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Summary: Another Reader Added to Michael Crichton's Fan List
Review: Congo is another of Michael Crichton's wonderful masterpieces. It is a brilliant mixture of suspense, action, and unthinkable horrors. This book kept me busy, reading page after page, never wanting to stop. Michael Crichton's realistic jungle setting and descriptions greatly enhanced the feeling of suspense and thrill. At the climax in the book, my hands were sweating and my heart was thumping against my chest. This book hurls readers deep into the depths of the Congo Jungle and the ruins of the Lost City of Zinj, where they came upon an ill fated field expedition. All the men were brutally killed and the camp destroyed in a matter of minutes. Back in Houston, the project directors watched the gruesome satellite transmission. In the midst of the ruined camp, they saw a dark, blurry, hulking figure prowling near the bodies. All the men had died the same way; their skulls were crushed. After minimal investigation, the company sent another expedition to the Congo Jungle, plunging the field expedition into the terrible unknowns of the Congo Jungle. Congo is another must read for the books written by Michael Crichton. He has an extraordinary way of writing a book that draws people's attention. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy adventure stories. Many parts of the book take place in a eerie twilight setting where the surrounding jungle seems to be vibrant and mysterious. In addition, if you want an extra surge of thrill, read the book at night, alone, and in a quiet room.
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Summary: Congo
Review: Congo opens on a grizzly gorilla attack on a group of explorers. Crichton goes on in telling how the search and or rescue party gets there and the horrific things they experience. With the company of Amy the most advanced ape in the sense of sign language, they learn many things about gorilla life and their past. From Chrichton I've also read Airframe, Sphere, Jurassic Park and The Lost World; personally this is my least favorite of the books. I admit the first few pages grab you with quick and intense action, but the main part of the book, I thought, was extremely boring, no action what so ever not even flared emotions. Written in 1980 it is expected to have out dated technology information, in fact some of things they mention weren't even fathomable then, but now are a part of everyday life and I made a note of that in the back of my mind, but while reading it seemed as though it was in bold print and it simply got annoying. Don't get me wrong it is a well writen book, it's just that I feel is other books are definately more worth reading. The ending as in all books is the most exciting part of the book, overflowing with action that almost makes up for the eye drying middle; almost.
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Summary: Interesting Read
Review: Congo was the fourth Crichton book I've read (Rising Sun, Timeline, Disclosure) and although an interesting read I felt that the excitement level at the end of the novel (i.e. the last 100 pages) was lacking. The detail of primate studyies a found to be very captivating but I put the book down after the last page hoping for something more. However, all in all this was a good book and should serve as a nice, quick read.
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Summary: Great fun!
Review: Earth Resources Technology Services wants something that's hidden deep in the jungles of the Congo, at the Lost City of Zinj. Because it's a resource that can make nuclear power obsolete, others want it just as badly. When their Congo field team's satellite check-in gets interrupted by the deaths of all its members, apparently at the hands of a band of gorillas behaving in totally atypical fashion, ERTS dispatches supervisor Karen Ross to lead the next attempt. As the 24-year-old mathematics prodigy and her new team fight their way toward a goal they may never reach, her drive to succeed may be what keeps them alive. Or it may just as easily be what finally kills them, too.
Joining the ERTS team are primatologist Peter Elliot and Amy, an adolescent gorilla trained by Elliot to communicate using American Sign Language. Ross hopes Amy may make a difference if they encounter the first team's killers, while Elliot has his own agenda. Meanwhile, the Congo's chronic unrest boils over into tribal warfare - and the local volcano threatens to just plain boil over.
I picked this book up expecting a "not his best" effort by one of my favorite authors, after finding the movie version rather - well - hokey. But what came across that way on the screen works fine in Crichton's prose. A wild roller coaster ride! Great fun, and a nice tribute to H. Rider Haggard, too.
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Summary: Michael's Best Book
Review: Having read all of Michael Crighton's work, Congo in my opinion is his best. Please do not compare Congo the book with Congo the movie - which was a hideous interpretation at best. I'm still scratching my head over Mr. Crighton's approval on that particular screenplay. The book is simply wonderful.
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Summary: Well...
Review: I am giving this book three stars because, while it is entertaining, and far better than a lot of books by other authors, for Michael Crichton, it just isn't up to snuff. If I were going to rate it just based on his other work, with no comparison to other authors, I would give it only one star-- maybe even only half a star. However, compared with alot of the drek that gets published these days and even makes the best seller lists, this book is still a heck of a lot better than most.
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Summary: Everything but the kitchen sink
Review: I found myself on vacation with no book...tragic. I remedied this with a copy of Congo.
As I read Congo, the story of diamond hunters in, yes, the Congo, I realized how much has changed since 1980. A cutting edge computer thriller, it has references pinball machines, five-inch floppies, 256Kmemory and portable cassette tape players. Yet it was also current, with its talk of DNA testing and the competitive threat of both the Japanese and Chinese in the world markets.
Congo has it all: competing international diamond hunters, the Congo, African pygmies, cannibalistic tribes, various warring countries and factions, lost cities of bygone centuries, active volcanoes, sign-language gorillas, geographic history, gorilla history, African and Congo history, a possible new species of gorilla with its own agenda, communications satellites, plane crashes, hot air balloons, and, well I'm sure I'm leaving something out. Michael Crichton's deft writing brings it all together for an enjoyable action romp that works....almost. If anything suffers in the book it is the characters. So much is packed into the story that the characters do not develop, and are almost relegated to following the action, which never ends. The author has to explain a lot to the reader so that we can follow along. He does this as the narrator and often includes it in character dialogue. So much information is presented as dialogue that I get the picture of very educated people, stuck in the Congo with killer gorillas and dead bodies, finally snapping and pummeling each other to the ground yelling, "Why are you being so redundant? I KNOW all this stuff!" The reader often won't, however, making it important but at times slowing the book down.
I wondered how this book could be made into a movie, and on a whim rented the 1995 thriller. The movie works by leaving a lot out (no cannibals, competing groups, and not even one African pygmy, among other things) and by breathing life into the characters and even introducing new ones. It does not do the book justice, but it does do what the book does not; it brings the characters to life.
Congo ends with a three-page reference of all the works Crichton studied and referenced in writing the book. It was impressive and shows his ability to take so much and make it work. Before this reference section was an epilogue explaining what happened to the books major characters when the adventure had ended. I found myself less interested in this and more interested in the reference list, as Karen, Peter, Munro and the rest never really impacted me, and were lost in a thriller that has everything but the kitchen sink.
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Summary: congo
Review: I have read many books but none have stood out in my mind as well as Congo has. Michael Crichton has out done himself this book is great. Elliot, Ross, and Amy travel to the Congo in search of industrial grade blue diamonds. They run into a new species of gorilla and from there the story gets much more interesting. Overall it's a great book.
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Summary: Fits snugly in Crichton's cannon
Review: Michael Chrichton has an undeniable knack for instantly recognizing the potential of cutting edge science. This technophile sensibility is essentially what elevates his work from other members of the thriller genre. Two years ago he imagined the dangers of Nanotechnology. In 2000 he explored the possibilities of Quantum Mechanics. A decade earlier he authored a masterpiece, hinging on the then emerging field of Genetics. In 1980, though, Communications was the rage. CONGO expertly exploits this field. An expedition situated deep in the heart of Africa is able to maintain contact with its cozy, state-of-the-art headquarters, located in the United States, through the miracle of satellite signals. What is mundane to a 21st century reader, was no doubt novel and even fantastic at the dawn of the 80s. Mobile phones weren't always such a damn nuisance.
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Summary: Average read.
Review: Michael Crichton's Congo is a rather uneven work that he wrote in his earlier days. There is less character development than in most of his novels. At some points the book is exciting, then you go into a 2 chapter discussion on medical history, ape history, or what have you. During these discussion points, there is no dialogue, no excitement, and no character interaction. Beside these points, the book can be suspenseful and very fun to read. The plot is complex and will keep you wondering about what will occur in the Lost City of Zinj.
Synopsis: An expedition to the Congo is a failure. The entire archaeologist party has been murdered by a mysterious gray apelike creature. Scientists at a laboratory in Houston have watched the video transmission of this, and plan to send in another expedition to investigate the occurance. A scientist named Elliot and his specially trained gorilla, Amy, are also involved in the new expedition plan. While on their way to the Congo, the members of the expedition encounter other hazards, including the kidnapping of Amy. What goes on when the party reaches Zinj is far more eventful and terrifying than anything that has happened in the book so far.
Readers of this very slow novel require patience, which I do not have. Only recommended for hardcore fans of Michael Crichton.
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