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    Great Apes
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    Great Apes
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    Great Apes
    Ebook137 pages1 hour

    Great Apes

    By Patrick Marmion and Will Self

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    “I want my life back now. Feel human again. Homo erectus.”

    When Turner Prize-winning artist Simon Dykes wakes up one morning after a wild night out, he finds his world has changed beyond recognition. His girlfriend, Sarah, has turned into a chimpanzee. And to his horror, so has everyone else. Immediately rushed to hospital, Simon is taken into the care of charismatic radical psychiatrist Zack Busner and treated for being under the psychotic delusion that he’s human.

    This raucous new stage adaptation from Patrick Marmion (The Divided Laing) mixes razor-sharp language with movement and puppetry, journeying into the mystery of what it means to be a human being.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOberon Books
    Release dateMar 20, 2018
    ISBN9781786824745
    Unavailable
    Great Apes
    Author

    Patrick Marmion

    Patrick Marmion is a playwright, journalist and Associate Lecturer at the University of Kent. ­ Previous plays include THE DIVIDED LAING (Arcola Theatre), TERMS AND CONDITIONS (White Bear), PIETA – AFTER CHEKHOV (Finborough & Print Room), OSTERLEY (Urban Scrawl), THE INSTITUTE (Etcetera). Screenplays include MUSHROOM SOUP (Sam Mendes/Renaissance Films), Kids FM (Working Title Television), MAID MARION (Channel Four Films), ARCHIE TANNER & THE DODO (Children’s Film & Television Foundation) and THE DEAD GUY (based on novel of same title).

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    Reviews for Great Apes

    3.5/5

    251 ratings5 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Instead of the thud of a simple inversion where a world of chimps occupy the place of humans (and this is acknowledged with the wink of the simian preface with references to the trite and banal series of movies "Planet of the Humans"), Self retains almost all the attributes of chimps - rigid physical hierarchy, sign languge (figures of speech are carefully changed from "that is to say" to "that is to sign), grooming habits, polygamous coupling, etc - while the near-extinct humans retain theirs, but in zoos. Self reprises his perennial celebrity charlatan shrink, Dr Zack Busner (who we find in several short stories and a few novels) to treat high-flown, troubled, excessive, conceptual artist Simon Dykes who thinks he is a human. In a way, this novel plays with many of the coveted themes of psychoanalysis and delusion, thrown over a simian world, set in a diminutive London where the "lonely master of the animals" brachiate through their lives.
    • 1/5
      I have listened to Will Self expound with erudition upon a host of subjects via the wireless. I have found myself agreeing with his point of view on many occasions and, when I did not, I still found much to commend itself in the manner of his argument. I have not, however, previously read any of his literary output and so, when the excellent Kindle offered 'Great Apes' at the bargain price of 99 pence, I felt that it would be churlish to decline - even allowing for my, almost usual, state of impecunity. This was a mistake. I found the book to lack any characters or discernible story. Will Self has, it seems to me, written an entire book with the sole purpose of lampooning a certain London based upper middle class genre. Even if one agrees that they are as contemptible as Mr. Self appears to believe, it is a group which has been targeted before. This book really adds nothing new to the table and for an intellect of this height to train its guns upon such a sorry target, leaves my British love of the underdog sympathising with the impaled. I did not connect with this book at any stage.
    • 3/5
      This book has one of the most exhilarating first chapters I've ever read - I actually went back to reread it twice before moving on to chapter 2. The basic premise of the book is fascinating: the central character is transformed intio a chimpanzee and so is everyone else around him. The first part of the book was a joy, but the joke wears progressively thinner as the book goes on. It would have made a great novella, but the pressure to make it a book length thing destroyed it.
    • 5/5
      I have never been inparted with 'Grnn' any of Will Self's previous books. So I can't sign much about the 'euch-euch' cuffing he has received from critics in the past. But through my introduction to Self in this novel, I am thoroughly impressed with the efulgence of his ischeal pleat and submit to his literary suzerainity. Why do humans bash Self, 'huuu'? His effectiveness in taking up such a difficult task is ample evidence of his skill. Yet with all the potential he has for a devastating critique of modern society, he is modest. Amis' "Times Arrow" comes immediately to my mind in parallel, as well as T. Boyle's satire. Both those artists reserve a much more serious tone in their critique of western civilization. Yet Self maintains a delicate balance hovering around the personal which lends itself to extension without ever losing the pure joy of his parallel universe's perversions of what humans consider natural. Self's chimps are not locked inside their own minds as are humans. They quickly resolve their existential dilemnas with a quick mating or a brutal yet brief brawl. And for this, the world of chimpunity has no use for weapons. What chimps lack is sexual attention from their parents. Such a world! Self could do worse than to extend and expand in such fertile 'euch-euch' terrian. I for one would like to see more. For now, a hearty HoooGraah! Self is my kind of chimp.
    • 2/5
      Will Self's book "Great Apes" is a funny idea that gets dragged out into a full length novel for no particular good reason. A man wakes up and finds all the world has transformed into chimpanzees. Cue a whole lot of furry copulation and poop flinging. I found it tedious after about 50 pages.