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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
I was seriously disappointed with this book for numerous reasons. I will go into some of them here but, ultimately, if I was to list all the reasons it would take an hour to read.
The story could, and should, have been a straightforward and entertaining killer-gorilla related romp with lots of frightened scientists and mercenaries fighting for survival against the odds. Instead what we got was poorly written, erratic, nonsense-riddled, technology-obsessed trash.
An American research team in the Congolese jungle is savagely murdered in mysterious circumstances. The Earth Resources Technology Services (a stereotypical shadowy corporation which answers to no-one with powerful government ties *yawn*) quickly sends in another team of highly trained, yet clearly expendable, white specialists; a collection of engineers, scientists and one hard-boiled mercenary. Also along for the ride are half a dozen black African porters who are, very predictably, there for cannon-fodder purposes.
The way the book is written is messy. The story weaves left and right, constantly on the go and it wasn't long before I was forced to skip back a few pages to re-read sections due to confusion. At every conceivable opportunity Crichton drowns the reader in completely unnecessary and unbelievable techno-babble, often going off on a complete tangent about technology or the natural world for pages before returning to the actual story by which point I was totally bewildered and more than a little annoyed. At times it was more like reading a textbook than a novel, it is literally FULL of passages like this:
“The first generation of electronic computers, ENIAC and UNIAC, built in the wartime secrecy of the 1940s, employed vacuum tubes. Vacuum tubes had an average life span of twenty hours, but with thousands of glowing hot tubes in a single machine, some computers shut down even seven to twelve minutes. Vacuum tube technology imposed a limit on the size and power of planned second- generation computers. But the second generation never used vacuum tubes. In 1947, the invention of the transistor – a thumbnail sized sandwich of solid material which performed all the functions of a vacuum tube...”
The savage, murderous gorillas themselves appear right at the beginning of the book to kill off the first research team but don't make a significant reappearance until page 280. Even then they are not frightening in the least which is a massive anti-climax considering they are the main draw of the book. They spend a few pages butchering the unfortunate black porters before the white researchers escape completely unharmed (what a shocker) none of the whites on the team so much as bat an eyelid when one of these porters is killed but when one of their white colleagues or their own life is threatened, thats a different story.
The characters are two dimensional and poorly developed. It is difficult to imagine how Crichton could have done a worse job of it. The best thing I can say about this book is that the spelling is more or less correct most of the time.
Considering this book came from the acclaimed author of 'Jurassic Park' (which is a very good book) I was shocked that such a talent was capable of churning out such amateurish crap. A big let down.
The story could, and should, have been a straightforward and entertaining killer-gorilla related romp with lots of frightened scientists and mercenaries fighting for survival against the odds. Instead what we got was poorly written, erratic, nonsense-riddled, technology-obsessed trash.
An American research team in the Congolese jungle is savagely murdered in mysterious circumstances. The Earth Resources Technology Services (a stereotypical shadowy corporation which answers to no-one with powerful government ties *yawn*) quickly sends in another team of highly trained, yet clearly expendable, white specialists; a collection of engineers, scientists and one hard-boiled mercenary. Also along for the ride are half a dozen black African porters who are, very predictably, there for cannon-fodder purposes.
The way the book is written is messy. The story weaves left and right, constantly on the go and it wasn't long before I was forced to skip back a few pages to re-read sections due to confusion. At every conceivable opportunity Crichton drowns the reader in completely unnecessary and unbelievable techno-babble, often going off on a complete tangent about technology or the natural world for pages before returning to the actual story by which point I was totally bewildered and more than a little annoyed. At times it was more like reading a textbook than a novel, it is literally FULL of passages like this:
“The first generation of electronic computers, ENIAC and UNIAC, built in the wartime secrecy of the 1940s, employed vacuum tubes. Vacuum tubes had an average life span of twenty hours, but with thousands of glowing hot tubes in a single machine, some computers shut down even seven to twelve minutes. Vacuum tube technology imposed a limit on the size and power of planned second- generation computers. But the second generation never used vacuum tubes. In 1947, the invention of the transistor – a thumbnail sized sandwich of solid material which performed all the functions of a vacuum tube...”
The savage, murderous gorillas themselves appear right at the beginning of the book to kill off the first research team but don't make a significant reappearance until page 280. Even then they are not frightening in the least which is a massive anti-climax considering they are the main draw of the book. They spend a few pages butchering the unfortunate black porters before the white researchers escape completely unharmed (what a shocker) none of the whites on the team so much as bat an eyelid when one of these porters is killed but when one of their white colleagues or their own life is threatened, thats a different story.
The characters are two dimensional and poorly developed. It is difficult to imagine how Crichton could have done a worse job of it. The best thing I can say about this book is that the spelling is more or less correct most of the time.
Considering this book came from the acclaimed author of 'Jurassic Park' (which is a very good book) I was shocked that such a talent was capable of churning out such amateurish crap. A big let down.
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
Once again, Crichton writes an entertaining novel filled with science and facts that make it seem like a fictionalized telling of actual events. Seriously, I looked up Project Amy on Google thinking it might be a real government project that happened back in the 1970s. He does a phenomenal job of mixing real facts with fake ones so the made-up aspects in his novel are taken at face value. This is a commonality in a lot of Crichton’s books that is aided by his love of research and experiencing things first hand.
It was no surprise that I found Congo to be an entertaining read. After reading a couple of Crichton’s other books, I’ve become accustomed to his factual, direct and straight to the point writing style. Yes, there are a lot of facts and scientific research placed in this work that may put some people off. But, that’s what I like about Crichton’s books. In my opinion, he uses his research in a way that amplifies his stories to curate a wonderful work of science fiction.
As much as I enjoy Crichton’s writing style and the overall story of Congo, I had to give this book 4 stars. I did really want to give it 5 stars but, as things got to a boiling point in the book, it felt a little anticlimactic. There was a ton of action happening at the back end of the book, but to me, the journey to the Congo was more captivating. Possibly because we got a lot more of the character Amy, a seven-year-old gorilla, in the beginning.
All the characters of Congo were interesting, but nobody was like Amy. She was my absolute favorite character in the entire book, and I loved every single moment she was a part of. A smart, kind, and sign language speaking gorilla? How could we not love her! Also, by proxy, I liked almost every single moment Dr. Peter Elliot was a part of too. Dr. Ross was another main character who was nice to see as a strong female in an important scientific role, even if I didn’t like her as much. I appreciate the strong females Crichton writes about. He does a good job writing everyone’s faults to be inline with their personality and never based on gender. Munro was another very interesting character. I’d say second to Amy. Honestly, Munro and Amy could have had their own spinoff books and I would have consumed them greedily.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to any science fiction lovers, especially if you’ve liked other books by Crichton. If you watched the movie first, it’s still worth a read because I’ve heard the 1995 Congo film wasn’t the best writing, and we all know books are usually better than the movie. So, check this book out and go on an adventure to the Congo rainforest with some smart and interesting yet flawed people.
It was no surprise that I found Congo to be an entertaining read. After reading a couple of Crichton’s other books, I’ve become accustomed to his factual, direct and straight to the point writing style. Yes, there are a lot of facts and scientific research placed in this work that may put some people off. But, that’s what I like about Crichton’s books. In my opinion, he uses his research in a way that amplifies his stories to curate a wonderful work of science fiction.
As much as I enjoy Crichton’s writing style and the overall story of Congo, I had to give this book 4 stars. I did really want to give it 5 stars but, as things got to a boiling point in the book, it felt a little anticlimactic. There was a ton of action happening at the back end of the book, but to me, the journey to the Congo was more captivating. Possibly because we got a lot more of the character Amy, a seven-year-old gorilla, in the beginning.
All the characters of Congo were interesting, but nobody was like Amy. She was my absolute favorite character in the entire book, and I loved every single moment she was a part of. A smart, kind, and sign language speaking gorilla? How could we not love her! Also, by proxy, I liked almost every single moment Dr. Peter Elliot was a part of too. Dr. Ross was another main character who was nice to see as a strong female in an important scientific role, even if I didn’t like her as much. I appreciate the strong females Crichton writes about. He does a good job writing everyone’s faults to be inline with their personality and never based on gender. Munro was another very interesting character. I’d say second to Amy. Honestly, Munro and Amy could have had their own spinoff books and I would have consumed them greedily.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to any science fiction lovers, especially if you’ve liked other books by Crichton. If you watched the movie first, it’s still worth a read because I’ve heard the 1995 Congo film wasn’t the best writing, and we all know books are usually better than the movie. So, check this book out and go on an adventure to the Congo rainforest with some smart and interesting yet flawed people.
An expedition of American scientists was annihilated by someone or something. Blurred shadows of unknown animals were recorded on a video. The second team was dispatched to the site to find the cause of the accident and a hidden diamond deposit of enormous value. Primatologist, Peter Elliot and his partner gorilla who can talk with "signs", joined the team and they found the amazing truth in an ancient ruin buried in the deep forest. A composite of science and action and entertainment, this is a good example of Crichtonesque.
I was not as impressed with Congo as some Crichton ooks, but it's worth reading if you are a fan.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
The technology definitely sounds real because Crichton knows how to discuss science. <spoiler> The end is less desirable because everything that could possibly go wrong, went wrong. It did not really fit into the book that well and felt rushed. </spoiler> The movie did not do the book justice (if you watched it on Netflix) because it was adapted when there was not enough advances in film (or money) to do bring this book to the screen.
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
A friend lent me this book. I have never read any Michael Crichton before, and his stuff doesn't really seem like my kind of thing, but I thought the plot of this sounded interesting.
It blew me away from the start. Already after the first chapter I thought it was thrilling! I immediately thought it would work great as a movie, then I found out this was supposed to be a movie before it was even written. I would like to see the movie, but it's not available on any streaming services for me.
Amy is super fascinating, as is her relationship with Peter Elliott. The lost city of Zinj and what they find there is really exciting. There is a lot of action, technology, science and more, and everything is written wonderfully. It's really hard to put this down! Definitely recommended.
It blew me away from the start. Already after the first chapter I thought it was thrilling! I immediately thought it would work great as a movie, then I found out this was supposed to be a movie before it was even written. I would like to see the movie, but it's not available on any streaming services for me.
Amy is super fascinating, as is her relationship with Peter Elliott. The lost city of Zinj and what they find there is really exciting. There is a lot of action, technology, science and more, and everything is written wonderfully. It's really hard to put this down! Definitely recommended.
3.75
Apart from The Great Train Robbery, this is my favourite Crichton so far. I had some difficulties with the technical parts of the story, but really enjoyed the biological and anthropological parts of it. Great humour. Thought TGTR had better character work, but still liked it in Congo as well.
Apart from The Great Train Robbery, this is my favourite Crichton so far. I had some difficulties with the technical parts of the story, but really enjoyed the biological and anthropological parts of it. Great humour. Thought TGTR had better character work, but still liked it in Congo as well.
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No