Title: Congo
Author: Michael Crichton
Type: Fiction
Page Count/Review Word Count: 322
Rating: 3.5/5
This book is very much a product of its time, as you’ll see if you pick it up and start reading. It was actually kind of fascinating to me to discover Chrichton’s depiction of cutting edge technology from way back in the seventies. I don’t think it aged particularly well, although it was interesting that at one point it predicted the internet. Although it also said there wasn’t enough metal in the earth’s crust to create it.
There’s also a gorilla called Amy who’s being taught sign language, and she’s easily the most fun character in the whole thing, although there are some other pretty good characters as well. It’s one of those books where the characters and the story line both work well together to create something that’s pretty special even though it’s also batshit crazy. I mean, the fricken gorilla ends up doing a parachute jump, for god’s sake.
There’s actually a surprising amount to like about this, even though it 100% feels dated, even with some of the uses of language and the way that there are pygmies knocking around. That’s kind of awkward.
But overall, even though a lot of the stuff here does feel pretty outdated, that doesn’t make it a bad book. In fact, it does pretty much exactly what it sets out to do, which is to provide a bit of an adventure that you don’t have to think about too much. You can switch your brain off and let it wash over you, or if you’re a more active reader then you can try to make predictions about what’s going to happen next.
Crichton also did a great job of bringing the Congo to life and making you feel as though you were there, although he also points out that it’s not called the Congo anymore.
