Congo

Rating:
Summary: A bit disappointing for Crichton fans
Review: I have read three Crichton novels: Jurassic Park, Timeline, and Disclosure, and have generally enjoyed them as compelling, fast moving, and thought provoking. They invariably involve a scientific (or legal, in the case of Disclosure) concept that is extrapolated to create a gripping story, despite somewhat flat characters. Congo, however, was a disappointment. While he builds on two scientific concepts--animal communiciations and evolution--the story fails to grip as it should, pushing him to add some additional conflicts just to maintain some suspense. And while they seemed forced, they might have provided for a satisfying story if only all of the loose ends were resolved at the end. But they weren't, leaving me with a hollow feeling. My recommendation for a reader who has never read Crichton to try Jurassic Park or Disclosure. For those who have, avoid this one.

Rating:
Summary: CONGO BY MICHAEL CRICHTON
Review: Now I have read nearly all of Michael Crichton's sci-fi novels, and CONGO...is definitely the best out of all of them. I have read Jurassic Park, Terminal Man, Congo, Sphere, Eaters of the Dead, Rising Sun, The Lost World, Airframe, and Timeline. None of these books can even compare to Congo. It is one of my favorite novels of all time. The movie doesn't do it justice, then again since when did a movie ever did a book justice.

Congo is about a quest for rare diamonds and then you throw in silverback gorillas, a few competitors , a couple of plane crashes, a bunch of angry hippos, cannibals, explosives, warfare, ancient ruins, a primatologist, a guide, a bunch of guys who speak swahili and one hell of a crazy leader who would jeopardize everyone's life so long as she would get to the diamonds first!!!

If you're going to read one novel this lifetime...read PSYCHO. If you're going to read two novel this lifetime...read CONGO!!!

Rating:
Summary: You'll Go Bananas
Review: A Review by Brendan

Michael Crichton has done it again, he wrote a bestselling book once more. If you liked Jurassic park 1+2 you'll love Congo.in the depths of the jungle in Africa, people have been mysteriously killed by some unknown animal. When one scientist discovers and ape is having bad and unnormal dreams he decides to find out what they are. This book is full of adventure and excitement. If you want to know the rest pick up a copy at your local library.

There are so many things Michael Crichton did perfect in this book, but there were a few he could of left out. About 1/3 of the story talks about things we didn't know existed, like all that scientific junk. Do we really care about that? We want the blood and gore{well a lot of us do}.
What he did do well on is the detail and explaining the confusing points. This was a good book and very interesting.

I would recommend this book to readers that like blood and gore. I would also recommend this book to people that like science and mathematics. This book is very good and there are always part that include all readers.

Rating:
Summary: Great jungle adventure yarn!
Review: If you are going to be at the beach , then Congo is clearly the book for you. Congo is a good old-fashioned jungle adventure yarn. The author, Michael Crichton, was clearly inspired by the adventure stories of H. Rider Haggard but with a slight dose of Conrad. And since this is a Crichton novel, the reader will read about technological ruminations, which provoke Crichton's favorite theme - man meddling with nature when he probably shouldn't.

A rescue team, funded (and partially staffed) by a U.S. based technology corporation, is sent to the middle of the Congo area of Africa to determine the mysterious disappearance of a prior team. On their extraordinary journey, they encounter rebellious armed forces of central African nations, fabulous cities with lost treasures, strange tribes tucked away in the forest, cannibalistic groups and some unknown force that appears to kill. Crichton keeps the pace swift so you will keep the pages turning.

This book is a delightful read because Crichton delivers on his trademarks. He blends well-researched topics from diverse sciences - Congo covers biology, anthropology, archaeology, as well as descriptions of high-tech equipment (for 1979). Crichton effectively increases the suspense by giving the locations scale and a powerful perspective. The mountains, "unending virginal forest", and "thousands of miles of unexplored territory" dwarf his human characters. Finally, Crichton's storytelling gift of framing the story as a true account (along with an extensive bibliography) lends the verisimilitude that so often elevates Crichton's work.

You will not be disappointed with this quick read.

Rating:
Summary: Looking for some older Crichton to fill that need?
Review: This is a good start. As many point out, the older technology is fun to come across periodically but I didn't find it distracting at all.
What I enjoyed most was the gradual reveal of the puzzle behind everything in this book. The quest for blue diamonds is more than a bit farfetched but if you enjoy technical mysteries, it is done better here than in some of Lincon/Preston books such as 'Relic' & 'Thunderhead', two books that are very Crichton-esque in their reading. 'Rising Sun' has a better mystery at its core than this book but it lacks the overall fun that can be found here.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting and fun, but not one of Crichtons best
Review: If you are looking for a good book, you will find one in "Congo". But I didnt find that it was a big page turner, Not until the end at least. Amy the gorrilla is a wonderful creation my MC, and she even makes you laugh more than a few times in the book. But I think that he talked about Amy a bit much. People purchase this book expecting it to be all about huge killer grey gorillas, and its not. It is more about searching for diamonds and the gorilla Amy than anything. It was a good book, but not what I expected it to be.

Rating:
Summary: Civilization vs. Wilderness
Review: Congo is Michael Crichton's exploration of the interaction between humans and other primates and between civilization and the jungle.

At the start of the book, a group of people has traveled into the heart of the African rainforest in search of a mythical city that is the repository of rare diamonds.

The first expedition meets an untimely and catastrophic demise and a second expediton is sent to find the city of Zinj. This expedition includes a primatologist named Elliot and his ape named Amy.

Amy has been under the training and care of Elliot since she was sold to him when she was an infant. She has learned American Sign Language from Elliot and his team of researchers. Elliot regards the expedition to Africa as a rare opportunity to study Amy's interaction with wild apes and to understand Amy's mysterious dreams. The expedition is headed by Karen Ross, an employee of the company that financed the expedition, ERTS. The expedition includes a guide and several Africans. Ross's goal is to unravel the mystery behind the tragedy of the first expedition and to find the lost city of Zinj and its precious diamonds.

The expedition encounters many obstacles. They have to confront rival expeditions, cannibal tribes, hostile wildlife, and political disputes. At the end, the purpose of the diamonds will be revealed as will be the origin of Amy.

Rating:
Summary: Terrible Movie, Good Book
Review: Unfortunately, as it usually happens, someone took a good book and butchered it to make a movie. The attempted to make it more pleasing to a wider audience, and in turn changed one of the major characters in the book, but changing her from the driven corporate ladder climber (book version), to a former CIA agent. The CIA agent thing, got really annoying really fast in the movie. They should have left her alone, it was much more believable.

Anyway, back to the book. The book follows a team of explorers looking for blue Herkimer (sp) diamonds needed for their companies communications systems. They inadvertently discover a lost city that has been reclaimed by the jungle, before being brutally killed. The company sends a second team in to find out what happened to the first team, and to secure the diamonds.

The team ultimately discovers that the cities former inhabitants used trained gorillas to protect the diamond mines from theft. As it turns out, the gorillas went psycho and wiped out the city, and there descendants are still protecting the mines, two thousand years later.

Pick this one up if you can. It's not Crichton's best, but it ranks up there in his top five.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing about Congo
Review: If you think that when you read this book you will know something about Congo you are wrong, this book explains electronics, volcanoes, weather, etc, about Congo you will read about 20 pages, the descriptions of all the procedures are really boring and if you are not on that field you will not understand, maybe it was a real story, may be not, I really think not.

Rating:
Summary: book or movie?
Review: Read the book only..........do NOT see the movie...it is comically bad.