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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Cannibalism
adventurous
slow-paced
I can cross Congo off my list, reading my way around the world. There's a signing gorilla, a lost city, cannibals, possibly a new species of gorilla, and a race against another expedition to find some diamonds. This book was written 40 years ago and there's some cutting edge technology.
One of Crichton's better novels. Good pacing and, as in Jurassic Park, the usual detailed scientific explanations augment this story without detracting from the narrative. Plus, gorilla behavior.
Crichton is obviously a big fan of filling his novels with extremely specific technological and scientific detail; this feels like the first of his I’ve read where the plot practically exists solely to indulge in absurdly protracted descriptions of stuff like militaristic and private research weapons/location/communications systems, geographic and topographical characteristics, the social patterns of various jungle animals but especially gorillas, and a bunch of other tertiary tangents that in may cases only minorly supplement the story in any meaningful way. That said, it’s fun to read and I have an admiration for a book whose author has no misgivings about narrative and characterization taking a back seat to his single-minded fixations. Crichton would have been a great technical writer.
A team goes to find out what happened to their peers in the Congo. Personally, I would read anything by Crichton. I was devastated when he died; I feel like it was a great literary loss. Congo was another fast-paced story with strong characters; however, Crichton went overboard in his technical descriptions of pretty much everything from computer programs to African mountains. Not my favorite Crichton, but still an exceptional read.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Weird and schlocky but kind of interesting