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1. 41-vehicle wreck ties up traffic Sunday on I-81 in Rockbridge County
2. Virginia Tech football roster has holes on picture day
3. Medicare penalties hit hospitals in Roanoke, New River Valleys
4. Microfestivus beer event gets downtown Roanoke hopping
5. McFarling: 2 little numbers are a big hurdle for Virginia Tech football
6. DAN CASEY: Copter cost still stirring up dust
7. Arrest made in case of missing Nelson County teen
8. Roanoke farmers markets making local foods more accessible
9. Virginia attorney general's office grows under Ken Cuccinelli
10. Man's drowning is 5th in Lynchburg area
Friday, April 5, 2013
I became a Michael Crichton fan in high school after reading "The Andromeda Strain," a chilling piece of fiction about an extraterrestrial microoranism that infects humans. I was already fond of Stephen King's work, and Crichton's brand of sci-fi thriller kept me flipping pages late into the night.
From "The Andromeda Strain," I moved on to other Crichton novels: "Congo," "Sphere," "Rising Sun" and "Jurassic Park." I also became a devout fan of the television series he created, "ER," watching it faithfully even after planes started to crash into the emergency room about once every season.
Soon after I read "Jurassic Park," it was turned into the major motion picture that is now celebrating its 20th anniversary with a re-release in IMAX and 3-D (that makes me feel so old).
I remember being quite surprised by the movie, not because it deviated from the plot of the book but because it clung so tightly to the storyline and illustrated so perfectly what my brain had imagined as I read the novel. It remains one of the best film adaptations of a novel that I have ever seen.
Ironically, one of the worst film versions of a book I've ever watched was also based on a Crichton novel, "Congo." It featured a robotic gorilla named Amy that looked so fake the movie should have been labeled a comedy.
The movie versions of both "Jurassic Park" and "Congo" cemented my determination to always read a book before I see the movie. If the film lives up to the book, great. If not, well, at least I can make fun of it.
1. 41-vehicle wreck ties up traffic Sunday on I-81 in Rockbridge County
2. Virginia Tech football roster has holes on picture day
3. Medicare penalties hit hospitals in Roanoke, New River Valleys
4. Microfestivus beer event gets downtown Roanoke hopping
5. McFarling: 2 little numbers are a big hurdle for Virginia Tech football
6. DAN CASEY: Copter cost still stirring up dust
7. Arrest made in case of missing Nelson County teen
8. Roanoke farmers markets making local foods more accessible
9. Virginia attorney general's office grows under Ken Cuccinelli
10. Man's drowning is 5th in Lynchburg area
THE ROANOKE TIMES
