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A review by midici
Congo by Michael Crichton
3.0
This was an entertaining, fairly typical Crichton book. Set in 1979 Congo provides intricate meticulous details of what used to be state of the art technology, African politics and animal behavioural studies. There was a bit of plot in there too. A bit.
Once you get over the ridiculousness of the idea that anyone would try to drag a gorilla with them on a time sensitive trip involving mercenaries, corporate espionage and cannibals it's an interesting read. It was like an Indian Jones race, with everyone needing to find the lost city first and to survive the unknown guards protecting the city! I knew right from the start these guards would be some sort of gorilla but I still enjoyed the reveal. Gorillas are one of the smartest of animals. While it's less likely you could train them to attack the way police dogs do, it is true that learned behaviours get passed down in tribes from adults to humans. The attempts to communicate with these creatures were realistically frustration, especially after the characters spend the entire book signing with Amy and dealing with translating her unique perspective into useful information for humans. The idea that the species would develop its own language is also interesting, and partially based on fact. Dolphins are known to give each other "names," distinctive sounds that the entire pod knows each individual by, for example.
What I didn't quite understand why it was so important their group found the diamonds first, as they stayed in the locale once it was found for days without interruption and apparently without finishing everything they needed to do... The main problem, as with most Crichton books, is that I don't particularly care about the characters, and the plot ends without any resolution - nothing changes for the main characters, nothing about their Congo adventure has a tangible consequence.
Once you get over the ridiculousness of the idea that anyone would try to drag a gorilla with them on a time sensitive trip involving mercenaries, corporate espionage and cannibals it's an interesting read. It was like an Indian Jones race, with everyone needing to find the lost city first and to survive the unknown guards protecting the city! I knew right from the start these guards would be some sort of gorilla but I still enjoyed the reveal. Gorillas are one of the smartest of animals. While it's less likely you could train them to attack the way police dogs do, it is true that learned behaviours get passed down in tribes from adults to humans. The attempts to communicate with these creatures were realistically frustration, especially after the characters spend the entire book signing with Amy and dealing with translating her unique perspective into useful information for humans. The idea that the species would develop its own language is also interesting, and partially based on fact. Dolphins are known to give each other "names," distinctive sounds that the entire pod knows each individual by, for example.
What I didn't quite understand why it was so important their group found the diamonds first, as they stayed in the locale once it was found for days without interruption and apparently without finishing everything they needed to do... The main problem, as with most Crichton books, is that I don't particularly care about the characters, and the plot ends without any resolution - nothing changes for the main characters, nothing about their Congo adventure has a tangible consequence.