| Title | : | Congo |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0060541830 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780060541835 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 442 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1980 |
| Awards | : | Premio Grinzane Cavour Narrativa Straniera (1982) |
Ten thousand miles away, Karen Ross, the Congo Project Supervisor, watches a gruesome video transmission of the aftermath: a camp destroyed, tents crushed and torn, equipment scattered in the mud alongside dead bodies — all motionless except for one moving image — a grainy, dark, man-shaped blur.
In San Francisco, primatologist Peter Elliot works with Amy, a gorilla with an extraordinary vocabulary of 620 “signs,” the most ever learned by a primate, and she likes to fingerpaint. But recently, her behavior has been erratic and her drawings match, with stunning accuracy, the brittle pages of a Portuguese print dating back to 1642 . . . a drawing of an ancient lost city. A new expedition — along with Amy — is sent into the Congo where they enter a secret world, and the only way out may be through a horrifying death …
source: michaelcrichton.com
Congo Reviews
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LE MINIERE DI RE SALOMONE
Congo è stato il mio ultimo incontro con la letteratura di Michael Crichton: ho cominciato a leggerlo qualche anno prima, Il terminale Uomo, per poi proseguire con Jurassic Park e Sfera.
Mi sono piaciuti tutti e mi rendo conto che Crichton mi manca, se ne è andato troppo presto. E mi rendo anche conto che ho ancora tanto da leggere di suo, ha scritto e fatto molto nei suoi brevi sessantasei anni.
Come si fa a dimenticare che dalla sua penna nasce Westworld – Il mondo dei robot che lui ha anche diretto al cinema con quel magnifico robot pistolero del west interpretato da Yul Brinner che metteva i brividi! E come si fa a dimenticare quell’altra sua regia, 1855: La più grande rapina al treno, con l’adorato Sean Connery (e Donald Sutherland)!
E almeno un altro paio di film diretti personalmente da non dimenticare Coma – Coma profondo e Runaway (ma furono di più, una mezza dozzina di titoli, senza escludere che è tra i creatori della serie E.R., che da sola vale un inchino particolarmente sentito).
Michael Crichton [Chicago 23 ottobre 1942 – Los Angeles 4 novembre 2008] era alto 2 metri e 6 centimetri.
Congo è stato l’ultimo che ho letto e probabilmente quello che ho amato di più: perché mi piace l’Africa, e perché ho un debole per i gorilla (più dei dinosauri: ma i dinosauri sarebbero così popolari oggigiorno se non fosse proprio per lui e il suo Parco Giurassico?).
Creativamente prolifico e dinamico (romanzi, racconti, saggi, sceneggiature, regie, serie tv, produttore), con studi scientifici alle spalle (soprattutto medicina, ma non solo), questo Jules Verne del XX secolo è autore di pagine che parlano di viaggi straordinari, e per quello che mi riguarda – intendo, considerate le mie cognizioni sull’argomento – potrebbe avere inventato un nuovo genere, che non è né fantascienza né la sua variante distopica: il tecno-thriller.
Scienza, avventura, azione, suspense, shakerate e miscelate, senza vodka né gin né oliva (mi spiace, James – ma, a prescindere da Bond, il Martini è stato il primo cocktail di cui mi sono innamorato, probabilmente perché Graham Greene ne era strenuo difensore, e bevitore, nella variante strictly gin).
Amy
Qui (pubblicato nel 1979) c’è una spedizione nel cuore del Continente Nero, nel Congo del titolo, il cuore dell’Africa: deve impadronirsi di certi diamanti speciali necessari per fabbricare le armi indispensabili alla prossima Terza Guerra Mondiale. Si portano dietro strumenti tecnologici sofisticati e all’avanguardia. Dovranno vedersela con una guerra civile, con la competizione di un consorzio concorrente euro-giapponese, con l’eruzione di un vulcano.
Ma più temibile di tutti è la razza sconosciuta di gorilla che difende la città perduta di Zinj.
L’eterna lotta dell’uomo per piegare la Natura al suo volere.
Divertimento puro. Di quello che alla fine non fa sentire rincretinito.
Stendo un velo pietoso sul film omonimo ambientato in un’Africa di cartapesta che non merita neppure la singola stella della vergogna.
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i'm having a little trouble with myself right now. i just gave this one 4 stars and Inner-Snob Mark is getting very twitchy, almost trigger-happy, ready to take control of my favorite hand and bump this one down to 3 stars. never fear, i have a tight rein on Inner-Snob Mark and have carefully compartmentalized him away tonight. but he does have a few good points. my God, i gave the timeless classic The Last Unicorn 3 stars. i gave Room - which wrecked me emotionally and had me crying like someone died - the same 4 stars. and Congo gets only 1 star less than either Picnic at Hanging Rock or The Thin Red Line - two books that i think are perfect from beginning to end. eh, so fucken what. stars are stupid, right?
okay, so that's the disclaimer. it will probably be longer than the actual review.
i LOVED this book. it was one of those immersive experiences, one that i dived into and stayed deep. Crichton is not known for having an interesting writing style, but his prose is clean & straightforward & dry without being off-puttingly clinical. ack, Inner-Snob Mark just had a spasm when i used the words "Crichton" and "prose" in the same sentence. no complaints whatsoever about the quality of writing. Congo is not corny and it is not emotionally manipulative and there aren't stupid lines where i start breathing loudly in frustration. what it does have is a superbly brisk narrative that does not falter despite the very dense level of information surrounding it. and that's another great thing: the very well-done infodumps. i'm going to sound a little schoolboy-ish here... but i learned so much! about the Congo, of course. but this being Crichton, i also learned a lot about apes and technology and corporate philosophies and tons of other interesting shite. the author makes sure all of his research is on the page and yet it didn't feel didactic and it didn't take away from the plot - if anything, it drew me in further.
oh yeah, and it had one more awesome thing. in my GR friend Bill's words: The big star in this story is Amy, a gorilla with a 620 sign vocabulary. After reading this, you will want a gorilla for a best friend. ah, Amy... i know we would be fast friends! -
First off, I've always gone bananas over books and movies that have giant apes & big gorillas in them, going way back to when I was a kid, particularly with movie classics like,
King Kong and
Mighty Joe Young, that were a blast for me and my brother to watch together.
Reading books and watching movies about big apes helps me reconnect with those experiences I will always hold dear to me.
I've been going ape over everything & anything simian fiction-related ever since.
When I first saw the preview for the movie,
Congo, it was a no-brainer that I would be seeing it as soon as it came out.
Anyone who may have seen the original advertisements for the movie may remember that the 1st preview centered on character, Charles Travis, played by fan-favorite actor,
Bruce Campbell. *Ever since I first saw
Evil Dead, starring
Bruce Campbell as Ash, I followed every single film he did. But, if you saw
Congo, then you'll know that he was only in the film for about 5 minutes or less!
I rushed out to see the 1st showing on the 1st day of the film release with my best friend, Doug, at the time.
Before I read the book.
I knew it was gonna have a
Jurassic Park sorta cheeziness to it but I was looking forward to that and otherwise not really knowing what else to expect. The acting was a mixed bag of fine performances like
Laura Linney and Dylan Walsh, along with some of the worst acting since the very dawn of time.
Tim Curry, an actor I've loved since watching his iconic legendary performance as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in
The Rocky Horror Picture Show many many times, was just God-awful! As Herkermer Homolka, his Russian accent defies logic as to why they would even keep the cameras rolling after his first line, Which, to me, sounded like he got his tongue stuck in his throat.
Though, by this point, I wouldn't trade him in for the world though his is the worst accent I've ever heard! *Now that I think about it, the way over-the-top French accent by
Julia Ormond in
Mad Men is definitely up there for debate! ~ I'm guessing that the
Mad Men producers must've got confused thinking she was French actress,
Juliette Binoche, when they brought her on, since they look dead-on identical!:
http://0d.img.v4.skyrock.net/2749/195...
Back to Congo. As my buddy Doug and I watched the film we kept sinking lower and lower and lower into our seats until we were, seriously, nearly sitting on the floor. Throughout all the impossibilities that could only happen in an 80's movie, we burst out laughing in places where we weren't supposed to dozens of times! (much to the hatred of the rest of the audience, I'm sure). By the end of the movie, as we were walking out, I said in my best Amy voice - the pet gorilla who had the female equivalent of a
Stephen Hawking-like computer voicebox - "Bad movie, Amy, Bad movie." Yeah...we were little shi†s then just like most guys that age, I guess.
Just so you know, I've watched the film a few times since and it gets better every time. It's a real hoot! and now I think I love it!
But, back to the book.
In case it surprises anybody, I don't think
Michael Crichton wrote this one just so it would turn out to be a mega-million-buck movie.
And though it's a tech-thriller, it's also a throwback to the pulp adventure-style books going on for over a century now. Most notably,
King Solomon's Mines:
The difference? It's been updated, everything moves faster, there's better equipment, and everybody's more sarcastic and cynical than ever before. No duh. Really!?
I enjoyed this novel. I'm pretty sure everybody has an idea what it's about so why go into it.
It was a good book.
However...
Since most of the covers, including the movie poster and dvd, have a GORILLA on it, you would expect there to be some damn gorillas IN IT.
I kept asking:
...a common question I ask whenever I expect to see more of something, or, when there's an element sorely missing throughout what I'm reading!
Here's one where you would want
Michael Crichton to use his time machine from
Timeline so he could fast forward to the future and take notes of the formula that worked so well in books he wrote later and were more successful.
Jurassic Park had a great abundance of dinosaurs in it. Too bad he couldn't have used that same formula here!
It is a well written, nicely plotted book, with good characters, a great premise, action-packed, and mostly a lot of fun.
It was just missing one thing for me: MORE FREAKING GORILLAS!
* This is one of those rare books that has many great artwork covered editions. I hope you pick a good one. Buying the bland books allows the publisher to think it's ok to skip the art department, leaving us with a world of mediocre book covers to choose from. So you know, many of the cheapest editions have some very nice covers.
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The book was interesting in the second half with the first half using lot of technical jargon which almost made me abandon it halfway. Once you overcome the first half, it becomes interesting and edgy. The author has described the African jungles so vividly that you visualise it right before your eyes. All about an organisation's quest to explore blue diamonds which sends a woman, Karen Ross accompanied by a primatologist, Peter Elliot who becomes the central character along with his pet gorilla, Amy. You feel for Amy when she converses with her handler Peter Elliot. The expedition is led by a mercenary turned expert jungle guide Munro. There are the unusual twists and turns given the jungle backdrop, the tribals and the gorillas. The whole technical stuff appear a bit outdated today since this was written way back in the 80s. Otherwise this is a good book to read.
After reading Congo I will see monkeys and apes with a lot more respect. The gorilla is described to be far more docile creature than the chimpanzees, however fearsome they appear. Don't judge a book by the cover (pun intended). I was actually surprised by such tidbits in the book regarding primate behaviour. Enjoy the adventure ! -
Michael Crichton called this book a continuation of the tradition of H.Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines. The book didn't impress me all that much.
A field expedition dies mysteriously in minutes,in the darkest region of Congo.In San Francisco,an extraordinary gorilla,named Amy,with a 620 sign vocabulary,may hold the secret to that carnage.Thankfully,however,the gorilla does not speak English.
Another expedition is sent to investigate.After that comes the lost city of Zinj,fights with gorillas and an exploding volcano.These are the type of ingredients loved by Hollywood.
The book was yet another commercial success for Crichton,and also became a major motion picture.I haven't seen it,nor do I intend to.Still remember how bored I was watching Jurassic Park,another film of a Crichton book.
Yet another one of his books,which I struggled to finish,and which at times literally put me to sleep.
1.5 stars,rounded up -
What did I think?
What did I think?!?
This book has:
-Talking monkeys
-Sinister Japanese businessmen
-Lasers
-Laser guns
-The actual phrase "laser gun"
-Cannibals
-African revolutionaries
-Hippo attacks
-Blue diamonds
-Wildly inaccurate predictions about the future of supercomputing
-Supercomputers
-Speculation on the nature of language
-Gorillas bred to kill
-Milquetoast academics forced by circumstance into acts of badassery
-Sky-diving gorillas
-An ancient lost city called Zinj
-A volcanic eruption
and a flipping hot air balloon.
So what do you think I think?
It was really fun. -
Crichton loved to go into intricate, technical detail with all of the little scientific specifics in his writing. Often they’re informative and interesting. But in a novel, this only lasts so long before it actually gets a wee bit repetitive and even annoying.
One example in this book; at one point, you’ll spend 3 pages reading about the biology, habitat, and behavior of hippos in order to build up to a 1/2 page confrontation with a bull hippo.
Often, Crichton spends to much time on these lectures and not enough on his plot and characters. In this book, you learn a lot about gorillas, animal husbandry, African ecosystems and electrical engineering, but this is all at the expense of plot build, character development, and good dialogue; of which there is none. Completely lacking in all of the elements of a fun read.
It did not hold my interest very well at all. For a 316 page book, it took me way to long to read. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for learning something when reading a book, but I need to be captivated first. -
دوستانِ گرانقدر، این کتابِ 302 صفحه ای، داستانی بسیار مهیج و معمایی دارد و البته در دلِ خود اطلاعاتی را در مورد طبیعت و نوع زندگی و قبایل و حیوانات آفریقایی، بخصوص مربوط به منطقه جنگلی «کنگو»، جای داده است
داستان در مورد یک تیم تحقیقاتی میباشد که به دنبال یک شهر افسانه ای به نام «زینج» در «کنگو» میروند که میدانند سرشار از الماس و گنجینه های بسیار است و هرکه به آنجا قدم نهاده زنده بازنگشته است
در طول داستان این گروه به همراه گوریلی به نام «امی» که با زبان اشاره سخن میگوید، اتفاق های عجیبی را تجربه میکنند... 13 روز و هر روز تجربه های عجیب و وحشتناک و جالب توجه ... که هر کدام از این روزها در یک منطقه و البته هرکدام یک فصل از این کتاب را تشکیل داده است
این گروه نه تنها با قبایل وحشی و آدمخوار همچون «کیگانی ها»، باید سرشاخ شوند، بلکه با یک ارتش وحشی و جانی به فرماندهی ژنرال «موگارو» نیز باید دست و پنجه نرم کنند
در روز آخر آتشفشان «موکنکو» که شهر «اینجی» را تبدیل به یک افسانه کرده است، فوران کرده و زمین لرزه و صاعقه های وحشتناک این گروه را اسیر خود میکند و آنها را به بدترین شکل ممکن مجروح کرده و می کشد و از طرفی «کیگانی ها» هواپیمای آنها را محاصره کرده و به آتش میکشند، اما با کشته شدن جادوگر قبیله خود، صحنه را ترک میکنند
از این گروه، آن گوریل به نام «امی»، «کارن راس» محقق، «پیتر الیوت» دکتر و جانور شناس تیم، «چارلز مونرو» و «کاهگا» توانستند به وسیلۀ بالن پلاستیکی از آن جهنم جان سالم بدر ببرند... و شهر نیز برای همیشه به زیر مواد مذاب رفت... و در این میان تنها کسی که زرنگی کرد، «چارلز مونرو» بود که همراه خود 31 قیراط الماس از آنجا خارج کرد و در آمستردام فروخت
امیدوارم این توضیحات مفید بوده باشه، و از خواندن این کتاب لذت ببرید
«پیروز باشید و ایرانی» -
DNF. In this book, there are too many technical expressions and descriptive parts; and little emotion and action. This book sounds like an encyclopedia and not like a novel. I've even tried reading this book with the help of the audio, which usually gives me more desire to finish a book; but this book is so annoying, that though I read it while I was listening to the audio, it hadn't me motivated.
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A seriously good techno-thriller which had me wondering for the most part. Of course, it being written in the eighties not all of the technology that Crichton uses to construct the story are still relevant, but their canny placement in the narrative to resolve tangles or deliver surprise twists was simply too neat. The characters where typical thriller material - not sufficiently developed, but not boring either. Amy the talking Gorilla simply stood out, and I learned a good deal about the tropical rain forests of the Congo.
My only gripes with the book were to do with a few logical loopholes -
The 5-page reference section at the end of the book linking his hundreds of references to particular paragraphs in the book simply flattened me. A bonus stunner came when I read in the internet that If this is one of his least popular thrillers, I just can't wait to pick up his other ones. -
German review
here.
A little over two decades ago this was my introduction to Michael Crichton. It‘s also the first novel that someone had ever gifted to me, if I remember correctly.
So, thank you aunt Ilona. I became a fan of the author immediately.
Reading this again in 2019, this time in it’s original language, it was once more a lot of fun. Even though much of it is very dated and in fact was already dated when I first read this back in 1995.
In 1979 a Congo expedition gets attacked and killed in a matter of minutes. The video transmission from the geologists‘ camp that their sponsor studies back in Houston is disturbing. The camp is completely destroyed, there are dead bodies everywhere, their skulls crushed, and for a short moment there’s something moving in front of the camera. And it is not human.
A second expedition is hastily prepared, because the company is in a race with a Japanese/German consortium to find the Lost City of Zinj, which they believe is buried somewhere in the dense tropical rainforest of the Congo. They are looking for a scarce type of diamond that’s of tremendous value as a semiconductor and is expected to push computing to another level. Billions of dollars are at stake.
Primatologist Peter Elliot who works with Amy, a Gorilla that has learned sign language and has a vocabulary of 620 signs, is planning to go to the Congo as well. Recently Amy has told him of nightmares that she’s having and a couple of pictures that she‘s painted resemble a Portugeses print that is showing the Lost City of Zinj. But how can that be? The print is from 1642 and they’re not even sure the city it shows does really exist. Enter the aforementioned Congo expedition and the fact that the company is contacting Elliot for spoilery reasons, and off to the Congo they are. Taking Amy with them and trying to find the lost city, albeit for very different reasons.
The main story is still an exciting thriller in an exotic setting, as the group of people is facing lots of different obstacles, from warlords and cannibals to wild animals, thunderstorms, volcanoes, raging rivers and the generally unforgiving nature of the rainforest.
The technical parts of the book though, even though they are incorporated reasonably well, take up too much room. Epecially from today’s perspective, as they have not aged very well. Which is to be expected, since the book is almost 40 years old by now and the computer industry has advanced so much that what was once intended to be science-fiction is now almost kinda cute in how backward it all is.
If you are able to look past this fact, there are still enough interesting things to learn from the several infodumps. Especially the parts concerned with the early exploration of the African continent and the ones about animal research I found quite interesting. And from a historical standpoint the computing part might be interesting for some as well, even though it wasn’t for me.
What makes this a four star read still, for me personally, is the great setting, the thrilling adventure and the lovable Amy. The adorable mountain gorilla is by far the best character in this book and I completely fell in love with her and would adopt her without hesitation.
I can still see why this book made me a fan of Michael Crichton all those years ago. -
Michael Crichton's work should be considered the epitome of geek literature (AKA science fiction, genre fiction, or speculative fiction), but was somehow embraced by the mainstream -- so much so that even if the academic crowd doesn't take him very seriously, Crichton still addressed Congress. Genre fiction is such a dismissive term, so Crichton was given his own genre: it's not geek; it's a "techno thriller."
Congo, published in 1980, has all of Crichton's geekiest motifs, including a heroine whose tragic flaw is revealed on -- get this -- a computer printout. It's a pretty obvious way of characterizing one's hero, but it works. And give him credit, unlike in The Andromeda Strain, Crichton actually has characters with personalities and internal conflicts in Congo. Clearly, this is an author on the rise.
Congo works in the same way that Sphere (1987) and Jurassic Park (1990) -- my favorite Crichton titles -- work. A team of scientists is sent on a dangerous mission that will require technical expertise, ingenuity, and a conflict between ambition and responsibility. I love that Crichton takes the ideal neutrality and benefits of science and juxtaposes them with the realities of funding, application, and career ambition. These three works also serve to map out what I believe is Crichton approaching and reaching the peak of his writing. My only wish is that I would have read Congo first, rather than third.
Congo was not only published first in this thematic and structural trilogy, but it is clear that Crichton was consciously improving his writing in each of these novels. In Congo, he establishes the pattern by opening with a cool setting and a cool premise: jungle ruins and highly trained attack gorillas. Not bad.
But he can do better.
Sphere features the ocean floor and an alien technology that tests humanity's character. The characters are also more complex and engaging in Sphere, and I especially enjoyed Crichton's decision to make psychologist Norman Johnson the hero. Sphere is great, so everyone must have quite naturally expected that Crichton would begin the 1990s with his authorial decline.
But then:
In Jurassic Park, dinosaurs are brought back to life through cloning technology on a privately owned tropical island. Unbelievable! And let's not forget about Alan Grant and Ian Malcolm, arguably Crichton's most memorable academics, battling dinosaurs (don't gorillas just seem so "small potatoes" in comparison?) with nothing but their wits.
So, for me, Congo is a very good work, but not a great one. However, perhaps this is only if we measure Crichton against himself.
And it does not change the fact that Congo, Sphere, and Jurassic Park should be considered a required "trilogy" for all geeks -- sorry -- I meant "required reading for all 'techno thriller enthusiasts.'" -
Not bad in places...other times it's sort of a "puleez" book. Again Crichton has one that could have been better. The best I suppose I can say is..it wasn't as lame as the movie. So full of PC political rhetoric it seemed to me that any story got lost.
************ Spoilers below Line ***********
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Pretty enjoyable. Very sciency book as well. A lot of facts that moved well with the narrative. I also really like Amy, like you just wanna be her friend. The only disappointing part is the ending, which pretty much sums up Crichton’s novels to be honest.
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Another intriguing tale by the late Michael Crichton, and Congo was way ahead of it's time.
After an expedition of geologists are brutally killed deep in the rainforest of the Congo, the replacement team, led by the Project Supervisor Karen Ross, along with primatologist Peter Elliott and his female gorilla Amy, who is able to communicate with humans through the use of sign language. Unknown with what they are up against, accept for the video transmission of the aftermath, a camp destroyed, equipment shattered along with dead bodies, Amy has a hobby in finger painting, and her latest drawing has left Peter disturbed with what it represents, a print dating back to the 1600's, a drawing of an ancient lost city. The expedition heads into the Congo searching for deposits of valuable diamonds for an unknown project, where they find a lost world and more than they bargained for.
Started out really slow, didn't know where things were heading, but then once the group arrives in the Congo, I couldn't put it down! Some may argue that this was Crichton's worst ever novel, I've read many reviews saying it was cheesy and far-fetched, which I can relate to, but I still found it to just be a fun roller-coaster of science fiction and adventure, and with my love and passion for gorillas, watching King Kong and Mighty Joe Young as a child, I realized this book was for me! -
They’d better call the book Amy, after the most sensible character in the book even if she is a gorilla.
The story is about a supertech company hunting for diamonds this time deep in the jungle of Congo/Zaire on the continent of Africa. The first expedition failed to survive so a 2nd attempt follows this time with dome unlikely extra passengers a gorilla that does signing to communicate with her human trainers.
The expedition runs into expected trouble in a long lost city but even they were never prepared for the guardians of this city with its source of diamonds.
The story about the gorilla and communication was excellent the greed of humans was somehow to be expected.
I did enjoy the classic tales of Quartermain about mysterious dark Africa and MC did a lovely update.
Whoever wrote the moviescript failed the Crichton novel terribly which is exciting and interesting, something that cannot be said about the movie. -
This book is one of my favorite from Michael Crichton. The treasure hunting, the crazy adventure. I especially touch by the relationship between the chimpanze and human. Above all the adventure is really setting the heart pace on a wild rate.
I also like the movie. -
Just as bad as the movie. -
En el corazón del África salvaje nace una aventura en pos de encontrar la ciudad perdida de Zinj, punto clave de una intriga internacional.
Sus protagonistas: una chica ambiciosa al servicio de una poderosa multinacional; un joven científico californiano; Amy, un gorila entrañable; y un experto cazador que conoce todos los secretos y misterios de la selva.
En lo más profundo de la jungla se enfrentarán a peligros mortales: pigmeos siniestros, bestias, ríos de lava, espías de naciones enemigas y mercenarios. Sólo si consiguen superar estos escollos podrán aspirar a resolver el enigma de Zinj.
Me ha parecido tedioso. Todo iría bien si la acción no comenzase hasta casi la mitad del libro, con un principio donde Michael Crichton nos habla muchísimo de tecnología, y yo lo que venía buscado era una gran aventura. No está mal para pasar el rato, pero nada memorable.
Pinchazo.
Saludos. -
Review in English can be found
here.
Anno 1995 war dies mein erster Michael Crichton. Außerdem war es, soweit ich mich erinnere, der erste Roman, den ich jemals von jemandem geschenkt bekommen habe.
Also vielen Dank Tante Ilona. Wegen dir bin ich ein Fan des Autors geworden.
Nachdem ich das Buch nun mehr als zwanzig Jahre später noch mal gelesen habe, muss ich sagen, dass einiges doch mittlerweile recht veraltet ist - und es genau genommen auch in 1995 bereits veraltet war. Trotzdem hat es erneut Spaß gemacht, das Buch zu lesen.
Im Jahre 1979 befindet sich eine Gruppe von acht Geologen im Kongo, als ihr Camp plötzlich attackiert wird. Ihre Auftraggeber in Houston empfangen schreckliche Bilder. Das Camp wurde vollständig zerstört, überall liegen Leichen, deren Schädel offenbar zerquetscht wurden. Im letzten Moment ist auf der Videoaufzeichnung noch zu sehen, wie sich etwas auf die Kamera zubewegt. Und wie es scheint, handelt es sich dabei nicht um einen Menschen.
Schnell wird eine zweite Kongo-Expedition zusammengestellt, die nach Möglichkeit herausfinden soll, was passiert ist, vor allem aber den ursprünglichen Auftrag erfüllen soll. Die Wissenschaftler waren nämlich auf der Suche nach einer besonders seltenen Form von Diamanten, die zwar als Schmuckstücke wertlos sind, aber als Halbleiter die Computer Industrie in ein neues Zeitalter führen sollen. Sie vermuten diese in der verlorenen Stadt Zinj, die sich irgendwo im Kongobecken befinden soll. Aber sie sind nicht die Einzigen, die sich auf der Suche nach der mystischen Stadt und den Diamanten befinden. Ein Rennen gegen die Zeit beginnt. Und Milliarden von Dollar stehen auf dem Spiel.
Primatologe Peter Elliot hingegen hat ganz andere Gründe, nach der verlorenen Stadt zu suchen. Er arbeitet nämlich seit ein paar Jahren mit dem Berggorilla Amy, dem er die Zeichensprache beigebracht hat. Amy hat seit einiger Zeit immer wieder Albträume, von denen sie Peter schließlich erzählt. Außerdem hat sie einige Bilder gemalt, die verblüffende Ähnlichkeit mit einer über 300 Jahre alten Darstellung der Stadt Zinj aufweisen. Obwohl niemand so genau weiß, ob die Stadt wirklich existiert und Amy sie in diesem Zustand unmöglich gesehen haben kann. Als die ERTS (Auftraggeber der o. g. Kongo-Expeditionen) mit ihm Kontakt aufnimmt, sieht Peter seine Chance, dem Rätsel auf die Spur zu kommen. Amy und er begleiten die Expedition in den Kongo.
Die Geschichte ist noch immer spannend zu lesen, das exotische Setting ist ein Genuss und auf die Expeditionsmitglieder warten so einige Herausforderungen. Von Warlords und Kannibalen über wilde Tiere bis hin zu allerlei Gefahren, die der tropische Regenwald für sie bereithält. Die Natur ist gnadenlos und interessiert sich nicht für den Menschen. Peter und Co. müssen mit der drückenden Hitze klarkommen, unwägbares Gelände unter hohem Zeitdruck überwinden und sehen sich mit Vulkanen, reißenden Flüssen, unüberwindbaren Schluchten und allerlei anderem konfrontiert.
Leider hat das Buch auch eine relativ hohe Anzahl von sehr technischen Abschnitten, die aus heutiger Sicht dann doch schon fast ein bisschen albern wirken. Immerhin sind seit Erstveröffentlichung fast vierzig Jahre vergangen und die Computer- und Halbleiterindustrien, die hier im Mittelpunkt stehen, haben natürlich unfassbare Fortschritte gemacht.
Darüber sollte man dann schon hinweg sehen können, wenn man das Buch heute noch voll genießen will. Es gibt hier auch noch genug anderes Lehrreiches, z. B. über die frühe Erkundung des afrikanischen Kontinents oder die Geschichte der Tierforschung, was ich wesentlich interessanter fand. Aber für den ein oder anderen mag es auch interessant sein, was anno 1980 als die Zukunft der Computertechnik angesehen wurde.
Trotz der regelmäßigen und teils überholten Infodumps ist das Buch auch aus heutiger Sicht für mich noch vier Sterne wert. Das liegt vor allem an dem tollen Schauplatz, der spannenden Haupthandlung und an Amy. Dieser Berggorilla ist einfach zum Verlieben. Ich würde sie ohne zu zögern adoptieren. :)
Für mich auch heute noch absolut nachvollziehbar, dass mich dieses Buch damals zu einem Michael Crichton Fan werden ließ. -
Congo was written in 1980 by Michael Crichton. With a few, very minor details (such as gushing over how awesome it is to have a comuter with 256K memory) this is a tale that reads very well to this day.
In 1979, due to the increasing demands of the computer industry there were a large number of companies that were seeking to find industrial grade diamonds, as opposed to the jewelry type of diamonds. Specifically they were looking for Type IIb boron-coated blue diamonds used to build a variety of chips and circuit boards. Unfortunately, the place to find these diamonds is in the Congo. Specifically in the drainage basin of the Congo River, close to Zaire.
The company in the story (ERTS) sends in a site team that records some success in possibly finding a good mining source for these diamonds. This could potentially be worth billions. But, the last transmission from the team was very strange. It showed a destroyed camp and a grainy, unfocused image of what seemed like either a man or a primate of some sort. But no one is sure what it is exactly, until someone clears up the image and finds what looks like a gray furred gorilla. The problem is no gorilla has ever exhibited the behavior of the one in the image and there are no gray furred gorillas. So the second ERTS field team is put in touch with Dr. Elliott of U.C. Berkeley, a leading Primatologist. Dr. Elliot works with a juvenile female gorilla named Amy. Amy is able to communicate through Sign Language. Dr. Elliott, Amy and Dr. Ross (the ERTS lead) travel to Africa to first recruit their guide- a skilled guide/mercenary known as Capt. Munro.
As the story develops, we go through a variety of trouble from competing firms, civil wars, rebels, cannibals and hostile tribes. Yet, as the story develops we find that there might be something to these rumors of "something" in the deep jungle. It seems that a long time ago there was a fabled lost city-Zinj. Yet something or someone killed the last 8 man team sent in. Now the ERTS team must use Amy and Dr. Elliott's expertise to try to figure out what was on that video tape and what killed the last team. I will not spoil the story for you and this is one that is worth reading yourself to find out what is going on.
As usual, Crichton is able to seamlessly blend in science and action and great characters to create a wonderfully engrossing story. Full of fascinating information such as a a historical background of exploration in the Congo region, to the variety of primates and tribes that abound in the region, as well as fascinating details about how Primate Research, especially focusing on gorillas, works. I had no idea about some of the ways in which Primatologists interpreted and communicated with gorillas. The story is fast paced and the characters of Capt Munro, Amy and Dr. Elliott steal the show.
While this isn't quite the novel that Jurassic Park or Lost World was, this is still a great read. Crichton is engaging and as always-he knows his stuff. From biology and ecology to primatology and geology. This is science presented in easy to understand terms, but is no less fascinating for that reason. If you are looking for a book that's 1 part action adventure, 1 part science information and 1 part murder mystery-then this is for you. Of course, if you are a Crichton fan you will enjoy this one quite a bit. Just ignore the computer terms used-this is from 1980 and it is safe to say that numbers like 128k and 256K do not engender gasps of astonishment anymore. If they do, it is for the opposite reason than what was expressed in 1980. -
Avvincente, avventuroso e ricco di spunti di riflessione.
Uno dei migliori libri di Crichton. -
Going into this book, I’ll admit I was really excited. I had heard so many good things about Crichton, and though I don't recall reading any of his books, I’ve most likely watched all of the movies based on his books. For the most part, I loved it!
Crichton is such an fantastic storyteller. The pace of the book is near perfect, and the progression of events throughout the first 90% of the book kept me more than intrigued. In fact, this was easily one of my fastest reads and could have been completed even faster if I hadn’t had so many other distractions.
The characters were believable and well crafted, the overlapping goals of the three main characters were well designed, and the addition of a talking (okay, signing) gorilla was definitely a treat.
Though I have to say I found the story to be a bit hodgepodge, with fairly diverse elements converging together, it was all relative to the story, for the most part. There are some items that I didn’t feel needed to be included; and there are some amazing technologies that truly didn’t seem to fit with the era this book was supposedly based in. Like a software program that takes about a day to learn how to translate the language of a group of apes using only a few small sample verbal recordings, and yet Crichton imagined these apes to speak concurrently with both voices (grunts and huffs) and hand gestures. Though only the vocals were analyzed, the software program was still able to translate enough of the language to let the scientists communicate with the apes.
The basic story is this: a mining corporation is in pursuit of a type of diamond that has little value from the perspective of fashion, due to the tainted blue coloring, but has enormous value for computer hardware applications. Their exploration team, deep in the Congo, suddenly stops reporting, and when the home office obtains control of the video equipment and is able to use it to view the campsite where the team was stationed, they find a grim scene.
One of their most talented scientists decides she is going to take it on herself to lead the next team, even though she has zero field experience. (Okay, I'll suspend disbelief and just run with it.) However, it seems the company is far more interested in finding the diamonds and doesn't care about recovering the bodies or equipment from the last team. Based on a few seconds of video footage they were able to capture from the event that killed their previous team, Ross decides she wants to take a primate expert with her, and contacts a scientist who is experimenting with teaching communication skills to a young female ape named Amy, who becomes an important figure in the story, and even has a good portion of dialogue throughout. As per any good thriller, there are setbacks around every corner, and the team is forced to navigate around those while all the time racing against an international conglomerate set on beating them to the discovery of the diamonds.
I did find the setbacks and conflicts to be handled far too easily. For example, in one part, the aircraft the team is using is suddenly under fire from radar controlled anti-aircraft missiles being launched from the ground, and they're just like, "Let's open the back cargo door and throw out some chaff." Problem solved.
As mentioned earlier, the overall quality of the writing and the story are well crafted, however, there are several points during which Crichton takes the reader on a lengthy and mostly unnecessary sidebar. For example, though the action and intrigue in one section is becoming fairly intense, we suddenly spend 4 or 5 pages getting a history lesson on one of the technologies used in the book. This happens several times throughout the novel, so it appears to be intentionally written this way. I found those parts to be long-winded, distracting, and fairly dull.
The end of the book also appears to have been written specifically with the hope that the book would become either a movie or perhaps a video game. There are so many final conflicts that merge together at the exact time, it’s almost impossible to believe the heroes will ever survive. And then, suddenly, it’s over. The team does exactly what they need to do to get out of every conflict that cropped up in the final chapter and we are left with a fairly small epilogue to wrap everything up, which it really doesn’t do.
Overall I’m giving this one 3.5 stars, and I’m crossing my fingers that the next Crichton novel I read is better. -
Read this ages ago and only recently added. Interesting scenes and sci fi concept was signature Crichton.
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His books always entertain tho...
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what could have been a great adventure book turned out to be a barely mediocre writing effort on behalf of Crichton. Not that it is bad, it was just boring for me. Even the scenes where they were attacked were pretty boring. I know the author tends to dedicate a big portion of the book on background research but in this case I just did not care much for any of it.
I felt the ending might be building up to something big but it got resolved in what seemed like to be a page or two. I felt let down. I felt the author was just writing things on the paper just so he can meet some deadline or something. That would explain uninteresting characters, lack of development of these so called characters and lack of me giving any shit about these characters. I did not like any of them besides Amy and Amy is a gorilla who uses sign language to communicate simple commands and or pleasures/displeasures.
This was an alright book. It was in parts boring, in parts fun, in parts weird, and overall just an OK read. -
Congo is very well researched (which is clear from the bibliography alone). And while some of the information is outdated now (forty years after the book was written), it was certainly ahead of its time.
That being said, this might just be the last Michael Crichton book that I read. While his writing has certainly improved since reading The Terminal Man (published 1971), his archaic personality that he inputs into his narration unfortunately has not (though I held out hope).
His (obviously personal) negative opinions of women and other races are peppered throughout the narrated dialogue and this is hard to get past... even for me, a white man.
While we shouldn’t judge an artist for their art alone, in this instance, the distraction of Crichton’s obvious misogyny and racial ignorance affects the reading of this and so affects my rating. I love the premise of this book. The delivery fell short.
Some great action and fantastic characters are reeled in by chapters that leave the reader feeling short-changed by scenes that are under kneaded.
3 to 3.5 stars. -
So the ancient inhabitants of the lost city of Zinj were deliberately breeding/training insanely violent killer ape creatures, and Michael Crichton is referring to them merely as “Zinjians”? Bitch, please—the term you want for these ultra hardcore proto-mad scientist badasses is clearly Zinjas.
