I'll never look at Jurassic Park the same way again and by that I mean the movie. I think the book shows a much harsher and more realistic view of how things could be if such a park existed. I see the movie toned some things down (like Hammond, mostly, although I'll be having a hard time hating Richard Attenborough with a passion like I hate the book version) and left out a few of the more gruesome deaths, so I think JP is still considered to be a family movie (or at least that's how I experienced things) and the book is a lot "heavier" if you ask me.

Mostly, I'm the kind of reader who almost always says "the book was better" but in this case I don't know. I like both of them, in their own way, even with the already outdated technology but the book managed to make the desolate and isolated feeling creep up my spine in a so much more real way than the movie ever did. I feel like the book was more about survival of the fittest and there were times where I was really on the edge of my seat while reading this.

For nostalgic reasons, and for the fact that I can now point out every difference (which my husband will love), I'm going to watch the movie again soon. It's his favorite and I just cannot let the opportunity to annoy the crap out of him pass.

I always seem to forget how good Jurassic Park is. I blast through it once every few years, throw it on my shelf and the distance slowly makes me derisive, and then something forces me to pick it up again when my brain needs a little peanut butter and jelly dipped in hot chocolate, and I am forced to admit that Jurassic Park is a damn fine novel.

Sure it's packed with Michael Crichton's usual band of screenplay-adaptation-friendly archetypes, sure it derives much of its plot and thought from Arthur Conan Doyle, HG Wells and Mary Shelley, sure it's pulpy and quick to read, but those things aren't necessarily bad, and Crichton does enough to elevate or alter these elements to make Jurassic Park a fine piece of popular Sci-Fi in its own right.

Yes, the characters are there to serve the plot. Each has an important skill or skill-set -- Muldoon is the "Great White Hunter," Malcolm is the chaos theoretician, Grant and Saddler are the paleontologists, Tim and Lex are the kids in peril, etc., etc. -- and who they are and the how their stories unfold are easily altered or even cut entirely in the shift from book to screen because they are less important than their skills, yet Crichton still manages to make them likable enough that we care about what happens to them. None of the characters are dynamic or round, but their static flatness makes them no less interesting than a character like Ian Fleming's James Bond. They may not be as memorable as Bond (although Ian Malcolm has some pretty impressive popularity for a supporting character), but they don't really have to be. We can forget them after the book is over, then enjoy them anew when we go back to the book later. They aren't Hamlet, but they work.

And yes Crichton borrows liberally, but he borrows from the stars. He uses Shelley's classic creation-gone-mad trope, and he blatantly thieves from Doyle's Lost World and Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau, but he does it with style. Granted it's a pulpy style, but that pulpiness is an asset. It takes those pieces he's combined and lets the reader catch mere glimpses of them outside the roller coaster car as he takes us into drops and curves and spins and loop-de-loops. The speed and pace nearly makes us forget from whom he's borrowing. And that is by design. Crichton's pulpiness is pacing, conscious pacing, and as literary action-oriented plotters go, Crichton is a master of speedy obfuscation.

Add to all that some memorable tirades about science and reason and the environment, some kick ass Velociraptors and T-rexes, an excellent scene with toxic eggs, and some rather insightful criticism of "great men," and Jurassic Park is a book that I predict will stand the test of time. We may not see its future today, but fifty to a hundred years from now it will be taught in schools and remembered, while other, more literary books will be forgotten.

later -- It just struck me that if I forget the quality of this book between readings, and I do, then my prophecy concerning Jurassic Park's staying power is probably flawed. I think I may be more Nostradumbass than Nostradamus.

Shamefully, it’s 2023, and this is the first time I’ve read Jurassic Park or any Michael Crichton book at all. Thirty-three years after its publication, I’ve finally read, and had a blast reading, this sci-fi classic.

I grew up in the 90s, so Spielberg’s movie resonated throughout the culture of my adolescence. I’m pretty sure I had the movie on VHS, and I know I watched it multiple times with my friend who lived down the street. I’ve ridden the boat ride at Universal Studios several times as a kid and an adult. So the story of Jurassic Park is definitely not new to me, but reading the book now made the story feel fresh and new again, and I loved it more than I ever expected to in the end.

The paperback I read clocked in somewhere around 450 pages, and it takes nearly 200 pages before any of the action kicks in. It’s a slow burn filled with chapter introductions, scientific explanations, and tours. There are several alarming hints along the way warning that things are quite as they appear on the surface, and all hell could break loose, which (33 year old spoiler alert) it does.

I’m not always into science fiction books, and this one leans heavily into science at times, but I was enthralled throughout the whole thing. I found myself reading about chaos theory and how dinosaurs can be hatched billions of years later, and I found myself weighing the plausibility of this stuff like it could actually happen. I’m flipping pages thinking how smart these guys are for making all the dinos female so they can’t reproduce when all along their lunacy and greed is going to come back to haunt them.

It also helped that I read some of the most climactic scenes during a huge wind and thunderstorm which tremendously added to the experience. This was just an absolute thrill ride, especially the second half, and I’m so glad I randomly decided to pick it up. I’ll have to press on and read The Lost World and some other Crichton stuff in the near future. I’ve definitely missed out on this guy.

n“Let’s be clear. The planet is not in jeopardy. We are in jeopardy. We haven’t got the power to destroy the planet—or to save it. But we might have the power to save ourselves.”

n  This is one of my favorite books of all time!!!n

I was way excited back then, 20 years ago, about the movie (minus the controversial scene portraiting San José, Costa Rica with a beach in the middle of it). Trust me. I am from Costa Rica and I live precisely in San José and we don't have a dang beach around.

I am sure that Spielberg wouldn't do that kind of mistake if he'd need to portrait Paris, France, but a dang capital city in a third world country? Who cares?

Well, I care, I am from that precise third world country. When you would have your capital cities portraited in a wrong stereotypical way, you will understand me. (And don't get me wrong. I love the movie and I am fan of Spielberg's work, just pointing out my feeling about that scene that even in the book happens in another different place).

I love the book, since the author, Michael Crichton, lived a lot of time in my country, Costa Rica, and he fell in love so much with our culture and geography that he wanted to use it as background for one of his novels.

The novel became his most famous book. In the book, you can realize how well Crichton indeed knew about our places using specific real places like the Cabo Blanco Biologic Reserve and the Puntarenas' Hospital Monseñor Sanabria. You don't came out with places like that with your quick internet search. You need to live here to know things like that.

Of course, Nublar Island is a made up place but hey, no problem there, it's like Gotham City or Metropolis, always there are space for another fictional island in literature.

I was lucky to get my paperback copy of Jurassic Park just when the movie was on its hype 20 years ago, since thanks to that it has the logo of the film (see? I don't hate the movie, just questioned that dang scene).

I love my edition of the book since never they published ever again the book with that cover, so it's one my priceless posessions in my library.

n  An insanely popular sci-fi novel with dinosaurs set on my country? Oh, yes! I had to love that book!n

《 5 ✰ 》

Jurassic Park does for genetic engineering what The Da Vinci Code does for art and museums.

Don’t judge a book by its movie. What Spielberg did with the movie is fantastical, though a separate entity entirely. You cannot compare the movie to the book. Period. Both are deserving and they each have their rightful place.

I first read this book 18 years ago, and have reread it countless times since. That burning question of morality and scientific advancements. It’s a compelling one. Crichton does not leave any stone unturned. He shows you the real brilliance behind, and more importantly, dangers of genetic engineering. The scope — it’s terrifying.

Crichton has written some of my favorite stories. The research and attention to detail. His expertise really lends itself to his voice in every story he tells. The science. The characters that you can never forget. Of course, I’m talking about Ian Malcolm. Some of the best lines, not just from this book, but ANY book!

n  ❝n  
n  “The planet has survived everything, in its time. It will certainly survive us.”

“Scientists are actually preoccupied with accomplishment. So they are focused on whether they can do something. They never stop to ask if they should do something.”

“They're both technicians. They have what I call 'thintelligence'. They see the immediate situation. They think narrowly and they call it 'being focused'. They don't see the surround. They don't see the consequences.”n

Jurassic Park should be labeled a classic and revered for the gift that it is. Thank you, Michael Crichton. Your words, ideas, and voice are forever immortalized in your writing.

"Scientists are actually preoccupied with accomplishment. So they are focused on whether they can do something. They never stop to ask if they should do something."

In 1993, Steven Spielberg brought dinosaurs to life on the big screen. At the time, Jurassic Park was so immensely popular that I would be shocked to find someone today who hasn't seen it. Now, with the forthcoming release of Jurassic World, dinosaurs are all the rage again. During a routine trip to the book store, I picked up both Jurassic Park and The Lost World for a pretty good price.

Before I cracked the cover on Jurassic Park, I skimmed through a few reviews online. Many of the reviews stated that there are pretty noticeable differences between the novel and the movie. Right away, this had me excited. I'm a read the book, see the movie kind of guy - not the other way around. I find that if I've seen the movie first, I have a hard time forming my own vision in my head. Maybe I have no imagination. Who knows?

As far as differences go, "noticeable" is an understatement. While the science behind the dino resurrection stays the same (blood from mosquitoes in amber), many of the characters are completely different. Don’t worry, Goldblum's Ian Malcolm is still as self-righteous as ever but the biggest difference is that of John Hammond. In the movie, he comes across as this overgrown child full of wonder whereas in the book, he’s this arrogant, egotistical man seemingly without compassion. He’s also infallible. The best example of this comes from the discussion on the velociraptors. In the novel, Malcolm calls Hammond out on the fact that everyone had been surprised at just how vicious the raptors were, that they often killed and maimed workers. It never once entered into Hammond’s head that they could do without one less species running around.

I’ve never read a Crichton novel before but the man can really turn up the tension to eleven. The best example being the use of the velociraptors. Like the movie, they’re presented as the story’s main villains (although several characters allude to it not being their fault, that they’re just hunting and eating to survive) and the scenes in which they’re stalking the main characters had me speed reading.

Aside from the raptors, you had that meat grinder on legs, the Tyrannosaurus Rex. For an eight ton killing machine, he sure can lurk in the shadows. Just when Alan and the kids (Tim and Lex) think they've escaped his wrath, he jumps out and scares the ever loving shit out of them. This leads to Lex saying on two occasions “I hate him” which made me laugh each time Crichton had her say it.

For as great as the book is, I feel there’s certainly something lost in the pages. Jurassic Park is a story that is so visual that nothing in the novel could compare to seeing a dinosaur come to life before your eyes on the big screen. While I felt the original story is a lot stronger than the one presented in the movie, it’s hard to imagine one without the other. That being said, I could go on and on about all the subtle differences here and there but that would cause this review to extend to an uncomfortable length. So, I’ll just link to this page here. I would stay away from it if you intend to read the novel as it’s basically spoilers.

I’ll close by saying if you've only ever seen the movie, you NEED to read this book. The sheer amount of work put forth by Michael Crichton makes you wonder if he was secretly cloning dinosaurs on the side.

Also posted @ Every Read Thing.

Another masterpiece by Crichton. Can't believe it took me years to finally pick this one up and read it.

I watched the movie adaptation when I was a kid, so I can't really remember much of the plot other than dinosaurs gone wild, and I'm sure I remember an elevator scene. Aside from those, I had no idea what was in store for me before I read this. I wasn't hesitant on reading this, but my really long TBR list was the reason why I didn't read this sooner than I should have. All I can say is that I regret not prioritizing this, because this was an amazing novel.

I had two reasons why I finally picked this up, and one of them would be that it's a Crichton novel for pete's sake. The mere fact that I kept pushing it back on my TBR list was crazy of me. The other reason would be that I heard they're making a new movie adaptation, so I wanted to freshen up my knowledge of this one.

The characters were really likeable, just like the ones from Crichton's other novels. Some may be funny, witty, annoying, or plain old normal. None of the characters were bad, and I don't consider an annoying character to be bad, cause a novel needs an annoying character. My favorite in this one was Tim. Stubborn young man stuck with his annoying little sister Lex. The constant bickering added to the positive attributes of both characters. The others were really good, but I guess I can't say that they were memorable. Nedry was this fat guy who I consider to be the annoying one.

This novel was violent, and I really liked that. What would one expect from unrestrained dinosaurs? Obviously violence. I can honestly say that the things that happened in the novel were plausible. If a mad scientist one day decided to really invest in this, I believe there's a possibility. Anything is possible people, anything. I'm a pre-med student, and there's no saying that I may become a mad scientist one day and eradicate the human race by reviving dinosaurs. Just kidding.

The plot was really good. Not perfect, but it was satisfactory. Quite similar to Micro in a way, but it had its own unique attributes. The ending clearly was not cliche in any way, because the last few chapters were awesome. Mind rattling and full of suspense.

For any Sci-Fi fans out there, and especially dinosaur lovers, this is the novel for you. Stop hesitating and just pick this up. I assure you that you will not be disappointed in the end. I have the sequel sitting around in my shelf, and I might pick that up next after a few other novels. 5/5 stars, deserves nothing less, but it think it deserve some more.

I can't decide between embracing my nerdy side or indulging in my love for pop culture. Jurassic Park is incredibly entertaining and impactful, although the scientific inaccuracies bothered me.

Dinosaurs hold a special place in my heart, just as they do for the majority of people around the globe. Steven Spielberg's film sparked the interest of many and motivated kids to pursue paleontology. While Jurassic Park isn't my top Spielberg pick (that honor goes to Jaws), I still enjoy it.

WARNING: SPOILERS

Even though some of the Jurassic Park movies suck, I still find myself enjoying them. I love the original, second installment, and fourth movie the most. Rexy, the female T-Rex featured in movies 1, 4, 5, and 6, is my favorite character in the franchise, closely followed by the velociraptor Blue. The fact that my preferred characters happen to be carnivorous dinosaurs speaks volumes about human characterization.

I love Raptor Red (the author of RR was mentioned in Jurassic Park), it's my all-time favorite dinosaur book. I've been avoiding reading Jurassic Park for years, but I finally gave in and decided to give it a try.

Dangerous apex predators confined in captivity for tourists to gawk at, leading to fatal consequences as people begin to die? A park making hybrids that don't exist in the wild?

That could NEVER happen in real life.

n  n

I'll never miss a chance to mention Seaworld and orcas, even if the book has nothing to do with them. Marine animals are 50% of my personality. I'm sorry.

I'm being a hypocrite because I'd be the first in line to visit a real-life Jurassic Park (and the first to die).

The real T-Rex possessed far greater strength and abilities compared to its fictionalized version, while the real velociraptors were significantly smaller than their fictional counterparts. Dino nerds sometimes playfully draw parallels between velociraptors and turkeys. However, it's important to remember that turkeys and geese should not be underestimated, especially if you've had a run-in with a goose in your childhood years. It's not a good time.

I was curious to see how the T-Rex in the book differs from the one in the movie. I have a soft spot for the Tyrant Lizard Queen (or Rexy, as she's affectionately called by fans). I stan a powerful female character, even if she has visual and olfactory impairments.

Grant whispered, “He's here.”

“She,” Malcolm said.

The most famous predator in the history of the world: the mighty tyrant lizard, known as Tyrannosaurus rex.”

The dinosaur must be somewhere among the trees, but for a moment Grant could see nothing at all. Then he realized he was looking too low: the animal's head stood twenty feet above the ground, half concealed among the upper branches of the palm trees.

Malcolm whispered, “Oh, my God.... She's as large as a bloody building....”

Grant stared at the enormous square head, five feet long, mottled reddish brown, with huge jaws and fangs. The tyrannosaur's jaws worked once, opening and closing. But the huge animal did not emerge from hiding.

Malcolm whispered: “How long will it wait?”

“Maybe three or four minutes. Maybe-”

The tyrannosaur sprang silently forward, fully revealing her enormous body. In four bounding steps she covered the distance to the goat, bent down, and bit it through the neck. The bleating stopped.
There was silence.

Poised over her kill, the tyrannosaur became suddenly hesitant.

Her massive head turned on the muscular neck, looking in all directions. She stared fixedly at the Land Cruiser, high above on the hill.

Regis said, on the intercom. “Let's see if she's going to eat here in front of us, or if she's going to drag the prey away.”

The tyrannosaur bent down, and sniffed the carcass of the goat.

A bird chirped: her head snapped up, alert, watchful. She looked back and forth, scanning in small jerking shifts.

The huge animal bent over the goat again. One great hind limb held the carcass in place as the jaws began to tear the flesh.

“She's going to stay,” Regis whispered. “Excellent.” The tyrannosaur lifted her head again, ragged chunks of bleeding flesh in her jaws. She stared at the Land Cruiser. She began to chew. They heard the sickening crunch of bones.

And then, as if caution had finally gotten the better of her, the tyrannosaur lifted the remains of the goat in her jaws and carried it silently back among the trees.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Tyrannosaurus rex, ” the tape said. The Land Cruisers started up, and moved silently off, through the foliage. Malcolm sat back in his seat. “Fantastic,” he said.

Gennaro wiped his forehead. He looked pale.   


I need to talk about the one thing that really bothered me: T-Rex's vision was based on movement.

“Because the history of evolution is that life escapes all barriers. Life breaks free. Life expands to new territories. Painfully, perhaps even dangerously. But life finds a way.”

One of the easiest 5 star ratings I’ve ever handed out! Why did I not read Jurassic Park sooner?! The science, the dinosaurs, the tension, the grisly deaths, THE SCIENCE… worth mentioning twice… it all just worked for me. Highly entertaining and addictive from start to finish. Loved it!!

I’ve no doubt that some of the science is questionable (I actually saw reviews complaining about this on goodreads – God save us all), but let’s not forget that it is science FICTION. A lot of what Crichton discusses is rooted in real science and I was more than happy to go along with the less believable aspects. All of the science was music to my ears, but I’m also in awe of how Crichton manages to convey these aspects in layman’s terms, so that any reader can easily follow what he is talking about. So if all the science talk possibly puts you off, please don’t let it!

And the dinosaurs! I loved reading about all the different types and their specific little traits and characteristics. I’ve always been a pterodactyl kinda gal, but I’ve a newfound appreciation for the dilophosaurus – imagine being so badass that you can spit venom at people. The humans were pretty great too, I of course felt pulled towards the female scientist, Ellie, feeling her chagrin at any misogynistic comments that came her way. Ian Malcolm is obviously a stand-out too, who can’t picture Jeff Goldblum when reading?!

I loved so much of the commentary surrounding science and discovery and research and pushing the boundaries, it really gave me food for thought, even if it felt a little harsh at times. The pacing was perfect, the tension was palpable when it needed to be and some parts were just straight-up terrifying to think about.

Loved, loved, loved. I really don’t have anything negative to say, apart from the fact that Lex should have been left at home...

5 stars.

It has been a long time since I've read the book. While I liked the first movie, the rest of them have been a steady slog downhill in terms of quality and storytelling. Written in 1990 by Michael Crichton, it made Crichton famous and spawned several movies.

The book is far darker and, as usual, far more enjoyable. The basic story is the same- InGen, a biotech company, creates a dinosaur park by using dino DNA from amber. A team of scientists, and two irritating children, spend a weekend on the island and find that nature doesn't want to follow "human rules".

This story is a great warning about unchecked science, it is also a great sci-fi story about trying to survive an "outbreak" of dinosaurs. One thing that I found interesting, the little girl Lex, was ok in the movie, but she is a useless nightmare in the book. I'd forgotten how terribly annoying she is.

The true stars of the story are the various dinosaurs from the velociraptor and T-Rex to the Compys. A wonderful story. Superbly written. Even if you've seen the movies, this book is worth your time. I am glad I took a moment to re-read this great story.

4.5 stars

I finished another book from my backlist!

I can't decide whether I want to round this up or down. I’m surprised by how much I enjoyed Jurassic Park! It’s my first experience with Michael Crichton, and now that I know that I love how he writes, I’m excited about reading some of his other novels. Scott Brick does a fantastic job narrating the audiobook and I highly recommend it to those who still have this gem on their TBRs.