This was a wonderful novel. People should not pay as much attention as they do to movies. Books are always better. This case is no different. ( )

The book that started it all. What would eventually be translated into a film, several film sequels, a short-lived television series, and a film remake, began with this intriguing story. Even if you have seen the movies this book will still be interesting. None of the adaptations do justice to the wonderfully thought out plot of the original. Stranded on a world where the roles of humans and apes are reversed, the protagonist must figure out a way to survive and ultimately get back to his world. The main character has to suffer through animalistic humans, ape scientist who perform degrading and often disturbing experiments on humans, ape leaders who cannot accept the idea of an intelligent human, and an ape society that is not ready for the truth of their evolution. The ending doesn’t quite pack the emotional punch that the original movie does, rather it packs an intellectual punch leaving the reader wondering what just happened. All in all a great book that deserves to have a more accurate portrayal in film. ( )

The original inspiration for the film of the same name, this story tells of a group of astronauts who take their ship to a new world only to discover that the humans are animalistic while the apes are sentient.

The apes, hunting humans for sport, manage to capture the main character, Ulysse, and send him to a lab as a test subject.

Soon, Ulysse's intellect is discovered, and his existence challenges the fiber of the ape society. The rulers wish to remove Ulysse and forget him, while the ape responsible for him wishes to preserve him, and learn from him as he learned from them.

Why the apes rule over the humans on this world, though, is a discovery left to the reader.

An amusing piece of French satire to be enjoyed by those who like satirical dystopias, or even those who enjoyed the movie, though the film does deviate greatly from the book. ( )

Planet of the Apes or La Planète Des Singes or Monkey Planet. Whatever. Translated into English by Xan Fielding.

Okay, now, you have to remember that the original novel and the movie deviate in certain major ways. The end twist is completely different, for example, and the main character is a journalist who is essentially just along for the ride, not an American astronaut. He's also a lot less... Hestonish, if you will, of course. More intellectual, less "get your stinking paws off me." I love the movie, by the way, and consider it a classic, but had to sort of ignore it in reading the novel.

You can read this one as a straight ahead 60s scifi story, and a damn good read it is. From the curiosity of the travelers as they first encounter the inhuman humans to the panicked frenzy of Mérou escaping death at the hands of gorilla hunters to the strange love triangle of intelligent human/primitive human/intelligent chimpanzee, there's no mystery as to why the basic concept could be so well translated to the screen.

If you are inclined that way, as I sometimes tend to be, you can also read it as paranoia about "lesser" races rising up to surpass and suppress European culture. With all the devolved people being depicted as beautiful and white - and the common racist portrayal of Africans as apes - this isn't exactly a stretch. But then, I may be playing Boulle false to assume that comparison was intended. I haven't studied him enough to know one way or the other.

The little details, mostly of ape culture, were what I enjoyed most about this one. Their stock market, with various apes flinging themselves around a giant room, climbing into the rafters, all shrieking at the tops of their lungs as they buy and sell, is a memorable image. The idea that the chimp scientists focus so strongly on biological and brain studies because that's the last thing their unevolved ancestors were used for by human was inspired. And, of course, Zira's refusal of the human Mérou because he's "just so ugly" - a great moment.

final thought: Our nearest cousins, and the ones most likely to overrun us in the end. Who doesn't feel that apes are just slightly too human sometimes? ( )

Not even close to either movie version, totally off the wall in it's laid back narrative. It's almost as if you are watching a documentary, and you are not engaged with the characters. What saves this is two fold. One, its entirely novel point of view. Not just the situation and setting, but the shear compelling idea of something else happening along the evolutionary path that causes "us" not to be here and, two, it's considerably short length. ( )