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Summary: One of the greatest books ever.
Review: For those who have seen the film and are put off - DON'T BE. Quite frankly, the big budget box-office film was made so that kids could watch it as well (after all, the lead character Alan Grant even thinks "how can you not like a group of people of love dinosaurs so much?"). The problem is, of course, that the film focused totally on the dinosaurs and away from everything else. It also means that it wasn't half as scary as it could have been, but that's not the point. The book blows away the film - the film simply blows. So if you've seen the film - regardless of your thoughts of it READ THIS BOOK. Anyway, the film misses out about 150-200 of the 400 pages in this book. Some characters die that live in the film and vice versa - one main character and loads of small characters who only appear once or twice in the book are left out all-together in the film. You get the picture.Crichton is one of my favourite authors and this masterpiece is proof of why. All the scientific facts are amazing. I was at the tender age of 8 when the film came out and I didn't even know there was a book. Of course, when I was young I liked the film (with age comes wisdom), and I asked my mum to get me the book for Christmas. Yes, she was skeptical about getting me an adult's book on the grounds that it may be too old for me at the time. But that's why I love this book - it is so brilliantly, fluidly and interestingly written that even a mere 9 year old who was never interested in reading can read all the facts and be hypnotised. But make no mistake - this is not a simple children's book. The story is really good as well. It was very simplified for them film, but there's much more of a build up in the book. The film just seems like a fantasy of dinosaurs but the book makes it seem very far off but not entirely impossible. And believe me, I'm right in the head. As far as stories go - in any way presented - I can only read a book or watch a film once or twice. But I have read this book God knows how many times in the 7-8 years since I've bought it. This is, simply put, one of the greatest novels ever written. Stop reading this and read the novel instead! NOW!!
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Summary: He just keeps getting better in every book he writes.
Review: Crichton is a master at crafting great stories and characters we care about. This book is no exception. Great suspense! Gotta hand it to Crichton, he knows how to concoct a great story! Pulse pounding! ***** Great characters. Loved the ending.
Rating: 
Summary: Sloppy and Careless Thriller
Review: Crichton at his best builds his novel with careful research and attention to detail, which is why Jurassic Park is so disappointing. Dinosaurs get out when electric fences fail, even though they are supposed to be enclosed by moats as well. Rivers seem to flow up hill. Basic addition fails (the sum of three closely related normal distributions is not a three-peaked distribution). The chaos theory is profoundly misunderstood: most chaotic systems are in fact tightly bounded. The biology is also bad. Although Crichton gives lip service to warm-blooded dinosaurs, major plot devices link them to amphibians in unrealistic ways. Crichton would have been better served by either making the book a shameless fantasy or by taking the time to get the details right; but pretending to a meticulousness that is so repeatedly betrayed makes the book frustrating to read.
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Summary: READ THE BOOK BEFORE YOU SEE THE MOVIE!!!!
Review: First of all, i thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have seen both the book and the movie and was glad to acknowledge how much better the book is than the movie. as with many good books, there are drawbacks, the characters were underdeveloped and one would have thought that with the trauma being experienced by the characters, he might have been able to include more character depth. also, the chaos theory sounded like it could have used a little more research, as it was not well explained and made it sound as if he did not know what he was talking about. the action and pace of the book was great, however, and if you don't mind a little goriness, i highly recommend this book. a note to other reviewers- read the book more carefully, yes, the t-rex did eat someone. he also presented plausible explanations as to why the velociraptors were the ones killing everybody.
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Summary: Perfect
Review: I won't write to much about this book other than I love it and have read it twice and plan to read it again and again. Crichton's research on his books is amazing. Read this book!!! What else is there to say?
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Summary: It was just as good as the movie was!
Review: I liked this novel a lot. It was just as good as the movie, and I saw the movie before I read the book, so I already had most of the characters in my head, and I luckily got to vividly see how realistic the dinosaurs were! The only downside is that the veloceraptors kill to many people, and the big tyrannosaurus rex ate NO ONE. But the scene where they had to go on the raft was very interesting and scary none the less. I liked how descriptive Michael Crichton was in writing the book, and how he described the dinosaurs, to make them appear so real to the readers. The movie was totally AWESOME, too. I am a BIG Steven Spielberg fan! Overall, this book was fast-paced and action-packed, a real page turner! Could have gone without so much technical mumbo-jumbo, though. Great work Mr. Crichton, one of your best!
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Summary: Jurassic Park
Review: Jurassic Park Is awesome! I love it. I am 13 years old and think this is great for about 9 and up.
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Summary: MIKEY CRIKEY!
Review: This is it, the book that made me a chain-reader. To go further back, a friend of mine couldn't stop talking about "that scene where somebody's guts spill out." Hmmm, sounds interesting. Let's face it, if you're one of those people who gripes over a single error in the author's research, then this is not the book for you. Although personally, I didn't see anything wrong. I won't go into the storyline as most of you are probably familiar with it--unless you were out on an Antarctic expedition or something. But I will tell you that the book is VERY different from the movie, and some parts from this book even appear in The Lost World (movie). Personally, I thought that the movie was pretty good, but far from Spielberg's best. Some people might hate the Chaos Theory stuff, but I loved it. Chaos Theory makes FAR more sense to me than solving stupid textbook problems like "find the size of Timmy's Bed if side B is" . . . you get the point. While I'm on the subject, if Chaos Theory interests you, read CHAOS by James Gleick. Anyway, I've read this book THREE or FOUR TIMES! I remember spending an entire weekend doing nothing but reading it. I also know lots of people who've said the same. This book is not scary, but the idea is original and the pages fly as if they were caught in a hurricane. If you want ENTERTAINMENT, you've come to the right place.
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Summary: great book
Review: i thought it was a very exciteing book i think it could have beeen a little more decriptive about the death scenes but oh well.
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Summary: The miracles of science!
Review: To begin, I actually saw the movie a considerable time before actually reading the book. And to be brutally honest, after also seeing The Lost World, my mind was submerged with a fear of disappointment. The Lost World's plot leaves a lot to be desired. But rest assured, this is a novel that completely wipes the floor with the film. Not only does it go into considerably more depth but also manages to sustain the suspense that the movies fails to deliver. Michael Crichton has written a compelling, eventful and intriguing adventure revolving around man's unhindered pioneers into the scientific world. This unadministered experiment with DNA highlights what is essentually a path ridden with danger. Man acts before considering the resulting consequences. The novel itself moves at a steady and unrelenting pace. There are few moments where one feels that all the action has ceaesed. Crichton's ability to lure the reader into a false sense of security only to drop an enormous event on top of them is realised thoroughly in the book. You are trained in the fact that you cannot relax. The one thing that the book really does have as an advantage over the film is that it relies on imagination as opposed to visual affects. Yes, the movies looks wonderful, but to accompany the action, I had the image of the Dinosaurs already as a part of my mind. All the way from childhood in many ways. This book is almost bringing the youthful aspect of adventure in us all alive in a fantastic, swashbuckling oddessy. Such is the power of this written word that the mind is the only tool one needs. This is simply enjoyment and interest from the first page. I couldn't put it down as I am sure many others couldn't. I know that it was one of my fastest ever reads. Amongst the reviews, how many times has that been said? Need I say more?
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