Ape House
By: Sara Gruen
Pages:
Date Read: (5/10/2012)
"Sam, Bonzi, Lola, Mbongo, Jelani, and Makena are no ordinary apes. These
bonobos, like others of their species, are capable of reason and
carrying on deep relationships—but unlike most bonobos, they also know
American Sign Language.
Isabel Duncan, a scientist at the Great Ape Language Lab, doesn’t understand people, but animals she gets—especially the bonobos. Isabel feels more comfortable in their world than she’s ever felt among humans . . . until she meets John Thigpen, a very married reporter who braves the ever-present animal rights protesters outside the lab to see what’s really going on inside.
When an explosion rocks the lab, severely injuring Isabel and “liberating” the apes, John’s human interest piece turns into the story of a lifetime, one he’ll risk his career and his marriage to follow. Then a reality TV show featuring the missing apes debuts under mysterious circumstances, and it immediately becomes the biggest—and unlikeliest—phenomenon in the history of modern media. Millions of fans are glued to their screens watching the apes order greasy take-out, have generous amounts of sex, and sign for Isabel to come get them. Now, to save her family of apes from this parody of human life, Isabel must connect with her own kind, including John, a green-haired vegan, and a retired porn star with her own agenda."
Isabel Duncan, a scientist at the Great Ape Language Lab, doesn’t understand people, but animals she gets—especially the bonobos. Isabel feels more comfortable in their world than she’s ever felt among humans . . . until she meets John Thigpen, a very married reporter who braves the ever-present animal rights protesters outside the lab to see what’s really going on inside.
When an explosion rocks the lab, severely injuring Isabel and “liberating” the apes, John’s human interest piece turns into the story of a lifetime, one he’ll risk his career and his marriage to follow. Then a reality TV show featuring the missing apes debuts under mysterious circumstances, and it immediately becomes the biggest—and unlikeliest—phenomenon in the history of modern media. Millions of fans are glued to their screens watching the apes order greasy take-out, have generous amounts of sex, and sign for Isabel to come get them. Now, to save her family of apes from this parody of human life, Isabel must connect with her own kind, including John, a green-haired vegan, and a retired porn star with her own agenda."
To be honest, I only picked up this book for two reasons; first, I liked Water for Elephants and figured this would be good because it is by the same author. Second, I studied biological anthropology in college, so I know a good deal about bonobos and thought this might be an interesting read. Eh, not so much.
I really didn't enjoy this book very much. The plot was not very interesting and some of the events seemed way far-fetched and over the top. Also, there were far to many coincidences which made it too unrealistic. The character development is pretty weak and I was not drawn to any of them excepts for the bonobos. The bonobos were really the only thing that kept me reading this book until the end because there is some scientific basis to her writing about them. I can't say I would recommend this book to too many people. If you have time to kill or are really interested in bonobos, then maybe, but otherwise, it is not worth it.
I gave this book a 3/5 on GoodReads
oh man I felt the exact same way,i was actually rather grossed out at some wacky parts. I read her first two novels (before water for elephants) and loved them so reading this book was such a disappointment!
ReplyDeletecute blog!!
Booo. That sucks! Water for Elephants was a unique read but this one doesn't seem like it's even almost the same. :(
ReplyDeleteI loved Water for Elephants too, and have been wanting to read this for a while now. Although like you, I've heard that it isn't nearly as good. Although can't help but still be curious about it.
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