12 Monkeys (Paperback)

by Elizabeth Hand (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Sent back in time from the year 2035 to 1990 to prevent the apocalypse that destroyed most of the earth, James Cole lands in a psychiatric ward under the care of Dr. Kathryn Railly, who begins to believe his wild story. Movie tie-in.

Product Details

• Paperback: 213 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins (Mm) (December 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061056588
• ISBN-13: 978-0061056581
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #641,415 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully captures the movie better than most movie novels, October 6, 1997

By	Pyanfar Chanur "BTB" (Frankfort, KY USA) - See all my reviews

"12 Monkeys" is an excellent movie that tells a very fragmented, eclectic science-fiction tale. Part time-travel story, part rogue disease tale, part world-gone-mad, the main concept is this: somewhere in our future, something went wrong. A disease was released that almost destroyed humanity. Because no cure can be found, the only solution seems to be to send people back in time to try and find the moment at which the outbreak hit. If that bit of history can be found, perhaps it can be changed.

As a film, this is not to be missed - Bruce Willis makes a good malleable action-hero, but Brad Pitt steals the show with his half-insane role. But here we're discussing the novel.

Movie adaptations usually seem lackluster and play-by-play to me, but Elizabeth Hand was the perfect choice for this book. Her writing style is sardonically strange, and she seems to capture the spirit of Gilliam's dark vision of the future. For similar material, check out Gilliam's movie "Brazil" or Hand's novel "Winterlong" (recently reprinted in trade paperback form).

Put simply, Hand's voice is exactly what you need to read this tale: she tells it with the same atmosphere that Gilliam tries to convey in the film. Recommended reading, and the movie is definitely recommended viewing.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unusual enough to be called science fiction!, May 17, 1996

By A Customer

The imagery and spectacle created in your mind by this excellent novel is comparable with that of Robert Hienlin, Author C. Clark and Ray Bradburry. It provides a truly unique picture of a possible future of todays society