Wednesday, June 25, 2014

The Lost World By Michael Crichton (Book Review)

The Lost World is the first book by Michael Crichton that I've read. I don't know if this is fortunate or unfortunate but I wasn't impressed by it. If I'm to give it a score from the choices of "bad, good, and great", The Lost World would be in the space between bad and good. If you score it either way, that's totally fine with me. If you score it "great", it's still fine with me but I will have to question the criteria you use in determining a great book from a good one.

The Lost World has its strong points. One, it stirs excitement. After all, it's a novel by a writer considered by many as one of the masters of action and suspense. And of course, it's a book about dinosaurs. It would be a complete shame if you write a novel starring dinosaurs that would turn out to be a dull read.

Two, Crichton has done his research. I'm not a dinosaur expert so I can't vouch on the accuracy of the information in the book but they are presented in a sciency manner which one would think can only be done by a person who has done his research.

And three, The Lost World is good material in encouraging interest in science especially among young readers. I would've loved this book very much if I'm still in my teens.

Now, to the bad parts. I'll just use a numbered list for easier reading.

1) The book is rife with flaws in logic. All throughout, I found myself questioning a character's decision or course of action. One of the most blatant deviation from logic in the book is the part where some of the characters go out of their way to return a baby raptor to its nest. This is after witnessing the baby raptor's parents tear a man to pieces and feed him to their young. No matter how courageous a person you are, you wouldn't attempt such a suicidal mission.

2) The plot is too simple. Really, the book is just about groups of humans going into an island and being hunted down by dinosaurs.

The Lost World was published in 1995. It was adapted into a movie by Steven Spielberg in 1997.