Dennis's Reviews > Congo

German review here.

A little over two decades ago this was my introduction to Michael Crichton. It‘s also the first novel that someone had ever gifted to me, if I remember correctly.

So, thank you aunt Ilona. I became a fan of the author immediately.

Reading this again in 2019, this time in it’s original language, it was once more a lot of fun. Even though much of it is very dated and in fact was already dated when I first read this back in 1995.

In 1979 a Congo expedition gets attacked and killed in a matter of minutes. The video transmission from the geologists‘ camp that their sponsor studies back in Houston is disturbing. The camp is completely destroyed, there are dead bodies everywhere, their skulls crushed, and for a short moment there’s something moving in front of the camera. And it is not human.

A second expedition is hastily prepared, because the company is in a race with a Japanese/German consortium to find the Lost City of Zinj, which they believe is buried somewhere in the dense tropical rainforest of the Congo. They are looking for a scarce type of diamond that’s of tremendous value as a semiconductor and is expected to push computing to another level. Billions of dollars are at stake.

Primatologist Peter Elliot who works with Amy, a Gorilla that has learned sign language and has a vocabulary of 620 signs, is planning to go to the Congo as well. Recently Amy has told him of nightmares that she’s having and a couple of pictures that she‘s painted resemble a Portugeses print that is showing the Lost City of Zinj. But how can that be? The print is from 1642 and they’re not even sure the city it shows does really exist. Enter the aforementioned Congo expedition and the fact that the company is contacting Elliot for spoilery reasons, and off to the Congo they are. Taking Amy with them and trying to find the lost city, albeit for very different reasons.

The main story is still an exciting thriller in an exotic setting, as the group of people is facing lots of different obstacles, from warlords and cannibals to wild animals, thunderstorms, volcanoes, raging rivers and the generally unforgiving nature of the rainforest.

The technical parts of the book though, even though they are incorporated reasonably well, take up too much room. Epecially from today’s perspective, as they have not aged very well. Which is to be expected, since the book is almost 40 years old by now and the computer industry has advanced so much that what was once intended to be science-fiction is now almost kinda cute in how backward it all is.

If you are able to look past this fact, there are still enough interesting things to learn from the several infodumps. Especially the parts concerned with the early exploration of the African continent and the ones about animal research I found quite interesting. And from a historical standpoint the computing part might be interesting for some as well, even though it wasn’t for me.

What makes this a four star read still, for me personally, is the great setting, the thrilling adventure and the lovable Amy. The adorable mountain gorilla is by far the best character in this book and I completely fell in love with her and would adopt her without hesitation.

I can still see why this book made me a fan of Michael Crichton all those years ago.