52 in 25: #33 - Congo

No, I have not stopped reading, nor have I forgotten about this.  Basically, I started one book, then decided I really wanted to read something from Michael Crichton, but I’m doing my best to not read Jurassic Park this year, so I picked up Congo for a reread.  So I've been splitting time between two (actually more) books.

Crichton is my favorite author because, for me, he brings the perfect mix of the old-school serial thriller with “techno-thriller” updates.  I love how “real” he makes his novels, by including all kinds of scientific explanations, real and fictional.  You can tell that he has heavily researched whatever topic(s) he is approaching in that particular novel.  He also is not a luddite, but at the same time he warns about the use, or overuse, of technology.

Congo, published in 1980, was his fifth novel.  Or it’s his 15^th if you include his novels published as John Lange or other aliases.  It is heavily influenced by other stories like King Solomon’s Mines of the lost city in the darkest Africa.  In this case, it centers around a technology company out of Houston ERTS searching for blue diamonds at the lost city of Zinj which will change the course of computing for decades to come.  The expedition is led by Charles Munro, the top mercenary in Africa, and Karen Ross, the representative from ERTS.  Along for the ride are Peter Elliot, a scientist from Berkely, and his gorilla Amy.  While the trek through the jungle, and the circuitous route to get there, are exciting, the real fun starts when the get to Zinj and are confronted by a lost species of grey gorillas who had been trained by the inhabitants of Zinj as an army.  Oh, and meanwhile there is a civil war in Zaire, pygmies and cannibals, and a second consortium from Japan and Germany racing to get the diamonds first.

 

Congo is exciting, though not all that original.  In Crichton’s bibliography, I would probably put it in the lower middle, which means it’s better than a lot of other authors, but not one of his best.  That being said, it is significantly better than the dreadful movie adaptation.