Congo

Rating:
Summary: Thriller in the heart of Africa
Review: Crichton does a wonderful job of telling how an expedition dissapears suddenly and swiftly in the unknown of the congo. Another expedition led by Karen Ross goes out to find out what happened and to finish the former expeditions mission: to find type IIb blue diamonds in the heart of Africa.
Amy the signing gorilla is a funny and needed character in this novel.
The team encounters difficulty along the way: The Zaire Army, hippos, cannibals, and something too good to give away.
A must read for all Crichton fans and/or realistic fiction.

Rating:
Summary: Crichton gets lost in Congo
Review: a good book...really good ideas that got me really excited about reading it...but it got pretty slow for a while...once they were in the jungle, the book was a fair page turner...but Crichton has written better...and sadder, this book could've been so much better too
without a doubt its a decent book...but it won't be a book that you can't put down, so expect a slightly slower read then say, Jurassic Park...not quite worth the 8 bucks at the store, but definitely pick it up at the library...its worth that much, and is a good read

Rating:
Summary: Medias Res book
Review: Congo is definitley not one of Crichtons best books, but that dousn't mean it was bad. It's based on a true story but its still fiction also. If you think the book is anything like the movie then your wrong, the movie should have been based on something totally different. The book gets you involved with more of the characters and such. I'd recommend this book to those Michael Crichton fans who haven't read it because its a good book but not the best, its still worth reading though so read it.

Rating:
Summary: So much better than the movie, it's ridiculous
Review: Did you know that there is a facutal basis for the talking Gorilla in this story? Michael Crichton repeatedly puts the 'sci' in sci-fi. In "Jurassic Park", he clearly described genetic research and genetic engineering, and in "Congo", he gives us some pretty realistic descriptions of linguistic research with primates, satellites and imaging technology, and the dangers of central Africa.

The book is SO much better than the movie. Why? First, the book is actually faster paced. In addition, the descriptions of how things work adds a depth to the book that just can't exist on screen. Finally, watching the movie has led me to the conclusion that the character descriptions in the book are indispensable. Crichton's narrative style is so polished and fluid, and is really what makes this book worth reading.

If you've never seen the movie--good! Read the book. If you have seen the movie, my condolences. But still--read the book.

Rating:
Summary: Your Assignment Class: Post a Book Review
Review: It appears youngsters love this book. I bought the paperback for a flight thinking it was a recent Crichton release I somehow missed. Within a few pages it became clear from the out-of-date technology that it was written years before - and the copyright date confirms it. Within a very few more pages it became clear why it had not been previously released, and should have stayed that way. But just like the ape in the story, money talks. A triumph of profit over art.

Rating:
Summary: Great read - a genuine page turner!
Review: From the first few pages to the (next to the) last pages, this book is one of few books which genuinely held my interest the entire time. I love the way that the book is divided into chapters by the days that they spent there. Amy (the gorilla) made it even more of a wonderful book, throwing in occasional humorous remarks. Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: Good read.
Review: Michael Crichton mixes fact with fiction to produce another great book. In this book an eight-person exploration team is brutally murdered. A second team is sent to investigate, including a primatologist and Amy, a gorilla who understands sign language. They discover the diamonds they are looking for, and slowly discover the reason the other team died so violently.

A definite page-turner, and highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Fast paced, fun, and forgettable.
Review: The search for a special kind of diamond in the Congo uncovers a lost civilization overlorded by murderous Great White Apes with nearly humanlike intelligence. Crichton's mishmash of high adventure, industrial intrigue, and terrifying threat is entertaining, but in the end disposable - the events seeming to have little effect on the characters. Not highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Movie
Review: Again the movie doesn't do the book justice. Even if you didn't like the movie, please read the book.

Congo begins with a archeological group searching for lost cities in the congan jungles. The group, in order to be found if a disaster occured, would communicate with there base and operation center in Houston via satellite video. One morning during the transmission, something goes wrong. Don't worry I won't say it...(houston we have a problem)...anyway. The company falls under attack by what appears to be gorillas. In an attempt to both find out what happened as well as finding the lost city, another expedition is sent. But this time they take a native...AMY a gorilla who knows sign language. The question on everyone's mind is...Will Amy be enough??

Rating:
Summary: Attack in Africa
Review: In the heart of the African jungle, near the ruins of the lost city of Zinj, an ERTS research team disappears, leaving only broken images of a strange gorilla like creature behind. Through their technology, Earth Resources Technology Services clears the satellite picture to reveal a strange, gorilla-like beast destroying the camp site and the members of the team.

In San Fransico, Peter Elliot is training his highly intelligent gorilla named Amy. Amy has a vocabulary of 620 signs, and has begun to finger paint images that look like the legendary Zinj. A back-up team is sent in to finish the job of the murdered researchers. Led by Karen Ross, the team brings Amy along to provide the team with a slight edge on their Euro-Japanese competitors. The ERTS team calculates to the minute the correct jouney that will enable them to beat out their competitors. Finding the diamonds could mean billions of dollars in profit, and the discovery of the ruins of Zinj would be the greatest archiological find in history. But entering the deep jungle could mean death.

In a race through the African jungles for the rare diamonds, the team ends up with more than they bargained for. They slowly begin to realize what might have happened to the previous team. They encounter more attacks and struggle for their own lives.

Although the story is full of technological terminology, it is actually not very hard to follow at all. And if one can look past the "advanced" technology of the 1980s, he/she will find this book highly intense and compelling. This thriller is hard to put down, and, as expected, does a much better job than the movie.