Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I finally read this book after having watched the movie dozens of times of the years. I have the utmost respect of the adapted screenplay writer because the movie was very good and quite different from the book. For being such a 1900's blockbuster movie I was surprised to find that the book had even more grandiose action packed scenes that didn't make it to the scene. In one scene Alan Grant, Lex, and Tim go over a 50-foot waterfall in a raft down to a pool where the Tyrannosaurus Rex is waiting for them at the bottom. There was also a scene where the T-Rex goes swimming out after the raft. The background in genetic engineering and chaos theory mathematics is also much more developed in the book. Crichton really highlights the ridiculous of trying to engineer a system of control for something as unpredictable as evolutionary biology. How some of the research coming from genetic engineering is going into modifying paler trout that are more easily seen in rivers, or square trees that are easier lumbering. Crichton also tried to hypothesize about dinosaur behavior in the book such as the velociraptors being migratory creatures and nocturnal.



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Planet of the Apes

Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The book has some minor differences from the Charlton Heston movie but I think that both the book and movie are very well done in their own regard. One of the main differences in the book is that the ape civilization has modern-day 1960's technology equipped with orbiting satellite's around their home planet Sorer. Another interesting difference is that the book starts and ends with a space vacationing couple who happened to come across a message in a bottle floating in space that detailed the story of the Planet of the Apes. It also was revealed at the end that the couple was a couple of chimpanzees which adds another element to revelation of the future of humans on Earth. The book also detailed some of the experiments the Apes on the planet Sorer did in testing the intelligence of main character "bright eye." This included hoisting the humans food rations above their cages and gave them blocks that they needed to stack to be able to reach there food. Only the main character was able to do it. The main character in the book doesn't have Charlton Heston's rage and discontent towards the apes either. The main character learns the apes language and reveals himself at a prominent scientific conference of learned apes. A major theme in the book as well as the movie is the attraction of the main character to the female scientist Zira and how the intellectual attractiveness can manifest cross-species. Another big difference in the book is that the main character and Nova (the sexy wild human) have baby and that this was one of the main reasons why the main character had to leave the planet Sorer for the safety of his baby.



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A Journey to the Center of the Earth

Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I thought this book was an interesting concept and probably a great way for people to envision geologic superposition stratigraphy in the 19th century. The idea that a world that was completely different biologically in Earth's past had to be a hard concept for the non-scientific community to envision in the 1800's. Although Verne's characters describe a concept contrary to James Hutton's uniformitarianism and to be more of a catastrophism geologic history of earth's crust. Verne's "underworld" was thought up the basis of the catastrophism. "[It] can be explained both simply and geologically. At a certain period, the earth consisted only of an elastic crust, liable to alternative upward and downward movements in virture of the law of attraction. It is very probable that many a landslip took place in those days, and that large portions of sedimentary soil were." The time period of this book coincides with the deteriorating hypothesis of the Hollow Earth theory theory in the scientific community. Although this book is quite in support of that theory. What's also interesting is that the practice of carving one's initials in the rock to guide future explorers just like Arne Saknussemm (AS) began with this book. This was my first Jules Verne read but I don't think it will be my last.



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The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Hunger Games was a very nice read for me. Collins has created a very interesting dystopia. Opposed to Brave New World this society is centered in more familiar environment around a capitol city that's located in the area around Missoula, Montana. The book is somewhat of a love story about Katniss Everdeen and who she has true feelings for; a boy with a prosthetic leg named Peeta who she's battling in the Hunger Games or a Henry David Thoreau type character back in district 12 named Gale. Collins explores the aspect of the future of reality TV in this book. The Hunger Games is a fight to the death or Battle Royale of child representative "gladiators" from each district in Panem being played out in an arena that is filled with cameras and broadcast throughout the society. These brutal games are setup to strip the humanity away the citizens of Panem in order to continue the totalitarian reign the capitol has over it's districts. In the book there are notes of a Romeo and Juliet ending, Legolas style archery, and some really good tasting lamb stew. Overall I thought this a good book and am considering reading the sequels as well.



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Hitler's Piano Player

Hitler's Piano Player: The Rise and Fall of Ernst Hanfstaengl, Confidante of Hitler, Ally of FDR by Peter Conradi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This was one of the better history books I've ever read. It's a biography of a German-American gentleman that played an interesting role in WWII finding himself working for both Germany and the Allies. Hanfstaengl or Putzi had jumped on Hitler's National Socialist movement early on during the formation of the Nazi party. He had even become the Chief Foreign Affairs correspondent for the Nazi Party during the early part of the Third Reich. But after an unfunny "joke" played on Putzi's life that was orchestrated by Joseph Goebbels Putzi had enough of this "gangster" regime and fled the country for England. A great quote about Hanfstaengl's life comes from the last sentence in this book. Putzi once said of how events in his own life turned out "It is a terrible thing when you think you got on a bandwagon and it turns out to be a dustcart." The author of this book, Peter Conradi, used many interviews with Putzi's son Egon when writing this book. Putzi's son actually had the terrible honor being a godson Adolf Hitler. Hitler will probably go down as the worst godfather in history. I'd be curious as to candidates for the second worst Godfather. Maybe Vito Corleone would make the list. I was originally interested in this book after seeing a television movie "Hitler: The Rise of Evil" (2003) and how this "piano player" (played by Liev Schreiber) had a prominent role in the ascent of Adolf Hitler. Along with being Hitler's preferred piano player who most often requested Richard Wagner's "Tristen und Isolde" musical drama. During the Beer Hall Putsch of 1923 an injured Adolf Hitler fled to the Hanfstaengl's household in Uffing for asylum. Hanfstaengl's wife at the time (Helene) allegedly dissuaded Hitler from committing suicide when the police came to arrest him.

One thing that I thought was very interesting in the book was when the American government had finally brought Putzi to Washington from his prison of war camp in Canada. Putzi was staying at an officer's barracks and was asked by General Max how the war was going so far as kind of an open ended question. Putzi went to a large map of Europe and Africa and (thinking that he was stating the obvious) had predicted what was to be the United States' first military operation in the Atlantic theater at Casablanca in Morocco known as Operation Torch. While Putzi was revealing his thoughts the General had stormed out of the room to a puzzled Putzi. The General probably worried about what the Nazi's might know about their operation (p. 269-70).

Overall I thought this history book was very well written by Conradi. I felt anxious as to when and how Putzi was finally going to flee Nazi Germany and eventually become the American informant for President Roosevelt. I thought Conradi did a great job in revealing that to the reader.



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Green Eggs and Ham

Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is a great children's book that has a very interesting metaphor. There is so many different subjects that you can interchange with the two characters in the book and the subject matter "Green Eggs and Ham." One very obvious one that I can think of is interchanging Sam with the United States, the unnamed character with foreign countries, and green eggs and ham with democracy. It's funny how a book written in 1960 could sum up the U.S. foreign policy of exporting democracy since WWII. Also I could interchange myself with Sam, my buddy Jake with the unnamed character, and green eggs and ham with Dragon Boating because I've been trying to get him to go Dragon Boating with me for a couple of months to no avail even though I know he would like it.



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The Fountainhead

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a must read book if you are into architecture. One of the main passages from this book is when Howard Roark defined architecture as the "fountainhead" of civilization. This grand look upon architects. Rand makes architecture and structures as everlasting objects that defined civilizations throughout history. But what's funny about this book is that you could make the case that Egyptian architects and Greek architects and so on could be considered better "fountainheads" of civilizations than 20th century architects like Howard Roark because they built with material like stone that lasts a lot longer and stays more true to it's form through time than steel and iron. Have you ever seen "Life After People?" The Chrysler building is not going to remain a building long after the American civilization.



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