My 41st book finished in 2023.

I bought it in a second-hand bookstore in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I read it in Halong Bay, Vietnam and Kuta, Indonesia.

This book was great - I was gripped and interested the whole time! What an eerie and mysterious adventure. Being interested in primatology, 19th century exploration and archaeology, this book had everything for me.

Amy is definitely my favourite character. Amy good gorilla.

I have very few criticisms. On the theme, I am an archaeologist. Reading about

Zinj

was a bit frustrating. I get it, I get it, it's a

diamond

expedition, not an archaeological research dig. And I can accept that. But the book really needed an archaeologist character, who was obsessed with religion and ritual. The other characters theorised ideas that don't make sense to come out their mouths. One simple additional character is all it needs to become a lot more believable, for me at least.

Secondly, based on the influence material I suppose, there's a lot of colonial-esque narration running through the book; very white-centric. Definitely a bit dated to read 43 years after publication. Maybe this is done on purpose to show the destructive mindset of Ross.

There's also a couple instances of unexplained sexism in Munro's character - okay so people can be sexist, but why does no one call him out on it?

Ultimately I can't rate it higher because I found the ending slightly disappointing.

BUT these minor things aside, this is easily one of my favourite books. It's my third Crichton book, and I'm definitely going to read some more.

It was not what I was expecting. A lot of scientific writing. It was good though

Congo is an interesting Micheal Crichton novel, though it has a very slow start from the prologue to them arriving in Zaire. Not just slow, but, boring slow. It's very much an infodump about the technology and history. There's far too much emphasis on the history of exploration of the area of Africa where they are, and it's hard to tell what's real from historical accounts and what was made up by Crichton for the plot. 

There's something about Michael Crichton that hooks me every time. The characters and content feel so real, and the underlying issues raised stay with me after I've finished reading. In this book, the themes of technology outpacing humanity, animal intelligence and rights, and the cost of progress feel fresh and relevant, even forty years later. Plus, Amy is a star, and the most likeable character I've read in ages. Admittedly, some aspects haven't aged well (African tribal stereotypes around cannibalism, primitivism, etc.). Still, a thought provoking read that sticks with me.