Congo by Michael Crichton Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Congo
Book Review: Congo Con
Summary: 3 Stars
The plot line was written well, along with the charater discriptions and overall flow to the story. UNFORTUNATELY there seems to be a misunderstanding within the cover about if the author is part of the story or not. One paragraph he will be talking in the 1st person then the next paragraph its in the 3rd person. I was confused but definately a good book to read.Book Review: Crichton ahead of official science yet again
Summary: 3 Stars
Paying attention to anecdotes and rumours can get you a long way - not just in developing fictional plots, but in anticipating by decades "discoveries" in science, such as the finding of the mysterious deadly hunting great apes of Congo near Bili, "found" and reported by actual scientists in 2004. The similarities to what was described in Crichton's book are notable.
Cite is from BBC Science News 12 Oct 2004 (based on an article in New Scientist):
"Primatologist Shelly Williams is thought to be the only scientist to have seen the apes.
During her visit to DR Congo two years ago, she says she captured them on video and located their nests.
She describes her encounter with them: "Four suddenly came rushing out of the bush towards me," she told New Scientist.
"If this had been a bluff charge, they would have been screaming to intimidate us. These guys were quiet. And they were huge. They were coming in for the kill. I was directly in front of them, and as soon as they saw my face, they stopped and disappeared." "
She also mentioned that some of them had gone gray, apparently fairly early in life, and completely gray rather than the gray-and-black of known gorilla species. The locals say they are very deadly, hunt cooperatively and silently, and will kill lions.
That doesn't mean they talk -- just thought Crichton's research abilities should be commemorated with some clips from this discovery.
Book Review: Different, but still a Crichton classic...
Summary: 5 Stars
Before reading this, I finished JURASSIC PARK, and, believe me, they both seem pretty different. Don't get me wrong, though- they're both absolutely fabulous.This is mainly about a lost city called 'Zinj' that was a really prosperous and ancient diamond mine in the Congo. Though it had been lost for years, a sort of artifact-hunting American company used technology to find the location. They immediately form a team to go and get it before the rival company finds the diamonds first. Why are these diamonds, that are supposed to be laced with impurities, so desirable? It turns out that these so-called 'blue diamonds' is one of the key factors to the making of super fast- and expensive- computers. Whichever computer company gets these diamonds will have a monopoly on the market for about the next five years- which makes the buyers extra and specially intent to get 'em.
But, the team has a bit of a problem. The eight crew members mysteriously were murdered on-site. Video footage of the site shows that the attacker was a black figure that looks exactly like a gorilla.
And that's one of the reasons why Amy, a super-smart gorilla that knows-and has conversations- in sign language is recruited for the ride. She had recently been having nightmares of the city, because that was where her mother had been murdered- in exactly the same way that the researchers had.
So they set off for the city, prepared for whatever the monster may be...
One thing that you have to love about Crichton books is that they're so incredibly scientific. At the beginning, anything can be possible, from aliens to yetis to monsters, but in the end, the REAL scary thing is that it really seems possible. I was a total Crichton fan after reading just one of his books; they all rock, this one included. Even if you're a bit wary about reading a book that sounds so centered around a monkey, go for it. you'll be surprised.
Book Review: Disappointing
Summary: 1 Stars
Like "Jurassic Park", this book starts out promisingly but runs out of steam within just a few chapters.
My reasons for such an accusation:
1. Crichton overloads the reader with scientific facts. And while these can be quite interesting, they often obstruct the action and progress of the storyline (Dan Brown, for instance, is a writer who can properly balance compelling action with factual sensitivity). As a result, the book comes off as slow and stumbling.
2. The plot isn't all that interesting to begin with. (Vengeful gorillas? Talking gorillas? Misanthropic gorillas? Come on.)
3. The book's ending is utterly terrible.
4. Cricton's writing is weak, and the characters are inconsistent and unconvincing.
Sorry, Michael, but this book just didn't do it for me.
Book Review: Everything but the kitchen sink
Summary: 4 Stars
I found myself on vacation with no book...tragic. I remedied this with a copy of Congo.
As I read Congo, the story of diamond hunters in, yes, the Congo, I realized how much has changed since 1980. A cutting edge computer thriller, it has references pinball machines, five-inch floppies, 256Kmemory and portable cassette tape players. Yet it was also current, with its talk of DNA testing and the competitive threat of both the Japanese and Chinese in the world markets.
Congo has it all: competing international diamond hunters, the Congo, African pygmies, cannibalistic tribes, various warring countries and factions, lost cities of bygone centuries, active volcanoes, sign-language gorillas, geographic history, gorilla history, African and Congo history, a possible new species of gorilla with its own agenda, communications satellites, plane crashes, hot air balloons, and, well I'm sure I'm leaving something out. Michael Crichton's deft writing brings it all together for an enjoyable action romp that works....almost. If anything suffers in the book it is the characters. So much is packed into the story that the characters do not develop, and are almost relegated to following the action, which never ends. The author has to explain a lot to the reader so that we can follow along. He does this as the narrator and often includes it in character dialogue. So much information is presented as dialogue that I get the picture of very educated people, stuck in the Congo with killer gorillas and dead bodies, finally snapping and pummeling each other to the ground yelling, "Why are you being so redundant? I KNOW all this stuff!" The reader often won't, however, making it important but at times slowing the book down.
I wondered how this book could be made into a movie, and on a whim rented the 1995 thriller. The movie works by leaving a lot out (no cannibals, competing groups, and not even one African pygmy, among other things) and by breathing life into the characters and even introducing new ones. It does not do the book justice, but it does do what the book does not; it brings the characters to life.
Congo ends with a three-page reference of all the works Crichton studied and referenced in writing the book. It was impressive and shows his ability to take so much and make it work. Before this reference section was an epilogue explaining what happened to the books major characters when the adventure had ended. I found myself less interested in this and more interested in the reference list, as Karen, Peter, Munro and the rest never really impacted me, and were lost in a thriller that has everything but the kitchen sink.