Customer Reviews

Congo

5 star:		(97)
4 star:		(86)
3 star:		(37)
2 star:		(20)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

This novel kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time I read. Michael Crichton does a good job displaying realism in this realistic science fiction novel. He creates a story in the darkest region of the Congo, near the Lost City of Zinj,where an eight-person expedition dies brutally in a matter of seconds. At the home base back in Houston, supervisors watch a gruesome video transmission of the ill-fated team: dead bodies, tents crushed, and a blurred dark moving image. A new expedition is sent to the Congo. Some are in search for diamonds while a primatologist is taking his gorilla Amy, who knows sign language, back to her home in the Congo. During the expedition they encounter trouble with the native tribes and man-eating gorillas. Many people die and there is a lot of action in this thriller. Life threatening creatures and jungle weather creates a setting which makes this book so entertaining. This book can be compared to "Jurassic Park." Both display great action scenes and interesting stories by the same author. I recommend this book greatly if you are either a science-fiction or suspense thriller fan.

I found myself on vacation with no book...tragic. I remedied this with a copy of Congo.

As I read Congo, the story of diamond hunters in, yes, the Congo, I realized how much has changed since 1980. A cutting edge computer thriller, it has references pinball machines, five-inch floppies, 256Kmemory and portable cassette tape players. Yet it was also current, with its talk of DNA testing and the competitive threat of both the Japanese and Chinese in the world markets.

Congo has it all: competing international diamond hunters, the Congo, African pygmies, cannibalistic tribes, various warring countries and factions, lost cities of bygone centuries, active volcanoes, sign-language gorillas, geographic history, gorilla history, African and Congo history, a possible new species of gorilla with its own agenda, communications satellites, plane crashes, hot air balloons, and, well I'm sure I'm leaving something out. Michael Crichton's deft writing brings it all together for an enjoyable action romp that works....almost. If anything suffers in the book it is the characters. So much is packed into the story that the characters do not develop, and are almost relegated to following the action, which never ends. The author has to explain a lot to the reader so that we can follow along. He does this as the narrator and often includes it in character dialogue. So much information is presented as dialogue that I get the picture of very educated people, stuck in the Congo with killer gorillas and dead bodies, finally snapping and pummeling each other to the ground yelling, "Why are you being so redundant? I KNOW all this stuff!" The reader often won't, however, making it important but at times slowing the book down.

I wondered how this book could be made into a movie, and on a whim rented the 1995 thriller. The movie works by leaving a lot out (no cannibals, competing groups, and not even one African pygmy, among other things) and by breathing life into the characters and even introducing new ones. It does not do the book justice, but it does do what the book does not; it brings the characters to life.

Congo ends with a three-page reference of all the works Crichton studied and referenced in writing the book. It was impressive and shows his ability to take so much and make it work. Before this reference section was an epilogue explaining what happened to the books major characters when the adventure had ended. I found myself less interested in this and more interested in the reference list, as Karen, Peter, Munro and the rest never really impacted me, and were lost in a thriller that has everything but the kitchen sink.

In Houston, Texas, a shocking video from the Congo appears before the eyes of Karen Ross, a scientist of the company ERTS. She sees the campsite of ERTS' current expedition destroyed and its members dead. Karen Ross is sent to the Congo to find out what happened with the help of a primatologist by the name of Peter Elliot, Peter's gorilla that is fluent in sign language, Amy, and an experienced guide named Munro with his crew of porters. Karen discovers that she must race to the Congo against German and Japanese scientists to find a specific diamond that may hold the key to the future, and she is driven to succeed at any cost. They must face bellicose hippos and tribes of fierce cannibals. As the expedition progresses, a vicious new species may tamper with the success of the expedition, and with the crew's lives.

I would have to say this is one of Michael Crichton's finest works. The book gives plenty of background information, making it easy to understand the plot and what's going on. After awhile, it is impossible to put the book down for its extravagant details and stunning scenes. The action is well described and sucks you into the book. The characters are very three dimensional and many have such great personalities that make the book's slower parts fun and interesting. One of the most interesting characters would have to be Amy, the gorilla fluent in sign language. She makes even the most fearsome scenes hilarious. The only reason I didn't give this book five stars is because it is not incisive enough, for it takes about 150 pages for the book to really draw you in.

I highly recommend this book, for it is one of the best books I've read in years.

The film adaptation of this novel was criminal. Do not let that movie turn you off from this fantastic novel (my personal favorite from Crichton). The overall plot is the same: a research team disappears after an apparent attack by gorillas. A second team is dispatched to discover what happened and comes under attack from the same violent gorillas. Like other Crichton novels, this contains a lot of description and explanation of various sciences and technologies that surround the characters. Unfortunately, the technology is dated because of the 1980 publication date. Nevertheless, the action and suspense in this novel are first-rate. This was the first Crichton novel I ever read and it made me a fan instantly. I've read almost every Crichton novel since because of this book. This is one of those books you can't put down until you finish it. When you're done, you just want to read it again.

Earth Resources Technology Services wants something that's hidden deep in the jungles of the Congo, at the Lost City of Zinj. Because it's a resource that can make nuclear power obsolete, others want it just as badly. When their Congo field team's satellite check-in gets interrupted by the deaths of all its members, apparently at the hands of a band of gorillas behaving in totally atypical fashion, ERTS dispatches supervisor Karen Ross to lead the next attempt. As the 24-year-old mathematics prodigy and her new team fight their way toward a goal they may never reach, her drive to succeed may be what keeps them alive. Or it may just as easily be what finally kills them, too.

Joining the ERTS team are primatologist Peter Elliot and Amy, an adolescent gorilla trained by Elliot to communicate using American Sign Language. Ross hopes Amy may make a difference if they encounter the first team's killers, while Elliot has his own agenda. Meanwhile, the Congo's chronic unrest boils over into tribal warfare - and the local volcano threatens to just plain boil over.

I picked this book up expecting a "not his best" effort by one of my favorite authors, after finding the movie version rather - well - hokey. But what came across that way on the screen works fine in Crichton's prose. A wild roller coaster ride! Great fun, and a nice tribute to H. Rider Haggard, too.

If you are going to be at the beach , then Congo is clearly the book for you. Congo is a good old-fashioned jungle adventure yarn. The author, Michael Crichton, was clearly inspired by the adventure stories of H. Rider Haggard but with a slight dose of Conrad. And since this is a Crichton novel, the reader will read about technological ruminations, which provoke Crichton's favorite theme - man meddling with nature when he probably shouldn't.

A rescue team, funded (and partially staffed) by a U.S. based technology corporation, is sent to the middle of the Congo area of Africa to determine the mysterious disappearance of a prior team. On their extraordinary journey, they encounter rebellious armed forces of central African nations, fabulous cities with lost treasures, strange tribes tucked away in the forest, cannibalistic groups and some unknown force that appears to kill. Crichton keeps the pace swift so you will keep the pages turning.

This book is a delightful read because Crichton delivers on his trademarks. He blends well-researched topics from diverse sciences - Congo covers biology, anthropology, archaeology, as well as descriptions of high-tech equipment (for 1979). Crichton effectively increases the suspense by giving the locations scale and a powerful perspective. The mountains, "unending virginal forest", and "thousands of miles of unexplored territory" dwarf his human characters. Finally, Crichton's storytelling gift of framing the story as a true account (along with an extensive bibliography) lends the verisimilitude that so often elevates Crichton's work.

You will not be disappointed with this quick read.

This book definitely deserves an applaud for many reasons. Michael Crichton did a real great job in changing of how the reader thinks of the book. Before people read, many think of how Congo is a book with a very childish plot, very far-fetched. However, the readers of this book really find out that this book is very far from being far-fetched. It has very informative details on everything that makes it seem very real.

Congo is generally about an expedition team who searches for unknown gorilla-alike creatures in the lost city of Zinj. The plot of this story takes place in the 1980s in the middle of nowhere, in the lost world of Congo. Therefore, Crichton really gets the readers attention describing the 1980 atmosphere. He shows how the computers and other technology worked back then. This book also has many imagery scenes where a lot of killing is done. The unknown gorilla-alike creatures turn out to be pretty violent. This book is very action-packed and its suspense is non-stop from the prologue to the end.

I give this book a star rating of 4 out 5. That's only one star less than from perfection. I really recommend this book to everyone. Congo should not only be read by people who like science-fiction, but anyone who has the littlest interest in a book filled with mystery, suspense, and action.

I read the book some time ago, but I remember not being too impressed with this one. Chrichton's books usually have some sort of science development that make the story interesting, and, what was it computers and communications in this one? It just didn't seem to fit the action (killer apes and volcanoes, etc.) In Jurassic Park, it works (people running from monsters they are resbonsible for) and Sphere (people running from monsters of the imagination) but here I just don't see the connection.

Now I have read nearly all of Michael Crichton's sci-fi novels, and CONGO...is definitely the best out of all of them. I have read Jurassic Park, Terminal Man, Congo, Sphere, Eaters of the Dead, Rising Sun, The Lost World, Airframe, and Timeline. None of these books can even compare to Congo. It is one of my favorite novels of all time. The movie doesn't do it justice, then again since when did a movie ever did a book justice.

Congo is about a quest for rare diamonds and then you throw in silverback gorillas, a few competitors , a couple of plane crashes, a bunch of angry hippos, cannibals, explosives, warfare, ancient ruins, a primatologist, a guide, a bunch of guys who speak swahili and one hell of a crazy leader who would jeopardize everyone's life so long as she would get to the diamonds first!!!

If you're going to read one novel this lifetime...read PSYCHO. If you're going to read two novel this lifetime...read CONGO!!!

This novel is set deep into the contintent of Africa, in many different areas. There are many different characters in this novel. The most important character i have focused on is a zoologist named Peter Elliot. He lives in California and is head of a study called Project Amy. Project Amy is a study devoted to a single female gorilla named (ironically) Amy. Amy is a gorilla who is learning sign language. Her vocabulary is over 600 words. After about 4 years of being studied, Amy starts having dreams. She refers to them as her "sleep box". She was using the word "box", referring to the television. She started to have bad dreams and Peter could not get through to her. Finally he decided to let her try finger painting. She responded to that idea immediatly, and started to draw pictures of the jungle. She referred to her pictures as "old houses" and "bad houses". Another character in the story is Karen Ross, a young and beautiful scientist. A research team from Karen's company stationed in the Congo was killed. The video footage sent back revealed what looked like to be a gorilla attack. Karen calls for Elliot, and together, with Amy, they go to the Congo to find out not only what killed the researchers, but to bring Amy home. In the Congo, they face many problems such as killer hippoes, a new species of violent gorilla, and a huge erupting volcano. The final chapter is amazing, you'll have to read it for yourself. I would recommend this book to anybody who likes adventure novels, and to animal lovers. Congo is a great story, and is one of those books that once you start reading it' you don't put it down until it's done. It is a definete plus on Michael Crichton's already amazing career.