JP

#4: Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton

It was only a few short years ago that I finally picked up this book. The movie was one of my absolute favorites growing up, and there were a few semesters in high school where I literally watched it every day while I did my homework.

I may have been a bit obsessed.

The book... was more than I ever imagined.

1.Thriller/Sci-Fi

Despite what some people may tell you, Jurassic Park is a semi-horror book. That classifies it as a thriller, in case you weren't sure. It's not terrifying enough to be horror, but it's too tense to be anything less than thriller.

Crichton is good at these. In fact, I might go so far as to say that they were his forte. If you've read any of his novels, you'll understand what I mean.

In my opinion, Crichton is the most successful author at blending the thriller genre with science fictional themes. Dinosaurs aren't exactly the talk of the town, most of the time.

Somehow, Crichton manages to blend the two together and make readers forget that the whole premise is science fiction. In reading this book, I imagine that everything is indeed real, that there is an island out there where dinosaurs were made and thrive.

That's the mark of an excellent writer, and it's a benchmark many of us are trying to reach.

3. Science

This is what keeps drawing me back to Crichton:

I learn something every time I read his work. Even if it's my second time through.

He masterfully blends reality with his fictional world, while including enough real-world information that you're almost guaranteed to learn something along the way. It's not just any writer who can do that. Most of us have a hard time getting anyone to read our exposition, much less getting them to enjoy reading scientific data.

Crichton, on the other hand, does so without batting an eye.


That's what made Jurassic Park #4 on my list.

[love]

{Rani Divine}