Customer Reviews

The Woman and the Ape: A Novel

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Though "humorous" is not a word usually associated with Peter Hoeg, The Woman and the Ape, with its irony and satire, is very, very funny. An ape of unknown primate species escapes smugglers at the docks of London, only to be captured by animal researchers and primatologists, who intend to advance human knowledge--and themselves--through their testing and research on him.

The ape, named Erasmus, is actually more intelligent than the men who are testing him secretly at the estate of Adam Burden, a zoolological research director. When Madelene, Burden's alcoholic wife, discovers Erasmus, she helps him escape, and the two go off together. Establishing their own Garden of Eden in a protected forest outside of London, Erasmus and Madelene enjoy seven weeks of mutual discovery, learning, and eventually love, hidden from the outside world. When Erasmus learns to speak English and Madelene's native language, Danish, the two return to London.

Hoeg is brutally satiric of British society and academia as Adam Burden, his evil sister Andrea, the scientific community, the smuggling network, and virtually all other humans are shown to be arrogant in their assumptions about the relationship of men and animals. They will be taught an object lesson, and Madelene and Erasmus are only too happy to provide it. Themes of freedom vs. captivity (real and symbolic), man's role in the evolutionary scheme of things, and the fragility of the environment are developed, none too subtly, as the ape proves his superiority to "civilized" humanity. When asked what he calls the other members of his species, Erasmus replies, "People," indicating that humans would be considered "animals" where he lives.

This satire/sci-fi novel, though intriguing, is strange, becoming even stranger with its interspecies love affair. Madelene is a shallow character with no charm, more apt to lose her inhibitions as a result of alcohol than from any deep feeling. Structurally, the novel falls into two parts--the arrival of the ape, his discovery by Madelene, and their escape, which has some hilarious and even empathetic moments to it--followed by their idyll in a nature preserve and their return to London, a section which is very didactic, fraught with environmental messages and social criticism.

The conclusion, which incorporates many surprises, is a dramatically appropriate tour de force, which outweighs many of the novel's other problems. Perhaps too long to carry the burden of its message, Hoeg's novel is still daring and full of unique images and twists--the product of a creative author whose next novel I eagerly await. Mary Whipple

Perhaps meant as fable, "Woman and the Ape" assaults readers with themes of sentience, instinct, freedom, animal cruelty, evolution, and the wicked, selfish pursuits of contemporary humans in a civilized, Westernized society. Even more, the real question posited by the fabulous mind and writing of William Hoeg is: "What makes someone or something an animal? Are humans not also animals?"

Mindlessly passing the day in a drunken haze, Madelene Burden is an alcoholic who lives an aristocratic life via the reputation and riches her husband Adam Burden has amassed as a zoological research director. Along with his callous sister Andrea, the niche Adam has managed to carve out in London society is quite impressive. Everything in Madelene's life is status quo, until Erasmus arrived.

Primate smugglers delivering a specimen to London soon face a catastrophe, as the ape sabotages rigging and causes a dock crash. Escaping the chaos, the ape is soon found, captured, and brought to the labs at Adam Burden's house. The ape's name is Erasmus, and he would soon change everyone's life.

When Madelene notices her carafe of liquor is empty one day, she bibulously searches the manor. Soon she realizes that her workaholic husband is secretly home with a new, unreported subject. Previously spineless, Madelene is invigorated by the intrigue, and after discussions with an uninvolved physician with whom she shared knowledge and drawings of the animal, she soon realizes there is something unique about Erasmus and clandestinely frees him. During their escape, the two learn to care for one another, and she discovers that he may possess distinctly humanistic characteristics. Confronted with power and corruption only the very wealthy possess, the two are soon cornered and forced to make a difficult decision. They bound towards freedom and establish a quaint yet reclusive life amongst the trees of a protected forest outside of London.

It is during this portion of the book that Hoeg expands upon the conventional concepts of the differences between man and animal. Approached with eloquent timidity, Hoeg also broaches the tempest in a teapot of bestiality or interspecies intercourse. However, that may be the entire point: if the boundaries between man and animal are blurred, is the perversion perverse?

Erasmus is often better than man; he doesn't display the ability to passively lie or exaggerate like humans do until influenced by the same cynical human minds. His purity is displayed when he's shown to learn language as a young child does, picking up a complex understanding of English and rudimentary Dutch during his solitude with Madelene. A true indication of the book's overall message, Erasmus refers to humans as the animals, and himself as a person. It's that humanity has become twisted and hedonistic; blurring the line between sentient action and carnal instinct, as if Hoeg believes humankind has devolved in some ways. Given our current culture, sometimes I tend to agree.

Side-swiping the reader like a slap in the face, the curt, surprise ending is absolutely flawless. Within a few pages, the entire thesis of Hoeg's work becomes as undeniable as evolution itself, that despite the absence of the proverbial missing link, our actions alone serve as proof to our species' link to simian brothers.

This is near the top of my short list of unique books that will challenge a reader mentally while providing a creative and entrancing storyline from which it's impossible to wander. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Think Yann Martel's Life of Pi, Shepherd Mead's The Great Ball of Wax, and Doris Lessing's The Fifth Child and its sequel, Ben, In His World, then throw in a dash of Planet of the Apes. Reminiscent of Doris Lessing's speculative fiction, Hoeg convincingly grounded me in a mundane present (albeit it a very privileged one) before easing me, in rapid succession, from poor-little-rich-girl-trapped-in-her-bed-of-roses to thriller to science fiction teetering on the edge of speculative fiction. With only a few pages to go, the plot satisfyingly resolves and fades into the sunset with a pleasantly tentative happy-ever-after. The roller coaster has slowed before coming to a complete stop, yet I shut the book still breathless and slightly titillated from the ride. Hoeg has created characters that are just three dimensional enough to get by. This is not a criticism. Madelene, Erasmus, Adam and all the rest are types, maybe archetypes; the story seems to demand that to maintain a grip on the reader's emotions and to create a foil for its inherent humor. With this busy, rich plot, Hoeg still manages luxurious, descriptive passages of London's cityscape and pithy comment on politics and the general silliness of human beings. The latter is somewhat the point of his tale. This would make a great romp of a film.

I thought that this book opens the way to a new genre of reading that not only stimulates in an entertaining manner, but forces the reader to re-think his humanity. It poses a new question as to man's place at the top of the world. The many faceted characters keep you pondering what will occur next in the book. And once you read the first paragraph, you cannot possibly put down the book until you reach the last page.

"Smilla's" Peter Hoeg has another provocative novel for the book club circuit. While several in our book group were titallated by the unbelievable turns this book took, others of us appreciated a look at a sci-fi version of Anthropology 101. Hoeg seems to crawl into the female psyche in a way that is at times disturbing, at others a bit contrived, but which is mostly just too darn close! This particular perspective viewed through the viscosity of alchoholism combined with the boarding school upbringing of the European elite wound up being a novel which was extrememely difficult to put down. Definitely a grand discussion book.

Although thoroughly trashed in the review section here at Amazon, this book is brilliant! Mr. Hoeg's use of language, fantasy imagery and allegory are impeccible!The richness of the writing alone will keep you up all night.Although a translation from the Dutch, words are seldom strung together as elegantly as this in any modern novel. Read it for the pure joy of the experience! I may be just a rube, but I loved this book and have recommended it highly whenever books are discussed.

Mr. Hoeg did it again: give us a dream wrapped into hard-hitting reality. After "Smilla" and "The Borderliners", we now have a third great novel from this author, and I want to thank him for it. While it is similar to "The Planet of the Apes" by Pierre Boulle, it is taken to a new, metaphysic dimension. It took years for "Smilla" to "catch on"; I hope this book will fare better

Danish writer Peter Hoeg broke onto the American scene in a big way with his thoughtful thriller "Smilla's Sense Of Snow," his first novel published in English. While "The Woman And The Ape" has the pace of a thriller, it couldn't be more different.

A love story, a comic satire and a fable about the relations between human civilization and the rest of the world, "The Woman And The Ape" centers on two characters who could scarcely appear more hopeless and helpless.

Erasmus, the ape, opens the book with a daring escape from hardened animal smugglers, only to be captured by scientists after numerous run-ins with the city of London prove almost fatal. He is secretly installed at the home of rich and distinguished animal behaviorist, Adam Burden, who sees in this possible new species the fruition of his most ambitious dreams.

There, Erasmus arouses a mild curiosity and pity in the book's other main character, Adam's 30-year-old Danish wife, Madelene, an alcoholic beauty with a lousy self-image.

"Each morning Madelene was resurrected." At her mirror, "she did the one thing she knew herself to be truly good at: she re-created the myth which said that Madelene looks gorgeous." Her next task is to replenish her carafe of ethyl alcohol so she can float through her day being gorgeous and amiable and walling off the terrors of daily life.

In so doing she comes across the ape in his new quarters. "With some effort Madelene succeeded in coming up with a sketchy log of the past two days. The ape had arrived the day before yesterday. She had spent yesterday in bed with her carafe and that dreadful migraine. The bulk of the setup in front of her must have been erected in less than a day."

In her second encounter, "Madelene was overcome by a prickling sense of unease, as though she had sat on an anthill." Certain small truths home in on her along with the ape's "incalculable" gaze. These she quickly drowns, but something in her has been awakened.

She embarks on her own mission to discover what she can about the ape and her husband's activities, launching "new" selves (well fueled with alcohol) to accomplish the necessary daring subterfuges.

Hoeg keeps up a madcap energy, as humorous and cheering as it is biting and outlandish. Madelene takes on people she would ordinarily be too frightened to speak to, and in the process of amassing facts about the "impossible" existence of Erasmus, begins to free herself.

This she cannot actually do until she "saw her own weakness, saw it clearly, saw herself as the ape had seen her and then she gave up....She gave up drinking."

She organizes a daring, hilarious plan of escape for herself and Erasmus and the novel veers off in another direction - that of love story. This developing love is as lucid and erotic as the fog of alcohol was erratic and prickly.

By the end Erasmus has come fully into his own, a larger-than-life ape with a mission and a big surprise for the human race.

Hoeg's writing is pure pleasure - vivid and playful, earnest and rich, mocking and touching. His condemnation of animal exploitation is hardly new but his presentation is totally refreshing.

Peter Hoeg is one of those rare writers -- whose every book is a literary treasure. I have yet to be disappointed by anything he has written. And this book -- the woman and the ape -- is not exception. Hoeg does such a masterful job at raising questions about our own species and our relationship to the Earth, that this book should be read by environmental studies students. Hoeg also entrances his readers -- once again -- with sensual writings, sensitive characters, and a magical air (as he did with Smilla's Sense of Snow), that this book should also be read in literary classes. ... simply: it is a book to be read. and shared.

As in Smilla's Sense of Snow Høeg shows his acute sense of detail and skill at description. An unknown breed of chimpanzee escapes from a bounty hunter and becomes the captive of a scientist seeking to secure his name and position. The scientist's wife, the daughter of another animal researcher, is drifting through life in an alcohol fog. When the woman meets the ape, she finds a purpose in life: to save his species from the folly of man. This is a highly topical, erotic, fantasy-prone story that enchants from the very beginning.