and Lex) as they get stranded outside without the protection of the Park's electrified fences. And, as in the movie, the main characters learn one simple yet painful lesson: people and dinosaurs shouldn't mix.

Crichton's novel is far darker than its 1993 film adaptation, with more nods to Stephen King than to Steven Spielberg, with more scenes of gore and violent death than would have been viable for a PG-13 film. Nevertheless, it's entertaining without being too bogged down in the nitty-gritty details of genetic engineering, industrial espionage, or computer sciences, although Crichton, as he has done in other works (The Terminal Man, The Andromeda Strain) touches all these topics in this fast-moving techno-chiller.

Jurassic Park is a gripping action title set on a private island of the coast of Costa Rica. Horrific and deep,it should please anybody with the ability to read.i couldnt put it down for all the tea in china, nor all the chinese waitresses who bring it.

John hammond is hungry to make something extraordinary.dealing with boigenetic company,ingen,they manage to create genetically engineered dinosaurs.hammond has an idea of having a dinosaur zoo where kids can marvel at these amazing creatures.unfortunately, his view doesn't include reality, and ingen comes across many problems creating this "zoo".

the way crichton writes is sheer genious.the words seem to flow together and, in time, you'll feel as if it's happening before your eyes.A modern classic written like Shakespeare for old people, jurassic park should not be missed by anybody.

Okay, so it doesn't quite roll off of the tongue like the famous line from "The Wizard of Oz," but Michael Crichton's "Jurassic Park" runs through a very similar vein of tall tales. It's the story of dinosaurs who are forced into a new world that they are unaccustomed to. So what does a T-Rex do in a strange new environment? The exact same thing it did so many millions of years ago. It eats everything in its path. Crichton tackles the very touchy arena of ethics in science. Should we do something for profit or scientific advancement no matter what the consequences might be? Is it always good to bring something back that's extinct? What happens when you try to control a living thing by denying it certain necessities? All of this and more is answered in this Crichton page-turner-turned-mega-movie.

The book, as is almost always the case, is much better than the film, and that's saying a lot considering how excellent the film adaptation of "Jurassic Park" was. It really captured the primary message of the book. I won't go into any deep detail since most people have either read the book already or have watched the film, but I will say that the book has much better character and story development. There are a few surprises as well in the overall outcome of the story. Characters that have minute or non-existent roles in the film are expanded upon in the book, and the list of survivors doesn't necessarily include all of the group from the film. In fact, I'm glad that a couple of characters had different fates on the page than they did on the screen.

Overall, this is an excellent book. Crichton crafted a wonderful science fiction thriller that is just as suspenseful as the flick and is better as a whole. If you're looking for sci-fi thrills, ethical arguments, and even a few scientific facts, "Jurassic Park" is just what Dr. Grant ordered.

I saw the movie 'Jurassic Park' when I was about ten years old and I liked it, I guess, but I mean, I was TEN, I didn't really understand all the scientific stuff. Just a few months ago, I read the book and I absolutely LOVED it! At first, I was wary about reading it, it had a lot of techno science talk in it which I thought I wouldn't understand, but I did get the basic idea and I thought the book was fantastic! It is suspensful and really enjoyable. I recommended it to my friends, but they were like "Why would you want to read THAT?" (I'm a thirteen-year-old girl and they were like...whatEVER!) But I really really liked it. I love the movie too, but the book is more thrilling, if you ask me. I don't see how anyone could not like the movie though and refuse to read the book afterward. The movie was excellent too.

Sometimes, in reading science fiction books, readers get lost in the scientific mumbo-jumbo of it all. Other times, the story is the predominant feature and the scientific parts of the book are overlooked. Jurassic Park is one of the rare books that pleases both perspectives. While some of the ideas are far-fetched (what sci-fi book doesn't have those?), the story makes it all believable and entertaining at the same time. The book was so well-written that it puts the movie version to shame! Even Steven Spielberg (in my opinion) could not capture all the book had to offer. This is a quick read that could be completed in a weekend or over a few nights. This made me a Michael Crichton fan!

The movie has grown dull over time, but this book is as good as ever. Any opinions you have of this story mean nothing until you've read the book.

This book is one of the few that can actually made my heart speed up while reading it. Though Chricton tends to ramble at times over the technical stuff, the action is worth the wait! I'd say it's at least five times more exciting the movie ever could've been.

If you like books that can keep you up at night, you'll like "Jurassic Park."

In this novel, scientists use cloning, PCR techniques, and amphibian development to isolate dinosaur DNA from insects trapped in amber and to grow living dinosaurs for the ultimate in amusement parks. To garner support for the park, the developer has asked a number of scientists to visit and to evaluate the facilities and animals. One of these individuals is a mathematician whose field of expertice is chaos and catastrophe theory. Thus, the readers learns a little about molecular biology, paleontology, paleobotany, and an exciting new area of mathematics (a common characteristic of Dr. Crichton's novels that I find enjoyable is the education one receives over a wide area of topics). However, things go wrong and the reader is soon caught up in the adventure. But, I should point out that both the book and the 1994 film make some serious scientific errors, particularly in biochemistry and molecular biology. (For example, Dr. Crichton has his characters insert a genetic "flaw" into the DNA of the dinosaurs so that, if a dinosaur would escape, it could not survive in the "wild." The dinosaurs are made to be incapable of biosynthesizing the amino acid lysine. However, humans [and other mammals] also can't synthesize lysine! Lysine is one of the nutritionally essential amino acids [just ask any body builder who often supplement their diets with lysine tablets]. Nevertheless, humans are able to survive without this metabolic pathway!) But note that, even with thses flaws, I still gave the book five stars. These errors (and the "nonerrors") get readers to thinking about these exciting new fields of human endeavor. And, they start searching for the answers themselves. I see students doing this all the time. Crichton should be applauded. The book and the film also demonstrate the problems with uncontrolled genetic engineering.