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kmizzzle's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I watched Congo as a child and to this day think it is the scariest movie I've ever seen. I refuse to watch it. So I decided to read the book as a small way of facing my fears. While I don't remember much about the movie, the two were different (and I feel what mainly scared me in the movie wasn't as scary in the book). However, the book was enjoyable and would be great for anyone who likes science fiction.
sarah_collins's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
whattamess's review against another edition
3.0
I read this as a teenager. I don't remember the story. I do remember telling my parents the book was really good and giving it to them to read. I remember taking off later to go babysitting. When I got home late at night I was greeted with my dad saying, "She finished the book!" and my mom laughing.
Great memories.
Reading this book again I'm reminded why my mother read it so fast and I can't remember the story. There's a lot of skimmable content. And the footnotes! It's been so long since I've read something with so many footnotes. I remember footnotes being a thing way back when.
Other than the overload of information, I had a good time reading this. It's always interesting to see how much writing has changed in the last 40 years. Now let's see what else I can dig up!
Great memories.
Reading this book again I'm reminded why my mother read it so fast and I can't remember the story. There's a lot of skimmable content. And the footnotes! It's been so long since I've read something with so many footnotes. I remember footnotes being a thing way back when.
Other than the overload of information, I had a good time reading this. It's always interesting to see how much writing has changed in the last 40 years. Now let's see what else I can dig up!
msepulv2's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
cthien's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
ingridelaine82's review against another edition
3.0
I read this about ten years or so ago and I don't remember it being all that good. However i do drink some so.....I am sure its a lot better than I remember!
xavier_yates's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
dmcke013's review against another edition
3.0
Yet another of [author:Michael Crichton|5194]'s science-thriller turned-into-a-movie novel, in which the movie bears only the slightest resemblance to the source material.
While the basic outline of the plot is the same in both - discovery of the lost city of Zinj in the Congo, expedition to said city that includes a Gorilla taught American Sign Langauge - the particulars of both are different, with the movie (form what I remember - it's been a decade or so since I last saw it) making far more of the exploration of Zinj and the fact that it is guarded by a new breed of vicious gorillas specially bred for the purpose by the original inhabitants than the novel does.
The characters in the novel are also less sympathetic than those in the movie - it's hard to take Tim Curry seriously as a hardened mercenary - while it has, also, aged somewhat due to the reliance on (then) state of the art electronics explained therein - a computer has a whole 256k of memory! Wow!!
While the basic outline of the plot is the same in both - discovery of the lost city of Zinj in the Congo, expedition to said city that includes a Gorilla taught American Sign Langauge - the particulars of both are different, with the movie (form what I remember - it's been a decade or so since I last saw it) making far more of the exploration of Zinj and the fact that it is guarded by a new breed of vicious gorillas specially bred for the purpose by the original inhabitants than the novel does.
The characters in the novel are also less sympathetic than those in the movie - it's hard to take Tim Curry seriously as a hardened mercenary - while it has, also, aged somewhat due to the reliance on (then) state of the art electronics explained therein - a computer has a whole 256k of memory! Wow!!