Jurassic Park - A Review
"What! Is it a book?", "I have seen the movie.", "Why read the book? I will watch the film instead." The most common reactions I receive when I tell someone I read Jurassic Park.
Written in 1990, Jurassic Park is a science fiction novel by Michael Crichton. It is regarded as one of the best-written books in the sub-genre of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology. Within a year of its launch, the movie’s pre-production had already begun (Americans never let a New York Times Bestseller remain just a book!!!). Even though the movie was a blockbuster, it didn’t serve justice to the book (as book purists are often found saying). The movie visually appealed to the masses so much that the franchise is growing even today, with sequels lined-up for release, the latest coming in 2022, Jurassic World: Dominion.
“God creates dinosaurs; God kills dinosaurs, God creates man, man kills God, man brings back dinosaurs.”
When greed surpasses man, nature takes control. What started as an amusement park ends into an amusement by nature. John Hammond, a Billionaire businessman and founder of International Genetics Technologies (InGen), wishes to create an amusement park in Isla Nublar Island, Costa Rica. Not an ordinary park, but one with dinosaurs, a Jurassic Park. Dinosaurs, beings that existed during the Jurassic period of the Mesozoic era 201 million years ago (Thank you! EES101), were going to roam on the earth. AGAIN! How is it even possible to bring them back? The answer is simple - Genetic Engineering. Extracting dinosaur DNA from their blood in insects fossilized in amber and filling the gaps with avian, reptilian, and amphibian DNA. And boom! You get your genetically engineered dinosaur.
When they grow up, accidents start occurring in the park. The investors of the project worry about the safety (and, of course, their investments). But Hammond assures them that the park is safe. He calls a paleontologist, a paleobotanist, and a mathematician (along with Hammond's grandchild) to investigate the park. And, of course, their visit comes when there is a storm coming (not metaphoric).
“Welcome...to Jurassic Park!”
Paleontologist, Alan Grant, who happens to be the protagonist, spent his life unearthing fossilized dinos and studying whatever he may get from them, even their social behavior, is hyped by this chance to see actual dinosaurs walking past him. Ellie, a paleobotanist who accompanied Grant, is also surprised by this biotechnological development.
You may understand the role of paleontologist and paleobotanist in auditing the park, but why a mathematician? (To count the number of dinosaurs in the park, probably?) No. But this is where things get interesting. Just like no one can anticipate the oasis of wind, no one can predict what factors may shape a living being's behavior. Scientifically speaking, it is the sensitivity to the initial conditions which determine the behavior of a phenomenon. The study of this is the "Chaos Theory.” Ian Malcolm (my favorite character), a mathematician, pessimistic about the park even before its creation, envisioned using this theory that the park will not sustain. He said that the park was a more straightforward system that tries to control the beings of much-sophisticated nature. It will definitely collapse. And does his prediction come true? (Of course, it does. Then what was the point of writing the book?)
In an exciting turn of events, the park’s chief programmer plans a coup with InGen's rival plants a bug in the surveillance system's code and tries to flee with the dinosaur gene specimen developed in the labs. But he and his plans meet a tragic end. And who bears the consequences of his greed? Of course, our protagonist(s) who are on a park tour at the same time. The security systems being shut and the fences that kept dinosaurs away broken down due to the bug, it was time for an ‘amusement’ by the park. Most of the species bred here were harmless herbivores and the air-borne who were kept captive in the aviary. But there was the ferocious Tyrannosaurus Rex or more famously known as the T.Rex, which was on the loose. Following his ancient instinct of hunting and earning his meal, he charts the uncharted ecosystem of the 1990s. And not to miss out on the speediest of dinosaurs, the Velociraptors (which by the way are still showcased by the movie-franchise) who also welcome the ‘guests’ with open claws. Alan, Ellie, Malcolm, Hammond’s grandchildren (who also happen to be there on some ‘purpose’) face the dinosaurs’ horrific torment. The night of nightmares and the horrifying massacre by the T.Rex (The part of the book, I don’t wish to disclose) will keep a reader glued to the book until the end.
“Life breaks free. Life expands to new territories. Painfully and perhaps even dangerously. But life finds a way.”
Decrypting the message of the book brings us to the reality of our lives. We cannot control everything. How much ever we try, we can not. Then who can? Is it God? For a believer, it is. But for an atheist who demands evidence, it is nature. Our laws do not govern nature. Laws were made only to understand it. Nature is, in essence, "chaotic.” And when someone tries to supersede it, nature has its way of restoring its superiority. Centuries of evolution made us capable of what we are today. It might be a lot of time for us, but it is just a wink of an eye for the earth. We cannot just alter a gene sequence, create an organism, and establish our supremacy over it. These beings grew in an environment that was completely different from today's, starting from the vegetation to the nitrogen concentration in the atmosphere was different. Their basic instinct was to hunt and eat. They were not supposed to be petted like a dog.
Geneticists at InGen cloned all-female dinosaurs to resist them from reproducing. All the specimens were cloned lysine-deficient so that they are dependent for their subsistence on food that the park provided and cannot survive even if they escape the island of Isla Nublar. And yet, somehow, the dinosaurs managed to reproduce and become independent for their needs (another spoiler). No matter how much we try to get control, nature will always be above us.
“You know, at times like this one feels, well, perhaps extinct animals should be left extinct.”
Another lesson learned from this book is that children are annoying and also may get you killed. Some say children are the flowers in God's garden. But in this case, they are poisonous flowers, and there are two. Whenever there is a mention of a child in any mystery/horror book, it straightly indicates trouble. Hammond’s grandchildren who come to visit the park act as a catalyst to create more chaos. Their sole ‘purpose’ was to create havoc. They prove to be of help near the climax, but after 300 pages of their shrieking and crying, you just want to get rid of them.
Talking about the movie, it is a great visual treat. Accompanied with the 90's CGI technologies, it is an American classic. It is not possible to pack a 450-page book into 126 minutes of audio-visuals. Thus it misses fine (and even more exciting) details. But it provides one experience the book can’t, the acoustics. A full-sized T.Rex roaring in all its might, what a (scary) sight!
The book has been written way ahead of its time. DNA splicing technologies, CRAY supercomputers, island-wide surveillance system, and a lot of such things. The
research and details the writer put into writing the story are fabulous. The book is an amalgamation of mystery, suspense, and a lot of horror. If you read the book first, I am sure you will be pointing out mistakes in the movie half of the time. You will lose most of the thrill if you watch the movie first (Proceed at your own will! ), but you would visualize it better while reading the book. The book might give you nightmares for days. Even a meow-ing cat may scare you out (Not even kidding!).
"You ready to live dangerously?"
- Hardik Kuralkar