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SETTING: The Great Ape Language Lab in Kansas City (a fictional institution inspired by the real Great Ape Trust in Des Moines, Iowa) and the fictional town of Lizard, New Mexico.
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SUMMARY: An explosion at the Great Ape Language Lab seriously injures Isabel Duncan, a researcher at the lab and the individual the six bonobos at the lab trust the most. Journalist John Thigpen finds himself captured by the story not only because of its journalistic potential, but also because of his keen interest in better understanding the beautiful and yet very strange (at least to him) relationship between Isabel and the bonobos.
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FAVORITE QUOTE: "It had not escaped John that the bonobos had managed to acquire human language, but that humans had not crossed over in the other direction." - Chapter 27, page 215.
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I read Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen a few years ago and remember absolutely loving it! I meant to watch the movie when it was in theaters, but it somehow slipped by and I keep forgetting to rent it. Doesn't matter very much, I guess, considering the book is always better! Anyhow, I saw this book at the library and because it's by Sara Gruen and I liked the cover art, I decided I'd probably enjoy it at least a little bit :P.
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Things I liked about this book:
- An interesting read! I finished this novel very quickly.
- It's about animal rights and the ethical treatment of animals.
- It inspired me to do my own research on the great apes. Any book that wants me to learn more about the subject at hand is great.
- Going along with #3-- the author definitely wrote a successful book. At least, she did with people who responded to the book in a similar way as me. The point of this novel is to raise awareness about nonhuman great apes (humans are a subcategory of the great apes) having basic human rights. This was a topic I had never even thought about before, and this book got me thinking about it!
- There isn't enough character development.
- The story could have been developed much better! While reading the novel, I got the feeling that the author was rushing to finish the manuscript and forgot to think about key parts of the plot. There are holes throughout the story while reading it, and it would have been great if they could somehow magically get filled.
- The side storyline with John Thigpen and his wife definitely felt underdeveloped and like it was haphazardly thrown in.
Although the storyline is a little lacking, this novel is great! I applaud the author for going on this journey. A novel is hard enough to write, but having a greater purpose behind writing the novel must have made it even more difficult. I definitely enjoyed Water for Elephants more, probably because it had a magical feel to it, but Ape House will definitely receive an equally hearty recommendation to read. I've decided I need to do a better job about educating myself on the topics of animal research and animal rights so I can develop my own stance on the many subcategories that fall below the two. I also really like the quote I chose as my "favorite quote" from the novel. It really makes you think...
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Recommend? Yes! Also read Water for Elephants.
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