Reading Jurassic Park left me more eager than I had expected to read the sequel, so, having a few hours to kill travelling, I picked up The Lost World. Oops.
Instead of picking up where the first book had left us - dinosaurs migrating into the mountains of Central America - this wanders ... Read review
Contemporary / American English (Available April 2008) Six years ago the dinosaurs were ... more
destroyed and Jurassic Park was closed. But now people are finding dead animals again - are they dinosaurs? Dr. Levine is going to find out. On Isla Sorna, off the coast of Costa Rica, he and his friends find themselves in a lost world.
Advantages: More of the same, pacey action Disadvantages: Basicaly a less-good rehash of Jurassic Park
...I had expected to read the sequel, so, having a few hours to kill travelling, I picked up The Lost World. Oops.
Instead of picking up where the first book had left us - dinosaurs migrating into the mountains of Central America - this wanders off in a totally unexpected direction - the 'secret lab' island that was apparently the flip side to the shiny science showcase of the original island. I deduce from other people's comments that ... ...does feel that having had the one blockbuster success, this was intended to hone the formula - another dinosaur infested island, another mixed bag of scientists drawn together by circumstance, and two more young kids, including a precocious dinosaur mad boy for the film audience to identify with. Actually it's the kids that grate most - crow-barred in to the story as they are: at least the kids in the first book had a plausible reason for being there, ... more
Reading Jurassic Park left me more eager than I had expected to read the sequel, so, having a few hours to kill travelling, I picked up The Lost World. Oops.
Instead of picking up where the first book had left us - dinosaurs migrating into the mountains of Central America - this wanders off in a totally unexpected direction - the 'secret lab' island that was apparently the flip side to the shiny science showcase of the original island. I deduce from other people's comments that this is a follow on to the film, not the book. Unfortunately it does feel that having had the one blockbuster success, this was intended to hone the formula - another dinosaur infested island, another mixed bag of scientists drawn together by circumstance, and two more young kids, including a precocious dinosaur mad boy for the film audience to identify with. Actually it's the kids that grate most - crow-barred in to the story as they are: at least the kids in the first book had a plausible reason for being there, and didn't come with some off-the-peg lessons about self esteem. The action is all you might expect, but the characterisation and dialogue is a bit thin, especially once they reach the island - perversely the 'introductory' chapters are the more interesting.
On this occasion the trip to the island is precipitated by the obsessions of a young and independently wealthy scientist, determined to find a 'lost word' where evolution has stood still. His exploits are spiced up with some strong-arm competition from the unethical genetics company whose attempts at espionage triggered the original chain of disastrous events. Some of the action sequences are excellent - steaming T-Rex eggs, and escaping from cliff tops and raptors are all great scenes - the only problem being that they feel like scenes written with more than half an eye on the film rites.
I wasn't expecting much when I read the first book, which was a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately this sequel was all I had imagined the first book to be - uninvolving characters, made-for-the-movies action sequences, and a plot that reworks the first book, only less well. I'd never read Michael Chricton before these two novels, and I should have stopped with Jurassic Park. A disappointment - this should have been something so much better.
Advantages: An inceredibly clever sequel. Disadvantages: The film has done irreversible damage to the credit of the novel.
...NOT MISTAKE THIS BOOK FOR THE FILM!
The film, admittedly is terrible. It was a much eagerly anticipated sequel to the film, "Jurassic Park", but the storyline was poor, the action concepts were pathetic, and the ending, well, what was Spielberg thinking? It disappointed everyone, including myself, especially so, as I had already read the book "The Lost World" in anticipation of the film. Quite frankly I wish I had not seen the film as it is a disgrace ... ...of people off of reading the book and the excellent ideas behind the original "Jurassic Park".
It is such a shame that the book has been over-shadowed by the poor quality of the movie. The book "The Lost World", in a similar way to my review of "Jurassic Park" as a novel, is completely different to the film. The storyline continues from the wreckage at the end of the book "Jurassic Park", and follows in strict accordance to create an amazing sequel ...
Nicola21 22.04.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Lost World - Michael Crichton
Advantages: Doesn't require any thought Disadvantages: Written for cinema
In the wake of Jurassic Park’s phenomenal cinematic success, Crichton knew that a sequel would sell by the shed-load whatever it was like, so effort doesn’t seem to have been high on the agenda. The original Jurassic Park was far better as a book than as a film, combining intelligent scientific and ethical discussion with an accessible explanation of chaos theory and even more dark suspense than the slightly sanitised screen version. The Lost World, ... ...cinema in mind. The complicated science stuff is out, unlikely stowaway brats and sensationalist chases are in. Characters are simple, plot is just more of the same 'oh look there's a dinosaur, let's run away' stuff. I’d recommend the first book, which is highly original and thought-provoking, but there’s not much to be gained from bothering with this light, cash-in-on-the-film sequel. Michael Crichton can do a lot better than this. The question ...
Caro_R 29.07.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of The Lost World - Michael Crichton
Advantages: Fast pace - great action sequences Disadvantages: Doesn't really offer a lot new
...set of slavering dinosaurs on the loose - in short, very much a re-run of Jurassic Park.
However judged on its own merits, the book is a very entertaining read nonetheless. Plenty of interesting scientific discourse about dinosaurs in the first third of the novel, and some hugely exciting action sequences in the rest of it (stealing giant eggs from a T-Rex next, fending off raptor attacks). If you enjoyed Jurassic Park, you'll enjoy this. Its just ...
Karaoke_James 19.07.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of The Lost World - Michael Crichton
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Advantages: Deeply Intriguing. Will have you Inspired, with your own Chaos theories! Disadvantages: None really
is what makes the book so much better than the film. The book also includes scenes not shown in the film and a slight variation on the ending, which I prefer to the film. The thrill of the main story is also very well written.
If you enjoyed the film definetly read this, If you didn't read this anyway it anyway, you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Verdict - I found it hard to put down even when reading it the second time. A great read, much better than the film, which is also very good.
If you have enjoyed this then you will also enjoy MichaelCrichtons sequel 'The LostWorld' ...
Advantages: An extremely precise robbery planning with in-depths of the victorian society Disadvantages: maybe a little too short and slightly different from real facts
When I first saw this novel for sale on a stand of used books I already knew MichaelCrichton a bit. I loved his two most famous novels Jurassic Park and The LostWorld and also his film Westworld.
He's quite a good writer, one of the few who really deserves the "best seller" title.
The title of the novel imediately rang a bell but I wasn't too sure. I recalled a film with Sean Connery about a train robbery and just happens that I was right, there is also a film adaptation which is quite entertaining too.
-------------------Anyway, what is this book about?
It is the story of the Great Gold Robbery of 1855, a massive gold heist, first in history to take place on a moving train (when trains were still a novelty), planned by a gentleman-thief named Pierce and his accomplices.
The robbery was over a year in the planning ...
I always like MichaelCrichton's fictions. I have read his most famous - Jurassic Park, The LostWorld, and Congo. Most of his fictions have been brought to the big screen. After reading this fiction, the first thing in my mind about this book is - "The best adventure about new technologies but in an ancient history environment."
The story is about a company which utilizes the modern technologies and knowledge that deal with quantum physics to travel back to the ancient world. To be more clarified, it is not time travelling but travelling among other universe which are parallel to each other. Well it sounds very complicated indeed. However Michael makes it easier to understand with a lot of interesting examples.
Five historians, Kate, Chris, Marek, Stern and Professor Edwards are the main characters in this fiction. Each of them ...
Product Information for "The Lost World - Michael Crichton" »
Product details
Type
Fiction
Genre
Science Fiction
Title
The Lost World
Author
Michael Crichton
ISBN
0099240629; 0099637812
Manufacturer's product description
With the highest grossing film in cinema history, "Jurassic Park" invented the word "dinomania" which swept the country in 1993. Now, the events prefaced in the epilogue to that novel are explored in this sequel.
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