Planet of the Apes

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Summary: A Social Satire In The Tradition of Gilliver's Travels
Review: Forget the movies- You won't find Taylor or Leo Davidson here. No "Get your stinking hands off of me..."; The concept is the same (Astronaut is marooned on a planet populated by "Civilized" Apes), but the execution is totally different.

While the movies are heavily tilted towards action/adventure, the book that inspired them is a satire in the vein of Jonathan Swift's classic "Gulliver's Travels". Author Pierre Boulle uses the off-kilter premise to hold a mirror up to the audience, allowing the reader to get a different perspective on animal rights, and the foibles of humanity in general.

After crashing on the Planet Soror, Astronaut Ulysse Merou is captured by the talking, intelligent Apes who dominate the world, and taken to a lab, where he is the subject of an experiment made famous on Earth by Pavlov. Here he meets some Apes that will seem familiar to fans of the films: Zira, Cornelius, and Dr. Zaius. The book takes a more intellectual approach than the films; A lot of time is spent delving into the mysterious origin of the Ape civilization, and it's easy to see why the filmmakers opted for a more action-packed approach. It works well in print, but on the screen, it would be a snooze-fest. The book dragged in places, but it's a quick read overall. The end is every bit as memorable as the first film's famous Statue of Liberty scene, and it's fun to see the bits and pieces of the book that were cannibalized for the films, like the way the plight of Ulysse and his family inspired the third Apes film, Escape From The Planet of the Apes. I had trouble with the "Ancestral Memory" plot device Boulle uses to reveal the story of the rise of the Apes, but that's a small quibble. I found Planet of the Apes to be a wickedly fun read, and it gave me a lot to think about after turning the last page. Plus, it made me want to see the films all over again!

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Summary: A Great Fun Read
Review: I read this during my Freshmen year of high school and was schocked by the difrence between movie and film.However it was aswome.While most people like Star Wars or Star Track I am an adict Planet of the Apes fan.Having both comics,books,and DVD's.This is one of te best translations out there.
Some of the big difrenses are name translations and a shoking twist of an eding that had me glood to my seets.
I love the charteristis of these characters in the book,and unlike bot Tim Burton's and Charls Heston's film.The book by Boul had the Apes in a more modern city.
While the make up in Planet of the Apes(1967) movie was ground breaking.The book by boule had some differensess that are quite noticabel.

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Summary: Great Fun
Review: What a great book. I had seen all the movies, including the latest remake. But wanting to know the original story as it was seen by the author, I read the book. What great great fun. I could not put the book down. The book was writen in 1963, and for that time, it's just an amazing work of science fiction.

It's a fairly short book, so if you can get your hands on it, start reading it right away, and it'll be finished in no time.

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Summary: Interesting ideas
Review: If you've seen the movies, you don't really know the book. Some of the basic concepts are there, but it is quite different.

A small group of astronauts travel to a far away planet and run into something they didn't expect to find. Humans with animal instincts. Apes wearing modern clothes (for the time period the book was written - early 1960s) and driving cars. The humans destroy the astronauts' ship, leaving them stranded on this unusual world.

I can't really discuss much more without the risk of making a spoiler.

The book goes very quickly and doesn't really dwell on details. For me, the final ending involving those reading the story was predictable. It's still an enjoyable book. As with much sci-fi, social themes are hidden within the fictional situations. The point of this one was fairly clear, but I also knew about the themes before reading the book. The book was discussed some in Behind the Planet of the Apes.

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Summary: A Quite Riot among the Apes
Review: Planet of the Apes was a very interesting. From the beginning the story gave constant details about this, space-traveling couple who come across this bottle floating in space. Little do they know inside this bottle may be the greatest story ever told. With its constant twist and turns I was constantly coming back for more I never wanted the story to end. But when it struck me with its suprise ending I was left there wanting more. So, all in all, I thought this was a superb book.

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Summary: The Quite Riot Among the Apes
Review: Planet Of The Apes was a terrific story. At the beggining of the story it told about an adventerous couple who traveled around in space. One day they Come across a bottle floating in space and little did they know inside that bottle is probably the greatest story ever told. With its wounderful twist and turns it kept me coming back for more. I never wanted the story to end and when it did I was left there speechless by its suprise ending.So all in all I thought it was a great book.

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Summary: Satirical, not action-packed.
Review: Arguably author Pierre Boulle's best-known work, PLANET OF THE APES receives a new paperback edition with a movie tie-in cover to coordinate with the release of Tim Burton's "reimagining" of the 1968 classic. Though the image of a gorilla warrior on the front is striking and fresh, the contents inside are, luckily, exactly the same as they have always been.

An SF-powered satire of modern living, PLANET OF THE APES is not an action-packed spectacular, as both film versions have been, though there is action to be found. Instead, Boulle skewers the construction of contemporary society, values, and the unshakable belief of modern men in their own position at the apex of creation. And though this seems like an invitation for boredom, or preachiness, quite the opposite is the case: Boulle's book is fascinating and entertaining from beginning to end.

While those who expect another take on the films will doubtless be confused and perhaps disappointed, readers that are open to an entirely new experience with the "world of apes" concept will find Boulle's novel a great read.

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Summary: Don't Read this Imagining Charlton Heston kicking Ape ...
Review: This is a great social commentary and satire, in the vein of Orwell's Animal Farm. I decided to read this book last year in preparation for Tim Burton's remake (which was disappointing). I expected The Planet of the Apes to be more similar to the 1967 Charlton Heston film version. Instead, however, I found the Planet of the Apes to be very intellectual, symbolic, and satirical rather than action packed with a touch of social commentary. This is a great book for anyone who is interested in the films, or anyone who loves social satire books such as Animal Farm. Certainly, Planet of the Apes is no masterpiece, but it is an enjoyable, thought-provoking book worthy of a read.

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Summary: It's A Madhouse! A Madhouse!
Review: Deservedly a classic. Any fan of any of the multivarious Apes incarnations (movies, T.V. show, comic books, etc.), especially the movies, will find their favorite Apes story somewhere in its pages - though differently than they have been portrayed, for the most part. Boulle's novel is an epic, sprawling social satire, tackling just about anything and everything about human nature and politics, with a great deal of humor and skill.

A passing spaceship picks up a manuscript in a bottle, detailing the adventures of an Earth astronaut who survived a crash landing on a planet where apes are the dominant species and man a mere animal. The astronaut learns their language, and eventually demonstrates to them that he is a sentient creature, soon becoming the toast of the town in ape society. But there are those who fear the amazing talking man, for the planet he represents and the link he proves to their own researches into the evolution of the ape. Did man predate the ape? Could he again become the dominant species on the planet? And what should they do about it, in any event?

It's all framed as an adventure story, performing as both a drama and a farce. It has more surprises than the reader might expect, the less said about which the better for those who intend to read it. Even if you've seen the movies, you'll find something new and delightful in reading the book.

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Summary: Arrogance
Review: In "Planet of the Apes", Pierre Boulle dramatically shines a light upon a certain human arrogance. I do not know the history of it, but I expect that Pierre Boulle purposefully chose the science fiction genre to present the ideas of this story due to a certain characteristic specific to that genre.

I was born in 1965. As an adolescent, I developed a fondness for science fiction. Although I had not had much life experience by that time, from my reading and affinity for television shows such as Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, and The Outer Limits, I came to realize a key positive attribute of such stories. The science fiction genre is one that allows an author to present something - a concept, an idea, a problem, a social issue, etc. - in a context that allows the reader or viewer to obtain and maintain a greater degree of objectivity than would otherwise be possible. It also seems to allow an author to present an argument against some arrogance of an individual, group, or mankind as a whole in a somewhat polite and effective manner that will be more acceptable to an audience than a direct approach. I believe this attribute of the science fiction genre is its great strength - the primary reason that it has lasted and seen the degree of success that it has seen. "Planet of the Apes" by Pierre Boule takes full advantage of this attribute of the science fiction genre. I recognized this characteristic of this story as a child when I watched the movies that were drawn from it. I have been fascinated by this and drawn to the science fiction genre because of it ever since. This book "Planet of the Apes" is a perfect example of what draws me to the genre.

Just before the release of the recently created (2001) "Planet of the Apes" movie, I finally chose to read this book. Given my past experience with the movies drawn from it, it was a wonderful experience. (It would have likely been enjoyable even without my past experience.) It was interesting to see the ways that the original movie was quite different from the book. Even with the differences, I was pleased that the original movie seems to have maintained much of the defining attributes of the original story. I have found that I enjoy both stories to the same degree for different reasons. If, like me, you have been a "Planet of the Apes" fan for years but have not read this book, I urge you to read it - you will not be disappointed.