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lnocita's review against another edition
1.0
Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants was a favorite. So, I was eager to read her next novel, Ape House. I gladly plunked down the cash for a hardback edition. I would like a refund! The premise starts off engagingly enough. Fueled by a personal interest, Gruen decided to research and write about Great Apes and language acquisition and cognition. Not only can apes learn sign language, but they can use it in novel ways to communicate specific needs and wants apart from the learned sequences. And, apparently, they transfer this knowledge to their offspring. Gruen says in her author's note that she spent at least two years researching and studying the topic. She even visited the Great Ape Trust in Des Moines, Iowa upon which the apes in the novel are modeled. She says it was a profound, life-changing experience. So, it is with complete incredulity that she then wrote the novel she wrote taking these intelligent creatures and turning them into pseudo porn stars on a live, streaming reality show on an internet site. I am not kidding. They frolic and order things they want off the internet. Isabel Duncan, not Dr. Duncan, is in charge of six apes (bonobos) at a cognitive language lab set in Lawrence, Kansas at the University of Kansas. She is a scientist or a linguist, perhaps. Problem number one. Those not from the midwest may not be the wiser in this minor detail, but there is no way that such a program would be associated with the University of Kansas, even with an Applied Linguistics program. Secondly, when the facility is bombed, in theory by eco-terrorists who want the apes freed, the Chancellor and the director of the program make an underhanded, lucrative, morally debased decision to sell the Apes to a Larry Flynn-type pornographer. I think not! And third, when Isabel comes home from the hospital, presumably located in Lawrence, she takes an elevator to her apartment. Unless she lives in a dormitory or a hotel, not very likely in Lawrence. This all unfolds in the opening chapters of the novel, leaving my credulity stretched very thin and my willingness to play along quite dampened. Why set the novel in a factual setting if you can't be bothered to research the setting? Why not create some fictionalized midwestern location? Why not use the real place in Iowa? I suspect that she was itching to find a way to throw in a thinly disguised Fred Phelps and his Westborough Baptist crazies out of Topeka into the storyline somehow. But this is frail justification for making such an obvious stumble in developing the setting.
The characters in the book are not well developed and are not likeable. Likeable characters will win you some reader forgiveness. Sadly, only the apes in the novel win my affection. Isabel Duncan, scientist, is whiny and useless. She displays an unusual lethargy and lack of intelligence. John Thigpen, unable to withstand the journalistic decline in print is downsized and finds himself out of a job when his breaking story on ape cognition is muscled in on by a more zealous and less scrupulous reporter. Thus reduced, he finds himself writing copy before resigning himself to the tabloid industry. Add in his attractive but spoiled, whiny, insecure wife, a cast of goofy, nerdy crusaders, a blackhearted, unscrupulous director/fiancee, and other unmemorable characters, and you have the makings of an entirely forgettable novel. The suspense and intrigue is contrived and fails to elicit even one heart thumping minute. Instead, I found myself flipping the pages in anticipation of the end. Unfortunately, consigned to a long car trip with no other reading material at hand, I forced myself to carry on. It's a rather ridiculous and preposterous set up complete with Russian strippers, meth lab explosions, a cute but misunderstood dog, and, don't forget the teeming protesters, "many of whose issues had only tenuous connections with apes." (p.160) I say much like the novel's connection with Gruen's so called research. Will the apes be saved? Yes. Do we learn more than we want to know about primate sexual habits? Yes, in a really gratuitous, non-interesting manner(pp. 176-177). Do I recommend this novel? NO. In fact, the more I think about it the less I like it!! So many directions it could have gone that would have been fascinating. And what happened to character development? There's so much to dislike. I kept asking myself if I was reading the same author whose work I admired previously? Such a big disappointment. Completely unremarkable and unlikeable for this reader.
The characters in the book are not well developed and are not likeable. Likeable characters will win you some reader forgiveness. Sadly, only the apes in the novel win my affection. Isabel Duncan, scientist, is whiny and useless. She displays an unusual lethargy and lack of intelligence. John Thigpen, unable to withstand the journalistic decline in print is downsized and finds himself out of a job when his breaking story on ape cognition is muscled in on by a more zealous and less scrupulous reporter. Thus reduced, he finds himself writing copy before resigning himself to the tabloid industry. Add in his attractive but spoiled, whiny, insecure wife, a cast of goofy, nerdy crusaders, a blackhearted, unscrupulous director/fiancee, and other unmemorable characters, and you have the makings of an entirely forgettable novel. The suspense and intrigue is contrived and fails to elicit even one heart thumping minute. Instead, I found myself flipping the pages in anticipation of the end. Unfortunately, consigned to a long car trip with no other reading material at hand, I forced myself to carry on. It's a rather ridiculous and preposterous set up complete with Russian strippers, meth lab explosions, a cute but misunderstood dog, and, don't forget the teeming protesters, "many of whose issues had only tenuous connections with apes." (p.160) I say much like the novel's connection with Gruen's so called research. Will the apes be saved? Yes. Do we learn more than we want to know about primate sexual habits? Yes, in a really gratuitous, non-interesting manner(pp. 176-177). Do I recommend this novel? NO. In fact, the more I think about it the less I like it!! So many directions it could have gone that would have been fascinating. And what happened to character development? There's so much to dislike. I kept asking myself if I was reading the same author whose work I admired previously? Such a big disappointment. Completely unremarkable and unlikeable for this reader.
krystyn13's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book...it's one of those you just can't put down!!
ktninja's review against another edition
2.0
Started off well, but turned into more of a weird love/sensationalist/relationship based story than anything to do with bonobos.
nancyadelman's review against another edition
4.0
This is the newest novel by Sara Gruen, author of "Water For Elephants". In this outing, Sara explores the kinship of the Great Bonobo apes and the bonds they make with humans. Isabel is one of their caretakers, who is injured and her beloved apes are taken from her and in an inexplicable move, end up being the latest reality TV fodder. There is a lot of characters in this story; including a primatologist, a stripper, a journalist, and an Argyle-wearing Pit Bull named Booger. This was a great, fun read and I was impressed by the amount of research that the author put into this work to get it "just right".
arm88125's review against another edition
2.0
This book started off good but I kept waiting for it to take off like Water for Elephants, but never did. Finished it but wanted it to be over about 2/3 of the way thru
anneewentworth's review against another edition
3.0
So much of this book deserves 5 stars, except for:
A few subplots whose purpose only seemed to lengthen the book.
Mistakes that any good author and copy editor should have caught.
Still a worthwhile read.
A few subplots whose purpose only seemed to lengthen the book.
Mistakes that any good author and copy editor should have caught.
Still a worthwhile read.
rubyxrebel's review against another edition
3.0
Meh. Not what I was expecting after how much I loved Water For Elephants
michaelpdonley's review against another edition
2.0
I loved Water for Elephants, but this one was really disappointing. Stereotypical characters, unbelievable circumstances, a way-too-tidy ending. Especially disappointing, because the back cover promised some life-changing insight that never materialized.
elyzaberry's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
3.5