Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton

A mysterious company called, "Ingen" had been working on a top secret project for five years. As this mysterious project nears completion, the project must be checked by dinosaur experts Alan Grant, and Ellie Sattler, along with mathematician Ian Malcom. The top secret project turns out to be a geological zoo called, "Jurassic Park," filled with genetically created dinosaurs. This prehistoric zoo would no doubt dazzle people of all ages, until disaster strikes. A rogue worker shut down the park, allowing the dinosaurs to run free. Now with danger at every turn, the human inhabitants of Jurassic Park must fight for their very survival.


Take it from someone who's read this book a few times, Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton is a epic adventure of prehistoric proportions. Even if you've seen the film, the book Jurassic Park is worth at least one read-through. Jurassic Park is filled with suspense, and terror, action and adventure, while still catering to the scientific thinker. It probes the question,"Could dinosaurs be cloned?" Jurassic Park is one of my favorite books of all time, I very much enjoy its tense mood, and I think you should give this adventure story a try. 

Reviewed by Gian R., grade 9
Glendale Central Library

6 comments:

Teen Speak said...

It starts off on the island of Bahia Anasaco, where construction workers are building InGen. As they start building, a worker gets attacked by a mysterious creature. He says that he was attacked by a velociraptor. He dies later. The report of this incidence does not go out to the public. Even after this incident, Jurassic Park was still built. Dr. Grant(a paleontologist), Ellie(a botanist), Dr. Malcom (a mathematician), Gennaro (a lawyer),and Lex and Tim(siblings visiting their grandfather, John Hammond).While visiting the park, one employee ,Dennis Nedry, was stealing dinosaur eggs to make a profit. While everyone was taking a tour of the park in electrical cars, Nedry killed the power to the entire park so that he can escape. Since the dinosaur cages are ran by electricity, all the dinosaurs were set free. The visitors fight for there lives as they try to escape to escape the park. People go missing and even killed, but there is one question where did Nedry and the Velociraptors go?



Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton was a very gruesome and suspenseful novel. It was similar to the movie in some ways, but there were a lot major differences. In the movie, parts of the book were cut out, and replaced with other ideas for the movies. Although it is similar to the movie, it is still a good read even if you haven't seen the movie. The book and movie to me seem like to different stories, but with the same characters. Overall, this book was fantastic and I didn't see one flaw in the novel. I highly recommend this book for people who are interested in dinosaurs.

Reviewed by Phillip C., Grade
Montrose Library

Teen Speak said...

Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park is a captivating, beautifully written novel centered around the recreation of prehistoric dinosaurs to be put on display for the world to see in a zoo-like environment. A group of hand-picked paleontologists and a few others were given permission to visit the park, which is located on an island close to Costa Rica, before the park opened to the public. However, the group was not told of the purpose of the natural preserve, and upon arriving the group realizes the danger of such a park. The owner John Hammond, reassures that everything is under control and entirely supervised. A mathematician named Ian Malcolm warns that they are playing God, and that dinosaurs became extinct for a reason, and bringing them back to life is messing with the balance of nature. He is later proven to be correct, because later in the book everything in the park start to go horribly wrong, from undercover embezzlement, to electrical fences powering down. This results in the release of dinosaurs and the mix of species. The group suddenly becomes isolated due to the power shut down and struggles to survive.

When I first read this book, I was in awe of the idea that bioengineering technology could advance so much, that a discovery or experiment would be called into question because it seems immoral. What struck me now was the fact that the human race does not know limits. Humans do not understand that there is a delicate balance of nature that can potentially be destroyed because of their actions. Many people think of this novel simply a story of the revival of dinosaurs and how cool they are, but when they actually read it critically, they would understand the novel is saying more about the human race than the literal danger of dinosaurs. I would recommend this book to anyone who allows a book change the way they think, because I believe this story teaches a lesson that many pretentious materialistic people can benefit from.

Reviewed by Rutger W., Grade 12
Montrose Library

Teen Speak said...

The novel begins with a chain of events in South America, which involved attacks by strange reptiles. Off of the cost of Costa Rica, there is an island owned by a mysterious Bio-Genetic Research company where many lethal accidents have taken place during construction of milion dollar structures. It is revealed that a theme park is to be built on the island, its main attraction being live dinosaurs. A paleontologist, Dr. Grant, is hired to come to the island in order to convince a mathematician and a representative of of sponsors that the park is a good idea.
While the group is there, a spy from a competing company shuts down the system in order to steal multi-million dollar genetic material. This allows the dinosaurs to escape their habitats and hunt the humans. Dr. Grant and two children become the main focus of the story as they struggle to survive and escape the island. It is clear to everyone that the park was a bad idea, and human being should not play god by bringing creatures from another time into our modern reality.

I really liked this novel. It was very exciting and suspenseful. I also appreciated the scientific aspects and feel that they really added to the story; it was interesting how Crichton was able to explain how they were able to bring the dinosaurs back. I recommend this book for anyone interested in science fiction as well as thrill seekers.

Reviewed by Sean C., Grade 11
Montrose Library

Teen Speak said...

The book is about an archeologist named Alan Grant and his assistant Ellie Sattler. They get invited by a man named John Hammond to a park being open that instead of animals, its filled with dinosaurs. The park's name was the Jurassic Park. A bunch of other people comes with them too. They are all given a tour of the park until there is an outage causing the park to stop the tour. The power, however, removes the electric in the fence causing all the dinosaurs to escape. Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler, and two other kids work together to get out of the park.

My thoughts on the book are its one of the best science fiction novels I have ever read. The book has many suspenseful parts where you don't know who is going to survive. The book has a lot of action making it a very fun experience. If you are a person who loves action and suspenseful movies, this is for you. I would especially recommend this book for people who like dinosaurs. The book talks a lot about dinosaurs and the science behind it. This book is very deep too and it made me think that greed can lead to your downfall. Another thing this book made me think is that smartness is a key to survival instead of wondering around.

Reviewed by Irfan Y., Grade 9
Downtown Central Library

Teen Speak said...

Dr. Hammond, a genetic engineer, created a world where science and entertainment collide. Over time, Hammond was able to create a theme park with dinosaurs, whose DNA was recovered through the blood of mosquitoes locked in fossilized amber. Now that his park is complete, he invited the skeptical lawyer Gennaro, the mathematician Dr. Ian Malcolm, the two paleontologists Dr. Grant and Sattler, and his grandchildren Tim and Lexie. Throughout the novel Ian Malcolm warns Hammond what the park, Jurassic Park, will not be successful, but his statements get ignored. As their stay extends, things seem to go wrong. With dinosaurs loose on the grounds, the characters must survive against the ferocious beasts.

This became my favorite book of all time. The vocabulary Cricton uses is beautiful. His words put you in the shoes of the characters. The story keeps you on your toes and will ultimately make you cry at the end. You fall in love with the characters, the scenery, and even some of the dinosaurs. Crichton explains real scientific theories that pull you deeper into the topics of genetic engineering and paleontology. This is for anyone who likes thrillers, factual science fiction novels, and sarcastic characters.

Reviewed by Stacey, Grade 11
Pacific Park Library

Melissa said...

When mysterious creature known for being responsible for recent attacks on children suddenly attacks a young girl, many scientists from around the world rush to identify what the creature captured in a form of a drawing by the girl is. One lab technician believes it to be a dinosaur and sends a fax of the creature's skeleton to known paleontologist, Dr. Alan Grant. The search pauses after the owner of InGen, Mr. John Hammond flies Dr. Grant and Dr. Ellie Sattler to the island of Isla Nublar to look at a recent project of his. Along with mathematician Ian Malcom, and the two grandchildren of Hammond, the group finds out that InGen had created a prehistoric zoo, filled with many different types of dinosaurs. As Dr. Malcom warns of the consequences by "Chaos Theory", a computer programmer shuts down all the park's systems, hence turning off the electric fences, allowing the dinosaurs to roam freely around the park. Now the group must find a way to restore all power, as well as survive in Jurassic Park.

As someone who has watched the film adaptation of Jurassic Park by Steven Spielberg many times, I would definitely recommend any Jurassic Park fan to read this novel at least once. I really liked the differences between the novel and the film adaptation, which adds to the suspense and makes you wonder "What could possibly happen next?". I really liked how the the author even wrote about and explained different scientific theories that gave a deeper dive into the science of cloning and genetic engineering. It is the perfect novel for any readers that are interested in or are looking for a book that combines adventure, suspense, science, thrill, and most importantly, dinosaurs. I really enjoyed reading this novel, and it has become one of the best science fiction novels I have ever read.

Reviewed by SG, Grade 9
Grandview Library