Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton

⭐8/10

This is the book that launched the Jurassic Park franchise, where it all began. Before they were pumping out movies that were written in one afternoon, they were a series of hard sci-fi novels where the author clearly went to great lengths to get the science right. 

If you've watched the first Jurassic Park, it is pretty clear that this story is a thought-out process, and I think that's why audiences responded so well. You get a cartoony science lesson all about amber extraction and DNA splicing and stuff. The park creators talk all about the safeguards in place and you get a look at investments and motivations. It's a lesson on corporate greed and the regulation of scientific experimentation. It's a blockbuster movie with a ton of depth. After reading it was clear to me that all of this depth was created by an author with an attention to detail...

In fact, he probably has too much attention to detail. While reading, I researched the author and couldn't believe the life he lived. He was a Harvard Med grad who's writing was already so successful that he chose a life of fame and riches over a life of just riches. He's super smart, and it shows, but unfortunately it feels at times that he's trying to prove he's smart. So much science that I just couldn't care less about. At one point we'll have a great chapter about kids surviving a velociraptor, and the next we get reems dedicated to talking about DNA and the theorized mating habits of the apatosarus. It sometimes feels like he can't get out of his own way. 

I get that the author didn't want to write a silly action-packed book, but I do think he could have used a strict editor to tell him when the technical stuff was getting out of hand. Don't get me wrong - it's great at times, adds to the immersion, and makes you feel genuinely smart for reading. But yeah, after the climax, there is another chapter of the main archeologist going back in because he wants to see how many eggs are in the nest of raptors, as if the audience didn't want to stop reading until we knew the answer to that question.

So it's a bit hard to rate this book. When it's good, it's good. Even the technical aspects are good at times and I appreciate them. But this book is entirely too long, and I'm glad it got the Spielberg treatment, giving us the highlights and letting the rest fall to the cutting room floor. It's a good book, but this is one of those rare instances where I'd just say watch the movie.