Anyone who has talked to me for even a few minutes probably knows that I am obsessed with all things dinosaurs, reptiles, and amphibians. Heck, I even have two snakes and nine geckos in my house as I type this. I would even consider myself to be mildly obsessed with such animals, like some people are with cats or dogs (or like children with unicorns or cars).
Alas, I have been a fake fan my entire life, because I had never read the Jurassic Park novel. Not once. I have seen the movie hundreds of times and even read the sequel, The Lost World, but never the Jurassic Park novel. I have even owned this book for a year now, and still never read it. Please shame me in the comments for my 21 years of being a poser.
Feel free to share something in the comments that you are a fake fan of. We won’t judge, because we are all guilty.
This hypocrisy ends now! I have finally read Jurassic Park in its entirety. And I have to say, I am shook by how much I enjoyed the experience.
All I need now is the stereotypical reptile owner Jurassic Park T-shirt… I will be a real fan one day… one day.
Content Warnings:
Death, violence, detailed gore, death of a baby, being eaten alive, being hunted, bleeding to death, being chased, sexism, cursing, helicopters/airplanes, betrayal, fowl play between businesses, and more.
If we missed anything, feel free to comment. If you have a specific trigger to ask about, feel free to comment.
On to the Spoiler Free Review:
There will be a section with spoilers at the end for those interested in those thoughts.
First of all…
I loved every second of this book. From page one I could tell that it is more interesting than the movie. There is just more of everything! Dinosaurs, shock, gore, philosophy, science, action, and good feels.
I was a huge fan of the movie, but now I don’t think I can watch it without just throwing it aside for the book. I both read this book physically and listened to the audiobook narrated by Scott Brick on 1.7x speed using audible.
Brick’s performance was fantastic and I feel like the book was over before I knew it. The audiobook is 15 hours, but I listen on almost double speed, so that’s about 7.5 hours. It did not feel like that long at all! I was shocked when it ended, because I was that into it!
The Characters
There are so many more characters in the book, and they are more interesting and read than the movie!
Maybe the movie was adjusted due to the time constraint, and/or maybe it was more directed at kids, because the book had like 2x the characters. The characters actually had depth and were more dark.
Some odd character differences from the movie really had me confused.
First, Hammond is a much darker character with some obvious issues. We see a lot of this other side of him in the book. We can see how twisted and narcissistic he is, and where his motivations lie, which is very different from the movie.
Second Dr. Sattler and Dr. Grant are not married, and Dr. Grant doesn’t hate kids in the book! Why does the movie even have him hate kids?! I don’t get the appeal!
Third, Wu, Mr. Arnold, Dr. Harding, Regis, and Gennaro are so much more involved in the book, because they are actually in it for more than one or two scenes! They are all so unique and important to the story. I enjoyed all of their perspectives and ideas, but I get that the movie didn’t have enough time to include all of these characters.
Additionally, the kids were different ages and different personalities in the book. The boy is older and the girl is quite young. Lex is super annoying in a child way and Tim is that angsty brother with daddy issues. They were much more realistic and interesting in the book.
Finally, Malcolm is still a philosophical coccydynia, but he also makes a lot of sense and gains my respect as a character. He has so many more shining moments in the book and isn’t as flirtatious with Dr. Sattler.
In the book, it is actually the lawyer who Grant thinks has an interest in her, but it is not touched on more than once and it happens pretty early in the story.
Why had the movie made these changes? They don’t make sense to me quality wise.
The Plot/Messages
This book has quite a bit of good commentary on politics, capitalism, theory, ethics, and even feminism.
Like the movie, Dr. Sattler is constantly regarded as delicate due to her ladyhood, but continuously pushes the men out of the way for all of their sake.
Additionally, this book covers a lot about science and the ethics behind discovery and genetic modification. I would even say there is commentary about keeping animals in captivity.
Lastly, the plot is much more complex and interesting in the book. We still follow several groups of characters, like Grant and the kids, and Ellie and the hunter, but there are more characters and a lot more of the park is shown.
The movie would have been so much better if it also included the Pterodactyl enclosure! I was so excited about this scene in the book!
General Thoughts
This book is amazing for Spring and Summer, due to the island vibes. Be wary, the book is much more graphic, violent, and scary than the movie. This is not a book for small kids who can’t handle someone holding their own intestines while being eaten alive. Note that this book is dinosaur and death scary though; there isn’t any person on person violence.
Some of my favorite quotes:
“The planet has survived everything, in its time. It will certainly survive us.”
“Malcolm: God creates dinosaurs, God kills dinosaurs, God creates man, man kills God, man brings back dinosaurs.”
“Ellie: Dinosaurs eat man…Woman inherits the earth.”
“All major changes are like death. You can’t see to the other side until you are there.”
“Nobody is driven by abstractions like ‘seeking truth.”
“Scientists are actually preoccupied with accomplishment. So they are focused on whether they can do something. They never stop to ask if they should do something.”
“Malcolm said, “You know, at times like this one feels, well, perhaps extinct animals should be left extinct. Don’t you have that feeling now?”
This concludes the spoiler free section of the review!
Thanks for reading and I hope to hear about all of your opinions in the comments!
As always, stay positive and we are accepting creative work through our Correspondence Page.
-Knight of Cups ❤
Review with Spoilers:
Here will be the part of the review with spoilers! Please do not read this section if you do not want spoilers!
That ending though!
I found it so much more compelling that the government blew up the island and held the characters in Costa Rica, because they think animals escaped and are surviving off of plants that contain the protein they are dependent on! Brilliant. This leads into the sequel so much better than the end of the movie, but duh, the books were written for each other unlike the movies.
Also, can we talk about how important it is that Ellie doesn’t end up with anyone! She just does her thing! I strive to be Ellie. Heck, she got a thrill from being chased by dinosaurs and climbing trees and jumping off of a building thinking she might die! Obviously, I love Ellie Sattler.
Lastly, Malcolm dying BROKE MY HEART. I love Malcolm… I can’t believe Crichton let him die! He was the driving character! He predicted it all and warned everyone, yet he had to die. I am legit sad, but I guess that’s just a sign that Crichton knows how to pull the heartstrings of his readership, and I hate him (and respect him) for it. So conflicted xc
That’s all folks! Thanks for reading through!
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