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A review by monty_reads
Great Apes by Will Self
4.0
Will Self is catapulting his way to the top of my favorite authors list. There aren't many other writers doing things quite as original and subversive as he is, and even though Great Apes was written a decade ago, it's still head and shoulders above most other things I've read recently. A brief tracing of the plot (because the less you know about the book, the more fun it is to discover): Simon Dykes, a hedonistic artist, awakes after a night of partying to discover himself living in a world populated almost entirely by chimpanzees. Life looks much as it always has – the chimps work and play in much the same way as humans – but Simon, who still believes himself to be human, has to come to grips with this new reality.
It's a great deal of fun to watch Simon wrestle with his new situation, but the real joy in this book is the vivid way Self brings the world of "chimpunity" to life. The world of the chimps isn't a science-fictiony Planet of the Apes-ish creation; it's our world, for all intents and purposes, only with chimps instead of people. There are differences, of course: public mating displays are frequent and encouraged; chimpanzee hierarchies (alpha, beta, epsilon, etc.) are still in effect, and pity the chimp who violates that social structure; work is often interrupted for grooming sessions; humans are endangered and live in zoos. Simon must learn to negotiate his way through this new world, and as readers, it's thrilling to take that journey with him. Great Apes is remarkable because it lives at the intersection of science and pure imagination, and for that reason is unlike just about any book I've ever read.
It's a great deal of fun to watch Simon wrestle with his new situation, but the real joy in this book is the vivid way Self brings the world of "chimpunity" to life. The world of the chimps isn't a science-fictiony Planet of the Apes-ish creation; it's our world, for all intents and purposes, only with chimps instead of people. There are differences, of course: public mating displays are frequent and encouraged; chimpanzee hierarchies (alpha, beta, epsilon, etc.) are still in effect, and pity the chimp who violates that social structure; work is often interrupted for grooming sessions; humans are endangered and live in zoos. Simon must learn to negotiate his way through this new world, and as readers, it's thrilling to take that journey with him. Great Apes is remarkable because it lives at the intersection of science and pure imagination, and for that reason is unlike just about any book I've ever read.