While trying to rate this book, I have a heart emoji over one shoulder and a snoozing emoji over the other waging war. So, I'll compromise and give this book 4 stars.
The bad first: I know Crichton books come with their fair share of science. Normally I don't mind, I actually enjoy it. However, this one has a LOT of technical stuff, 1979 tech stuff, for about the first 40% of the book. There were times that my eyes just glazed over and I admit, there were a few paragraphs I had to skip over.
Now the good: This was a very good story. A group of unique individuals head to the Congo in Africa for a variety of reasons, all selfish on their parts. And as with the movie, my favorite is Amy, a gorilla that has been living with Peter, a primate researcher in California, who nursed her back to health as an infant and has been studying her ever since. I fell absolutely in love with her and loved the relationship she has with Peter, the way she interacts with him, the rest of the crew, and the other gorillas in Africa.
The movie adaptation is one of my all-time favorites and this is probably one of the only times that I can honestly say I liked the movie better. But, in the book, you get to know Amy a lot better than you can in the movie and for that reason, would recommend this to fans of the movie.
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P.S. My favorite character was Amy the gorilla.
Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2020
Congo is a science fiction novel written by Michael Crichton, the writer of the book Jurrasic park, that takes place primarily in the African jungle in the Congo region. It is written in an almost journalistic way taking the reader through different stages of the plot by breaking down dates, events and geographic locations into chapter sections. All along the way, historical and technological tangents are taken in an effort to create context and intrigue as to what surrounds the interactions that occur in the plot. Fictional accounts of previous expeditions to the Congo indicate the lack of successful attempts to study the region as well as the mysterious nature of its potential resources that might be used for the benefit of governmental interests.Crichton weaves a tale that bulges with detail allowing the reader to become immersed in two distinct worlds. The first world is the world of international competition related to technological advancement and the discovery and utilization of natural resources. Whether the histories offered by the author hover closer or farther from the truth the reader is given a manifest of contextual information regarding the state of technological advancements during the late 1970s in the worlds of computing, communications and weapons tech. We learn about the state of the art technologies that for the time would have seemed like far fetched sci-fi fiction but are now, in 2020, fairly accurate predictions of current and even surpassed realities.The second world that the author creatively elaborates on is the world of non-human language acquisition in the form of Amy the gorilla. Amy is a fictionalized version of other primates that scientists have tried to teach language to and more directly mirrors the actual gorilla Koko, which was a well-known gorilla that successfully learned American Sign Language from an animal psychologist named Francine Patterson. Koko and Patterson become famous in the late 1970s and Crichton takes their story and runs with it. Amy, the signing gorilla in the book, is cared for by Peter Elliot who takes the risk of joining a team put together by the Earth Resources Technology Services (ERTS) corporation in hopes of finding the place where Amy was born while the ERTS team is in the search for rare diamonds in the Congo.This is where the two worlds meet and Peter Elliot and Amy the gorilla find out that the company they just got involved with isn't exactly what they seem. They didn't know that the previous team sent to Congo, just a week before their expedition, was mysteriously murdered. They also didn't realize that they would be going into a war-torn African area where they had little to no support. Also, there is a volcano right next to their destination that seems like it might be ready to explode but, with the headstrong Karen Ross from the ERTS team and Munro the quick-witted travel guide/mercenary they make their way to the treacherous jungle in search of fortune and gorilla related answers.The book is very fun and full of action and adventure. It was also adapted to the silver screen in the 1995 movie by the same name. I remember the movie being very fun as well, if not a little cheesy, especially compared to today's movies. I recommend this book to anyone that wants a fast-paced jungle adventure with little in the way of subtext or deep philosophical complexities. It is a fun romp into a semi-realistic world that entices the imagination and keeps the reader on the edge of their seat until the end.P.S. My favorite character was Amy the gorilla.From joesnotesblog.com
Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2020
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