Сидів та думав що написати про цю книгу, так нічого путнього і не придумав. Бо думок багато, а зібрати їх до купи та написати гарний відгук, та ще і без спойлерів, не виходить. Тому що історія  настільки офігенна та крута, з таким глубоким підтекстом, та шокуючим фіналом, що хочеться просто щоб всі її прочитали, бо вона варта уваги. Та я впевнений що ця книга залишить слід у вашій свідомості, і ви ще не раз будете її згадувати, а можливо перечитувати.

Published in 1963, La Planète des singes is an ingenious take on the evolution of life and, ultimately, man’s self destructive arrogance and cruelty. Pierre Boulle turns Darwin’s theory on its ear by imagining a world where apes rule supreme. Endowing gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans with human characteristics paints a truthful and decidedly unflattering self portrait of mankind.

*Those of us old enough to remember the 1968 American film adaptation will see many dissimilarities between Pierre Boulle’s novel and Rod Serling’s screenplay. Both work well for their specific medium, though I much prefer Boulle’s ending over Serling’s clichéd but iconic ‘Lady Liberty on the beach.’

Affascinato dal film (quello originale del 1968) dopo anni ho colto l'occasione per dedicarmi alla lettura del libro da cui ne è stato tratto. Una lettura semplice ma efficace, la trama risulta abbastanza diversa dal film ma allo stesso modo intrigante e ben strutturata, forse anche più interessante.

Really enjoyed this one and glad I finally got around to reading it.

Jestem ostatnią osobą, która mogłaby czerpać nawet najmniejszą przyjemność z konsumpcji takiego tytułu jak ten. Proszę wybaczyć, zasypiam na sam dźwięk słowa "KOSMOS". A jednak... Bawiłam się przednio! Co prawda im dalej w las (tfu, galaktykę), tym bardziej dawała o sobie znać moja słaba głowa, ale nie umniejsza to wcale satysfakcji, jaką dało mi poznanie tej historii.

Świetna książka. Kilka koncepcji i rozwiązań brzmi już trochę śmiesznie ale czyta się to jednym tchem.

O wow. Nie spodziewałam się, że aż tak mi się to spodoba

"Là, je fus envahi par un scrupule saugrenu. Moi, un homme, devais-je vraiment recourir à de telle ruses pour berner un singe? La seule conduite digne de ma condition n'était-elle pas de me lever, de marcher vers l'animal et de le corriger à coups de bâton?"

Ulysse Mérou is one of the most unlikable protagonists I have ever had the fortune (yes, fortune) of encountering. The reason why La planète des singes (in English Planet of the Apes, the novel that gave rise to the famous franchise) works so well and what makes it such an extraordinary literary artefact is precisely the hypocrisy and contemptuousness of this character, which forces the reader to confront fully the paradoxes and perhaps irresolvable contradictions of Ulysse's improbable situation.

This novel was originally written in 1963, which is not too long ago after all, but still, I'm somewhat hesitant to recognize the unambiguous intention, on Boulle's part, to make Ulysse Mérou as unpleasant as he comes off today: his complacency and unchallenged sense of superiority are traits which modern-day fictional heroes don't share anymore--not intentionally, anyway. I loved this incompatibility, this feeling that the book had somehow escaped the plan that its author had (probably) intended for it and turned itself into something different and new, something that, miraculously, has been able to make of an apparent flaw its greatest strength. For me, La planéte des singes is the textbook definition of aging like a fine wine.

I enjoyed this story. I can say both the book and the movie are great in their own way. The movie was science fiction but the book seemed more socially-based lo-fi science fiction.

The book goes way more in depth about the planet our narrator and his crew have landed on. Through the narrator we discover much more about the ape planet than the movie gives. The interaction between the primitive man, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans follows the movie yet the author does a great job of telling the tale.

On the planet exists social constructs and norms, a Simian language, art and science, zoos, lobotomy experiments, and more. Lastly, we discover how the shift occurred and monkeys came to rule the world.

Pierre Boulle has a unique way of telling a story full of detail yet is entertaining and creative. Overall I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who likes any movies from the franchise. Thanks!

I watched the movie for the first time this year and loved it so much I knew I had to read the book.

I was really curious about how the book would compared to the movie as I never heard people talk much about the book but people talk about the movies all the time.

The original book and follow a lot of the same plot points part one and two. A small team arrives on a planet, and they discover the humans are analytic and the apes rule all. Captured and only one is able to prove his intelligence.

I really appreciated the subtle differences in the first two acts. Both book and movie use the own medium so the same story and change the details to emphasize their medium. The movie had the main character neck get injured so he couldn’t talk. Where in the book it was a lack of understanding the different language. The movie had a great line that was used for this book the slower approach and more gradual that was more appropriate to see in a book over a movie. I also found the science talk to be much more enjoyable and in the book we’re in the movie I found it dragged the movie along for the first 22 minutes and made it rather boring.

I found part three of the book is where things really took a different direction. The MC becomes a respected member of the ape community and is able to walk freely. He impregnates nova, and is able to escape the planet with his new family. I like how they had a twist and that was unique to the book. The book was great, in the house somewhere a lot of it was the movie I was able to enjoy both the movie movie and book and very separate ways.

Je suppose qu'à l'instar de nombreuses personnes, j'ai très présent à l'esprit le film de Charlton Heston, surtout pour sa fin choquante. Il y a aussi les autres adaptations qui nous donnent une idée différente de l'œuvre originale.

Eh bien, je dois dire que j'ai adoré ma lecture de ce roman écrit en 1963 et que comme toute bonne science-fiction, le livre pousse à ses dernières conséquences une critique de l'anthropocentrisme.

Planet of the Apes is an extraordinary book; it does wonders at questioning and reversing human to animal relations: it is a powerful statement against anthropocentrism.

Firstly, I want to talk about the films. Although they have all captured the basic idea of the book, a planet ruled by apes where humans are primitive, they have all failed tremendously to capture the essence of the novel. This is about reversal and its also about writing a story from the animal’s perspective. It highlights the injustice of treating primates in such awful ways; it captures the brutality of vivisection, the inauthentic and inhumane nature of zoos and the heartlessness of a world driven by scientific progress (at the cost of the liberty of creatures deemed lesser.)

Again, it’s all about perspective. It’s about putting a human in an animal’s situation, giving them the opportunity to experience exactly what an animal feels and think. They are powerless, dominated and utterly at the mercy of man. Rather than directly presenting a case for animal rights, Boulle has created a subversive sci-fi horror which questions the normative treatment of animals. And it’s certainly a book that gets you thinking, thinking about how awful it would be to be treated how humans treat animals. The writing also breaks down barriers between human and animal; it shows that under certain circumstances they are not too far from each other. And this is a really important point.

What strikes me as most unusual is how relatively unread this work is when considering the success of the films. There have been numerous versions made, all of which have been quite successful. I feel like the source material has been somewhat overlooked and neglected, which is a huge shame considering how intelligent the writing is and how challenging the subject matter is. The films stay true to some of the themes, but they just don’t quite capture the essence of the book. The most recent version really plays with the source material and adapts it into something quite different, and along the way this original story has become a bit lost and overshadowed.

My point here is that this is a very good book indeed and I think you should go read it. The ending, although I knew it was coming because of the movie, is perhaps one of the finest and strongest I have ever read.

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