Congo
Written by Michael Crichton
Narrated by Julia Whelan
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
Deep in the African rain forest, near the legendary ruins of the Lost City of Zinj, an expedition of eight American geologists are mysteriously and brutally killed in a matter of minutes.
Ten thousand miles away, Karen Ross, the Congo Project Supervisor, watches a gruesome video transmission of the aftermath: a camp destroyed, tents crushed and torn, equipment scattered in the mud alongside dead bodies-all motionless except for one moving image-a grainy, dark, man-shaped blur.
In San Francisco, primatologist Peter Elliot works with Amy, a gorilla with an extraordinary vocabulary of 620 "signs," the most ever learned by a primate, and she likes to finger paint. But recently her behavior has been erratic and her drawings match, with stunning accuracy, the brittle pages of a Portuguese print dating back to 1642…a drawing of an ancient lost city. A new expedition-along with Amy-is sent into the Congo, where they enter a secret world, and the only way out may be through a horrifying death.…
Congo was made into a film directed by Frank Marshall.
Michael Crichton
Michael Crichton (1942-2008) was the author of the bestselling novels The Terminal Man, The Great Train Robbery, Jurassic Park, Sphere, Disclosure, Prey, State of Fear, Next and Dragon Teeth, among many others. His books have sold more than 200 million copies worldwide, have been translated into forty languages, and have provided the basis for fifteen feature films. He wrote and directed Westworld, The Great Train Robbery, Runaway, Looker, Coma and created the hit television series ER. Crichton remains the only writer to have a number one book, movie, and TV show in the same year. Daniel H. Wilson is a Cherokee citizen and author of the New York Times bestselling Robopocalypse and its sequel Robogenesis, as well as ten other books. He recently wrote the Earth 2: Society comic book series for DC Comics. Wilson earned a PhD in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University, as well as master’s degrees in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. He has published over a dozen scientific papers and holds four patents. Wilson lives in Portland, Oregon.
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Reviews for Congo
2,629 ratings58 reviews
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5(Original Review, 1980-11-15)Here is how Michael Crichton describes Amy, the principal love object in "Congo": "She could be coy, she responded to flattery, she was preoccupied with her appearance, loved make-up, and was very fussy about the collar of the sweaters she wore in the winter." Although she is quite short, Amy weighs 140 pounds. She has a vocabulary of 620 words, which is remarkably good for a gorilla. Karen Ross, the other female in "Congo," is almost six feet tall, attractive but ungainly. She is a mathematical prodigy, brilliant but insensitive, determined to succeed at any cost. Her feminine wiles have been confined to technology. Peter Elliot, a young professor working in the field of primate communication, has taught Amy to talk - not in words, but sign language. His whole life is dominated by Amy. By the time you have read this far in "Congo," you will be wondering how Peter and Karen are going to be brought together, and how this will affect Amy.Crichton is the Alvin Toffler of suspense fiction, and "Congo" might be described as a romance of technology. Computers and all kinds of electronic equipment are pitted against the primeval, in the form of gorillas, the rain forest of the Congo, and a volcano.Crichton is also virtuoso of research. He can describe the look and feel of a rain forest as well as the latest safari gadgetry. When Karen and Peter go to the Congo with Amy, their equipment suggests an L. L. Bean catalog of the next century. Readers of suspense novels seem to be willing to absorb any amount of information in the process of being entertained, and Crichton has quite a lot to say about theories of communication, about the information industry and technology, about computers, the warfare of the future, and other such arcane subjects. He also describes a typical Pygmy meal, the current status of cannibalism in Africa, shooting rabbits in a rubber raft and fighting off a murderous attack by hippos. At one point, Amy saves Peter from a male gorilla by treating him as her infant."Congo" also includes an ancient city buried in the jungle and guarded by a tribe of "missing links" who talk by sighing and crush intruders' heads between stone spoons. We've come a long way from Tarzan.It would not be fair to tell you who wins the battle of the sexes. It is enough to say that both Amy and Karen are formidable females. For these and all the usual reasons, "Congo" is very amusing reading, even if, in its originality, Crichton denies us some of the vulgar gratifications of the genre.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book very much reminded me of a book out of the Pendergast series by Lee Child and Douglas Preston. The only part that was missing was Agent Pendergast. The book presents the reader with a strange mystery happening in the Congo, and we quickly find ourselves diving into something more mysterious and unexplainable than we realized. It’s a tad eerie and a tad unbelievable, but not too much! I really enjoyed it.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5This is the first Michael Crichton book I have read in some time. I had greatly enjoyed all of his previous books, but this one fell short of my expectations. I had seen the movie made from this book a couple of times before, and although the book was very different, I think it ruined the suspense of the story a great deal. Also, this book was published in 1980 and Crichton spends a lot of time explaining technological advances. We have come so far since then that there was no excitement in it for me. All in all, not one of the author's best efforts and a disappointment.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5In the early 1990s I went through a period of reading books that were being adapted into movies. I don't know why I did this, or at least why I continued to do this after the first few books were very average. Congo was one of the last books I read in this vein before finally giving up on it (and fiction in general).A fairly average telling of a story about a talking gorilla and a bunch of scientific offsiders who travel to darkest Congo to find a lost city. Not overly memorable things happen to them.I'm sure there are plenty of talking monkey books that would be a better read than this. Indeed, the movie adaption was better than the book, due manly to Ernie Hudson's involvement.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The audiobook, Congo, by Michael Connelly was actually quite good. The problem was that the audiobook stopped every 5 mins or so for anywhere from 10 seconds to a half-minute. Unfortunately, the audiobook continued to plAy so that I missed a considerable amount of the book.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Anything by this author is well worth the time spent. The narrator did an excellent job as well!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This story wasn't terrible, but it isn't memorable, either.
I've not seen the movie, but I have to assume that it's more gripping than the novel, to explain the hype around this title. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Amazing! Booking my flight to Africa as we speak. Probably.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I can’t understand why this book has low ratings. It’s a great adventure novel and the author has an incredible grasp of technology for someone writing back in 1980. It’s a good read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Umm...I think I loved it because I loved the movie when I was 13?
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A little dated, but well written and researched potboiler adventure story with some interesting, fun and informative parts to the storyline.
Not much character development, other than perhaps Amy the gorilla .
Nicely narrated. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This narrator is absolutely amazing. Stunning voice-work. The story is wonderful on its own, but the reader brought it up several notches. Can’t wait to listen to more.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This was a pretty good book. I wish I could have known more about what happened with everybody in the epilogue though.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5So good! Very ‘lost world’ much like Jurassic park. Crichton is amazing at explaining scientific theories and terms that is both interesting and creative. I am hooked from start to finish, taken on a roller coaster ride or adventure! You leave the book feeling like you’ve learned something as well!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Michael Crichton is a master story teller and holds your attention even in his factual research input
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Thrilling, as Crichton always is.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A page turning novel that seems to be written so as to easily translate to the screen. This is not a fault.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I got through it. Crichton is problematic. Africa...
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5It's been a long time since I first read this book and while Crichton's overall style didn't change much, his approach has. Boy is this novel full of awkward info dumps. That's pretty normal for him, but in this one he just threw stuff out there and didn't even attempt to disguise it as conversation or explanations to the uninitiated, say in a meeting, which is something he did later. Having also just read Jurassic Park, the difference is noticeable. It's still kind of clunky, but in books like this in which a lot of the plot hinges on things highly technical, it's important to clue the reader in. I just wish there was another way to do it.And because technology changes and changes fast, Congo feels really, really dated. There's all kinds of emphasis placed on computing time and how fast computers can spit out scenarios and answers as opposed to our sluggish brains. Then there's how hard it is to get a satellite link, probably because at the time there was probably only 3 of them up there. Funny. These days with cell phones and a zillion satellites, the issues the Congo team had to deal with are obsolete. It was fun to compare Crichton's speculations on where personal and industrial computing would go and where it actually did go. Another aspect that felt forced and preachy was the whole issue of animal treatment in research. I think these days both the public and the scientists who employ animals are a whole lot more aware of the animal's awareness and suffering. In the book Crichton grinds that ax but good and also makes a point to inform us of exactly how brutal chimpanzees are, but how much more highly regarded they are than gorillas. Strange, but I've always known that gorillas are much more gentle and less aggressive than chimps. Maybe it's from books like this that the world view was implanted in my brain. Or from knowing about the research from both Fossey and Goodall with the respective animals.The ending was benign though; no one gets the diamonds. I'm still not sure if Ross's explosions triggered the volcano that buried the mines, and the lost city, but it was convenient.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An exciting story filled with suspense and mystery, but mostly filled with technical information written in an easy to understand way. The story itself is an adventure story, as the protagonists get closer and closer to their goal. One thing after the next stands in their way and hope for survival decreases. The inclusion of the gorilla makes it more interesting and at times lighthearted. Michael Crichton did a lot of research for this book. A massive amount of information about Africa's history, researchers, animal behavior, and technology fill the book. I personally enjoyed it, but I can see how it can be tedious and at times takes the immersion out of the story.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I really, really wanted to like this book, because it was not a half bad movie, but I just couldn't get in to it. There's so much technical jargon and scientific crap going on that I just couldn't get excited about.I realize I probably shot myself in the foot by watching the movie first, but the text version was just not reader-friendly.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Lots of thought-provoking questions about what makes someone human, and what differentiates us form other primates. Fascinating interactions between Amy and the humans, and amongst the gorillas. Character development was pretty much nonexistent, while suspense was good.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Not a very good book. Not nearly as good as Jurrasic Park. Frankly, the only reason I kept reading was because I wanted to know what was going to happen to Amy the Gorilla. The ending was just plain weird. It's like Crichton just got tired of writing so he stopped.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is my second favorite Michael Crichton book, the first being Jurassic Park.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The way it made me imagine I was there, superb
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A fun adventure story featuring a group of people making their way through the dangerous jungles of the Congo with varied purposes and goals. Animal researcher Peter has brought his gorilla companion, Amy, to locate her 'family' and place of origin. Karen is trying to find some rare diamonds. Their guide, Munro, also seems to have an agenda. The group battles the elements and races against others on the hunt for the diamonds as well as a fabled Lost City. The best part of this is the gorilla, Amy. I was most invested in her and her journey.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Captivating and informative. The narrator is very easy to understand and listen to
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Really enjoyed, narrator was really good also! Give it a go!
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I have come to enjoy Congo so much, I have a Bose Mini Bluetooth speaker under my pill poo to not disturb my Poop ? Tart because he works all week and I have had to put my habits on a diet to get to where I was. I had to sleep with the TV on. The volume had a mind of its own and distributed my husband, so I'd watch Vudu using headphones for listening to my TV. I turned off the TV to get everything available on the app store that dealt with Audio books. Since Scribd from Samsung was able to get my attention and now Michael Crichton and Sphere is the other book of sleep and I am happy to have found an app that offers so much materials that are useful in so many ways, the Congo and the movie version of this book are both very well recreated, but the book is essential listening material for my whole life. That's a powerful statement on any level. I've been paid to stay away from the others by the United States of America since age 21, now I am 48 and learning to enjoy life and the finding of the books available by Michael Crichton is awesome and are in the same level of Stephen King, Dean Kootz and Jim Butcher as well as Faith Hunter and Laurell K. Hamilton. I have a whole other life in this book and the others like it. Thank you for providing such a wonderful selection of smart and intelligent reading.
Blessed be!
Kristen Coffin Greener Allen?1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Eek! Scary gorillas!