Books with Friends ~ Book 2: Jurassic Park

Completed on July 25, 2010

For many years my friend Amanda has suggested I read Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park. For many years I have refused. It was never that I had anything against the author. In fact, I consider myself a Crichton fan, having read Congo, Airframe, The Andromeda Strain etc. The truth of the matter is that being such a fan kept me from reading this book.

I had read The Lost World (the sequel to Jurassic Park) a very long time ago. Absolutely loved it and was thoroughly disappointed in the concept of the film. As such, I did not want to read Jurassic Park as I loved the movie so much I did not want to do anything that would ruin the film for me.

However, I recently buckled down and read the book for this project. My thoughts?

Although I originally had trouble removing my expectations based on the film, I soon found the twists in the novel so different that I was able to visualize the story in and of itself. I came to like this book. After reading, I purchased the movie on dvd (my copy was a vhs) and have come to the conclusion that the book outshines the movie. Crichton was able to include details and a story arch that was not limited to a PG13 rating or a 90 minute time frame.

Amanda and I discussed the book pointing out characters that survived in the novel but died in the film and vice cersa. There were vital characters in the novel that made little or no appearence in the film, characters I loved in the filn anbd characters who annoyed me in both mediums.

My final word, Great story! Interesting plot and imaginative details, I would highly recommend to anyone who has an interest in dinosaurs, thrillers or both.