Why I read this book: Because it’s Jurassic Park? This book kicked off one of the biggest movie of the 90’s, and I knew something that awesome has to have a great book to be based off of.
Did I enjoy it: Yes. It took a little bit to get going, but once it did, it was a “edge of your seat” kinda story that was hard to walk away from.
What I learned from this book: Theme is important, but he was a little heavy handed in having a character that specifically called it out. I think that could have been masked better, if it needed stating at all.
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I had seen the movie, and heard lots of friends tell me the book is worth the read, and they are completely right. The book has a more evolved cast than the movie, with more unique characters dealing with more personal conflicts between them. Additionally, many of the safeguards we can immediately jump to in the movie as, “Wow, somebody really should have thought of that” are explained in the book… Painting a picture of just how prepared they were, and why the people of the park were so confident in their plans.
The dinosaurs of the book are fun and outstanding. Crichton has clearly done his homework, and has a myriad of details about the dinosaurs, and parallels to birds. They are advanced, and each dinosaur has its own personality and quirks that keep the scenes fresh.
As a story, the pacing is outstanding, where Crichton carefully and adeptly bounces us between intense moments of desperate survival against the terrible lizards and the equally tense moments inside what should be protected buildings as characters struggle to figure out how to get the park back under control.
The only areas that somewhat drag are the moments when the mathematician (Dr. Ian Malcolm) launches into lengthy monologues that are only a thinly veiled exposition on the theme of the book: Should Man Play God?
Overall, the story is outstanding and the setpiece was well-worth the movie it later became. This is a must-read by fiction-lovers.
Start Your Fiction 
I haven’t read this for years. I think I was twelve-years old or younger when I read it, when the movie came out to! I loved the book and some of Crichton’s follow-up books to Jurassic Park. Also, love the movies, I can watch them again and again and love them every time 🙂
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I missed the boat when it first came out, but I still got a thrill out of the extras in the book that didn’t make it to the movie!
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Yes,I agree.
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I read this book years after I saw the movie. And I agree with your assessment. I think somehow I was following the movie as I read the book. Sometimes seeing a movie first is a disadvantage.
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I had some of the same sticking points, but fortunately for me it’s been probably 8-10 years since I’ve seen the movie, so it wasn’t fresh enough to disrupt the book.
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