Benjamin Hale

Five hundred eighty-seven pages narrated by talking chimpanzee (interestingly, I just accidently typed "chipmanzee") Bruno Littlemore, and what a narration it is. It's filled with language theory, philosophy, literature references, commentary on humanity, society, love, and everything in between (Bruno's summary of the Disney film version of Pinocchio is not to be missed). What makes us human? What makes chimps--who form social societies, use tools, and communicate amongst show more themselves--animals? The line is truly blurred in BRUNO. Bruno begins life as a "normal" chimp in the Chicago zoo, but ends up falling in love and living with (and sleeping with--yes, there is some tasteful chimp-on-woman sex in this novel, a phrase which would normally be an oxymoron) a researcher from the lab which borrows him for language experiments; he moves to an eccentric millionaire's animal sanctuary in Colorado, where zebras graze on the front lawn and we meet two endearing characters Hilarious Lilly and Hilarious Larry; and he performs The Tempest with the large and loud Leon in an abandoned subway station in New York. Some how this all makes sense. But the most powerful, profound portions of the book come when Bruno talks about his chimp-ness, when he describes his family life at the Chicago zoo as a young chimp, and when he goes ape-sh*t with emotion at inconvenient times. Haven't we all gone ape-sh*t with emotion at inconvenient times? Haven't we all wanted to tear apart the hospital waiting room with grief? This is a narrative to which readers will take a highlighter to to mark marvelous passages, which readers will want to read aloud and ponder. And it's wildly (pun intended) entertaining too. Read more of my reivews at: http://onlygreatbooks.blogspot.com/ show less

This book grew out of an article published in Harper‘s magazine titled “Who Walks Always Beside You?: A Disappearance in Arkansas.” Having read both, I would recommend the article over the book. Personally, I don’t think there was enough material to warrant a close to 304 page book. As a result, “Cave Mountain” is not nearly as engaging as most true crime books. I found it disturbing that the author befriended Mark Harris, the man who set into motion the murder of a three year show more old girl when he was the 17-year-old prophet of a religious cult, and that he appears to believe his account over that of her mother, who was clearly a victim herself. After Mark Harris alleged that the girl’s mother was the one in control, and was the one who sanctioned her murder, the author chose not to follow up with her, even though it was the first time in the history of this 47-year-old crime that such allegations had been made. The author also discounts the recollections of the law-enforcement officer who arrested Mark Harris, about his behavior that day, though he’s clearly a credible source. This would’ve been a much better book, had it been written by someone with journalistic integrity. show less

The WTF factor is strong with this one.

The story of Bruno, a chimpanzee who learns how to speak and who slowly "evolves" into a man started out really strong. Bruno described the circumstances of his captivity and hints at the story that led up to his current condition. However, the story takes long, long, long time to tell, and Bruno is a somewhat less than reliable narrator. Well, either this, or Hale left out some relevant explanations of certain turns in the plot.

While there is something show more clever about describing mankind from the perspective of a chimp and relating that evolution is not as big a step up from the animal kingdom as man would believe it to be, the story itself just isn't gripping me.

DNF @ 37%. show less

Part of me wanted to give this book a higher rating. There's no arguing that it's beautifully and intelligently written with many fascinating observations on the human condition. And it demonstrates powerfully the barbaric ways in which "mankind" treats not just chimpanzees, but all animals. But Bruno's evolution goes way too far and way too fast . A chimp is a chimp and no sane woman is going to fall in love with a chimp, have sex on a regular basis, and then willingly carry that chimp's show more child at the risk of her own life. I know this is a work of fiction, but that's stretching the truth a bit too much for my taste. show less