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A review by oashackelford
The Lost World by Michael Crichton
5.0
After the catastrophic events of Jurassic Park, Ian Malcom would like nothing more than to pretend that dinosaurs were never brought back from extinction, and that he hurt his leg some other way. However, when his acquaintance, Richard Levine, starts bringing him evidence that there are dinosaurs on another island in Costa Rica he feels that he must investigate.
Richard Levine is sure that he has found evidence of a Lost World, a world untouched by humanity where he can observe dinosaurs in their native habitat and finally answer paleontology's biggest questions.
I love that bad characters often get their comeuppance in Crichton's novels. I think that it might be one of my favorite things about reading his Jurassic Park books, that all of the really awful characters cannot seem to escape the dinosaurs.
Once again I think that the book outlines the dangers of hubris in man. I think that every time mankind seems to think that they can control the dinosaurs, or tame them, or use them for their own evil misdeeds, they are swiftly and harshly reminded that the dinosaurs have no natural predators for a reason. I kind of like that Michael Crichton has only ever written two of these books because how many times does man need to be taught that the dinosaurs cannot be controlled and that we simply do not know enough about them.
I do wonder why Crichton uses kids in his books. I know that in the first one John Hammond was being selfish and using the kids as a way to get the lawyers off of his back, but in this one it felt like the kids were there so that the adults would have someone to save. I did appreciate that Sarah Harding's character is tough, and not a damsel. Her character feels very real to me, in that she is tough, but it is a result of her work, and she is still feminine, but not in a helpless damsely way.
Once again, I think that the books outshine the movies. The books are able to give you more detail and dialogue than the movie reasonably can, but it is also the reason that they are more satisfying. The Lost World is a very cathartic read and one I would highly recommend for any reader.
Richard Levine is sure that he has found evidence of a Lost World, a world untouched by humanity where he can observe dinosaurs in their native habitat and finally answer paleontology's biggest questions.
I love that bad characters often get their comeuppance in Crichton's novels. I think that it might be one of my favorite things about reading his Jurassic Park books, that all of the really awful characters cannot seem to escape the dinosaurs.
Once again I think that the book outlines the dangers of hubris in man. I think that every time mankind seems to think that they can control the dinosaurs, or tame them, or use them for their own evil misdeeds, they are swiftly and harshly reminded that the dinosaurs have no natural predators for a reason. I kind of like that Michael Crichton has only ever written two of these books because how many times does man need to be taught that the dinosaurs cannot be controlled and that we simply do not know enough about them.
I do wonder why Crichton uses kids in his books. I know that in the first one John Hammond was being selfish and using the kids as a way to get the lawyers off of his back, but in this one it felt like the kids were there so that the adults would have someone to save. I did appreciate that Sarah Harding's character is tough, and not a damsel. Her character feels very real to me, in that she is tough, but it is a result of her work, and she is still feminine, but not in a helpless damsely way.
Once again, I think that the books outshine the movies. The books are able to give you more detail and dialogue than the movie reasonably can, but it is also the reason that they are more satisfying. The Lost World is a very cathartic read and one I would highly recommend for any reader.