دوستانِ گرانقدر، این کتابِ 302 صفحه ای، داستانی بسیار مهیج و معمایی دارد و البته در دلِ خود اطلاعاتی را در مورد طبیعت و نوع زندگی و قبایل و حیوانات آفریقایی، بخصوص مربوط به منطقه جنگلی «کنگو»، جای داده است
داستان در مورد یک تیم تحقیقاتی میباشد که به دنبال یک شهر افسانه ای به نام «زینج» در «کنگو» میروند که میدانند سرشار از الماس و گنجینه های بسیار است و هرکه به آنجا قدم نهاده زنده بازنگشته است
در طول داستان این گروه به همراه گوریلی به نام «امی» که با زبان اشاره سخن میگوید، اتفاق های عجیبی را تجربه میکنند... 13 روز و هر روز تجربه های عجیب و وحشتناک و جالب توجه ... که هر کدام از این روزها در یک منطقه و البته هرکدام یک فصل از این کتاب را تشکیل داده است
این گروه نه تنها با قبایل وحشی و آدمخوار همچون «کیگانی ها»، باید سرشاخ شوند، بلکه با یک ارتش وحشی و جانی به فرماندهی ژنرال «موگارو» نیز باید دست و پنجه نرم کنند
در روز آخر آتشفشان «موکنکو» که شهر «اینجی» را تبدیل به یک افسانه کرده است، فوران کرده و زمین لرزه و صاعقه های وحشتناک این گروه را اسیر خود میکند و آنها را به بدترین شکل ممکن مجروح کرده و می کشد و از طرفی «کیگانی ها» هواپیمای آنها را محاصره کرده و به آتش میکشند، اما با کشته شدن جادوگر قبیله خود، صحنه را ترک میکنند
از این گروه، آن گوریل به نام «امی»، «کارن راس» محقق، «پیتر الیوت» دکتر و جانور شناس تیم، «چارلز مونرو» و «کاهگا» توانستند به وسیلۀ بالن پلاستیکی از آن جهنم جان سالم بدر ببرند... و شهر نیز برای همیشه به زیر مواد مذاب رفت... و در این میان تنها کسی که زرنگی کرد، «چارلز مونرو» بود که همراه خود 31 قیراط الماس از آنجا خارج کرد و در آمستردام فروخت
امیدوارم این توضیحات مفید بوده باشه، و از خواندن این کتاب لذت ببرید
«پیروز باشید و ایرانی»

Michael Crichton called this book a continuation of the tradition of H.Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines. The book didn't impress me all that much.

A field expedition dies mysteriously in minutes,in the darkest region of Congo.In San Francisco,an extraordinary gorilla,named Amy,with a 620 sign vocabulary,may hold the secret to that carnage.Thankfully,however,the gorilla does not speak English.

Another expedition is sent to investigate.After that comes the lost city of Zinj,fights with gorillas and an exploding volcano.These are the type of ingredients loved by Hollywood.

The book was yet another commercial success for Crichton,and also became a major motion picture.I haven't seen it,nor do I intend to.Still remember how bored I was watching Jurassic Park,another film of a Crichton book.

Yet another one of his books,which I struggled to finish,and which at times literally put me to sleep.

1.5 stars,rounded up

 Διαβάστε και την ελληνική μου κριτική στις βιβλιοαλχημείες.

This was the first Crichton I read in the post-quarantine season in late May. The immediately preceding one was Eaters of the Dead which I read at the end of February, in the pre-quarantine season.

As I said in my other Crichton book reviews, this beloved author never wrote the same book and the same subject.
For example, last August I read Jurassic Park and it has to do with dinosaur cloning and a fictional park, every child's dream that turns into a nightmare.

The next book he published, which is also the one I will be reading this month, is Rising Sun and has to do with the Japanese mafia in Los Angeles. Entirely different genre and topic.

The same thing applies to the other two I mentioned.
While Eaters of the Dead was about the experiences of an Arab chronicler in the Land of Vikings in the early Middle Ages, this next book Congo transfers us to the lush Congo jungles and the study of gorillas as well as the search for a lost mythical city called Zinj.

This is why I like Crichton. Because every one of his books is a different genre (history - adventure), on a different continent (Europe - Africa), in a different era (Middle Ages - 80's)

Also each of his books is almost always accompanied by an extensive bibliography, proof of how much research and study he dedicated for each of his books. He didn't want just to entertain but also to inform, and to educate with his knowledge along with a great story.

Let me start by saying I've never seen the movie. That changes this evening. I do however, remember the trailer on TV quite vividly.

OF ALL THE TIMES I WISH THAT THERE WAS A MAP!!!!!!!!

I spent longer than I care to admit looking up maps of the Congo trying to figure out locations and routes. In vain. Ish. The regions were the same but towns and mountains were fictional. Oops, my bad lol. Imagine my surprise when I found out that to enter the Congo, you had to start on the COMPLETE OPPOSITE SIDE OF AFRICA THAN THE ONE CLOSEST TO NORTH AMERICA??!!!

Reading about technology in 2022 from a book written in 1980 is......laughable, I suppose. Getting told what a digital image is and how it differs from a photograph made me actually laugh out loud. But imagine! In 1980! All this computer info would be INCREDIBLE!

I felt myself feeling a little underwhelmed when exciting parts of the story happened. I felt like I was just reading along and then something happened and then everything continued on.....in the same style. No excitement or evocation of something about to happen. With the exception of the hippos. That part freaked me out.

Amy was obviously my favourite part. Amy good gorilla. Peter good human person. Nosehair man goodish human person. Ross shitty. Shitty Ross.

Need to be reviewed.

3.5 αστεράκια για την ακρίβεια. Το δεύτερο μισό του βιβλίου το ανέβασε πολύ

Congo wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but it seems to read like a typical Crichton book: Lots of detailed build-up; a climax that comes and goes faster than a Kardashian marriage/divorce; perfunctory wrap-up; acknowledgements.

So far, the books I’ve read of Crichton’s get me excited with intriguing concepts and storylines, but then leave me feeling that he didn’t do as much as he could have with the “ingredients” he had in place.

[spoiler alert…but do you really need the alert after this many years?]

For example, “killer gorillas that had a spoken language and were trained to kill.” For the love of Vishnu, Crichton created an army of killer talking apes that were going to kill a mercenary force and team of scientists! How cool is that?!

Finally we meet the gorillas and they attack the humans and they are indeed overpowering the humans and about to annihilate them, and theeeeeen a volcano erupts and they all die. Acknowledgements. That’s the book. The main storyline wasn’t about the gorillas, but it might has well have been with all the buildup to them.

It’d be like watching a Die Hard movie and right when Bruce Willis (John McClane) is about to make something huge explode, he decides, “You know…I should let the proper authorities handle this.” And then he dials 9-1-1, and theeeeeen Movie Credits.

Or for you ladies, it’d be like watching a Ryan Gossling movie and right when he’s about to perform his ultimate romantic gesture to win over the female lead, he stops and says to himself, “Man, this chick is really high maintenance. Why, exactly, am I trying to win her over?” He goes back to his day job and theeeeeeen…Movie Credits.

So, feel free to read Congo and just enjoy the ride but be prepared for a low payoff for your time.

I'm a big fan of all the Crichton books I have read, and this was no exception.

His ability to write complex science and technology in an accessible way and then wrap that around a thrilling adventure is just amazing. This has plenty of tension and mystery after a group hunting for rare diamonds in the Congo is killed by a mystery animal. A second crew set out to assist and with the help of Amy a gorilla and her expert handler they also run into way more than they bargained for with the elements, a volcano about to erupt and the animals of the jungle.

Crichton at the end of the novel speaks about future technology these diamonds will be used for and how future wars won't last years on the battlefield but mear minutes or hours and will all be done with the push of a button and super computers was so fascinating but very scary as well. It definitely rings true as something that is probably already here.

Amy the Gorilla was an amazing character, and I loved her story so much on how she was able to communicate via ASL and how the conclusion to her character ended. This is an adventure story at heart but makes you think as well and has some great action and characters.

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"The purpose of life is to stay alive. Watch any animal in nature--all it tries to do is stay alive. It doesn't care about beliefs or philosophy. Whenever any animal's behavior puts it out of touch with the realities of its existence, it becomes exinct."

Congo by the late, great Michael Crichton.  This book took me by surprise and it really shouldn't have.  I was slightly put off by the tacky movie.  But as we all know, you should never judge a book by the movie. It's my third book from this author and they're always a learning experience. But this one was really, really fun.

Crichton gives us a jungle adventure in deepest, darkest Africa as our group of intrepid protagonists go on the hunt for diamonds and technological fortune.  It's got cannibals, rapids, hungry hippos and surface to air missiles.  Events centre around the lost city of Zinj and the author uses his scientific expertise to the max in giving us a memorable and highly enjoyable experience.



"If man has to do something dangerous, it helps to be angry. It's for his own protection, really. Better he should hate someone than fall apart."

The writing style is nothing to write home about.  Crichton uses very few similes or metaphors and he's never overly descriptive.  But that's not what you're paying your money for and the author more than makes up for this in his ability to get across informative, technical snippets in a digestible and easily understandable format. His ability to do this should not be underestimated.

So what about the characters? As we know, they so often make a novel.  It's pretty standard fare in this category for Crichton. Some very serious scientist types.  But there are a couple of standouts. Particularly Amy the gorilla who is the most memorable I've come across by this author so far. A central theme of the novel is communication and the ability for primates to elevate their capability to do this. Amy is the key feature that Crichton uses to explore these ideas and it works fantastically. She's so entertaining and heartwarming.  Unique and fascinating, she lights up every page she appears on.



"You white men consider pork to be the tastiest of meat, but pork is not to be compared with human flesh."

The pacing in this one, like all Crichton books, is absolutely on the money.  It starts of by hitting you with a lot of factual that is a slight grind but soon gets going and never lets up right to an exciting and climactic finish. It's all very well done.

So would I recommend this book to someone looking to get into Crichton? That's a Steve Austin style hell yeah! A fun, jungle romp that will have you on the edge of your seat. A solid and well deserved four stars. Now looking forward to some more from this author. Up next...Sphere.


Michael Crichton

what could have been a great adventure book turned out to be a barely mediocre writing effort on behalf of Crichton. Not that it is bad, it was just boring for me. Even the scenes where they were attacked were pretty boring. I know the author tends to dedicate a big portion of the book on background research but in this case I just did not care much for any of it.

I felt the ending might be building up to something big but it got resolved in what seemed like to be a page or two. I felt let down. I felt the author was just writing things on the paper just so he can meet some deadline or something. That would explain uninteresting characters, lack of development of these so called characters and lack of me giving any shit about these characters. I did not like any of them besides Amy and Amy is a gorilla who uses sign language to communicate simple commands and or pleasures/displeasures.

This was an alright book. It was in parts boring, in parts fun, in parts weird, and overall just an OK read.

This one read like an edge of your seat Indiana Jones movie. It was indulgently entertaining. Chimps really are a horror story. It took a little while to get going but I really got into it and enjoyed the ride.

- رحلة مجنونة بين عالم حيوانات وامرأة مهووسة بالماس وزنجي يقودهم في الحملة في غابات الكونغو وغوريلا جميلة تدعي آمي يحاربون الطبيعة وأنواعًا جديدة من الغوريلات وقبائل أكلي لحوم البشر

-تذكرك بعالم سافاري ورحلات أفريقيا المجنونة مع دكتور علاء عبدالعظيم ♥️