THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 18, 1995 TAG: 9510180050
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Book Review
SOURCE: BY RICKEY WRIGHT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
THE ``NOVELIZATION'' of film - er, movie - scripts is a long-standing tradition in the publishing world. Usually quickly knocked out and issued only in paperback, these books rarely stand the test of time.
Ever canny, Michael Crichton has reversed the process. There's no big-screen sequel yet to ``Jurassic Park,'' the mega-franchise kicked off by his thriller of the same title, but ``The Lost World'' (Alfred A. Knopf, $25.95, 393 pp.) revisits in print the recombinated dinosaurs who ran amok.
Down to its minimalistic jacket copy (``SOMETHING HAS SURVIVED''), ``The Lost World'' and its publicity campaign are likely to be little changed when Steven Spielberg brings the motion-picture version to avid viewers a few years from now.
That science-related storytelling sells has, of course, been proven not only by the fact-based ``The Hot Zone'' but by the fictional ``Jurassic Park.'' Although Crichton isn't as effortless a writer as ``Hot Zone'' author Richard Preston, ``The Lost World'' does chug ahead agreeably on its dinosaur-chasing track.
So what if its characters are occasionally flat? While Crichton, a medical doctor who never practiced medicine, obviously admires his scientists, he's frequently unable to lift them above the level of stereotypical eccentrics.
He does manage some infectiously amusing scenes though, such as a chaotic, near-slapstick workshop visit, and some nice sketches of people, especially the pre-teen tag-alongs Arby and Kelly. Kelly's near-worship of animal behaviorist Sarah Harding is a sweet touch that might even hook one or two readers of the right age. (Depending on how parents feel about a couple of four-letter words, the book is certainly suitable for late-elementary-school students, and nowhere near being over their heads.)
For a thriller, however, ``The Lost World'' isn't a patch on ``The Hot Zone.'' You know, or can educatedly guess at, the drill: bad corporation still wants to profit from its dinosaur Disney World, and the good scientific community must stop them. All the subtlety Crichton displayed in the reverse-the-headlines ``expose'' of female sexual harassment in ``Disclosure'' is on view here as well.
Carl Hiassen, to name but one writer, might do something special with the genetic-technology-gone-too-far games being played in ``The Lost World,'' but Crichton too often delivers little beyond barely fleshed-out villains and inept assistants who spout creaky stuff like ``Great place, huh? No shortage of mosquitoes. You want to go get the son of a bitch now?'' How these cardboard cutouts ever became involved in such an exciting enterprise is one mystery Crichton never addresses.
On the other hand, if you don't overthink it, ``The Lost World'' can hold your attention for an evening. There's even a good joke or two, such as the moment at which a tyrannosaur engages an automobile in carnal play - a neat nod, perhaps, to the clash between two ages of scientific inquiry - or when engineer Jack Thorne's challenging classroom assignments (a chair built of Q-tips and thread to support a 200-pound adult) are remembered.
The sturdiness of Thorne's chair, in fact, isn't a bad metaphor for the mixed success of ``The Lost World,'' which holds up well enough. Were Crichton not a permanent resident of the best-seller lists, he'd probably not be looked at quite so suspiciously. On the other hand, a more moderate fame wouldn't make his books any better. It's a dilemma, but one he's no doubt not worrying over. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
JONATHAN EXLEY
Michael Crichton continues the ``Jurassic'' saga in ``Lost World.''
by CNB