Ryan's Reviews > Congo

Michael Crichton's work should be considered the epitome of geek literature (AKA science fiction, genre fiction, or speculative fiction), but was somehow embraced by the mainstream -- so much so that even if the academic crowd doesn't take him very seriously, Crichton still addressed Congress. Genre fiction is such a dismissive term, so Crichton was given his own genre: it's not geek; it's a "techno thriller."

Congo, published in 1980, has all of Crichton's geekiest motifs, including a heroine whose tragic flaw is revealed on -- get this -- a computer printout. It's a pretty obvious way of characterizing one's hero, but it works. And give him credit, unlike in The Andromeda Strain, Crichton actually has characters with personalities and internal conflicts in Congo. Clearly, this is an author on the rise.

Congo works in the same way that Sphere (1987) and Jurassic Park (1990) -- my favorite Crichton titles -- work. A team of scientists is sent on a dangerous mission that will require technical expertise, ingenuity, and a conflict between ambition and responsibility. I love that Crichton takes the ideal neutrality and benefits of science and juxtaposes them with the realities of funding, application, and career ambition. These three works also serve to map out what I believe is Crichton approaching and reaching the peak of his writing. My only wish is that I would have read Congo first, rather than third.

Congo was not only published first in this thematic and structural trilogy, but it is clear that Crichton was consciously improving his writing in each of these novels. In Congo, he establishes the pattern by opening with a cool setting and a cool premise: jungle ruins and highly trained attack gorillas. Not bad.

But he can do better.

Sphere features the ocean floor and an alien technology that tests humanity's character. The characters are also more complex and engaging in Sphere, and I especially enjoyed Crichton's decision to make psychologist Norman Johnson the hero. Sphere is great, so everyone must have quite naturally expected that Crichton would begin the 1990s with his authorial decline.

But then:

In Jurassic Park, dinosaurs are brought back to life through cloning technology on a privately owned tropical island. Unbelievable! And let's not forget about Alan Grant and Ian Malcolm, arguably Crichton's most memorable academics, battling dinosaurs (don't gorillas just seem so "small potatoes" in comparison?) with nothing but their wits.

So, for me, Congo is a very good work, but not a great one. However, perhaps this is only if we measure Crichton against himself.

And it does not change the fact that Congo, Sphere, and Jurassic Park should be considered a required "trilogy" for all geeks -- sorry -- I meant "required reading for all 'techno thriller enthusiasts.'"