Rating: 
Summary: beneath the planet of the humans
Review: A wicked view of humanity and its hypocrisies. A great novel to make you think about humans, their genetic programming and their place in the world. It also satirises the contemporary art scene in London and the academic world ruthlessly.A substantial and important work, even if it is extremely seamy and seedy. It reminded me of visions like Anthony Burgess's Clockwork Orange and seems to sit well in the British tradition of satire going back to Swift.
Rating: 
Summary: Never was a Planet of the Apes fan, but this compelled me.
Review: Ever seen the TV show "Sliders" where humans fall into parallel worlds? This novel is a very well written, unable to convert to TV, version of that show. "Great Apes" is as much a study of human lifestyle as it is of chimpanzees. This novel made me question certain "acceptable" human behaviors: such as monogamy, sexuality, cigarette and drug use, and even normal activities like clothing and grooming our bodies. The novel's premise is that one human wakes, after a long evening of drugs and sex, into a world where other humans are test-subjects (laboratory species) while chimps are completely socialized and hold Masters Degrees. However, breakfast on this "planet" consists of intercourse with all your favorite daughters while simultaneously consuming porridge, reading the newspaper, and chasing away infants trying to play on your back. When the male chimp leaves home, he wears only upper body clothing, leaving his rear end exposed. Imagine a world of looking into a mirror to check your bare ass instead of face. Will Self excels in this novel by writing so vividly that human behavior of the principal character, Simon Dykes, appears as disgusting or strange as that of the apes. I found the novel difficult to "get into" at first, in part because of the British slang, but was captivated by the fourth chapter. This book is not for people who want a fluffy, light novel. It is graphic, deals with disgusting-revolting subjects that challenge our human view point, that I personally found thrilling
Rating:
Summary: A Clever Kafkaesque Fantasy With a Shot of Gary Larson
Review: First of all, I am biased. I am a big fan of chimpanzees. I also love to jokingly compare people (most notably in a corporate setting) to primate groups. What fascinated me about Will Self's book is how he managed to map chimpanzee behavior onto middle class English society. He came up with intriguing descriptions of how chimps who would be capable of creating a civilization analagous to ours would live in their households, behave toward each other, "talk", drive cars and so on. Actually, some of the descriptions of the chimps driving and talking (using sign language with hands or feel, depending on how they are driving) fascinated me no end. I got so wrapped up in the dystopic fantasy of waking up and finding oneself not only in "Planet of the Apes", but turned into one of the apes, that I really don't have a lot to say about plot or to make any clever comparisons with great satirists, like Swift. To me, the book was a rollicking good "What If" fantasy and I think, if you think great apes are, well, just great, you may like this one a great deal.
Rating:
Summary: Alternative reality?
Review: For those who've journeyed before into Will Self's London, there's bound to be lots that's familiar in "Great Apes": the themes of drug abuse, psychiatry, obsession with sex and so on. Indeed, you could view "Great Apes" as a mere variation on the stories in "The Quantity Theory of Insanity" and "Grey Area" (the characters will ring lots of bells). The plot centres on the chimpanzee artist Simon Dykes, who imagines he's really a human, and finds help in the shape of the eminent psychiatrist/academic/TV personality Dr Zack Busner. Part of Busner's therapy is to take Dykes to meet real humans at London Zoo, in the hope that when confronted with humanity, Dykes will recover his real (chimp) nature. Will Busner succeed? The big attraction of "Great Apes" is its sheer imaginativeness: the London is this novel is a chimpanzee-based society. The interest and sheer fun of the novel derive from that - it's great to be carried along on Self's outrageous imagination, enjoying his identification of differences between the real world and his imagined "chimpworld" (but far more enjoyable than that is spotting where things are pretty much the same!). Great fun. G Rodgers
Rating:
Summary: HooohGraah!! - Four Thumbs up for Will Self
Review: I have never been inparted with 'Grnn' any of Will Self's previous books. So I can't sign much about the 'euch-euch' cuffing he has received from critics in the past. But through my introduction to Self in this novel, I am thoroughly impressed with the efulgence of his ischeal pleat and submit to his literary suzerainity. Why do humans bash Self, 'huuu'? His effectiveness in taking up such a difficult task is ample evidence of his skill. Yet with all the potential he has for a devastating critique of modern society, he is modest. Amis' "Times Arrow" comes immediately to my mind in parallel, as well as T. Boyle's satire. Both those artists reserve a much more serious tone in their critique of western civilization. Yet Self maintains a delicate balance hovering around the personal which lends itself to extension without ever losing the pure joy of his parallel universe's perversions of what humans consider natural. Self's chimps are not locked inside their own minds as are humans. They quickly resolve their existential dilemnas with a quick mating or a brutal yet brief brawl. And for this, the world of chimpunity has no use for weapons. What chimps lack is sexual attention from their parents. Such a world! Self could do worse than to extend and expand in such fertile 'euch-euch' terrian. I for one would like to see more. For now, a hearty HoooGraah! Self is my kind of chimp.
(updated from my anonymous review)
Rating:
Summary: Self's Opus
Review: I just finished "Great Apes" after putting it off for 3 years or so after a friend recommended it highly. If you have trouble getting started on this lengthy book, start with "The Sweet Smell of Psychosis" his little novella.
It is difficult to pin down what exactly is so provoking about this book. Self creates a world, not quite science-fiction or science-fantasy but oblique enough that it allows him to weave his twisted but ultimately enlightening spells. His satire is highly illuminating, extremely original, and altogether very funny in a 'noir' sort of way. This book is definitely worth the effort of reading it in its entirety.
Rating:
Summary: clever and entertaining
Review: My wife bought this book for me because she liked the cover. I like it too, and think it looks rather like a simian Duane Gish (of the Institute for Creation Research)--do a Google image search and you'll see what I mean. I don't think, as one reviewer wrote here, that the Zack Busner character is particularly based on Freud. There is evidence early on that he is at least partially based on Oliver Sacks (his list of publications in the world of chimps has titles very much like those of Sacks' books, and his intimate relationships with his patients are similar to Sacks' style).
Rating:
Summary: Go to the zoo, read this book, then go to the zoo again
Review: The 1st 2 chapters seem hard work as you're reading them, I almost gave up too, but their importance becomes clear as you read on. The book brilliantly challenges many notions of human superiority and morality. Things we accept as absolutes are superbly diminished in the chimp context. For example Sarah is undergoing therapy for the sexual abuse she suffered by her father, except in the chimp world she was abused because he didn't have sex with her. It sounds bizarre and shocking but that's the nature of challenging stuff like this and it is completely relevant in context. The chimps believe themselves to be as moral and superior as humans do in our world, the fact that their behaviour is contrary to much of what we consider moral and proper just illustrates the hyprocrisy of our world. The book made me consider how very few moral absolutes there are, and that most of our morals and standards are forced on us by politicians and other dubious characters, with equally dubious motives. If nothing else the book will make you think, stop you taking yourself so seriously, humble you a little, wish humans had never given up the practice of grooming and make it very difficult to ever go to the zoo again.
Rating:
Summary: brilliant
Review: There really isn't too much to add to what others have said in reviewing the book. This is a world weary cynical satire of human life which is one of the funniest things I have read in years. Having said that boy oh boy does it make you think. As I read about life through the eyes of a chimp that which is initially hysterically funny becomes less so when you realise what you are reading parallels aspects of your own life.
Despite my review seeming somewhat contradictory in its 'effulgence' of this book I would recommend it to anyone and all my friends have had it for Christmas or a birthday and now they are passing it on to others.
Rating:
Summary: brilliant
Review: There really isn't too much to add to what others have said in reviewing the book. This is a world weary cynical satire of human life which is one of the funniest things I have read in years. Having said that boy oh boy does it make you think. As I read about life through the eyes of a chimp that which is initially hysterically funny becomes less so when you realise what you are reading parallels aspects of your own life.
Despite my review seeming somewhat contradictory in its 'effulgence' of this book I would recommend it to anyone and all my friends have had it for Christmas or a birthday and now they are passing it on to others.
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