Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton -------------- 4 Stars

Like most people, I saw and greatly enjoyed the original Jurassic Park movie many years ago. At the time, I don't think I was aware that there was also a book, of obviously the same name, the movie was based on. I appreciate that I finally got to the book and enjoyed the much more detailed slightly different experience of the original novel.

While not significantly different than the movie, like most novels that a major movie is based on, there are a number of differences. In an odd experience, this is a movie that I've probably seen over a dozen times prior to reading the book. So, I remembered much of the story and scenes vividly and had an interesting experience comparing parts of the movie that, were in my head, to the written novel. While I'm not sure either version was better, there were certainly much more detail, information, and character/plot development in the novel.

The book was definitely enjoyable, and the level of detail was welcome. The book went too much more of the "science fiction" that Crichton often bases novels on. it was also interesting to see how certain character shifted to the movie. I found there were many more "bad guys "in the book then I recall in the movie. I also found the pace different from the book to the movie. The book actually seem more frenetic with much more of the novel dedicated to the dinosaur attacks than I actually remember in the movie.

Of course, there were some drawbacks of the book. I found the characters not as interesting as the original movie and the story seemed darker. Unsurprisingly, I kept comparing so much of the book I was reading to film going in my head of the same scenes and characters, and right r wrong, found myself constantly annoyed that it wasn't the way it seemed from the movie. It really did take away from the novel though I'm not sure I should hold it against it.

I found it was a very engaging book that I struggled to put down. The story flows easily, and Crichton does a great job of keeping the reader engaged with action scene after scene. While I highly doubt there are many people left who have not seen the movie or read the book, I would recommend the book to everyone, though it might be especially interesting to be able to read it prior to seeing the movie. Though I am not sure that's a realistic idea!