Congo was one of the first Michael Crichton books I read. I remember thinking - Killer monkeys are cool. Congo was much more than cool killer monkeys though. Evolution, nature vs. nurture, animal intelligence and rampant greed are all important themes covered in the novel. Don't let the movie deter you. Congo is a highly entertaining read bursting with the authentic science Crichton was always known for. ( )

Crichton is usually fun, but this is one of his weaker efforts. ( )

I'm almost tempted to call this "Jurassic Park, with monkeys." But it's too good to mock. Crichton's writing is never tighter or cleaner than in Congo. Like always, he shows his unparalleled ability to demonstrate just how powerful, wise, intelligent and yet also silly our science really is. ( )

At the beginning Michael Crichton's Congo, a research team looking for blue diamonds deep withing the Congo region has been mysteriously killed - the prime suspect: a possibly new species of gorilla. A new team, including a university professor and his research subject Amy, a gorilla who communicates using American sign language, is quickly dispatched to find answers (and diamonds). Unfortunately for them, they seem to be no match for the cunning and ruthless killing machines they discover.

I recently read and really enjoyed Jurassic Park. Having said that, Congo failed to entertain me in the same way. It's not that it wasn't a good story. The premise is incredibly clever, and the natural history of primates and language development are subjects that I find fascinating. The thing that bogged things down for me in Congo was really all of the technology crud. It was simply too over-the-top for me and didn't really add anything to the story.

It is obvious that Micheal Crichton was a talented and creative writer. Technology plays a big part in both of the books I've read by him, but in Congo the sheer magnitude of scientific data completely overwhelms what could have been a truly fascinating story. I can't say I'd recommend Congo, but if you're interested in trying Crichton on for size, try Jurassic Park. I'll be picking up The Lost World next week and I expect it to be wonderful. ( )

I really loved the concept behind this novel. One of his best. ( )

Michael Crichton has written a fast-paced thriller that takes his reader into the heart of the African jungle. Although the main character, scientist Karen Ross, is not developed to any great depth, the tension-filled plot carries us along and builds suspense to the final chapter. ( )

A good, quick, easy read. Not the best of his works, but if the idea, material, or author appeals to you, so should the book. The material has a slightly more dated feel in regards to technology, which is more than understandable, but outside of that it toys with ideas that I think are always lurking. Is it impossible that something large and undiscovered lives in the still not fully examined jungles and seas? It's a thought both amazing and in some ways terrifying, for if it has managed to allude us, how hard would it be to kill us. The novel takes that idea and runs with it. Nature has in some ways, always gone on without our influence, even as we attempt to tear it asunder. So, what if our ancestors managed in the process to cultivate nature in such a way that it desires nothing but to kill us? ( )

I have come to regard Congo as a sort of dress rehearsal for Jurassic Park. There are significant differences - obviously there are no dinosaurs in Congo, just modified gorillas, and evil corporate greed turns out to end the book rather than set the book in motion; but the lost world aspect of the story, with unpredictable new creatures is the central theme of both stories. Congo is also a lesson on the dangers of writing a "near future" science fiction story - much of the cool technology described in the book was obsolete within a few years of publication, some was obsolete even before the book was actually on the market.

Still, the story remains fun in a kind of King Solomon's Mines sort of way, evoking an H. Rider Haggard or Edgar Rice Burroughs feel with updated technology, and outsiders seeking to exploit Africa's resources not just to plunder gold and treasure for its own sake, but to build high technology computers.

Oddly for a Crichton novel, shortsighted corporate greed doesn't cause the problem - a long gone civilization's attempts to protect their precious resources does. There also isn't the usual anti-technological fear mongering either. On the other hand, reckless corporate greed does cause a huge disaster that wipes out most of the discoveries found in the book, so that it pretty predictable for a Crichton novel.

There really isn't anything particularly noteworthy about this novel, it reads well, the plot is interesting, and the characters are fairly well written, but there isn't anything here that makes this more than a standard techno-thriller. ( )

Not the best Michael Crichton, nor is it ever going to be concidered an American Classic. But if you're looking for a rainy day action/adventure, this is a good one. It's kind of like eating several chocolate chip cookies when you're hungry instead of meat and potatoes...Tastes really good but doesn't fill you up. ( )

Despite being "of an age" with Michael Crichton, I have not read a great number of his books and it has taken me 28 years to get to this one and, probably, only because a friend gave it to me. While I have enjoyed one or two of his other adventures, I am more than a little frustrated by the historical and technical asides of this book, asides that do not move the adventure forward at all. Besides thinking that the "asides" ought not to be there at all, the frustration is exacerbated by the author's failure to ensure that the reader knows he/she is reading an aside. I really don't like footnotes in novels, either, for the same reason! Anyway, "endpapers" or "notes" at the end of the book would be more preferable to me, if you must have them at all. I have a feeling that Michael Crichton does not really trust his reader "to get it" unless he irrelevantly and pedantically tells us directly.
Anyway, that being said, as a person who has spent a large portion of a working life traveling in Africa, and one who enjoys exploring the technologies associated with computers, I did enjoy the hours spent with this book and will put some more of Michael Crichton on my list of books to be read. ( )

Once again mister Crichton has me finish his book, but with no rewarding glow in the stomach or heart afterward. Once again, his work is crammed with technical information that is nice to know, but not necessary to the story (kind of like Herman Melville sticking that chapter on cetology in the middle of Moby Dick). Until he gets over that annoying tendency to interrupt the STORY with his pedantic techinal (albeit medical, on the great apes, or the total working of a modern airliner), he will not get more than four stars from me. Too, the characters were not identifiable, but rather a mishmash of qualities. Munro, the mean and illegal, shifty man (so described at the beginning), turns out to be the hero of the piece. Ross, the female rep for the company, doesn't let petty things like losing lives or doing a decent thing get in her way of getting those diamonds, and Elliot, our token wuzzy intellectual, kills two ofr the apes with a machine gun without flinching an inch. As I said, the characterization needs work. ( )

In a race to find a particular diamond mine that could influence technology as we know it, 24-year-old Dr. Ross is determined to beat out the competition, no matter the cost. Peter Elliott is bent on figuring out the strange dreams his gorilla Amy has been signing about. They're all going into the Congo. And what they find there will astound them, fascinate them, and terrify them.

Not my favorite of Crichton's thrillers, but this novel was okay. The 1970s technology holds up surprisingly well and it felt less dated than I thought it would. My problem is that there weren't too many likeable characters and I didn't really feel like I connected with any of them. There is a gorilla who speaks sign language, so that was pretty cool and finding out what happened to Amy the gorilla kept me turning the pages. ( )

Pretty much an average Crichton novel, but just a bit slower in portions and a bit more detached than usual. With that being said though, the ending was rushed and anticlimatic. Amy the gorilla was a wonderful character, but not enough to carry the novel. You could skip this one and not miss anything. ( )

Deep in the heart of the darkest region of the Congo, near the legendary ruins of the Lost City of Zinj, an eight-person field expedition dies mysteriously and brutally in a matter of minutes.
Ten thousand miles away, at the Houston-based Earth Resources Technology Services, Inc., supervisor Karen Ross watches a gruesome video transmission of that ill-fated team: a camp destroyed, tents crushed and torn, equipment scattered in the mud alongside bodies... and the grainy, moving image of a dark, blurred shape.
In San Francisco, primatologist Peter Elliot works with Amy, an extraordinary gorilla with a 620 ""sign"" vocabulary and a fondness for finger painting. Her recent drawing matches, with stunning accuracy, the frayed, brittle pages of a Portuguese print dating back to 1642... a drawing of the ancient lost city.
Immediately, a new expedition is sent into the Congo, descending into a secret world where the only way out may be through the grisliest death...

Backup Lost City expedition, with gorilla.

An archaeological and exploitative expedition gets wiped out, and the company this happened to wants to find out why. A young primate expert and her star pupil: arather intelligent gorilla included, they take what they hope are enough high tech toys for them to survive their monster encounter.

An ordinary sort of scary adventure story, really.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2007/11... ( )

I remember liking this years ago when I first read it, but this book didn't age well. There is a large focus on science fiction-y computer progress, but what was fascinating speculation in 1980 is rather a yawn now. ( )

When a team deep in the jungle of the Congo is brutally and senselessly attacked, Karen Ross - the young, brilliant but asocial button-pusher in charge of the project - insists on being allowed to accompany a new team to the site to beat their rivals to the priceless blue diamonds.

Primatologist Peter Elliot has been having trouble with his intelligent signing gorilla, Amy. Amy has been having nightmares recently and her drawings of these memories are eerily similar to an old engraving of the Lost City of Zinj -the very place where the former team met its untimely demise. So Ross takes along Elliot and Amy in hopes that they will somehow provide the key to figuring out what went wrong and to keep it from happening again.

SPOILERS:
The conceit of the author of discussing this expedition like a true historic event was entertaining, but not without problems. The suspense about whether they would make it out of their dilemma was destroyed by the pseudo-journalistic/biographical style of the author, who interjects often that he has spoken with the main characters since the events took place.

This was a fun read, but the pacing was a bit off. Since we learn (at least strongly suspect) what is responsible for the deaths early in the book, it was a bit irritating that the violent 'gorillas' didn't show up in the book until the very last few chapters. While the trek to the site was full of adventure and quite entertaining, there was no puzzle and no real sense of urgency to reach the site first. Then, once the party did reach the site, the ending was very rushed - and the puzzle behind whether this was a new species and what had really made the gorillas that way was only sketchily explained.

A good airplane read. This certainly kept me turning pages (except the raptures about the wonders of coming technology which really do date the book), and it certainly fell in the realm of brain candy, but this is not one that I would choose to reread. ( )

He's done much better. ( )

One of Crichton's very best novels. Gripping fast-paced story, interesting (but already dated tech) and powerfully made characters including Amy, the 'talking' gorilla. ( )

Eek! Scary gorillas! ( )

It was engaging at the time, but still bad. ( )

Splendid and well-written. ( )

Good book as always by Crichton. ( )

A good thriller by one of my former favorite authors in the genre (I think he's gone downhill in recent years, though). Set in Africa, there is plenty of action as a group of scientists go into the jungle to investigate the loss of an earlier research team. ( )

This ranks # 3 of 17 in my list of favorite Michael Crichton books that I own.