The Lost World [NOOK Book]

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Overview

"HARROWING THRILLS . . . FAST-PACED AND ENGAGING."
--People
It is now six years since the secret disaster at Jurassic Park, six years since the extraordinary dream of science and imagination came to a ...
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More About This Book

Overview

"HARROWING THRILLS . . . FAST-PACED AND ENGAGING."
--People
It is now six years since the secret disaster at Jurassic Park, six years since the extraordinary dream of science and imagination came to a crashing end--the dinosaurs destroyed, the park dismantled, the island indefinitely closed to the public.
There are rumors that something has survived. . . .
"ACTION-PACKED."
--New York Daily News
"FAST AND GRIPPING."
--The Washington Post Book World
"A VERY SCARY READ."
--Entertainment Weekly
"AN EDGE-OF-THE-SEAT TALE."
--St. Petersburg Times


From the Paperback edition.

This extraordinary book pairs two major talents of our time, the painter/sculptor/printmaker Jasper Johns and the bestselling novelist/filmmaker/physician Michael Crichton. Long considered to be the preeminent study of one of America's foremost living artists, this edition is completely revised, expanded, and updated. 417 illustrations, including 103 in full color.

Editorial Reviews

Mim Udovitch
"The Lost World" is Mr. Crichton's sequel to the enormously successful "Jurassic Park"....The plot is slower to start this time around, but it can afford to be, since, the mask of inherent unpredictability notwithstanding, we know what's coming. It is, however, substantially similar, and since its pleasures are those of a thriller, for review purposes let that suffice. -- New York Times
More Reviews (2) Fewer Reviews
From The Critics
One fact about this sequel to Jurassic Park stands out above all: it follows a book that, with spinoffs, including the movie, proved to be the most profitable literary venture ever. So where does the author of a near billion-dollar novel sit? Squarely on the shoulders of his own past work-and Arthur Conan Doyle's. Crichton has borrowed from Conan Doyle before-Rising Sun was Holmes and Watson in Japan-but never so brazenly. The title itself here, the same as that of Conan Doyle's yarn about an equatorial plateau rife with dinos, acknowledges the debt. More enervating are Crichton's self-borrowings: the plot line of this novel reads like an outtake from JP. Instead of bringing his dinos to a city, for instance, Crichton keeps them in the Costa Rican jungle, on an offshore island that was the secret breeding ground for the beasts. Only chaos theoretician Ian Malcolm, among the earlier principals, returns to explore this Lost World, six years after the events of JP; but once again, there's a dynamic paleontologist, a pretty female scientist and two cute kids, boy and girl-the latter even saves the day through clever hacking, just as in JP. Despite stiff prose and brittle characters, Chrichton can still conjure unparalleled dino terror, although the wonder is gone and the attacks are predictable, the pacing perfunctory. But his heart now seems to be not so much in the storytelling as in pedagogy: from start to finish, the novel aims to illustrate Crichton's ideas about extinction-basically, that it occurs because of behavioral rather than environmental changes-and reads like a scientific fable, with pages of theory balancing the hectic action. As science writing, it's a lucid, provocative undertaking; but as an adventure and original entertainment, even though it will sell through the roof, it seems that Crichton has laid a big dinosaur egg. 2,000,000 first printing; BOMC and QPB main selection. (Sept.)
From Barnes & Noble
It's been six years since the secret disaster at Jurassic Park, when the extraordinary dream of science and imagination came to a crashing end. The dinosaurs are destroyed, the park is closed, but there are rumors that something has survived. The Jurassic Park sequel turned motion picture.

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780375412202
  • Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
  • Publication date: 1/18/2001
  • Sold by: Random House
  • Format: eBook
  • Sales rank: 14,582
  • File size: 1 MB
  • Items ship to U.S, APO/FPO and U.S. Protectorate addresses.

Meet the Author

Michael Crichton
Michael Crichton
It stands to reason that someone with as many pursuits as Michael Crichton (novelist, nonfiction writer, screenwriter, director, software engineer, M.D.) might achieve only modest success in any of them. But Crichton somehow excelled at them all. His books, suffused with his scientific research and knowledge, never failed to present imaginative, chilling scenarios that jumped from historical capers to futuristic sci-fi. He died on November 4, 2008, after a long battle against cancer.

Biography

Michael Crichton's oeuvre is so vivid and varied that it hard to believe everything sprang from the mind of a single writer. There's the dino-movie franchise and merchandising behemoth Jurassic Park; the long-running, top-rated TV series ER, which Crichton created; and sci-fi tales so cinematic a few were filmed more than once. He's even had a dinosaur named after him.

Ironically, for someone who is credited with selling over 150 million books, Crichton initially avoided writing because he didn't think he would make a living at it. So he turned to medical school instead, graduating with an M.D. from Harvard in 1969. The budding doctor had already written one award-winning novel pseudonymically (1968's A Case of Need) to help pay the bills through school; but when The Andromeda Strain came out in the same year of his med school graduation, Crichton's new career path became obvious.

The Andromeda Strain brilliantly and convincingly sets out an American scientific crisis in the form of a deadly epidemic. Its tone -- both critical of and sympathetic toward the scientific community -- set a precedent for Crichton works to come. A 1970 nonfiction work, Five Patients offers the same tone in a very different form, that being an inside look at a hospital.

Crichton's works were inspired by a remarkably curious mind. His plots often explored scientific issues -- but not always. Some of his most compelling thrillers were set against the backdrop of global trade relations (Rising Sun), corporate treachery (Disclosure) and good old-fashioned Victorian-era theft (The Great Train Robbery). The author never shied away from challenging topics, but it's obvious from his phenomenal sales that he never waxed pedantic. Writing about Prey, Crichton's cautionary tale of nanotech gone awry, The New York Times Book Review put it this way: "You're entertained on one level and you learn something on another."

On the page, Crichton's storytelling was eerily nonfictional in style. His journalistic, almost professorial, and usually third-person narration lent an air of credibility to his often disturbing tales -- in The Andromeda Strain, he went so far as to provide a fake bibliography. Along the way, he revelled in flouting basic, often subconscious assumptions: Dinosaurs are long-gone; women are workplace victims, not predators; computers are, by and large, predictable machines.

The dazzling diversity of Crichton's interests and talents became ever more evident as the years progressed. In addition to penning bestselling novels, he wrote screenplays and a travel memoir, directed several movies, created Academy Award-winning movie production software, and testified before Congress about the science of global warming -- this last as a result of his controversial 2004 eco-thriller State of Fear, a novel that reflected Crichton's own skepticism about the true nature of climate change. His views on the subject were severely criticized by leading environmentalists.

On November 4, 2008, Michael Crichton died, following a long battle against cancer. Beloved by millions of readers, his techno-thrillers and science-inflected cautionary tales remain perennial bestsellers and have spawned a literary genre all its own.

Good To Know

Some interesting outtakes from our 2005 interview with Crichton:

"I'm very interested in 20th-century American art."

"I have always been interested in movies and television as well as books. I see all these as media for storytelling, and I don't discriminate among them. At some periods of my life I preferred to work on movies, and at others I preferred books."

"In the early 1990s, interviewers began calling me ‘the father of the techno-thriller.' Nobody ever had before. Finally I began asking the interviewers, ‘Why do you call me that?' They said, ‘Because Tom Clancy says you are the father of the techno-thriller.' So I called Tom up and said, ‘Listen, thank you, but I'm not the father of the techno-thriller.' He said, ‘Yes you are.' I said, ‘No, I'm not, before me there were thrillers like Failsafe and Seven Days in May and The Manchurian Candidate that were techno-thrillers.' He said, ‘No, those are all political. You're the father of the techno-thriller.' And there it ended."

"My favorite recreation is to hike in the wilderness. I am fond of Hawaii."

"I used to scuba dive a lot, but haven't lately. For a time I liked to photograph sharks but like anything else, the thrill wears off. Earlier in my life I took serious risks, but I stopped when I became a parent."

"I taught myself to cook by following Indian and Szechuan recipes. They each have about 20 ingredients. I used to grind my own spices, I was really into it. Now I don't have much time to cook anymore. When I do, I cook Italian food."

"I read almost exclusively nonfiction. Most times I am researching some topic, which may or may not lead to a book. So my reading is pretty focused, although the focus can shift quickly."

"I have always been interested in whatever is missing or excluded from conventional thought. As a result I am drawn to writers who are out of fashion, bypassed, irritating, difficult, or excessive. I also like the disreputable works of famous writers. Thus I end up reading and liking Paul Feyerabend (Against Method), G. K. Chesterton (Orthodoxy, What's Wrong with the World), John Stuart Mill, Hemingway (Garden of Eden), Nietzsche, Machiavelli, Alain Finkielkraut (Defeat of the Mind), Anton Ehrenzweig (Hidden Order of Art), Arthur Koestler (Midwife Toad, Beyond Reductionism), Ian McHarg (Design with Nature), Marguerite Duras, Jung, late James M. Cain (Serenade), Paul Campos.

"Because I get up so early to work, I tend to go to bed early, around 10 or 11. So I don't go out much. I suppose I am borderline reclusive. I don't care."

    1. Also Known As:
      John Michael Crichton (full name), Jeffery Hudson, John Lange
    2. Hometown:
      Los Angeles, California
    1. Date of Birth:
      October 23, 1942
    2. Place of Birth:
      Chicago, Illinois
    1. Date of Death:
      November 4, 2008
    2. Place of Death:
      Los Angeles, California

Read an Excerpt

The Lost World: Story Excerpt ~ Diego

In places, the Jeep track was hardly recognizable, so thickly had the jungle grown back. Clearly, no one had used this road for many years, and the jungle was always ready to return.

Behind him, Diego grunted, swore softly. Levine turned and saw Diego lifting his foot gingerly; he had stepped to mid-ankle in a pile of green animal-droppings. Levine went back.

Diego scraped his boot clean on the stem of a fern. The droppings appeared to be composed of pale flecks of hay, mixed with green. The material was light and crumbly - dried, old. There was no smell.

Levine searched the ground carefully, until he found the remainder of the original spoor. The droppings were well formed, twelve centimeters in diameter. Definitely left behind by some large herbivore.

Diego was silent, but his eyes were wide.

Levine shook his head, continued on. As long as they saw signs of herbivora, he wasn't going to worry. At least, not too much. Even so, his fingers touched the butt of his pistol, as if for reassurance.

They came to a stream, muddy banks on both sides. Here Levine paused. He saw clear three-toed footprints in the mud, some of them quite large. The palm of his own hand, fingers spread wide, fitted easily inside one of the prints, with room to spare.

When he looked up, Diego was crossing himself again. He held the rifle in his other hand.

They waited at the stream, listening to the gentle gurgle of the water. Something shiny glinted in the stream, catching his eye. He bent over, and plucked it out. It was a piece of glass tubing, roughly the size of a pencil. One end was broken off. There were graduated markings along the side. He realized it was a pipette, of the kind used in laboratories everywhere in the world. Levine held it up to the light, turning it in his fingers. It was odd, he thought. A pipette like this implied-

Levine turned, and caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye. Something small and brown, scurrying across the mud of the riverbank. Something about the size of a rat.

Diego grunted in surprise. Then it was gone, disappearing in foliage.

Levine moved forward and crouched in the mud by the stream. He peered at the footprints left by the tiny animal. The footprints were three-toed, like the tracks of a bird. He saw more three-toed tracks, including some bigger ones, which were several inches across.

Levine had seen such prints before, in trackways such as the Purgatoire River in Colorado, where the ancient shoreline was now fossilized, the dinosaur tracks frozen in stone. But these prints were in fresh mud. And they had been made by living animals.

Sitting on his haunches, Levine heard a soft squeak coming from somewhere to his right. Looking over, he saw the ferns moving slightly. He stayed very still, waiting.

After a moment, a small animal peeked out from among the fronds. It appeared to be the size of a mouse; it had smooth, hairless skin and large eyes mounted high on its tiny head. It was greenish-brown in color, and it made a continuous, irritable squeaking sound at Levine, as if to drive him away. Levine stayed motionless, hardly daring to breathe.

He recognized this creature, of course. It was a mussaurus, a tiny prosauropod from the Late Triassic. Skeletal remains were found only in South America. It was one of the smallest dinosaurs known. A dinosaur, he thought.

Even though he had expected to see them on this island, it was still startling to be confronted by a living, breathing member of the Dinosauria. Especially one so small. He could not take his eyes off it. He was entranced. After all these years, after all the dusty skeletons - an actual living dinosaur!

The little mussaur ventured farther out from the protection of the fronds. Now Levine could see that it was longer than he had thought at first. It was actually about ten centimeters long, with a surprisingly thick tail. All told, it looked very much like a lizard. It sat upright, squatting on its hind legs on the frond. He saw the rib cage moving as the animal breathed. It waved its tiny forearms in the air at Levine, and squeaked repeatedly.

Slowly, very slowly, Levine extended his hand.

The creature squeaked again, but did not run. If anything it seemed curious, cocking its head the way very small animals do, as Levine's hand came closer.

Finally Levine's fingers touched the tip of the frond. The mussaur stood on its hind legs, balancing with its outstretched tail. Showing no sign of fear, it stepped lightly onto Levine's hand, and stood in the creases of his palm. He hardly felt the weight, it was so light. The mussaur walked around, sniffed Levine's fingers. Levine smiled, charmed.

Then, suddenly, the little creature hissed in annoyance, and jumped off his hand, disappearing into the palms. Levine blinked, unable to understand why.

Then he smelled a foul odor, and heard a heavy rustling in the bushes on the other side. There was a soft grunting sound. More rustling. For a brief moment, Levine remembered that carnivores in the wild hunted near streambeds, attacking animals when they were vulnerable, bending over to drink. But the recognition came too late; he heard a terrifying high-pitched cry, and when he turned he saw that Diego was screaming as his body was hauled away, into the bushes. Diego struggled; the bushes shook fiercely; Levine caught a glimpse of a single large foot, its middle toe bearing a short curving claw. Then the foot pulled back. The bushes continued to shake.

Suddenly, the forest erupted in frightening animal roars all around him. He glimpsed a large animal charging him. Richard Levine turned and fled, feeling the adrenaline surge of pure panic, not knowing where to go, knowing only that it was hopeless. He felt a heavy weight suddenly tear at his backpack, forcing him to his knees in the mud, and he realized in that moment that despite all his planning, despite all his clever deductions, things had gone terribly wrong, and he was about to die.


From the Hardcover edition.

Table of Contents

Customer Reviews
Average Rating 4.5
( 289 )

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 30, 2011

    Thisbook is amazing! And im only on page 84!

    This book has more good things than bad about it. It is a lot like the first in meny ways the bad things about this book is that it has a lot of inipropreat laguage in it and takes a long time to pick up. The pros about this book are that there are new and old carictars in this one and it looks like they are more redy than they will ever be to go to the island. I highly recomend this book to readers that like sify thrillerdrillers.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 26, 2011

    A thrilling adventure

    Ever hear that annoying phrase "the book is way better than the movie"? Prepare yourself because that is exactly what I'm going to say here. The book is absolutely amazing. Events unfold that weren't featured in the film and the story is alternate from what was in the film. I eagerly wait for Jurassic Park (the first novel) to release on the Nookbook list. Oh and "the book is way better than the movie". ;)

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 17, 2011

    Very Well Written

    I must say that it is terrible Michael is dead, as he was a talented author. His books are fascinating. They open up another world. They open up questions such as"what if....?"

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted January 26, 2012

    more from this reviewer

    Review

    It no longer shares the originality and smarts of Jurassic Park but it still delivers plenty of action.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 9, 2012

    The Lost World

    Joe, i saw your rating and review. Maybe try reading the first book. I haven't finished yet. I was just telling you

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 2, 2012

    S E E Eeat

    Cftffedfhygdfafavfmhn

    0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 1, 2011

    Omigosh

    Enter poland>OMG Its like so totally amazing

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted October 15, 2011

    Highly Reccomended!

    Seller gave good copy and sent it fast! Just what I wanted!

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted July 12, 2011

    Yeaaaaaahh

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Posted June 4, 2011

    Excellent

    A great sequel to one of my favorite novels. If you liked Jurassic Park, you have to read this one.

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  • Posted June 4, 2011

    Edge of your seat amazing!

    Think the movie was good? I have just started reading for fun for the first time in 15 years and it is all due to My new Nook Color and this book was my first read. 100% amazing, never thought I could be in suspense from a book!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 26, 2011

    Amazing!!!

    It is one of the greatest books i've ever read. Too bad Crichton died. His novels are great.

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  • Posted January 30, 2011

    more from this reviewer

    loved it!!!!!!!!!

    i read the book before i got my nook and it was a library book now i reallllyy want to buy it and re read it i really liked the book and how it showed the t-rexes as good parents and that really touched me

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  • Posted January 23, 2011

    boo yah

    great book read it

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  • Posted December 27, 2010

    LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    better than the movie! An exiting read!

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  • Posted November 23, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    The Lost World good for an interesting read bad if your looking for the movie.

    I thought that this wasn't to bad a book, however, I didn't find it as good as Jurassic Park. Though as usual I enjoyed M.C.'S imagination and how he brings it to life but I felt that the overall story and how it plays out was a little slow and not very entertaining. The movie had a lot more suspense and kept you going. This book was not suspenseful, and in the bits that it was it wasn't for very long. Jurassic Park I thought was really good but if you are expecting a follow up of that book then you don't want to start this book till you get that out of your mind.

    0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted May 2, 2009

    IT was very exciting and thrilling. Kept you on the edge of your seat.

    I thought it was very well written. Crichton really showed his best in this second book of the Jurassic Park. As I have already said it keeps you on the edge of your seat. A real classic adventure novel. You'll love it.

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  • Posted April 27, 2009

    amazing read for any sci-fi fan

    This book is one of a kind. I actually read it before I read the first Jurassic Park book. I remember that when my 7th grade English teacher made us read a crap book, I snuck the Lost World underneath the desk and read it. I remember the teacher found out I was reading it and got pissed. It was fun watching her get pissed....and not to mention the thrill of The Lost World as well.

    0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 19, 2009

    AMAZING GREAT SEQUAL

    I saw the movie first and fell in love with the idea of dinosaurs walking again. I finally learned there was a book first and bought them both. I would highly recommend reading the books first if you haven't seen the movie. The first movie followed the book pretty good because Michael Crichton did the screenplay. The second movie however, seems like a totally different thing from the book. The book is much better and compelling. When the T-rex escaped through San Diego, that was interesting, but added drama for the movie. It never happened in the book. It is compelling and you will not want to put it down.


    I recommend any other Michael Crichton novels, movies, or television shows.

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  • Posted November 3, 2008

    Disappointing...

    After reading "Jurassic Park," I decided I should go ahead and read the sequel. I expected it to be nearly as good as the first or even better, but I was disapointed. I considered giving it 2 stars, but I personally enjoyed it, so I'll rate it: "Good" (3/5). First, I'll lay down some things I didn't like about "The Lost World":

    1) The character development was poorly done. Nearly all the characters seem two-dimensional and consequently not as likeable as the protagonists in "Jurassic Park." Even Malcolm was not himself in this book. My respect for him plummeted in this book. He's not the informed scientist he's shown to be in the first book.

    2) Another thing this book lacked was a cohesive plot. It's mostly a bunch of dinosaurs chasing people around while the pursued try to escape the island. This book, it would seem, makes a much better movie sequel to the previous film, than the next book in the novel series.

    3) So, overall, the quality of the story has much diminished when compared to "Jurassic Park".

    A few things I did like:

    This book is a page turner and is very easy to read. (Maybe this is why it was the #1 New York Times Bestseller.) It is filled with action that continues through the last couple of pages. I found it a somewhat enjoyable read, but there are many books out there better than this one.

    One caution: this book contains strong language which I scribbled out with a pen as I read.

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