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Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park #1)

by Michael Crichton

3.67 · rating details · 235,303 ratings · 2,439 reviews

An 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.

Mass Market Paperback, 480 pages

Published April 4th 2006 by Plaza y Janes (first published January 1st 1990)

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Feb 04, 2011

Brad rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Brad by: James Davie

Shelves: sci-fi, adventure, cinematic, ecological, pb-and-j-dipped-in-hot-chocolate

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 though...more

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Mar 19, 2007

Julie added it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Little girls, your grandfather

I'm going to confess something really dorky and a bit embarassing about myself.

When I was in Jr. High I loved Michael Crichton and John Grisham. LOVED them. At the time, I had read almost all of their books.

Imagine me, twelve years old, huge coke-bottle glasses, puff-paint scrunchie, catholic school uniform, pulling The Andromeda Strain out of my desk during silent reading.

Are you kidding me?

I even did an oral book report in seventh grade on The C...more

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Nov 06, 2011

Simeon rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, mystery-thrillers

Science-at-the-brink-of-chaos fiction. Nonlinear dynamics had barely been invented, and there it was, gracing each chapter with a foreboding message of disintegration.

Not literature, not amazing prose, but a true edge-of-your-seat thriller.

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Nov 22, 2011

Ryan rated it

· review of another edition

Jurassic Park is Michael Crichton's masterwork. The academics are cooler, the science is hipper, and the monsters are badder. So why haven't you read this novel?

Let's look at the premise: We can use cloning technology to bring dinosaurs back, and now the fabulously wealthy Mr. John Hammond is going to sell glimpses of those dinosaurs in order to make money, "a lot of money," as Mr. Hammond would remind us. Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler, and Ian Malcolm are brought to a Caribbea...more

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Oct 25, 2007

Monk rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

As a child, my parents (mostly my mother) encouraged me to read 'real books' about historical stuff (which bored the hell out of me) and to tackle topics that were relevant or based in fact (boy did that not hold). When I petitioned to read this book, mom and dad shot it down (and at that age they held the purse strings) and tried to get me to read some book about Medieval Italy (boooooring).

Two years leter, they caved and let me get this book. It was wonderful.

Crichton i...more

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May 07, 2008

Matthew rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: adventure fans

Shelves: books-from-my-childhood, favorites

I remember reading this for the first time in the 5th grade. It was late spring, and the weather was gorgeous outside. Then, from out of nowhere, a storm started brewing. The wind violently rustled the trees, the sky boomed with the sound of distant thunder... and I imagined it was one of the tropical storms described in this book.

Granted, I lived in Ohio at the time, but you can't fault a kid's imagination. It was a perfect backdrop for me whilst reading this novel.

Frank...more

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Jul 08, 2009

Keely rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, science-fiction, childhood, novel, reviewed, american

With Crichton, it is always a gamble whether whatever strange and new idea has latched onto will overcome his overbearing personality. His assurance that science will always go wrong makes for easy potboiler plots, but you do get the feeling that if he were a caveman, he would mistrust a sharpened stick.

Crichton's sensationalism and misuse of scientific concepts has made him untrustworthy as a guide on any serious issue, but in the case of runaway dinosaurs, we do not need to heed hi...more

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Oct 06, 2011

Drew rated it

Sometimes I worry that my taste in books is getting really snobby. Then I read something like Jurassic Park, and realize that that is exactly true. I can't just sit back and absorb the brilliantly original (as far as I know) idea and the deftly told action scenes. For some reason I have to quibble over awkward sentences, clumsy exposition, and strange dialogue tags. I can't accept Crichton's weird Luddite agenda, even though ordinarily I'd agree with a lot of his points, because he tries to ...more

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Jul 08, 2009

Allison (The Allure of Books) rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, mysteries-thrillers-truecrime

I'm really surprised by how much I enjoyed this book! I have seen the movie several times, and always enjoy it...and now I appreciate it even more, because it makes things left vague in the movie make so much more sense.

The added character development (and even dinosaur development, for that matter) make the book fly above and beyond anything a movie could ever recreate.

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Jun 23, 2008

Mike rated it

· review of another edition

Dinosaur=Terrible Lizard

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Apr 25, 2009

Aaron rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: character, idea, plot

(just noticed I picked the Spanish edition by accident. I don't know how to change this, but, obviously, I didn't read it in Spanish. Though that would probably be cool. Would the [small:] amount of dialogue already in Spanish be in Spanish, or in English or something else?)

Still a fun read after all these years. Haven't read it since I was in sixth or seventh grade, and it's still awesome. The writing is clean as it gets, with some remarkably memorable visceral imagery. Of course, w...more

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Jul 08, 2009

Becky rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-and-thrillers, owned, science-fiction, 2009, reviewed

I really enjoyed this book. I saw the movie of course, numerous times, so I had an idea of what to expect going in, but I was still pleasantly surprised by the book. More so after not liking The Andromeda Strain, which was the first Crichton book I ever read.

I have to say, this was a classic case of BBM: Book's Better than the Movie. As I read this, I had the movie playing right along in my head. There were some substantial differences, more background information on the characters ...moreI really enjoyed this book. I saw the movie of course, numerous times, so I had an idea of what to expect going in, but I was still pleasantly surprised by the book. More so after not liking The Andromeda Strain, which was the first Crichton book I ever read.

I have to say, this was a classic case of BBM: Book's Better than the Movie. As I read this, I had the movie playing right along in my head. There were some substantial differences, more background information on the characters as well as a bit more technical & scientific background given, but these things only added to the book.

Firstly, the character of Lex always annoyed me in the movie. She was cast as an older tomboy sister to Tim, but acted nothing like the 12 or 13 year old she was supposed to be. In the book, shes 7 or 8, so her actions make a lot more sense.

The book also didn't have the typical Spielberg/Hollywood ending, meaning that the characters in the book didn't just fly off into the sunset to resume their normal lives and live happily ever after. The book ending was much more realistic and much better for it.

I don't know much about Crichton's political views, but based on the two books I've read so far, he seems almost to hold a low opinion of scientists. In The Andromeda Strain, he repeatedly pointed out the scientists' flaws and shortcomings and failures. I didn't much enjoy that book, so that could be coloring my recollection. In Jurassic Park, Crichton uses every opportunity to show the irresponsibility of scientific advances as a whole.

He uses the mathematician, Dr. Malcolm, as the main voice of reason and sanity, and explains why science is inherently irresponsible. John Hammond, the mastermind behind Jurassic Park's creation is depicted as a man more concerned with money than with whether or not what he's doing SHOULD be done. And that's really the point that Malcolm strives to make. Yes, making trout pale so as to see them more easily in the water is possible, but does that mean that it should be done? No, not necessarily.

I've heard it said that Crichton was adamantly against the idea of global warming. As I don't know much about his views myself, I will base this next sentence completely on what I read in the book. I agree with him. Again using Malcolm as his mouthpiece, Crichton shows the fallacy of the idea that mankind is destroying the planet. The Earth's been around for a couple billion years, and will most likely survive anything that we could do to it. Humans may not survive, and for THAT selfish reason, we should take better care of our home. (Although, in my opinion we should do it because it's the right thing to do.)

Anyway, I really liked this book. It was fast paced, and definitely kept me interested from start to finish. I'd recommend it. (less)

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Oct 14, 2008

Andrew rated it

· review of another edition

Apart from being a good imaginative thriller, the novel says something important (which the film glosses over) that really struck me. One of the scientists states that knowledge we do not acquire by our own efforts is like inherited wealth: we do not properly respect it because we did not bear the cost of winning it. As Malcolm, the scientist, points out, when we have to earn money we take care how we spend it. When we have to learn things by our own sweat, we appreciate the things we are dealin...moreApart from being a good imaginative thriller, the novel says something important (which the film glosses over) that really struck me. One of the scientists states that knowledge we do not acquire by our own efforts is like inherited wealth: we do not properly respect it because we did not bear the cost of winning it. As Malcolm, the scientist, points out, when we have to earn money we take care how we spend it. When we have to learn things by our own sweat, we appreciate the things we are dealing with. We respect the importance of them. Inherited wealth is too easy to squander because it didn't cost us blood, sweat and tears to get it.When the human race possesses knowledge already researched, derived and written up then we may become reckless in the use of it. He is referring to the Jurassic Park project, which was an ill-conceived idea. It brought back to life creatures that had become extinct, and were not meant exist in the modern world. You can read this book from a secular perspective and think in terms of the forces of nature, or you can read it from a Christian perspective and see it as a folly like the Tower Of Babel. Human beings took on something beyond their level of understanding and made themselve dangerous like a child with a firearm, the risks of which they do not properly understand. The concept of Jurassic Park meddled with nature and interfered with things that humans do not really understand well enough to exploit. 'Playing with fire' might be another analogy. When it all got out of control and disaster followed, the reader sees what the author means.
The introduction sets the tone, with Crichton pointing out how apparently good ideas can turn out to have frightening implications which were not foreseen. Then the narrative opens with the unexplained accident, which a doctor has to deal with and which is being disguised with a lie. From there the story caught my imagination because the characters are realistic, there is a constant sense of something terrifying about to happen; and the changes of point of view gave me a wide view of the action. While being an entertaining thriller, the novel was also didactic because it showed quite graphically how an ill-considered idea lead to catastrophe. It becomes clear from the story that there is more to come. The Jurassic Park project opened up the proverbial Pandora's Box. It won't be easy to get it back under control. (less)

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Jul 08, 2009

Jason rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Adventure fans, Sci-fi fans, readers in general

“Jurassic Park” was my first Michael Crichton book. I had heard somewhere that he was a writer like Tom Clancy who would spend pages and pages dwelling on technical details while neglecting the story. I went in without expectations.
Crichton is a writer of the best quality. Not only does he weave an interesting story with complicated, relatable characters, he also explains and educates things to the reader in an entertaining way.
The book is a lot like the movie, but many things are...more “Jurassic Park” was my first Michael Crichton book. I had heard somewhere that he was a writer like Tom Clancy who would spend pages and pages dwelling on technical details while neglecting the story. I went in without expectations.
Crichton is a writer of the best quality. Not only does he weave an interesting story with complicated, relatable characters, he also explains and educates things to the reader in an entertaining way.
The book is a lot like the movie, but many things are different as well. They are both excellent, and each make use of their strengths to tell a story. There are many wonderful things that are in the book that didn’t make it to the movie, and vice versa. The two cannot be compared.
Amid the science, Crichton has planted a true gem of a fantastic story. The idea is very well handled, implications understood and conveyed, and the book even ends of a mystery (thank goodness he wrote a sequel).

4.5 Characters
All of the characters in the book felt like living, three-dimensional people. In particular, the character of Ian Malcolm is one of pure genius. I relished every time he spoke. The little girl is so annoying I hoped someone would feed her to the dinosaurs, but provoking that kind of reaction is probably what the writer wanted.

4 Pace
“Jurassic Park” is a rollercoaster ride. It’s a pretty big book, but it went by very fast. I was never bored, and Malcolm’s speeches made the book so much more interesting rather than bogging it down.

4 Story
To me, modern dinosaurs is an original idea. Crichton’s method of trapping everyone on an island, with few weapons, is clever and interesting. The only thing that I was never really interested in was the subplot/time limit of the velociraptors on the ship heading for the mainland. Also, I did not like the violence directed toward newborn infants in the beginning. Things like that bug me.

4.5 Dialogue
All of the dialogue in the book is good and realistic. It is Malcolm’s speeches that win an extra point. They are nothing short of genius, all while illustrating his wonderful character at the same time.

4 Style/Technical
I like that Crichton is fearless in printing computer code and output screens in the text of his novel. It is inventive and makes a reader feel as though everything has really happened. He is otherwise clear and concise. I was never confused.

4.2 Overall
“Jurassic Park” was amazing to read. The pace was fast, the characters were interesting, and the story was fun. In terms of characters and dialogue though, special attention must be given to Dr. Ian Malcolm. He is a rare character in any fiction, and one of the best and most entertaining I have ever read. I look forward to reading about his continuing exploits in “The Lost World”.
(less)

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May 20, 2007

Tom M rated it

· review of another edition

I have never been terribly impressed with Crichton's work, but I have always been told that I must read Jurassic Park to really appreciate him.

I was not expecting much from this book, but I was disappointed nonetheless. The whole story seemed fragmented and disorganized. This was supposed to be about a sort of fantasy world created by an eccentric, wealthy man, but throughout the book I felt like It was more Michael Crichton's fantasy than anybody else's. It was as if he had sev...more

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Feb 05, 2008

Dani rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

I read this book a kerzillion times when I was 12, not only because a plot that involves dinosaurs coming to life is tewtally OFF DA CHAIN, but also because it excited me to read all the curse words.

Great book - it is what it is, a straight-up thriller, and it definitely delivers. Suspense, gore, mad science, and characters that are well-drawn enough to make you care whether or not they make it out alive.

Also, I think this is the first book I ever read in which people g...more

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Jul 08, 2009

Lisa Vegan rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, reviewed, novels

This book is a riveting page-turner from the start to the finish. While the events are neither truly scientific or plausible, Crichton puts in just enough real science and is a skilled enough story teller, that the story reads as almost believable; it certainly seemed “real” as I read it. The suspenseful story was a really fun read and I found it fascinating.

Note: I made the mistake of seeing the movie because I did enjoy the book so much. The movie is appallingly bad. I don’t sugge...more

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Apr 02, 2009

Max Maxwell rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Anybody, esp. intelligent children who like dinosaurs

Recommended to Max by: I saw the film when I was 7; I then read the book when I was 9

Shelves: sci-fi, literature

Why do people think of this as a mere adventure novel?

To be sure, it is gripping, and, as the kids are saying, "action-packed." But that's only skin deep, only one level, this being the level that made up the massively popular film version. Just below the surface is a masterpiece, multifaceted and multidisciplinary, sincerely philosophical, and breathtaking in its pacing and scope. All the different capacities in which the novel functions are essential; without the action,...moreWhy do people think of this as a mere adventure novel?

To be sure, it is gripping, and, as the kids are saying, "action-packed." But that's only skin deep, only one level, this being the level that made up the massively popular film version. Just below the surface is a masterpiece, multifaceted and multidisciplinary, sincerely philosophical, and breathtaking in its pacing and scope. All the different capacities in which the novel functions are essential; without the action, the doomsday science would lack appreciable consequences; without the science, the action would be essentially without meaning. The brilliance of JP is that it mixes intelligence with entertainment. It makes you think, on the one hand—on the other, well, dinosaurs are freakin' sweet. Don't pretend you don't know it.

How many questions does this book pose? To the imaginative reader, probably a functionally endless number, but here are a few of those that anyone could catch: do we have the right to create life, metaphysically and otherwise? Is it acceptable to "own," and profit from, a life form? Is mankind really the pinnacle of creation, with the rest of life subjugated to us? Furthermore, in what ways is our perception of nature dependent on this notion? Can we comprehend nature if we see ourselves as outsiders? In what ways will life escape efforts to control it? Indeed, can life be controlled? What is the nature of history? What is the importance of meaningful coincidence (contingency) to history? Is the universe chaotic at heart? Were dinosaurs more successful than man, by certain criteria?—and so on.

Some day, this will be considered to be a part of the literary canon, Harold Bloom be damned. In his day, Shakespeare was considered bawdy and unfit. The Easton Press is already offering fine leatherbound editions. My edition, however, is a ratty, highlighted, plastic-tabbed paperback, one of millions on 25¢ tables in the backs of legion halls the world over. These yellow pages seem as old as the terrible lizards they bring to life, but, I can't see them becoming old-hat anytime within the next geologic era.(less)

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Jun 11, 2008

Steven rated it

· review of another edition

I stumbled upon this book when I was in a library with a friend. I remember never reading this book because it was extremely long. So i saw the movie, and i liked it. Now that i read it, i liked this plot very much. It makes me think of how the world would be like if we had scientist studying real live dinosaurs on a remote island. Although, if something were to go wrong it would go terribly wrong. I would give this a 3 to 4 because there were some parts that were exaggerated when it wasn't nece...more

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Feb 08, 2012

Donovan rated it

Shelves: thriller

This was another book I read after watching the movie. Again I found watching the movie first helped visualise the story. It is a fun read and well paced with some very good suspense built in.

Plot ***Spoilers***
The narrative begins in August 1989 by slowly tying together a series of incidents involving strange animal attacks in Costa Rica and on Isla Nublar, the main setting for the story. One of the species, a strange small lizard-like creature with three toes, is identified late...moreThis was another book I read after watching the movie. Again I found watching the movie first helped visualise the story. It is a fun read and well paced with some very good suspense built in.

Plot ***Spoilers***
The narrative begins in August 1989 by slowly tying together a series of incidents involving strange animal attacks in Costa Rica and on Isla Nublar, the main setting for the story. One of the species, a strange small lizard-like creature with three toes, is identified later as a Procompsognathus. Paleontologist Alan Grant (based on real life paleontologist Jack Horner) and his paleobotanist graduate student Ellie Sattler are abruptly whisked away by billionaire John Hammond—founder and chief executive officer of International Genetic Technologies, or InGen—for a weekend visit to a "biological preserve" he has established on an island 120 miles west off the coast of Costa Rica.

Upon arrival, the preserve is revealed to be Jurassic Park, a theme park showcasing cloned dinosaurs, which have been recreated using damaged DNA found in mosquitoes that sucked dinosaur blood and were then trapped and preserved in amber. Gaps in the genetic code have been filled in with reptilian, avian, or amphibian DNA. To control the population, all specimens on the island are lysine-deficient females. Hammond proudly touts InGen's advances in genetic engineering and shows his guests through the island's vast array of automated systems.

Recent events in the park have spooked Hammond's considerable investors. To placate them, Hammond means for Grant and Sattler to act as fresh consultants. They stand in counterbalance to a well-known mathematician and chaos theorist, Ian Malcolm, and a lawyer representing the investors, Donald Gennaro. Both are pessimistic, but Malcolm, having been consulted before the park's creation, is emphatic in his prediction that the park will collapse, as it is an unsustainable simple structure bluntly forced upon a complex system.

Countering Malcolm's dire predictions with youthful energy, Hammond groups the consultants with his grandchildren, Tim and Alexis "Lex" Murphy. While touring the park with the children, Grant finds a Velociraptor eggshell, which seems to prove Malcolm's earlier assertion that the dinosaurs have been breeding against the geneticists' design. Malcolm suggests a flaw in their method of analyzing dinosaur populations, in that motion detectors were set to search only for the expected number of creatures in the park and not for any higher number. The park's controllers are reluctant to admit that the park has long been operating beyond their constraints. Malcolm also points out the height distribution of the Procompsognathus forms a Gaussian distribution, the curve of a breeding population, rather than the distinctive pattern that a population reared in batches ought to display.

In the midst of this, the chief programmer of Jurassic Park's controlling software, Dennis Nedry, attempts corporate espionage for Lewis Dodgson, a geneticist and agent of InGen's archrival, Biosyn. By activating a backdoor he wrote into the system, Nedry manages to shut down the park's security systems and quickly steal 15 frozen embryos, one of each of the park's fifteen species. He then attempts to smuggle them out to a contact waiting at the auxiliary dock deep in the park; however, during a sudden tropical storm, he exits his stolen vehicle to get his bearings and is killed by a Dilophosaurus. Without Nedry to reactivate the park's security, the electrified fences remain off, and dinosaurs begin to escape. The adult and juvenile Tyrannosaurus Rex attack the guests on tour, destroying the vehicles, killing public relations manager Ed Regis, and leaving Grant and the children lost in the park. Malcolm is gravely injured during the incident but is soon found by Gennaro and park game warden Robert Muldoon and spends the remainder of the novel slowly dying as, in between lucid lectures and morphine-induced rants, he tries to help those in the main compound understand their predicament and survive.

The park's upper management—engineer and park supervisor John Arnold, chief geneticist Henry Wu, Muldoon, and Hammond—struggle to return power to the park, while the veterinarian, Dr. Harding, takes care of the injured Malcolm. For a time they manage to get the park largely back in order, restoring the computer system by shutting down and restarting the power, resetting the system. Unfortunately, a series of errors on their part soon plunge the park into greater disarray. During their time trying to restore the park to working order, they fail to notice that the system has been running on auxiliary power since the restart; this power soon runs out, shutting the park down a second time. Furthermore, since the auxiliary generators didn't create enough electricity to power the fences, they weren't reactivated when the system was reset, meaning all the fences—including the holding pen containing the park's Velociraptors, quarantined due to their intelligence and aggression—had been offline the whole time. Escaping their enclosure, the raptors kill Wu and Arnold and injure Muldoon, Gennaro, and Harding. Meanwhile, Grant and the children slowly make their way back to the Visitor's Center by rafting down the jungle river, carrying news that several young raptors, bred and raised in the island's wilds, were on board the Anne B, the island's supply ship, when it departed for the mainland.

While Ellie distracts the raptors, Grant manages to turn the park's main power back on. After escaping from several raptors, Grant, Gennaro, Tim, and Lex are able to make it to the control room, where Tim is able to contact the Anne B and tell them to return. The survivors are then able to organize themselves and eventually secure their own lives. Word soon reaches them that the crew of the Anne B has discovered and killed the raptor stowaways.

Gennaro tries to order the island destroyed as a dangerous asset, but Grant rejects his authority, claiming that even though they cannot control the island, they have a responsibility to understand just what happened and how many dinosaurs have already escaped to the mainland. Grant, Ellie, and Muldoon set out into the park to find the wild raptor nests and compare hatched eggs with the island's revised population tally. Cautious in this pursuit, they emerge unharmed. Meanwhile, Hammond, taking a walk around the park and contemplating making a park improving on his previous mistakes, is attacked and eaten by a pack of Procompsognathus. Concerning the dinosaurs' breeding, it is eventually revealed that using frog DNA to fill gaps in the dinosaurs' genetic code enabled a measure of dichogamy, in which some of the female animals changed into males in response to the all-female environment.

In the conclusion, the island is suddenly and violently demolished by the fictional Costa Rican Air Force. It is stated that Malcolm dies (the Costa Rican government refuses to bury both Hammond and Malcolm's bodies). Survivors of the incident are indefinitely detained by the United States and Costa Rican governments. Weeks later, Grant is visited by Dr. Martin Guitierrez, an American doctor who lives in Costa Rica and has found a Procompsognathus corpse. Guitierrez informs Grant that an unknown pack of animals has been migrating through the Costa Rican jungle, eating lysine-rich crops and chickens. He also informs Grant that none of them, with the possible exception of Tim and Lex, are going to be leaving any time soon.(less)

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Jan 28, 2012

John E. Branch Jr. rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: techno-thriller

Of the three Michael Crichton novels I've read, this one was the most accomplished and the best timed. Its main idea, that ancient DNA fragments might be recovered, reassembled into a workable genome, and used to bring back to life long-gone forms, was relatively new and was known to be plausible while not yet seeming technically achievable. Another idea Crichton employed was not new to science fiction but not at the time as solidly demonstrated in the real world as it has been since: that a lib...more

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Jan 11, 2012

Kaph rated it

Shelves: 1000-books

You know how people (horrible, pretentious people) always say the book is way better when you dare utter a positive opinion about a movie? If this happens to you with Jurassic Park, just regard them with pity. Maybe pat their head. Simply put, the movie negated the book’s reason for existence, hence the reason for the low score. I feel a bit bad giving it a 2 because it’s such a great idea for a story and the book pulls off the action well, but it’s simply not as good as the movie. Reading it af...moreYou know how people (horrible, pretentious people) always say the book is way better when you dare utter a positive opinion about a movie? If this happens to you with Jurassic Park, just regard them with pity. Maybe pat their head. Simply put, the movie negated the book’s reason for existence, hence the reason for the low score. I feel a bit bad giving it a 2 because it’s such a great idea for a story and the book pulls off the action well, but it’s simply not as good as the movie. Reading it after watching Jurassic Park feels like you got your hands on an early copy of the screenplay. If you love Jurassic Park the film, go on, give this a read.

There are some interesting additions and deviations. The opening of the book I actually found far superior to the opening of the movie. (Apparently I was not alone as it was co-opted for the opening of Jurassic Park II) Also, there’s a fun action sequence in the aviary with pterodactyls that Spielberg obviously couldn’t even begin to fund. That said, he replaced it with the much cheaper ‘raptors in the kitchen’ scene for the movie which is one of the most fantastic suspenses in cinematic history so it’s 6 on one hand and half a dozen on the other. I think the thing that most put me off the book was Malcolm. The book made me realize that Jeff Goldblum is a genius. Without him there, actually delivering Malcolm’s lines (just picturing him won’t do), the character goes from palaeontology rockstar to self righteous whinger. This was a quite distressing shift for my favourite character to undergo, and subsequently I never really forgave the novel. C’est la vie.

#6

Title Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
When Spring 2009
Why It was lying around my immortal beloved's mum’s house, I had never read it
Rating 2

Hello, I am Kaph and I am on a mission to read all 1000 of the 1000 novel you should read according to The Guardian. Upon finishing them, I pass judgement upon them which I share, philanthropicaly with you.(less)

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Dec 29, 2011

Sebastian Vega rated it

I have read many novels that were later films and I have to say that just like the others, this book had many differences from the movie, but more than usual. Having many differences from the movie made reading the book so much better! There were so many little things that make up the story that were left out in the movie! I didn't want to read this book, considering that I had seen the movie, but since it had so many differences I found myself glued to the novel and I couldn't put it down for d...more

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Dec 25, 2011

Henry rated it

· review of another edition

Despite liking the movie, I never got around to reading the book. In some ways I am glad I waited. I enjoyed reading it knowing how genetic engineering (and other technology) has progressed since it was written. While we do not have cloned dinosaurs, we have made significant progress since 1990.

I feel that at this point, it has worked its way into culture, that there isn't much to say about it. Science is reckless and brings back dinosaurs because it can. Nature can't be controlled a...more

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Dec 13, 2011

Tiara rated it

Shelves: book-turned-movie, science-fiction, thriller

I'm pretty sure most people know the story by now, but if you don't, here goes nothing. An eccentric millionaire finds the funding and technology to clone dinosaurs, which he plans on turning into a tourist attraction. The government is suspicious about his motives because of some biotechnology companies have been illegally testing different "products". To prove that Jurassic Park isn't a government threat, Hammond--the millionaire--opens up his park for inspection. During a visit (pre...more

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Dec 10, 2011

Danny M rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Suspense and Mystery readers

Recommended to Danny by: Browsing

Michael Crichton is a genius, and I always liked his novels. His books are filled with brilliant ideas and plenty of suspense. Michael Crichton does plenty of research in writing his novels and there is a mixture of truth and fiction in his writing. The novel Jurassic Park was one such idea that was brilliant and fascinating. The book was so good when Steven Spielberg produced the movie the script pretty much followed the book. This books was ahead of it's time.

When you write a nov...more

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Nov 19, 2011

Conor O'Mara rated it

I had seen the film around 5 years prior to reading the book, so I already knew the main plot. I really thought it was a well written book that was full of suspense. The whole idea and notion behind the book was fantastic and so innovative.

I loved the character of Dr. Ian Malcolm and felt that Crichton stuck to this character's personality really well all throughout the book. If it wasn't for the character of Dr. Malcolm I would of given the book 4 stars, but I felt some of the long...more

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Oct 26, 2011

07connork rated it

Jurassic Park is one of the best books I personally have ever read. It is the perfect blend of Dinosuars, action, and suspense. Jurassic Park is the story about dinosuar attacks on a Costa Rica island of Isla Numblar, when palentologist Alan Grant is brought to the park by millionare John Hammond. Once Alan gets there he discovers an entire island of Dinosaurs cloned by blood found in fossilised misquitos. Alan and a few other scientists and a lawer are brought to the park to make sure it is s...more

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Oct 23, 2011

Emma rated it

****Spoiler Alert*****

Jurassic Park tells the story of science trying to overpower and contort nature. When an old man with too much money decides that he wants to clone dinosaurs from the past, nothing will get in his way. He purchases an island and begins cloning the beasts from the past. It seems too dangerous to go on, but he refuses to stop, having invested so much money and time into it. A great example of this can be seen through the quote, “Face the damn facts, Henry ... T...more****Spoiler Alert*****

Jurassic Park tells the story of science trying to overpower and contort nature. When an old man with too much money decides that he wants to clone dinosaurs from the past, nothing will get in his way. He purchases an island and begins cloning the beasts from the past. It seems too dangerous to go on, but he refuses to stop, having invested so much money and time into it. A great example of this can be seen through the quote, “Face the damn facts, Henry ... This isn't America. This isn't even Costa Rica. This is my island. I own it. And nothing is going to stop me from opening Jurassic Park to all the children of the world ... Or, at least, to the rich ones.” John Hammond, the rich old man, invites two paleontologists, a lawyer, a mathematician, and his own two grandchildren to tour the island and see his Jurassic attraction. Malcolm, the mathematician, claims that the island is going to fail due the chaos theory, which basically states that some things cannot be controlled. Things actually seem to be going surprisingly well, until all of the power goes out while the guests are on tour. The dinosaurs are able to escape since they fences are no longer electric. This makes for a total disaster, resulting in the deaths of countless workers and guests at the park, including Malcolm and John Hammond himself. The children and two paleontologists are barely able to escape, though most of the scientists and people on the island are not so lucky. In the end it is revealed that animals have escaped off of the island and are breeding throughout Costa Rica. A great way to sum up the story can be told my Malcolm when he says after being attacked by a t-rex, “You know, at times like this one feels, well, perhaps extinct animals should be left extinct”.

I thought that this book was very exciting. It kept my attention the entire time and I was able to finish it in just 2 or 3 days. It’s definitely one of those books that you can pick up and read 200 pages of no problem. I really liked the set up of the book. Since there were a lot of characters and a lot going on, it was really interesting and kept jumping around from character to character, which I loved. Michael Crichton was able to come up with characters who were very three dimensional and complex. I really liked all of the characters, aside from Lex, the youngest child. She almost got her entire group killed 1000 times. I’ve never disliked a kid so much as I disliked Lex. When a t-rex was trying to find them, she decided to go into a coughing fit which led the t-rex right to them, almost killing all of them. Aside from Lex, the characters, even the semi-evil ones such as John Hammond, were really fascinating and fit perfectly into the story. I found myself turning each page filled with wonder and excitement, always curious what would happen next.

I don’t usually like science fiction types of novels, but this one is definitely an exception. The book was able to explain mathematical and scientific concepts with surprising simplicity. This made the book very believable, though there were some unrealistic aspects. The least realistic part of the book was that Lex survived, even though she constantly put everyone in danger and lacked any survival skills and rational thought processes. Besides Lex, I really liked the rest of the book. The writing style was very straight forward and constantly moving forward. Unlike most books which get stuck up on tangents, this one was 100 percent story, never stopping or slowing down for anything. The tone of this book was straightforward, without constant embellishments and excess details. This is my favorite type of tone, and Michael Crichton has perfected it.

The themes of this book are very applicable to modern society. We have this notion that we can contort nature to fit our needs through cloning, genetic engineering, and so on, without thinking about the possible affects for nature. We dump our garbage into the ocean, create giant landfills, pollute the air, and fill zoos with animals in environments nothing like where they’re actually from. It’s sad to see just how much of an affect we have on nature in negative ways. Jurassic Park shows that by doing this, we are going to ultimately hurt our selves, since we need the environment to survive. Some of my favorite parts of the book were when Malcolm would go on rants about how the environment will ultimately outlast all of us. An excellent quote from Malcolm was, “The planet has survived everything. It will certainly survive us. In the thinking of the human being a hundred years is a long time. A hundred years ago we didn't have cars, airplanes, computers or vaccines. It was a whole different world, but to the earth, a hundred years is nothing. A million years is nothing. This planet lives and breathes on a much vaster scale. We can't imagine its slow and powerful rhythms, and we haven't got the humility to try. We've been residents here for the blink of an eye. If we're gone tomorrow, the earth will not miss us”. I think that Malcolm is right. No matter what we do to the planet, it will go on without us and we’re the one’s who will have to suffer from our choices.

Overall, I loved Jurassic Park. I would suggest it to just about anyone, except for maybe people who are afraid of blood. I think that is simply a genius novel and would be perfect if Lex didn’t exist and if Malcolm didn’t die. It gives a great perspective about the environment and society as a whole. It is a cautionary tale which directly applies to our world today.(less)

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Oct 13, 2011

Jonah rated it

Shelves: favorites, sophisticated

Imagine riding a harmless themepark ride on a tropical island. Now imagine a four-story lizard standing before you, roaring in fury. Think of that lizard tearing after you destroying everything in it's path.
Now which would you prefer: this, or simply dusting off a fossil. I don't know about you, but Alan Grant would be dusting off rocks if it were up to him. But unfortunately, it's not.
Alan Grant is a paleontologist excavating in Montana, and is in the middle of a stunning find. But...more

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About Michael Crichton

Michael Crichton was an American author, film producer, film director, and television producer. His books sold over 150 million copies world wide, and among his best-known works were techno-thriller novels, films and television programs. His works were usually based on the action genre and heavily feature technology. Many of his future history novels had medical or scientific underpinnings, reflec...more

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“God creates dinosaurs, God kills dinosaurs, God creates man, man kills God, man brings back dinosaurs.” — 88 people liked it

“The planet has survived everything, in its time. It will certainly survive us.” — 66 people liked it

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