‘The planet has survived everything, in its time. It will certainly survive us...’
Because of the huge success of the film adaptation of Michael Crichton’s seminal novel, Jurassic Park, it is impossible now to view the source material as a standalone piece of work. I defy anyone not to read Ian Malcolm’s lengthy monologues from the book without doing so in the cadence of Jeff Goldblum. It can’t be done. This is not to the detriment of the book, in fact, it could be argued that it enhances it, but there are some major differences between book and film that are worth exploring in more depth…
The basic premise is the same. A misguided billionaire has built a theme park with dinosaurs and he wants to show off to a pair of palaeontologists and a mathematician. Due to man’s hubris, however, things quickly start to derail leading to death and destruction. The differences are in the nuances.
Obviously as a novel is more of a long form medium than cinema, Crichton is able to really delve into the science behind Jurassic Park. His great strength is the ability to take complicated concepts and ideas and present them in a way that a layman could understand. As someone who is very much a layman in nearly every aspect of my life, I found what could have been an academic text to be a light and breezy read.
Perhaps the biggest difference between the two versions of the story is the characterisation of park creator John Hammond. In the film, as played by Richard Attenborough, Hammond is an avuncular, enthusiastic figure who is eventually undone by his own naivety. In the book, Hammond is unambiguously a villain. While this may seem a minor alteration, it actually changes the whole complexion of the story. This is hammered home by Malcolm’s lengthy diatribes about the misuse of science (the character is Crichton’s mouthpiece), and this results in a novel that may be too didactic for some (I found these moments to be some of the most effective in the book, but they would no doubt be co-opted into some tiresome culture war were the book to be released fresh today), but one that is ultimately captivating throughout.
Jurassic Park is different enough from Spielberg’s masterful adaptation to merit a read for any long time fans of the franchise and it also serves as an effective introduction to one of science fiction’s most compelling modern writers.