i found this at the thrift shop for 50 cents. i knew the author because we read another one of his books called sphere in my english honors class and thought i'd give it a try.

this book is amazing. you know every book has dumb blurbs on the cover about how you won't be able to put it down blah blah blah? and usually it's never true.
it totally is with this book. i read so much pretentious shit, that i've actually forgotten how fun reading can be.
it's like reading stephen king's first bunch of novels (up to and including the dead zone) when i was a kid.

the book is about a company that has cloned dinosaurs from their DNA, and has built a sort of dinosaur zoo on a small, secluded island of the coast of costa rica. there's t-rex, stegosaurus, triceratops along with nasty creatures called velociraptors.

the park is still a secret and set to open soon, but the investors are worried it's unsafe. so they invite a handful of scientists (a paleontologist, as paleobotanist, a mathematician, a computer expert) for a sort of inspection.

i'm basically at that part now, and can't wait to read more see what happens.
so far the dinosaurs are all locked up, but you can tell they're going to escape.

one scene with the velociraptors (which were actually real dinosaurs) has really whetted my appetite.
the humans go to see them, and the dinosaurs strategically hunt them. even though they were still locked up at this point, it was quite unsettling.

what makes this book even scarier is that it could really happen. my one complaint is that i think it was irresponsible of the author to describe how dinosaurs are cloned in such a detailed way. it's like if somebody writes a novel that describes how to build a bomb or make meth. sure, it's part of the story, but you never know who's going to read it and get ideas.

other than that, i highly recommend this book.

i just called up my uncle who teaches high school science, and he said that based on my description alone, he's going to offer it to his students as an extra credit assignment.

Velociraptors were made up. Not the name, the actual description of the dino. Deinonychus are real and are more what he was describing... My bro was a dinosaur nut when he was 5 and that was when I saw the film.

Pretty sure everyone watched the film, too. I have the book. It's best.

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From wiki:

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i'm sorry to come in here and be the unnecessary cynical one, but michael chrichtons writing annoys me all ends.

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Maybe you could send him like a coat hanger or soup mix in the mail with a post it-
"when you paint with your eyes closed, you never become picasso, you just become an ironic narcissist with uncomfortable shades".
Throwing people off is thrilling.

-ktlr

ok, i'll elaborate a little.

you said that what you find scary is that it could 'really happen', we read another book called 'next' by him that was based on this concept. if you like jurassic prk you should probably read it.

the pseudo science over the top 'the world is going to end' thing really irritates me. it feels sensationalist. His books are written so that you get hooked into them and taken along for a ride. but really, it's only a ride. i like some more depth.
sure he looks into some ethical debates etc. but they're so overexaggerated i feel they're only really there to somehow validate the action that is happening.

i'm not so good at explaining my beef with michael chrichton etc. but that's almost it.

fuckmefred, i studied the book 'next' and michael chrichton at uni for a week. it was for a class called 'popular fictions and popular culture'. i can upload the lecture notes and stuff if you're interested?

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Maybe you could send him like a coat hanger or soup mix in the mail with a post it-
"when you paint with your eyes closed, you never become picasso, you just become an ironic narcissist with uncomfortable shades".
Throwing people off is thrilling.

-ktlr

thanks, that sounds interesting. don't worry if it's too much of a hassle though.

ah crap, i just looked and the subject isn't offered until semester two, so i can't access the powerpoints.
sorry for the false hope!
and also for raining on your thread.

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Maybe you could send him like a coat hanger or soup mix in the mail with a post it-
"when you paint with your eyes closed, you never become picasso, you just become an ironic narcissist with uncomfortable shades".
Throwing people off is thrilling.

-ktlr

no problem. thanks for offering.

i've actually never read the book but i love the movie haha
i've read another book by him though called 'prey' which (if i remember correctly...) was about these swarms of tiny electronic bugs. it was okay - fast paced enough for an action type of book to not be boring, if that makes sense. lol

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i think there may be something on my head.

i liked jurassic park and the lost world

the rest of his books i could do without.