Tuesday 12 April 2011

Congo by Michael Crichton



I was seriously disappointed with this book for numerous reasons. I will go into some of them here but, ultimately, if I was to list all the reasons it would take an hour to read.

The story could, and should, have been a straightforward and entertaining killer-gorilla related romp with lots of frightened scientists and mercenaries fighting for survival against the odds. Instead what we got was poorly written, erratic, nonsense-riddled, technology-obsessed trash.

An American research team in the Congolese jungle is savagely murdered in mysterious circumstances. The Earth Resources Technology Services (a stereotypical shadowy corporation which answers to no-one with powerful government ties *yawn*) quickly sends in another team of highly trained, yet clearly expendable, white specialists; a collection of engineers, scientists and one hard-boiled mercenary. Also along for the ride are half a dozen black African porters who are, very predictably, there for cannon-fodder purposes.

The way the book is written is messy. The story weaves left and right, constantly on the go and it wasn't long before I was forced to skip back a few pages to re-read sections due to confusion. At every conceivable opportunity Crichton drowns the reader in completely unnecessary and unbelievable techno-babble, often going off on a complete tangent about technology or the natural world for pages before returning to the actual story by which point I was totally bewildered and more than a little annoyed. At times it was more like reading a textbook than a novel, it is literally FULL of passages like this:

“The first generation of electronic computers, ENIAC and UNIAC, built in the wartime secrecy of the 1940s, employed vacuum tubes. Vacuum tubes had an average life span of twenty hours, but with thousands of glowing hot tubes in a single machine, some computers shut down even seven to twelve minutes. Vacuum tube technology imposed a limit on the size and power of planned second- generation computers. But the second generation never used vacuum tubes. In 1947, the invention of the transistor – a thumbnail sized sandwich of solid material which performed all the functions of a vacuum tube...”

The blogger on 'Books I done read' reviewed this book and said it perfectly when she wrote “it's very White Man Goes Into the Jungle, WITH TECHNOLOGY!”

The savage, murderous gorillas themselves appear right at the beginning of the book to kill off the first research team but don't make a significant reappearance until page 280. Even then they are not frightening in the least which is a massive anti-climax considering they are the main draw of the book. They spend a few pages butchering the unfortunate black porters before the white researchers escape completely unharmed (what a shocker)

The characters are two dimensional and poorly developed. It is difficult to imagine how Crichton could have done a worse job of it. The best thing I can say about this book is that the spelling is more or less correct most of the time.

Considering this book came from the acclaimed author of 'Jurassic Park' (which is a very good book) I was shocked that such a talent was capable of churning out such amateurish crap. A big let down.

Overall rating 1/5

16 comments:

  1. I felt similarly after reading The Andromeda Strain by Crichton. The story begins excitingly enough but then there is zero character development so you never end up caring what happens next.

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  2. I didn't care for this one either but if you want a really great book with the feel that you had hoped to get from this one, check out The Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Yes, it was made into a movie at some point but the book is much better.

    That particular author team has written lots of books and most of them are pretty good.

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  3. I remember when this book first hit the scene and when it became a movie, my Mom won free passes to the movie and my ticket was selected to win a free sweatshirt! LOL I still own it... it's what I wear when I dye my hair... See something good came out of this novel! ;)

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  4. That's a shame, it sounds like it could have been a fun read.

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  5. I have only read one Crichton and that was Jurassic Park and yes it was because of the movies so that was ages and ages ago.

    I actually like it when a book annoys me this much, it makes you think how lucky you are when you adore a book and also reminds you your scale in reading terms.

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  6. Have you read hell Island by Matthew Reilly? My review will be out in a few days - but I swear, the story is EXACTLY THE SAME! Killer Gorillas invented by scientists and then a big team of people coming to find out what's happening and being eaten by crazy hungry gorillas. It was equally as terrible.

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  7. @ Myke: I'm sorry to hear the Andromeda Strain is the same, thats on my TBR list. Oh well...

    @ Ti: As it happens I read 'The Relic' years ago before I was really into reading. I remember enjoying it a great deal and intend to re-read it again when I get time :o)

    @ Reeder Reads: That's a funny story :o) I've not seen the movie but I've watched the trailor, it looks pretty naff! lol Now i've seen how awful the book is I don't think i'll be in a hurry to watch the movie.

    @ Sam: It had alot of potential. It was never going to win awards but it could have been very entertaining. Nevermind, can't win them all.

    @ Simon: I know what you mean, it does make you value the well-written, decent books. Also it gives me the opportunity to moan and gripe about something which I always enjoy!

    @ Becky: I will keep an eye out for your review. I haven't read 'Hell Island' and I certainly won't be from reading your post. I've decided to avoid all books which have killer-gorillas somewhere in the plot! If Michael Crichton were still around I daresay he'd sue.

    Chris

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  8. and yet you kept reading???
    life is too short for bad books,
    thanks for the warning:-)
    martine

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  9. @ Martine: I kept reading for one very good reason; I was stuck at an airport for four hours with nothing else to read. It was the choice between reading Congo or nothing at all lol

    Chris

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  10. Other than seeing the movie Disclsoure, which I liked, I have not read/seen any of Crichton's work...given your review, this is clearly not one I would want to try.

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  11. Crichton is one of my favourite authors, but I don't think I've read this one. I especially love his earlier medical books. Sorry to hear you didn't like this one - I hope your next Crichton is better.

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  12. It's been years since I read this one, but I do remember it as being one of the ones that felt like Crichton just phnoned it in. If you want some really good Crichton, try reading his book of non-fiction essays called "Travels." There's some great stuff in there.

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  13. I haven't read any Crichton, but, if I do, I definitely won't start with this one. Your comments reminded me of Stephen King. He's kind of a hit-or-miss writer for me. I loved some of his books, while I couldn't even finish others. :)

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  14. @ TheBookGirl: I would urge you to avoid this at all costs. You should consider Jurassic Park though, a much much better book.

    @ Jackie: My next Crichton is 'Andromeda Strain' have you read that one? Another blogger said it was just as bad as Congo :o(

    @ petekarnas: To be brutally honest once I've read Andromeda Strain I'm not sure i'm going to bother with Crichton again! Congo was such a disaster.

    @ Darlyn: I've never been a big fan of King but I would agree with you, he can be hit and miss too.

    Chris

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  15. So... sensationalist, poorly developed, badly written crap.

    Based on that recommendation...!

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  16. @ Biblibio: Are you off to buy your copy right now? lol

    Chris

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