Jurassic Park: A Novel

I am an absolutely huge fan of the Jurassic Park movies. Honestly, they are one of my favourite film series ever and I rewatch them at regular intervals, usually when I am home alone and wanting some comfort movies, as I can no longer persuade other people to watch them with me. My friend, Sandra, has been urging me to read the original book for ages, because it is one of her favourites and she thinks it is better than the movies, but I’ve never got round to it before. Then two things happened at the same time. Firstly, I was home alone again for the weekend and went back to the first three movies to keep me company. Then, the next day I saw a Twitter thread which was discussing movies which were better than the source novel and one of the films suggested was Jurassic Park. ‘Really?’ I thought, ‘That’s not what Sandra says.’ So I decided i had better find out for myself. Plus, it’s probably really embarrassing for a self-proclaimed book addict never to have read a Michael Crichton book, isn’t it? Better remedy that, asap.So, I abandoned my pre-planned list of reads for the #20BooksOfSummer challenge again and took Jurassic Park with me on my recent holiday in Cornwall. I have to say, even though I thought I knew the story, I was absolutely hooked from start to finish and raced through it as fast as the demands of my partner that I spend quality time with him on our break would allow. (Men can be SO unreasonable!) This book is eminently readable, particularly if you have seen the movies. Firstly, the chapters are short, which always helps reading go quickly. Secondly, I was having great fun comparing the book to the movies and picking out familiar bits of the story and parts that were different (no spoilers, but there are some shocking differences!) Thirdly, the writing is just fantastic.So, is the book better than the movie? Are the movies better than the book? Which did I prefer. Well, this may sound like a copout but I promise you it isn’t, it is my honest opinion. I liked them both equally because they are very different. Nothing will ever ruin the movies for me. I love them, they are fun and action-packed and include some of my favourite characters ever (plus Sam Neill, yum!) The books are more detailed, more complex and possibly more brutal. Some of the characters are very different (I won’t say more for fear of spoiling the story.) Some things happen differently (one, not in a good way at all!) but work effectively for the story.If you are a fan of the movies, I wouldn’t let it put you off reading the books. I have now ordered three more Michael Crichton novels to read, because his writing style hooked me in and I am keen to see what else he can do. Watch this space.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for 25 or so years, you’ve probably already seen or at least heard of the original Jurassic Park film which was based on this novel, so, I’ll start with the inevitable question...is it better than the film? I don’t really have an answer, you can’t really have a definitive answer. Both film and novel are two entirely different mediums with pros and cons. A film has the advantage of being a visual medium and is generally more accessible, but is more or less limited to a couple of hours in length and therefore loses a lot of depth and detail. This is exactly why I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, despite having seen the film dozens of times ever since it first came out and although the book follows the same milestone plot points of the film, there is a lot more fat to chew on here and it’s all very tasty!I won’t spoil it for anyone, but there is a lot more background to the story here than the film. The opening chapters (of which there are many) follow a few loose ends and covers the background, plot and some characters that don’t really figure in the main story, but show the overreaching effects of the park’s development. Unlike the film, this novel doesn’t really have to depend on the dinosaurs and action set pieces to intrigue. There’s hardly any dinosaur action in the opening 200 or so pages easily, it is quite the slow burner, but when it hits the fan, it hits harder than an angry T Rex! It really does go through the gears fast, so strap in!The characters are vastly different from the the film too, Genaro is almost the total polar opposite of the cowardly, snivelling, greedy lawyer in the film and that characters’ fate is reserved for another character. Lex is a total airhead brat, Dr. Satler hardly features at all and a certain disgruntled Park employee is even somewhat of a sympathetic character...who still does a terrible thing. Dr. Malcolm’s chaos theory goodness is expanded upon greatly and Alan Grant is more macho than Sam Neill’s portrayal. Everyone’s backstory and the reasons they do the thing they do appear more logical. There are other characters that don’t get more than a background cameo in the film that are significantly more fleshed out here, oh, and don’t assume that just because someone survived the film that they’ll get through the novel...I’ll leave it at that!The dinosaur rogues’ gallery is more or less identical, barring a slight different in species in some of the lesser characters and there is one action set piece in particular that is lifted to one of the original films’ sequels. Another watery set piece is somehow even more thrilling than seeing it ever could be.Overall, this book is exactly what I’d hoped it would be. Similar enough to the film that I am nostalgically happy and satisfied and different enough that I’m learning something knew of the Jurassic Park lore. Michael Crichton was an excellent novelist and this book still stands as his Magnum Opus.