Congo | Michael Crichton | No monkeying around

Congo | Michael Crichton | The Perfect Summer Read

books:

Congo

	Congo Michael Crichton Avon, 2003 - 480 pages average customer review:based on 247 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

No monkeying around - this is a great book!!!!!

Congo, by prolific author Michael Chrichton, combines action, adventure, mystery, suspense and "science". The result is a spectacular book - as usual for Chrichton. The basic plot - a scientific team journeys to the heart of Africa in search of a lost city rumored to be rich in diamonds. Accompanying them is a gorilla born in the Congo, but raised in captivity. Her "memories" serve as a map for the lost city. What do they find?? You will have to read more to discover.....

The Perfect Summer Read

After an expedition team, and its camp, is wiped out, perhaps by strange apes, in the dark jungle of the Congo, another team is quickly assembled to finish the mission -- finding the blue diamonds in a long lost city. A gorilla researcher and his gorilla "Amy" are tapped to join the mission. Michael Crichton is a very good story teller and this book is very well researched. To enjoy "Congo" however requires some suspension of critical analysis of the plot and the intellectual capability of Amy. This book is cotton candy with exactly no nutritional value. For a summer beach read, this book hits the mark. Crichton's misty jungle is full of hazards that would turn back all but the most single minded explorers. I was hooked within the first few chapters and I finished the book in short order. I recommend it highly.

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Below Average Crichton

I like monkeys just as much as the next guy but I was disappointed with the number of pages it took to get to the good part. Usually Crichton writes a great first chapter then he goes into explanation then the last 50 pages are awesome. In ''Congo" only the middle was almost no explanation it was just boring.

On the positive side monkeys are cool.

On the negative side it was kind of boring.

Not one of his best

From almost the very begining you know the main characters are going to survive. You keeping reading things like "Ross later stated that..." and "When asked about it later, Elliot said..." so you know they live to tell about it. Where's the suspense in that? Half of the story was technical stuff or historical stuff, which was only slightly relevant to the story. And you didn't really get into any action until the last quarter of the book (the rest talks about the journey there, which is only mildly suspenseful). And even then the action doesn't last for more than maybe 1 page. The gorillas attack a couple of times, the volcano errupts and some natives attack.
One thing I did like was the parts with the signing gorilla.

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