Congo by Michael Crichton Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Congo
Book Review: Not one of his best
Summary: 3 Stars
From almost the very begining you know the main characters are going to survive. You keeping reading things like "Ross later stated that..." and "When asked about it later, Elliot said..." so you know they live to tell about it. Where's the suspense in that? Half of the story was technical stuff or historical stuff, which was only slightly relevant to the story. And you didn't really get into any action until the last quarter of the book (the rest talks about the journey there, which is only mildly suspenseful). And even then the action doesn't last for more than maybe 1 page. The gorillas attack a couple of times, the volcano errupts and some natives attack.
One thing I did like was the parts with the signing gorilla.
Book Review: One of his first and one of his best, this adventure is sure to stay with you...
Summary: 5 Stars
`Congo' is one the most fulfilling of Crichton's novels, giving the reader quite a bit to look forward to. It opens brilliantly with a savage Gorilla attack that leaves members of a research team dead. It's in these first few pages that the reader is hooked, and that continues to work throughout the novel, Michael never giving the reader a reason to put the book down. For those of your who have seen the critically panned film adaptation and have thus decided to steer clear of the novel as a result, I urge you to reconsider. As I have said before, Hollywood just doesn't seem to be able to do Crichton justice. His writing in general screams for the big screen but other than a few golden nuggets (the first Jurassic Park film for starters) Hollywood in general has done nothing but botch Crichton's brilliant work.
That said, the book does a much grander job of fleshing out its characters as well as its surroundings. I've come to believe that Crichton can, with a few pen strokes, paint me a much more vivid picture than supplied by the Universal Studios. The plot revolves around a research group sent into the Congo with the purpose of finding diamonds that can help with advancing technology. Yes, Crichton slips in and out of describing in great detail what this all means, and that does mean that we are not only getting grade A science fiction but a science lesson atop it, but it's all good.
The action is brilliantly paced, as is the balance of the novel, and it delivers every bit of the mastery we've come to expect from this famed writer. While it's dated, being written in 1980, and the technology may seem a bit, oh I don't know, lame to our current standards of advancement, Crichton still writes with such insistence and determination that it's all forgivable and even entertaining to gage what was considered advanced not to many years ago.
Michael Crichton will probably never stop writing, he's just too good at it, but I find with each book that I read (I will admit that I have some catching up to do) that it's his earliest work that entices me the most. `Congo' was the third novel I read by Crichton and it's one of the few that I remember often. I encourage any fan of science fiction who hasn't yet to give it a try, and any fan of Crichton's latest work who wants to see where it all began, take a wonderful trip back in time with this brilliantly framed jungle adventure that is sure to be an expedition to remember.
Book Review: Possibly the worst book I've ever read
Summary: 1 Stars
Since I loved Jurassic Park and The Andromeda Strain (way back in high school) I happily picked up Congo at the airport. What an enormous disappointment - the book has the feel of having been written in an hour and a half. Nonsensical details are never explained (what's with the gray gorillas and the paddles? The gorillas were trained by the Zing-ites, back in the day, to execute people with the paddles and they sort of got into it? This is never made clear), the dramatic arc is entirely hosed up, and the characters are ridiculously one-dimensional. This is one of these books where you get to the last 30 pages and you realize that you're SOL - the plot is not going to come together, and you're not going to be satisfied. That, plus the obsessive detail about boring 1980 technology, left me entirely cold - this book hit the airport trash can the minute I debarked.Book Review: Scared the heck out of me and made me think
Summary: 4 Stars
I have to admit: I'm now a full-on Michael Crichton junkie, since he and Robin Cook have really nailed the one type of book that I think scares adults consistently, which is the techno-thriller. There's something out there we don't understand... our technology has failed... we're going to have to understand the science before we can destroy it and life can resume as normal. It's a little bit too serious for some, but Crichton makes it palatable. You will need read for depth of characters, as these characters are like animated cutouts motivated entirely by the synopsis of their characters presented at the start of their first appearance in the book, but the scenarios are terrifying and the writing gripping because it is sparse, to the point, and scientifically informed. In this case, the book not only handles mystery well, but makes some pointed investigations into where humans and apes are the same, and where we differ. This may be my favorite Crichton since "The Andromeda Strain."Book Review: Silly Plot and Bland Characters
Summary: 2 Stars
I've read a few novels by Michael Crichton, and CONGO is easily the weakest of the bunch. The plot of this book isn't particularly interesting (killer Gorillas in the African rainforest?) and the characters are bland and one-dimensional. The only truly likable protagonist is Amy, the gorilla that can do sign-language. It's a bad sign when the only character you care for in a novel is non-human.
As with any Crichton book, there's a lot of interesting factual information contained in CONGO. But Chrichton makes little effort to integrate this data into the story. Instead, he does an information dump every 10-15 pages or so, which stops the story dead in its tracks. It also doesn't help that most of the technology in this book is dramatically dated (no big surprise, since it was written in 1980). The result is a slow-paced, largely uninvolving reading experience.
In short, I didn't feel much excitement or suspense reading CONGO. My advice is to skip this novel, and try Crichton's far superior later work, like SPHERE. You might also want to consider the work of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, who write similar types of thillers.