Author – Michael Crichton
A review of Congo
I liked this book and it kept to Crichton’s usual ability to
keep you interested throughout. The
thrill of adventure soared more than any other aspect I would have to say. I wouldn’t say you’ll learn much about Africa
by reading this but it was neat for me to find about it in some ways. I’m sure there are plenty of books that
discuss the rainforests, village life and illegal trafficking in Africa but in
this book you still get a decent concept of it.
Of course I’m not very knowledgeable of the continent in general so
learning about it in a Crichton novel made it fun for me.
If you enjoy treasure seeking journeys with added technological
advances then you should find this read welcoming. What I liked most about the story was the
actual travel time within it. Crichton
had travelled in his lifetime and it’s easy to tell by the way these occurrences
are described. For me it was the mystery
of what was to happen next and when it happened it wasn’t the greatest. It ended well but it felt the rush was on to
do so. Considering the circumstances of
the story I suppose it had to be that way.
What I loathed about the book can be summed up in the
science part of the story you could say.
I normally like to read about science and what can be done in the
present or future with it. In this book
though the explanations for it get lengthy and actually occur at moments you
want the story to push forward. I
understand that the input of the science is important to include but usually
Crichton incorporates it much better. I
found myself forcing to read through talk of this corporation trying to do this
with, that to, this other one, hoping I’d get back to the adventure side of
things. I don’t want to mislead and will
add this doesn’t occur often. It’s
mostly toward the beginning during the setup so you have an idea of where said
corporations are coming from which makes sense.
If you’re a reader of Crichton I’d say you would enjoy this
one easily enough. If not or never having
read one of his then it’s not a bad place to start either. The back stories on the characters are short
and to the point while allowing for adventure to take over much of the
book. The one thing I hoped for but alas
didn’t read about was Tim Curry making a surprise appearance. If you saw the movie adaptation of this novel
you’d know just what I mean, long live Tim Curry.
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