Book Review: Congo

Book: Congo by Michael Crichton

Description:

Deep in the African rain forest, near the legendary ruins of the Lost City of Zinj, an expedition of eight American geologists is mysteriously and brutally killed in a matter of minutes.

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…



Rating: 3 stars

Review:

Congo is set in 1979 and takes place during 13 days from June 13th to June 25th. However, prior to that, the story begins when an ERTS (Earth Resources Technology Services) scientific expedition in the Congo went bad under mysterious circumstances. In a race to acquire lucrative information about the Lost City of Zinj, ERTS quickly set a plan to send another group there. This group included Dr. Karen Ross who had been monitoring the original expedition (and who had initially provided the research and information for the expedition) wanted to take on this new expedition. Karen didn't have the opportunity go on the first expedition but she's making sure she goes on this one. And due to something disturbing she saw on a video transmission of the original expedition's damaged campsite, she wanted to invite Dr. Peter Elliot, a Primatologist, a scientist who specializes in studying primates, on the expedition.

And this invite couldn't have come at the right time because Peter was experiencing a bit of a backlash and controversy due to his Project Amy study. Which focused on training and studying a gorilla named Amy. Amy had been taught ASL (American Sign Language) and him and his team are able to communicate with her. The controversy started when an article or report misunderstood what Project Amy was and made it seem as if Amy was being mistreated which resulted in a protest at the university where Peter worked. Despite the situation being resolved, this timely expedition would give Peter a chance to take Amy on this trip as a way to better understand a nightmare she had as well as her painting about a mysterious place.

With other organizations trying to locate the same information and location as ERTS, it truly was a race against time to get there. Karen was able to hire the most sought after guide (more like mercenary), Charles Munro from the other organizations. Karen, Peter, Amy, Munro and the rest of group had non-stop danger and trouble not only getting to the Congo but while traveling through it. However, Karen and Munro were determined that they were going to beat the other organizations to get there. And once they got there, the group was up against a danger they truly weren't prepared for. Even Peter's expertise may not be enough.

Congo wasn't a bad story, but it definitely could have been better. There were moments when it was a good and interesting read but there were many times throughout the story where it was slow moving or bogged down with a lot of technical jargon and historical facts. I'm someone who enjoys additional information but this book had a little too much information and really slowed the story down a lot. Although, you can tell that this story was well researched and the writing was good, it felt like the research and information was what drove the story than being what motivated it. There were things that I enjoyed such as the group exploring the Lost City of Zinj and seeing all the ancient buildings. I also liked that Amy was treated as a main character and it was interesting seeing some things from her perspective. Although, this was a fictional story it really highlights how Africa continues to be exploited for it's resources and generally paints the people who live there terribly. And not to mention the racism displayed by some of the character in the story that unfortunately went with the times.

I know this was adapted into a movie, I want to see it and see if it's a better version of this story. Because hopefully, it can't get any worse.