Jurassic Park: The Lost World

By Michael Crichton

[It is now six years since the secret disaster at Jurassic

Park. Six years since the extraordinary dream of science

and imagination came to a crashing end - the dinosaurs

destroyed, the park dismantled, the island indefinitely

closed to the public.

Now there are rumours that something has survived...]

The second and last of the Jurassic Park novels and the worst out of the two unfortunately. It took a very, very long time to get into the action of it all and, in fact, was absolutely nothing like it's film counterpart except for one scene - the trailer over the cliff.

This scene was done particularly well, being very tense and so well-written. It's just a shame I didn't enjoy the whole book as much as the first one. Maybe it's because I'm not a huge fan of the second film which probably made me biased and doubtful for this book (thank God that awful T-Rex scene in the city was not included in the novel! How ridiculous was that scene?!)

Although it did have a slow start, the plot itself was pretty good. It certainly kept me intrigued and I love love love how Crichton was able to use so much detail about the dinosaurs, mathematics, animal behaviour and scientific theories as well as keeping it very action-packed!

I also quite liked Malcolm and Sarah's characters. Malcolm was still his usual self and Sarah's addition was welcomed with the loss of such great characters from the first one (however Grant and Ellie were briefly mentioned near the beginning which was nice!). The kids - Kelly and Arby - were cute and brought some innocence to the story. Levine, on the other hand, was irritating - although I think that was the idea! And of course Lewis Dodgson was also a character I didn't like, but that was to be expected as the anti-hero of the novel.

The conflict between the science companies and Malcolm/Sarah's team was definitely played up in the film version. It was more of a small team of three to four against one another in the novel as to the whole host Sarah's team is battling in the film. I feel this made the book have a more personal feel to it as the intentions were made clear in what each team wanted out of this illegal visit.

The ending was a little rushed and unrealistic to me (well, as unrealistic as a novel about dinosaurs can be) which ruined it a little bit. Like the first one, they got themselves into a lot of trouble but seemed to get themselves out of it too easily - yes plenty of characters died and a few injured, but I didn't really feel the protagonists lives were really at stake.

Still, well worth a read as the follow-up to the first one though!

✌

Jurassic Park

By Michael Crichton

[On a remote jungle island, genetic engineers have

created a dinosaur game park.

An astonishing technique for recovering and cloning

dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Now one of

mankind's most thrilling fantasies has come true

and the first dinosaurs that the Earth has seen in

the time of man emerge.

But there is a dark side to the fantasy. And after a

catastrophe destroys the park's defence systems,

the scientists and tourists are left fighting

for survival...]

I can't believe I didn't know this was a novel and by Michael Crichton too! (my love for E.R. is unreal❤)

Although a few details were a bit different from the film (I know this came first, way first, but can't blame a girl when the film is amazing?!), it was mostly all the same up until the T-Rex attack. Then it changed, a lot. Some details in the latter half did match up to the film plot line again though - the crucial scenes which was all that mattered!

It was definitely a lot more in depth scientifically and mathematically, which at times were difficult to follow (but I don't know whether that's because I insisted on reading it in an office full of people and late at night when my eyes could barely stay open). I loved how it switched back and forth between the control room and the park - it really gave us an overall view of the story unfolding, bits we didn't get to see or were skimmed over in the film.

I adore Alan Grant's character. He manages to stay mostly the same - although he loves kids in this version (felt the film version was slightly better, although maybe it's because I've grown accustomed to him and his grumpy ways with the kids!) Lex was a younger child, younger than Tim which was different - so she obviously wasn't a hacker that could save the day at the end. Tim came across as a lot more mature and shared a great deal of interests with Alan which was sweet. Ellie's "relationship" with Alan is explained - finally!! Malcolm is hilarious and very, very mathematical. Hammond is actually vicious and manipulative and nasty, not caring a great deal about his grandkids at all. Nedry we learnt a lot more about and definitely had what was coming to him (the scene in the film where he gets poison shot in his face, yeah, not even the half of it in the book) and Arnold and Muldoon were spot on, or Samuel L. Jackson and Bob Peck were for portraying them!

I did find that, at times, the plot got a little too repetitive - Alan and the kids would be faced with danger, would narrowly avoid it and continue on their paths, etc, etc... I can see why they changed it for the film as it was more dramatic, but I did enjoy the book and I feel we learnt way more about the characters and why they did what they did.

How it ended though, that I was not expecting. Two characters DIE. And then they just sort of skirt around it and trail off for the ending leaving you wanting more but not sure if there is going to be any more on that subject. Needless to say, the second one is in my grasp and I will find out what more it can tell me!

Absolutely brilliant.

☽