This is a science fiction novel that deals with genetic engineering, dinosaurs, and the consequences of what happens if you are careless about messing up an ecosystem. John Hammond and his employees have managed to clone dinosaurs back from extinction using advanced genetic engineering. He now has an entire island with dinosaurs on it that he plans to turn into an amusement park, complete with “rides”. Before it opens, Hammond invites scientists, lawyers, and his own grandkids to the park to preview it and enjoy the dinosaurs. The power goes out while they are on a tour of the park. The power outage causes the electric fences to be turned off. The dinosaurs can now get out and wreak havoc on the park and the people there.
I thought that this was a very interesting book to read. It warns about the dangers of genetic engineering and bringing back extinct animals. However, because Crichton wrote this in the 90s, not all the information in it is accurate. For example, velociraptors are described to be like small Tyrannosaurus Rexes, and about 6 feet tall. But now, scientists think that velociraptors had feathers, and were about 2 feet tall. They were also depicted as very smart, and while velociraptors were among some of the smartest dinosaurs, they were not quite as intelligent as the book portrays them as. The book does, however, give insight as to what the world would be like if dinosaurs suddenly came back to life. Because of the fact that the dinosaurs accidentally get released, and cannot be controlled, they end up injuring, killing, and eating people. Due to these plot points, there is violence in the book, some of it more graphic than others. For example, there is one scene where someone is eaten alive and it gives gruesome detail. Fortunately, it is easy to skip over these scenes if you do not like violence.
Many people know Jurassic Park only as a movie franchise. Some of the most memorable scenes in the movie is where the kids are climbing the electric fence, or the kitchen scene where the raptors are hunting them. In the book, the electric fence scene is not even part of it, and the kitchen scene is different and not as big of a deal. A few of the characters' personalities are different than they were in the movie, and who lives and dies changes as well.
This was a very good book but I wish that there had been more female characters. There are only two main female characters, and there are many male ones. It would have been nice if there were more, but overall the characters were very interesting. Each part of the book was told from the perspective of a different character. This kept the book interesting because each character had a different view of what was going on and where they were when it was happening. Normally I do not like split perspective books, but Crichton executed it very well. All in all, I think that this was a pretty good book that I recommend reading.
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