The Lost World

The Lost World by Michael Crichton was a very adventurous and

suspenseful book.  This book is a perfect addition to Jurassic Park and

continues exactly where it left off.  It takes place on a remote island not far

from Isla Nubar (the last island) and was actually where the dinosaurs where

conceived and where they were checked against any diseases before being

shipped to the actual park.  But after the InGen corporation went bankrupt

and their owner suddenly "disappeared" in the park, this "Lost World" was

left behind because no one really knew about it.  Through the story, the

ingenious Ian Malcom along with his new friends, Dr. Levine, Arby, Kelly,

Eddie Carr, Dr. Thorne, and Sarah Harding, matches wits with the most

fearsome of the dinosaurs in their home territory and in his time period.  To

me, this was the perfect addition to his already fabulous collection of

writings.

The setting was on a remote island in Costa Rica which is part of a

chain of the five islands named somehow after death called Isla Muerte, Isla

Matanceros, Isla Pena, Isla Tacano, and of course Isla Sorna.  Isla Sorna is

the island where it all takes place in an overgrown InGen factory that runs on

sulfuric fumes.  One quote describing the island was "Thorne glimpsed

rugged, volcanic terrain, overgrown with dense jungle.

This book was actually packed with action, that is what kept me

reading it for such long periods at a time.  One very adventurous scene was

when Sarah and Kelly where chasing after the raptor which had the key

wrapped around it's mouth.  "They were now just three feet away.  Kelly

could smell the animal.  It turned it's head and snapped at them."  Another

exciting scene was when Eddie Carr was battling with the raptors on the high

hide and lost.  "One of the raptors caught the strut in its jaws and jerked it

hard.  Eddie lost his balance, twisted, and fell backward, toppling over the

side.  Immediately all the animals dropped to the ground.  They heard Eddie

screaming in the night."

The characterization in this story was also excellent, one character that

Chrichton went into deep detail was Eddie Carr.  "Eddie Carr was twenty-

four years old, raised in Daly City.  Physically, he was dark-haired, compact

and strong.  His body was thick, the muscles bunched, but his hands were

elegant, the fingers long and tapered.  The main antagonist in the story was

the dinosaurs or Man vs Nature, but since Man actually made these dinosaurs

the antagonist could also be Man vs himself.  One quote showing the

destruction of the dinosaurs was "the maiasaur tipped the jeep over.  The

vehicle crashed over on its side.  One of the adults reared up, and stood on

the side panels. Its huge feet crushed the vehicle inward.  Another interesting

scene was with the carnosaurs "the striped pattern on their skins was

replaced by the leafy pattern of the rhododendrons behind them.  Once again

the dinosaurs blended into invisibility."  One last quote had to deal with yet

again, another quarrel with the raptors.  "Thorne lunged, grabbed the end of

the cage nearest him.  The cage twisted, rolling Thorne onto his back.  He

found himself in a tug of war with the raptor-and the raptor was winning."

There was little symbolism in this story but one case of it was the

hostility the mother and father tyrannosaurs toward Malcom and Sarah

symbolized their love for their baby tyrannosaur.  "The female remained with

the baby for some moments, moving it, positioning it. Then the female roared

and the male roared back.  An then both animals charged the trailer at full

speed, racing across the clearing toward them.

The author's general view of human nature was greedy I think, and it

was visible though Lewis Dogdeson stealing the eggs.  Baselton asked

Dodgson "what kind of dinosaurs are these?" and Dodgson said "I have no

f@#king idea, and it doesn't make a difference, just follow the procedure."

This book was very excellent due to Crichton's stupendous writing

style.  Plus, due to the first book Jurassic Park, The Lost World's plot, theme,

and characters are all easy to relate to and identify with.  I just can't wait until

this movie comes to the theaters, because it will be dinosaur mania all over

again.