Jurassic Park

S'è scritto tantissimo su questo libro, che è arrivato alla ribalta solo dopo l'uscita del film di Steven Spielberg ma in realtà del film ha proprio poco. I personaggi sono quelli, ma le storie tutte diverse, non capisco adesso, a differenza di 10 anni dalla prima volta in cui ho visto il film, perchè Spielberg ha voluto cambiare tutto, o quasi.
Il libro è da leggere, senz'alcuna ombra di dubbio, meglio ancora se si è appassionati di Dinosauri. E' davvero coinvolgente, interessante anche dal punto di vista scientifico, anche se a volte appare noioso, soprattutto con le lunghe digressioni sulla Scienza, la genetica e tutte queste pappardelle del matematico Malcolm. Crichton è davvero un genio. Da approfondire.

When I first saw Jurassic Park in the cinema in 1993, it sparked an obsession that lasted for over a decade. Looking back I'm not sure whether my obsession was with Jurassic Park or dinosaurs in general, but it was all the same to me.

Almost as soon as we left the cinema, I begged my mother to buy me Michael Crichton's novel, even though it was clearly not written for eleven-year-olds, and I recall reading it through from cover to cover at least three or four times. I even remember being called on during an English class library session to read aloud to the class when I just happened to be in the middle of a very grisly death scene. The teacher quickly cut me off—”Thank you, that's enough,”—though I don't remember getting in trouble.

While my Jurassic Park obsession was eventually replaced by a theater obsession, and then several other obsessions since, this adventure 65 million years in the making has always held a special place in my heart, and it came into my life during such a developmental stage that I think it has been woven into my DNA ever since.

And so, when I was stuck for something to read, I fished out that very same copy that my mother bought me in 1993—the cover creased and tattered and taped together, and at some point preserved in clear contact covering—and gave it a possibly fifth read through.

The wide-eyed, dinosaur-loving kid inside of me was reawakened, and I tore through this novel with delight and awe, and at the same time, my adult brain was astounded at how much I'd forgotten or been too young to fully appreciate.

Back then I was a voracious reader, and even in elementary school, I had gotten bored of the novels for my age group and had started pilfering books from my mother's bookcase, or searching the grown-up sections of the library. While I read and understood Jurassic Park at the time, I don't think I was able to absorb the full richness of it that I could as an adult. Or comprehend some of its flaws.

As a kid and young adult, this was as close to a perfect novel as I'd ever read, and honestly, after this re-read, I feel much the same way. It does exactly what it says on the tin, and does it well. It is thrilling, thoughtful, and terrifying. But as a weary adult, I can also acknowledge some of the places where It falls short for me now.

Ellie was much more of a background character than I remember, and then there's the ol' kid character chestnut, both of which I was a little disappointed by.

Ellie was written as an intelligent, confident, athletic woman, who was cool, calm, and collected. She's often objectified by the men around her and has an action hero moment towards the end of the novel where she gets to shine. But it left me wanting more, and the frequent commentary on her thighs and short shorts had me wondering if it was a case of commenting on sexism or just actual sexism itself. I'm willing to give Crichton the benefit of the doubt here because between Ellie and Dr. Bobbie Carter, we at least got two smart women to break up the sausage party.

I loved the kids in the movie, and I remember loving the kids in the novel too, but in this re-read, Lex was incredibly irritating and one-note. I did laugh a few times at her precocious quips, and I appreciated that she bucked stereotypes for the time with her interest in baseball, but the problem was that she was pretty one-note for the rest of the novel. She has one freak-out early on, but from then on she seems to have nerves of steel to an absurd degree, and her precociousness becomes a liability. I mean, I don't have siblings or kids and to be honest I'm kind of scared of them, so I don't know if she's realistically written. I just didn't enjoy her much this time around.

I really liked Tim though, I thought he was pretty well written, and I can definitely understand why he was my favorite character as a kid. I would have related to him quite a lot.

Something that also stuck out to me in this re-read was the unnecessarily comical descriptions of how fat and disgusting Nedry was, which I found pretty heavy-handed and distasteful. The whole “fat is bad” trope was at odds with the rest of the writing and felt like it was implanted from another less sophisticated book, and I would have expected better from Crichton.

Except for a last-minute exploration sequence right at the end of the novel that felt awkward, unnecessary, and tacked-on, the rest of the novel is horror-adventure gold! I remember as a kid I had blind and unerring love for the movie, but also a whistful what-might-have been wonder about what it could have been if more of the set pieces from the novel had made their way into the movie, particularly the river scene and the aviary scene. Many of these were lifted and reworked for other movies in the series (which probably explains why I loved Jurassic Park III so much when it seems I was in the minority a bit lol).

I'm so happy that I picked Jurassic Park up again as an adult, because it brought back some of that childhood joy and excitement, and not only that, it was even better than I remembered it.

If you're looking for a thrilling adventure with some geeky science-y musings thrown in, then Jurassic Park provides and more than satisfies. I treasured it as a child, and now as an adult, I will treasure it anew with a deeper, more nuanced appreciation.

4:

The sneaky critters ATE a baby's FACE in like the first chapter!!!!!!! Wowee!!!

Honestly I loved this book so much. It has the downside of Jeff Goldblum not being on it, but to make up for that, it keeps you on your toes, and provides gratuitous violence, along with a wicked sense satisfaction once the billionaire becomes supper.

Credo che tutti praticamente abbiano visto il film, compreso me quando uscì al cinema. Decisamente un libro che è diventato film e ha smesso di essere libro.

La trama è notissima: il progetto ambizioso dell'imprenditore Jhon Hammond che costruisce un enorme attrazione turistica, tra lo zoo e il parco di divertimenti, su un isola del Costa Rica. Attrazione del parco sono creature provenienti dal passato e riportate in vita con moderne tecniche di ingegneria genetica: i dinosauri. Come anteprima verrà organizzata una visita a cui prendono parte una serie di personaggi.

Ho trovato questa edizione ormai ingiallita e mezza decrepita con il prezzo ancora in lire (bei tempi) in un'edicola in vacanza e ho fatto posto nelle mie letture perchè mi sembrava un romanzo tipicamente estivo, non so perchè.

Devo dire che a dispetto delle aspettative abbastanza basse ho trovato il libro davvero gradevole e godibile, e alla fine l'ho gradito molto di più rispetto al film: i personaggi molto meglio costruiti, così come la trama che è molto più complessa e ben costruita e congeniata.

Da notare gli schemi inseriti dal fisico “Ian Malcolm” chiamati “Iterazioni” che descrivono la complessità crescente della trama, che ovviamente nel film non sono stati affatto trasportati.

Insomma un libro divertente che è stata una piacevole sorpresa, soprattutto perchè letto con tutta tranquillità in un bosco verde in mezzo alla natura, decisamente un contesto adeguato.

This one really surprised me. I went in with just wanting to have a good time with some dinosaurs but it was so much more than just that. Malcolm oh Malcolm what a beaut you were! The witty banter was so fun to read! Chaos theory was intertwined so beautifully into the plot line.
Reading about the whole man vs wild and how advancement in science can prove to be a complete disaster is what makes sci-fi such an amazing genre. And just like that, another book is better than the movie. So much fun!

Jurassic Park is one of the rare instances where the movie is superior to the book. I'm rating this a 4 due to its boring start (pre-island), it's stupid ending, and the fact that Malcolm and Genaro carried the story for me. This book is very different from the movie. Both have their strengths, which I will share via spoilers.

What the movie did better:

1. The kids. They are annoying in the book. I understand that Lex is 7 or 8 years old, so she deserves a plethora of grace, but she's extremely annoying. The author seemed to hate her; she made all of these mistakes that nearly killed them. She was even pooped on by a pterodactyl. Whereas Tim is 11 yrs old and this brilliant little Dino-nerd that is the only one that can work the computer and bring the power online (instead of Lex in the movie). I much prefer their behavior and relationship in the movie where Tim still loves dinos, but Lex is mature and the elder sister.

2. The movie bypasses the boring backstory for the most part while keeping the most important scenes I think.

3. The characters in the movie are more likable for the most part, minus Genaro!! They did my man Genaro dirty in the movie. Not cool. I really liked Genaro in the book- more on that later. Ellie Sattler specifically was shown to be more interesting and fleshed out than the book. In the novel, she's mostly admired for her legs rather than her scientific knowledge.

4. The ending. The book ending is so boring, dumb, and anti-climatic. To start, the raptors in the main building are not killed by a trex. They are killed by Grant tricking them into eating eggs filled with some sort of chemical that poisons them (forgot which). He killed like, three of them this way. In no way did I find this believable or exciting. One raptor, yes, three - no. Then when the raptors are gone, Hammond is practically MIA and Genaro is the one to call the Costa Rican government for help to blow up the island via air strike. Grant goes berserk, roughing him up physically and blaming HIM solely for the park (not Hammond), forcing him to search for the raptors nest to count the number of creatures to make sure they all die. I thought it was extremely unfair of Grant to assault Genaro and call him a coward. I firmly believe that Grant's priority in seeking the raptor nests was scientific curiosity, not genuine concern for mankind. Muldoon should have backed him up, as he and Genaro spent lots of time together, but even he turns on Genaro at the end and threatens him with electric shock to get him into the raptor nest. When they are finally at the nest, nothing happens. The adult raptors miraculously don't notice 3 humans (unbelievable) in their den. Then everyone is rushed from the island and the Costa Rican government blows it up. Soooo boring.

Things I think the book did better:

1. Malcolm is even cooler! We get far more monologue from Malcolm in the book than the movie, and he's somehow cooler. The fact that he's balding just makes him more badass because he doesn't let his receding hairline take away from the fact that he's intelligent as hell with his chaos theory. God I love Malcolm.

2. More Dr. Wu: Dr. Wu was hardly in the movie, which is a shame. In the book, he and Hammond have lots of moments together where we learn more about him. He's brave, and tries to save Ellie when the raptors were trying to kill her. I was sad to see him die in such a gruesome way, but there is something poetic about the major players in Jurassic Park dying at the claws of their own creation (Hammond, Arnold, and Wu).

3. Genaro the Lawyer is badass. The movie did him dirty and combined him with Ed Regis' character in the book, the Public Relations person that pees his pants and abandons the kids in the car. In the book, Genaro stays with Ellie and the vet with the triceratops, so he never encounters the Rex and gets eaten. Then, Ellie stays behind, but Genaro goes out with Muldoon to find Grant and the kids, and he is out there in the park trying to help get the park up and running. He even agrees to help Muldoon with the raptors although he's afraid. I don't blame him for wanting nothing to do with the raptors nests at the end. Frankly, it's easy for Grant to call him a coward when no one is waiting for him at home. Genaro has a wife and kids to take care of, so he shouldn't be treated like shit at the end when he's already risked his neck multiple times.

Other things didn't like about the book:

1. The trex following Grant and the kids. It's literally stalking them. Why!? There are so many dinos for the trex to eat. Why follow the three, small humans so much?

2. Grant never confronting Hammond about his role in opening a dangerous park. I guess he didn't want to risk pissing off the man that funds his dig sites (coward).

Anyways, I rate it a 4/5 for these reasons. I still loved the book, and I enjoyed the narrator for the audiobook.

I like many others was obsessed with dinosaurs as a kid, while Walking with Dinosaurs was my #1 dinosaur show to watch, Jurassic Park was definitely the second. So it was surprising to realize I had never actually read the book the movie was based on.

I think if I had read this book when I was younger I would have been very annoyed with the slow burn aspect of the setup. Something about the corporate maneuverings and the critiques of corporate and scientific cultures just hit right. The opening paragraphs on how bio-tech is going to change the world is still super relevant, just replace bio-tech with AI. My favorite part was obviously the dinosaur-horror in the middle of the book as the park breaks down. The last act of the book lost some momentum as the dinosaurs revert from horror movie slashers to more animal like behaviour. It was interesting enough to read but I totally understand why it was cut for the movie.

Character-wise the book was a bit hit or miss for me. I enjoyed Hammond as the corporate villain more than his counter part in the movie. The relationship between him and his employees and how each one justifies continuing the project was some of the most interesting parts of the book. Ellie as a character was much more background then I would have guessed. She gets three moments she gets to shine, one paleo botany and two action sequences, but beyond that she is relegated to a secondary character. Her character has a lot of misogyny and objectification turned towards her, if it was intended to be a commentary on sexism it needed to be undercut more by actions in the story. Grant gets a bit less to do in the book but I really liked how his internal monologue showed how he reaches conclusions. In the movie he just knows Trex's vision is based on movement while in the book he is able to piece together from his knowledge, observations and luck. Not much to say about Malcolm, still a really fun character.

Overall I really enjoyed my read, you can go into for just the thriller-adventure aspect and or the deeper themes explored in the book.

I didn't know how different the film was compared to the novel, People always had said it's so much better and different, but wow I wasn't expecting just how good this novel is.

I admit, I view the characters as the ones in the films - Sometimes this helps, sometimes not but just having that visual experience while I'm reading and the story is developing it helped to just read and read.

A classic and easy read, just an experience throughout. - I'm excited to read the second and I hope one day this adapation of the book gets made into some sort of series or film.

This was a 3.5 review worth rounding up. It would have been higher but one character was so annoying I actually wanted them to be eaten or slapped.All around interesting and solid dinosaur scifi thriller with a decent attempt at science. At 45% of the way through I had to stop and rewatch the movie, which is incidentally about where the book starts to differ quite a bit. It's probably sacrilegious but I think the movie was better. I could rewatch the movie over and over; once was enough for the book.The acknowledgements mention [a:Robert T. Bakker 68286 Robert T. Bakker https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1303492859p2/68286.jpg]. I recommend checking out his book [b:Raptor Red 117710 Raptor Red Robert T. Bakker https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1533437168s/117710.jpg 986300].

When I was a kid, much like nearly every other child in the world, I was enthralled by dinosaurs. I felt proud for knowing the names of so many of the large creatures that had walked the Earth. I loved re-reading all the books I had (...and admittedly, still have) on dinosaurs; I loved living in a time where dinosaurs were pretty much everywhere. Cartoons, kid shows, books and also movies, which brings me to Jurassic Park. When I was born, Jurassic Park the movie came out so obviously I was too young to see it but I did later on. My mom thought I was too young to watch the movie when it came on tv so she tried to keep me from watching it, but I wouldn't be deterred. I flipped the tv onto the channel showing Jurassic Park and my mom heard me laughing so she came to check on me and saw me laughing at the guy that got bitten in half while sitting in the now ruined port-a-potty. She decided I'd be okay and allowed me to watch the movie - a decision she may regret now as I still love Jurassic Park just as much as I did then.

And that brings me to the book, Jurassic Park. If it hadn't been for that movie, who knows if I ever would have found Michael Crichton who has become one of my favorite writers! But I did and I was just as enthralled with this book as I was when I was a child watching the movie version. I remember plowing through the first 52 pages so easily, even though all the science talk, that it wasn't even funny. My brain hurt and all I wanted was MORE.

Before I had gotten too far into the book, it was brought to my attention that it was my turn to pick the book for Book Club and of course I picked the only thing holding my attention right then. I managed to keep from finishing the book too quickly and the two club meetings on the book were full of fun and hilarious discussions as we talked about, “Would we go to the park - without knowing about any of the troubles they had” or, “If you could see any dinosaur alive, which dinosaur and why?” and so on, as well as making guesses as what would happen. I finished the book and had to stop myself from starting the second one so as not to get them mixed up. I was that excited for more of this story that Crichton created.

Easily, I know that this book (along with the sequel) are books that I will read time and time again. With some dinosaur cookies on the side.