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The Lost World (Crichton novel)

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File:TheLostWorld.png
Book cover
For the movie, see The Lost World: Jurassic Park

The Lost World is a novel by Michael Crichton, published in 1995 by Ballantine Books. A paperback edition (ISBN 034540288X) was issued in New York in 1996. It is a sequel to his earlier novel Jurassic Park.

Synopsis

Template:Spoiler Like Arthur Conan Doyle's novel of the same name, Crichton's novel concerns an expedition to an isolated Central American location where dinosaurs roam - though in this case, the dinosaurs were recreated by genetic engineering, rather than surviving from antiquity.

The eccentric mathematician Ian Malcolm and the egocentric paleontologist Richard Levine head to Isla Sorna to invesigate extinction theories in the "Lost World" left by InGen's cloning program. They are joined by material engineer Jack 'Doc' Thorne, Thorne's chief mechanic Eddie Carr, field biologist Sarah Harding, and two stowaway kids: R.B. "Arby" Benton and Kelly Curtis. Also on the island is the antagonist Lewis Dodgson and his two henchman, Howard King and George Baselton.

As with the first book, the characters have to fend off attacks from T-Rexes and velociraptors, as well as carnotaurs. Between the action scenes Malcolm and Levine talk about various evolutionary and extinction theories, as well as the nature of modern science and the homogenizing and destructive nature of humanity. The book discusses the role of prions in brain diseases, which has been at the root of concerns over Mad Cow Disease.

Differences between the movie and the novel

The movie's plot differs significantly from the novel. In the movie, Dodgson and Biosyn do not appear, and Levine and Thorne were removed, as well as Kelly's friend Arby.

In the novel there is no dinosaur rampage in San Diego, nor the entire attempt to transport dinosaurs from Site B to a smaller theme park on the mainland.

Find Site B took longer than in the movie.

In the village, the group hid in a store while in the movie, the group just spent running away from raptors.

There was only one Mercedes Benz and the trailer wasn't completely destroyed. They also were electric vehicles.

In the movie Dodgson, King and Baselton are replaced by Peter Ludlow, Roland Tembo and his mercenary team.

The group manage to escape through an old boat abandoned in the island's dock.

The trailer scene was much longer and darker and only had Ian Malcolm and Sarah Harding in it.

Eddie Carr is killed differently in the movie and the book. In the movie, he is eaten by a T-rex while in the novel, he is killed by velociraptors. He was also significantly older in the film.

In the novel, Kelly is not Malcolm's daughter and is white, while Arby is black. In the movie, Kelly is Malcolm's daughter and is black (as mentioned above, Arby doesn't appear at all). In the movie, Kelly was played by Vanessa Lee Chester.

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