Reviews

Talk to Me by T.C. Boyle

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pam_fuze's review

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4.0

I love TC Boyle, read everything he's written, and this didn't disappoint.

3rian's review

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2.0

I'm disappointed to say this was strangely underwhelming. The premise is interesting: A chimpanzee is being raised as a human as part of a professor's research project on language and communication, an undergraduate student joins the project, and a romantic triangle (of sorts) unfolds before all hell breaks loose. Scenes are presented and sometimes repeated from different perspectives (including the chimpanzee's, with its own unique linguistic style).

Unfortunately the characters never felt fully developed and what I did get didn't exactly make them likable, so it was hard to feel invested in any of their dynamics. There were some worthwhile moments that gave me pause for thought on our relationship with animals in general (whether as pets, food, or laboratory test subjects), but overall they didn't land for me in the way the book seemed to be intending. Oh well.

danapr's review

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4.0

As a TC Boyle fan, I found this book consistent with his ability to draw the reader in with a quirky, interesting take on some obscure but real historical occurrence. Talk to Me is the story of Sam, a chimpanzee who learns American Sign Language to communicate as part of a university research project. I believe this coincides with a real project started in 1973 at Columbia University involving a chimpanzee named named Nim Chimpsky and researcher Herbert Terrace. Professor Terrace’s office was in Schmerhorn Hall, which Boyle cleverly incorporates into the name of one of the main characters in the novel, Guy Schmerhorn.. As Sam grows up in a house managed by Guy with the help of volunteers, a student named Aimee becomes more and more involved and in love with both Guy and Sam. When the lead researcher pulls the plug on the project, Aimee goes to extreme lengths to protect Sam. In this part of the book, Boyle gets into the political aspects of animal research in the same manner as he has addressed controversial issues in previous novels such as Tortilla Curtain and When the Killing’s Done. Caution: the book does contain some brief descriptions of animal cruelty as well as some graphic descriptions of animal attacks on humans. Overall, the storyline builds in intensity over time hooking the reader to keep going to discover the outcomes. I rated it four stars as I found the beginning of the book a little slow and the back and forth chapters with different characters’ perspectives of the same events a little confusing. But once I got into the flow, the book was hard to put down. Depressing but somewhat satisfying ending as the “villains” suffer some ironic consequences.
Thanks to Harper Collins and NetGalley for the electronic ARC!

greensalbet's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

This is an interesting departure for Boyle, a novel centered around a baby chimp, Sam, and the academics who are raising him with sign language. Most experiments about chimps begin with charming comparisons to human infants: their ability to attach; their desire to please; their understanding of wrongdoing and punishment; and, their ability to love. But chimps grow into apes, their strength develops, and they purposely -- and accidentally -- hurt others when their mammalian instincts take over, whether out of fear, protection, jealousy, or a primal desire for revenge.

Aimee, an undergrad assistant researcher, meets Guy, and becomes his student-lover-employee after seeing a T.V. episode with Sam demonstrating his ability to sign with instructor, Guy. Aimee has a quiet, gentle nature that soothes Sam, and Sam brings purpose and love to Aimee's solitary college life. The antagonist of the novel is Moncrief, the head researcher, who controls the purse strings to Guy's operation. He oversees his own research laboratory, on a remote farm in Iowa, with multiple apes who are housed in cages set up in the farm's barn. He rules them through intimidation, screams, stun guns, and drugs.

Aimee is the only character in the novel who loves Sam unconditionally. The two scientists are motivated by research, funding, publication, and prestige. Guy's training approach is more holistic; he creates a simulacrum of a home inside a ranch house he's purchased with grant money and employs a group of undergraduate and graduate assistants who care for Sam. He is committed to giving Sam as much of a human-like existence as he can. This goes well until Sam acts out, either accidentally or out or curiosity, or by overstepping spatial boundaries he can't comprehend, or as a way of toying with his captors -- teasing and taunting them.

The question the novel asks is this: Can apes truly be trained to live as humans?

Some parts of this novel were a little over-the-top for me, and I wished Boyle gave more backstory on the histories of his main characters in this story, so that explains my rating.