MovieChat Forums > Jurassic Park (1993) Discussion > Let's be honest, the book is terrible

Let's be honest, the book is terrible

posted 2 years ago by agaete2305 (366)
55 replies | jump to latest

I've tried to read the book 3 times... and I can't finish it.
I think it's very poorly written, things happen fast, the author doesn't pause to describe the characters, the emotions of the characters or WORST OF ALL, he doesn't stop to describe the dinosaurs (the stars of the story), basically he write "it's tall, with big teeth and it's green". The author stops more times to describe the graphics of a death (talking even about the steam that comes out of the intestines of a victim who was recently attacked by a velociraptor).
Not to mention the pages and pages when the characters try to hack the system to get it back online... (did he really stop to type every command and error in the computer???)
Also, Lex is unbearable.
End of statement

[–] FilmBuff (6699) 2 years ago

I may have to reread the book. I read it when it was new, and recall enjoying it, but have not revisited it since. I didn't care for either of the two Jurassic Park films that I watched, so who's to say what I'll make of the book all these years later.

[–] HarrySkywalker (504) 3 months ago

I didn't care for either of the two Jurassic Park films that I watched

So we can't take you seriously at all.

[–] FilmBuff (6699) 3 months ago

Assuming you only take people seriously who agree with you, then I suppose you can't.

[–] HarrySkywalker (504) 3 months ago

No. Anyone who claims that "doesn't care for the Jurassic Park movies" has terrible taste in movies and can not be taken seriously at all.

[–] Enigmaticocean77 (2123) 20 days ago

I know that you don't understand this but whether or not a person likes a movie comes down to one's own personal taste. It has nothing to do with what you think a good movie is.

[–] HarrySkywalker (504) 20 days ago

I know that you don't understand this, it's very hard to you.

But... not liking masterpieces shows that same person can't be taken seriously regarding this matter.

Capiche?

[–] Enigmaticocean77 (2123) 18 days ago

You are just closed minded to your own point of view.

[–] HarrySkywalker (504) 18 days ago

You are just closed minded because you can't use your own head.

[–] Enigmaticocean77 (2123) 17 days ago

https://tenor.com/view/the-pee-wee-herman-show-paul-reubens-i-know-you-are-but-what-am-i-gif-4783671

[–] HarrySkywalker (504) 17 days ago

https://tenor.com/view/the-pee-wee-herman-show-paul-reubens-i-know-you-are-but-what-am-i-gif-4783671

[–] Enigmaticocean77 (2123) 15 days ago

https://tenor.com/view/the-pee-wee-herman-show-paul-reubens-i-know-you-are-but-what-am-i-gif-4783671

[–] HarrySkywalker (504) 15 days ago

https://tenor.com/view/the-pee-wee-herman-show-paul-reubens-i-know-you-are-but-what-am-i-gif-4783671

[–] Enigmaticocean77 (2123) 14 days ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN0T5tyJlo8

[–] HarrySkywalker (504) 14 days ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN0T5tyJlo8

[–] mcqueen (1150) 2 years ago

lol, MC was a terrific writer

[–] MovieChatUser497 (18943) 2 years ago

I read the book a few summers ago, I enjoyed it, I finished it in about 5 days or so.

And wasn’t Lex like a 7 year old girl? Do you seriously expect her to be freaking John Rambo and just start mowing down dinosaurs left and right?

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7414) 2 years ago

I disagree. I have listened to the book several times on an audio book I did myself. I also enjoy the scenes from it that aren't in the movie. Like how the computers track the dinosaurs and then Grant finds a tiny shell from a dinosaur egg while on the tour.

Then Malcolm asks them to search for more dinosaurs and they find out through that they are breeding.

Or the scene with the T-Rex swimming in deep water. Or the scene where Grant, Tim, and Lex go into the Terridactal area and get attacked by them.

But whatever to each their own.

[–] Naptown317Native (524) 2 years ago

Maybe you're younger and you kids are just too lazy to read.

[–] Kawada_Kira (7269) 2 years ago

The book is fantastic. Has a few little flaws (like the way Lex is portrayed), but the first time I picked up the book I wasn't able to put it down until I finished it. I read the whole thing all through one night. Couldn't stop.

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8306) 2 years ago

Been a while since I last read the book, but you are now the second person (after the OP) to complain about Lex. Remind me, what was bad about the way she was written?

[–] Kawada_Kira (7269) 2 years ago

It's been some time since I last read it, but from what I recall Lex was written in such a way that she had little personality other than whining and complaining a lot. The ages of the children were switched between the book and the movie, so in the book Lex was younger than Tim. Crichton, for all his brilliance as a writer, seems to have been kind of sexist and had some issues with how to write about female characters. So he just made Lex the annoying little girl who whines a lot and contributes nothing while Tim had all the brains in addition to the dinosaur knowledge. One of the improvements made by the movie was that it gave Lex more personality and ways to contribute more to the story. In the movie, Lex was generally intelligent although not well-informed about dinosaurs, while Tim was the dinosaur expert of the two. In the book, Tim had both the brains and the dinosaur knowledge while Lex had neither and was just kind of there. The movie did it better IMO.

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8306) 2 years ago

Do you remember if Lex in the book had any of the computer knowledge she had in the movie?

[–] Kawada_Kira (7269) 2 years ago

No, that went to Tim in the book.

[–] Karl Aksel (1453) 2 years ago

I haven't read the book, but...

I think it's very poorly written, things happen fast, the author doesn't pause to describe the characters, the emotions of the characters or WORST OF ALL, he doesn't stop to describe the dinosaurs (the stars of the story), basically he write "it's tall, with big teeth and it's green".

This is a criticism you could level against a great number of books, and it is absolutely a valid criticism. When I read the above, one example immediately leapt to mind: The Hobbit. We get no descriptions of elves or goblins at all, very bare-bones descriptions of hobbits and dwarves, and I've often wondered what it must have been like reading this book when it was brand-spanking new - Tolkien is pretty much the father of the high fantasy genre, and when I picture goblins/orcs or elves it certainly isn't from vivid descriptions from The Hobbit, because there aren't any. The Hobbit is essentially an adventure featuring Bilbo Baggins, and... a bunch of dwarves. And Gandalf, a bit. It took me forever to finish it precisely because it was so bland and uninteresting, character-wise. Character development really is quite important, even in a book about goblins, dragons or dinosaurs.

[–] MillerJones (467) 2 years ago

You must be reading a different book to myself maybe the version you have is adaption of the movie not the original.