Dinosaur Danger!

Dinosaurs are fascinating. When I first saw Jurassic Park in 1993 I was in awe. The sights and sounds of an extinct creature held my attention as much as it did the characters in the film. So, finally, after all of these years, I picked up the novel. Michael Crichton, I have discovered, has a way with building a story around numerous characters, and though many of them are secondary, they are all integral to the plot in some way. The book is quite similar in most ways to the first two films of the series, but there were some differences in the relationships (Ellie is Grant's student and engaged to a doctor; Ed Regis does not exist in the film though Gennaro takes on some of his role in the film; Henry Wu is a lot more involved in the book as are some of the other minor characters from the movie; the kids' ages are reversed). One thing that stands out in both the movie and the film is how no one ever blames Nedry for everything falling apart, not even Crichton. If it weren't for him, the park would have been potentially safe, but because of his greed and idiocy. . .I also appreciate the dynamic of the relationships in the movie better and wish there had been a lot more positive emotion between the characters in the book. I must say I was surprised by the way the story ended too; it's not as happy for a few reasons. I liked the book, but I wanted more emotions out of the characters. Crichton tends to be pretty philosophical and it runs out into his characters quite a bit.