Call number
FIC GRU
Collection
Genres
Publication
Spiegel & Grau (2010), Edition: 1, 370 pages
Description
Fiction. Literature. HTML: The wildly entertaining new novel from the bestselling author of Water for Elephants. 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. Ape House delivers great entertainment, but it also opens the animal world to us in ways few novels have done, securing Sara Gruen�??s place as a master storyteller who allows us to see ourselves as we never have before. BONUS: This edi… (more)
Media reviews
Gruen's gift for reaching across the species divide is as evident in "Ape House" as it was in her mega-selling "Water for Elephants," which featured Rosie, the Depression-era circus elephant. Not since Jack London explored the boundaries between the domesticated dog and the wolf in "The Call of the
Show More
Wild" has a writer dramatized the bonds between humans and our fellow creatures with such empathy. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member elliepotten
Most of the reviews I've read of this book have been quite unanimous on one point: that Ape House isn't as good as Water for Elephants. Which bodes very well for my future Gruen reading, considering how much I enjoyed this one!
Before I even started reading, I was fascinated by Gruen's description
Shortly after his visit, the lab is bombed, with an extreme animal activist group claiming responsibility for the bonobos' 'liberation' via an internet video. While Isabel is in hospital recovering from her horrific injuries, the bonobos are recaptured and end up forming the central premise for a new reality TV show, the Ape House of the title. The novel follows the impact of the bombing on the lives of Isabel and her friend Celia, John and his wife Amanda, and, of course, the apes, along with multiple other people on the periphery of their story. Will Isabel and her ape 'family' ever be reunited? And will the perpetrators of this devastating attack be found and brought to justice?
On the surface, this is an easy and compelling read. The plot is well paced, the main characters are well drawn and sympathetic, and the minor characters are diverse and, in several cases, quite amusing. Underneath all of this, however, is an incredibly fascinating glimpse into the world of the great apes. The bonobos - six of them, including Bonzi and her baby Lola, and the wonderfully named Mbongo - are brought to life in such an endearing and delightful way that it is impossible not to root for them at every turn. The linguistic and cognitive capabilities of the apes in the book are all closely based on real bonobo language research. There is also a horrendous section describing the activities of a rather less scrupulous scientific laboratory (though Gruen does point out in her author note that such cruel experimentation is, thankfully, now illegal).
All in all, I would say that this is an eminently readable novel that covers a lot of complex issues, including family relationships, scientific ethics, modern media, and what it really means to be human. Gruen includes a couple of further reading suggestions at the back of the book, which I'll definitely be chasing up, and she has given her readers a thoughtful insight into bonobo behaviour and how closely related we are to our ape cousins. Recommended!
Before I even started reading, I was fascinated by Gruen's description
Show More
(on the dustjacket) of meeting some of the bonobos at the Great Ape Trust during her two years of research, bringing them backpacks of goodies and having a two-way conversation in American Sign Language. Some of this experience translates directly into the novel, which opens with John Thigpen, a reporter, meeting scientist Isabel Duncan and the bonobos at her Great Ape Language Lab. Shortly after his visit, the lab is bombed, with an extreme animal activist group claiming responsibility for the bonobos' 'liberation' via an internet video. While Isabel is in hospital recovering from her horrific injuries, the bonobos are recaptured and end up forming the central premise for a new reality TV show, the Ape House of the title. The novel follows the impact of the bombing on the lives of Isabel and her friend Celia, John and his wife Amanda, and, of course, the apes, along with multiple other people on the periphery of their story. Will Isabel and her ape 'family' ever be reunited? And will the perpetrators of this devastating attack be found and brought to justice?
On the surface, this is an easy and compelling read. The plot is well paced, the main characters are well drawn and sympathetic, and the minor characters are diverse and, in several cases, quite amusing. Underneath all of this, however, is an incredibly fascinating glimpse into the world of the great apes. The bonobos - six of them, including Bonzi and her baby Lola, and the wonderfully named Mbongo - are brought to life in such an endearing and delightful way that it is impossible not to root for them at every turn. The linguistic and cognitive capabilities of the apes in the book are all closely based on real bonobo language research. There is also a horrendous section describing the activities of a rather less scrupulous scientific laboratory (though Gruen does point out in her author note that such cruel experimentation is, thankfully, now illegal).
All in all, I would say that this is an eminently readable novel that covers a lot of complex issues, including family relationships, scientific ethics, modern media, and what it really means to be human. Gruen includes a couple of further reading suggestions at the back of the book, which I'll definitely be chasing up, and she has given her readers a thoughtful insight into bonobo behaviour and how closely related we are to our ape cousins. Recommended!
Show Less
LibraryThing member suballa
I enjoyed this very much, but when comparing it to WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, it came up a little short. I know that really isn't fair, but I couldn't help it. This was a great story but it felt a little rushed. I do recommend it, and I'm sure it will be a best-seller.
LibraryThing member DubaiReader
Fascinating insight into a group of big apes.
It's always a hard job to follow up an excellent book like Water for Elephants, one of the few books I have read twice. Having said that, I enjoyed Ape House; it was full of action and had some interesting characters. It also taught me a lot about the
Possibly it was simply the fascinating history and quirky characters that lifted WFE above Ape House because this also had a lot to offer and I was eagerly turning pages towards the end.
The two main human characters were Isabel Duncan, the research scientist involved with work on language and communiction between humans and the apes, and John Thigpen, a struggling reporter, who happened to have been doing a piece on the apes the day before their premisis was blown up by an animal welfare organisation. The most fascinating characters though, were the apes themselves who had learned to communicate using ASL (American Sign Language) and could understand, if not vocalise, spoken English.
Ms Gruen uses the bombing of the premisis and eventual sale of the bonobos to illustrate some of the atrocious things that we, as a race, do to animals in the name of science. Fortunately, the point made, she moves on fairly rapidly, but not withoiut having sown the seed of concern in our minds.
Meanwhile, the bonobos find themselves the subject of a live reality television show, Ape House.
Isabel thinks of these animals as her family and will stop at nothing to rescue them from their fate. Whether she succeeds, and if so, how, is the back-drop to the ongoing 24hr live screening of the apes as they go about their semi-humanised lives.
Some fascinating content and almost a 5 star read.
It's always a hard job to follow up an excellent book like Water for Elephants, one of the few books I have read twice. Having said that, I enjoyed Ape House; it was full of action and had some interesting characters. It also taught me a lot about the
Show More
big apes, more specifically the bonobos.Possibly it was simply the fascinating history and quirky characters that lifted WFE above Ape House because this also had a lot to offer and I was eagerly turning pages towards the end.
The two main human characters were Isabel Duncan, the research scientist involved with work on language and communiction between humans and the apes, and John Thigpen, a struggling reporter, who happened to have been doing a piece on the apes the day before their premisis was blown up by an animal welfare organisation. The most fascinating characters though, were the apes themselves who had learned to communicate using ASL (American Sign Language) and could understand, if not vocalise, spoken English.
Ms Gruen uses the bombing of the premisis and eventual sale of the bonobos to illustrate some of the atrocious things that we, as a race, do to animals in the name of science. Fortunately, the point made, she moves on fairly rapidly, but not withoiut having sown the seed of concern in our minds.
Meanwhile, the bonobos find themselves the subject of a live reality television show, Ape House.
Isabel thinks of these animals as her family and will stop at nothing to rescue them from their fate. Whether she succeeds, and if so, how, is the back-drop to the ongoing 24hr live screening of the apes as they go about their semi-humanised lives.
Some fascinating content and almost a 5 star read.
Show Less
LibraryThing member dawnlovesbooks
sadly, i didn't care enough about the characters or the apes to finish the book. i made it to page 156 and decided i didn't care what happened. :( the book wasn't horrible though, i just have lots of other good ones i could be reading!
LibraryThing member msbaba
I just finished reading Ape House by Sara Guen, and the best that I can say is that it was mildly enjoyable. Unfortunately, that feeling was overshadowed by a strong sense of disappointment: I had expected more from this author.
Ape House is a novel about a group of research bonobos who have been
Only about ten percent of the text in the novel deals directly with the bonobo. Nevertheless, it is the bonobos that steal the entire plot of the novel and provide all the tension that compels readers to find out what will happen. It is the characters of the bonobos that shine through as the most realistic and lovable.
Around this core "beloved-animals-in-danger" plot device is a chaotic envelope of substories dealing with various human characters. This is where the author let me down. None of her human characters seemed very real, and I never cared very much about them. In Water for Elephants, there was a single bigger-than-life character that held the whole together. I cared for him in his everyday real world and enjoyed his stories about his past life told by Gruen with an enchanting natural gift for absolutely spellbinding magical realism.
In Ape House, I cared about the bonobos, but had little interest or concern for the two main human characters: Isabel the research scientist, and John the journalist. It was their two stories that took up ninety percent of the text. The novel does provide an odd assortment of secondary characters, all providing eccentric and potentially amusing subplots. In Water for Elephants, where magical realism worked in telling these quirky substories, they failed in the realistic setting of Ape House. Her secondary characters are flat and their stories unrealistic. They are not amusing or interesting…they merely detract from the plot.
I almost gave this book a two-star rating, but Guen is a good writer and that is what saved her from a lesser score. There were parts of this novel that genuinely sparkled and that alone qualified her for a mild three-star rating.
I am glad I read Ape House. I will happily give it away to one of my friends. For me, this is not a book to keep, nor one that I will long remember.
Ape House is a novel about a group of research bonobos who have been
Show More
trained to understand verbal English and respond in American Sign Language. They are part of a scientific study at a university linguistic research laboratory. Through a strange (and mostly unbelievable) set of events, the bonobos are sold to a wealthy pornographer who uses them create a wildly successful new TV reality program called Ape House. Only about ten percent of the text in the novel deals directly with the bonobo. Nevertheless, it is the bonobos that steal the entire plot of the novel and provide all the tension that compels readers to find out what will happen. It is the characters of the bonobos that shine through as the most realistic and lovable.
Around this core "beloved-animals-in-danger" plot device is a chaotic envelope of substories dealing with various human characters. This is where the author let me down. None of her human characters seemed very real, and I never cared very much about them. In Water for Elephants, there was a single bigger-than-life character that held the whole together. I cared for him in his everyday real world and enjoyed his stories about his past life told by Gruen with an enchanting natural gift for absolutely spellbinding magical realism.
In Ape House, I cared about the bonobos, but had little interest or concern for the two main human characters: Isabel the research scientist, and John the journalist. It was their two stories that took up ninety percent of the text. The novel does provide an odd assortment of secondary characters, all providing eccentric and potentially amusing subplots. In Water for Elephants, where magical realism worked in telling these quirky substories, they failed in the realistic setting of Ape House. Her secondary characters are flat and their stories unrealistic. They are not amusing or interesting…they merely detract from the plot.
I almost gave this book a two-star rating, but Guen is a good writer and that is what saved her from a lesser score. There were parts of this novel that genuinely sparkled and that alone qualified her for a mild three-star rating.
I am glad I read Ape House. I will happily give it away to one of my friends. For me, this is not a book to keep, nor one that I will long remember.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Jdefaz
I enjoyed the begining and the ending of the book but the middle was a little flat. The storyline of Amanda seemed pointless to me and needed to focus more on isabell, john and the Bonobos.
The writing didn't seem to flow and compared to "water for elephants" i felt it was a bit of a let down. I
The writing didn't seem to flow and compared to "water for elephants" i felt it was a bit of a let down. I
Show More
would recommend it as a light weekend read but if you want something with a little more substance, and characters who are well developed i would go for "water for elephants" Show Less
LibraryThing member SugarCreekRanch
An engrossing read about Bonobo apes, from the author of Water For Elephants. This novel is perhaps less thoughtful than Elephants, but it's thoroughly engaging and I enjoyed every minute.
LibraryThing member Bookmarque
While I did enjoy this book, Isabel was just too dumb for me to connect with her. No food in her apartment. The car crash. Her insane and basically plan- and authority-less pursuit of the apes. Dumb. John was a fully-functioning adult even though his marriage was a strange one. I’m glad he
Show More
didn’t get all manly and keep his wife from pursuing her career in her own way. That was nice. There was a bit more screw-ball comedy about his sections than I thought there would be. Constrasted with the icky exploitation of the bonobos made for an uneven story in my opinion, but I can see how some levity was needed so the whole thing didn’t become one big depressing mess. The writer is Canadian, but the characters are American and I caught out a few gaffes in the way she had people talk. Saying crockery instead of dishes and tin of tomatoes rather than can of tomatoes. Show Less
LibraryThing member karieh
I read “Ape House” in about a day – I was immediately engaged in the story and connected with some of the characters. I’d read and liked “Water for Elephants” a while ago and the easy writing style and flow of the story were similar to this book.
I don’t remember a great deal of humor
“Cat was leaning against the brick wall near the cozy fireplace in the lobby of the Residence Inn when John and Amanda arrived. It was the hotel’s “social hour,” and Cat was taking advantage of the free wine while emanating waves of unapproachability. It was as though she had an invisible cloaking device: Other guests would wander too close and suddenly veer off, looking stunned.”
Though at times it gets a bit too close to the farce line for my taste – every time I found myself rolling my eyes a bi, I realized that in today’s world everything that happens in the book is more than plausible and in many cases, is happening right now. It was not a big surprise that in many cases – the apes come off seeming more highly evolved than the humans surrounding them.
“John followed. As he pulled the door open, he looked back at the men, who were still staring. He pointed first at her and then at his wedding band, and mouthed the word “Mine.”
Those aspects of the book aside, I felt that Gruen did a good job trying to convey the nearly miraculous feeling of humans and ape communication. I have the knowledge in the sort of “General Knowledge” section of my brain that humans can communicate with apes using sign language. And yet until I read this book, I didn’t really process that knowledge. Gruen’s descriptions of Isabel’s interaction with these amazing animals (and in the Author’s Note – description of her own experience) – actual conversations between humans and apes – really hit me. When I truly sat and considered that fact, I was in awe.
This was an enjoyable read – and one that piqued my interest enough to want to move my knowledge of the subject from “General” to “Detailed”.
I don’t remember a great deal of humor
Show More
in “Elephants” – but there is certainly an undercurrent of that in “Ape House”.“Cat was leaning against the brick wall near the cozy fireplace in the lobby of the Residence Inn when John and Amanda arrived. It was the hotel’s “social hour,” and Cat was taking advantage of the free wine while emanating waves of unapproachability. It was as though she had an invisible cloaking device: Other guests would wander too close and suddenly veer off, looking stunned.”
Though at times it gets a bit too close to the farce line for my taste – every time I found myself rolling my eyes a bi, I realized that in today’s world everything that happens in the book is more than plausible and in many cases, is happening right now. It was not a big surprise that in many cases – the apes come off seeming more highly evolved than the humans surrounding them.
“John followed. As he pulled the door open, he looked back at the men, who were still staring. He pointed first at her and then at his wedding band, and mouthed the word “Mine.”
Those aspects of the book aside, I felt that Gruen did a good job trying to convey the nearly miraculous feeling of humans and ape communication. I have the knowledge in the sort of “General Knowledge” section of my brain that humans can communicate with apes using sign language. And yet until I read this book, I didn’t really process that knowledge. Gruen’s descriptions of Isabel’s interaction with these amazing animals (and in the Author’s Note – description of her own experience) – actual conversations between humans and apes – really hit me. When I truly sat and considered that fact, I was in awe.
This was an enjoyable read – and one that piqued my interest enough to want to move my knowledge of the subject from “General” to “Detailed”.
Show Less
LibraryThing member PeskyLibrary
Sara Gruen’s novel Ape House follows the fate of six bonobos (previously known as pygmy chimpanzees). They have been taught American Sign Language by Dr. Isabel Duncan and her team, who are studying language acquisition and cognition in primates. Dr. Duncan and the bonobos coexist happily, until
Gruen writes lovingly of the bonobos and their social behavior. Readers are given nuggets of information, but never at the expense of the story. At times it even feels that the characters of the bonobos are better developed than some of the humans. The latter certainly exhibit enough idiotic behavior to drive a sensible person up a wall. This fast and entertaining read skillfully navigates several twists and turns in the plot and ends with a kiss. EJ 12/2010
Show More
a bomb is set off at the lab and the apes are “liberated” into the wild. They are then moved to a secret location by the new owner, and paraded in a prime time reality tv show. Dr. Duncan and her intern, Celia, embark on a quest to release the bonobos from the tv nightmare and restore them to an appropriate habitat. Covering the story is journalist John Thigpen, who is under hard times (and not only because of his unfortunate name). He is feeling pressured to have a child by his wife Amanda, who goes through a tv nightmare of her own, only on the writing side. On the sidelines throwing wrenches in the works are Cat, John’s unscrupulous colleague, and Peter, the love of Isabel Duncan’s life.Gruen writes lovingly of the bonobos and their social behavior. Readers are given nuggets of information, but never at the expense of the story. At times it even feels that the characters of the bonobos are better developed than some of the humans. The latter certainly exhibit enough idiotic behavior to drive a sensible person up a wall. This fast and entertaining read skillfully navigates several twists and turns in the plot and ends with a kiss. EJ 12/2010
Show Less
LibraryThing member shayrp76
Ape House by Sara Gruen
I really enjoyed reading Water for Elephants by Ms. Gruen so I didn’t hesitate to pick up a copy of Ape House. I didn’t think I would be able to sit and just focus on the novel since this is a busy time of the year for me, as well as everyone else, but I found myself
A lot of work went into this novel and it shows. Ms. Gruen was knowledgeable and technical, but not to the point that it felt heavy and overwhelming. She was able to describe the Bonobo apes so well that I was not only emotionally attached to them, but also educated about their species. The story revolves around six apes that have been taken from their home and caretaker under mysterious and violent conditions. I didn’t find myself as attached to the human main characters, but that may have been Sara Gruen’s point. For example getting to know the character, John Thigpen, was harder than getting a good grip on some of the secondary characters but it didn’t hurt the story for me.
The story was well paced and I didn’t get impatient with it. There were times that I thought the side storyline was a little predictable and I wasn’t expecting that in this novel. Overall I really enjoyed this one from Sara Gruen as well. Not only was I entertained, but I was also educated. I highly recommend this novel, especially to the animal lovers out there.
I really enjoyed reading Water for Elephants by Ms. Gruen so I didn’t hesitate to pick up a copy of Ape House. I didn’t think I would be able to sit and just focus on the novel since this is a busy time of the year for me, as well as everyone else, but I found myself
Show More
unable to distance myself from this story.A lot of work went into this novel and it shows. Ms. Gruen was knowledgeable and technical, but not to the point that it felt heavy and overwhelming. She was able to describe the Bonobo apes so well that I was not only emotionally attached to them, but also educated about their species. The story revolves around six apes that have been taken from their home and caretaker under mysterious and violent conditions. I didn’t find myself as attached to the human main characters, but that may have been Sara Gruen’s point. For example getting to know the character, John Thigpen, was harder than getting a good grip on some of the secondary characters but it didn’t hurt the story for me.
The story was well paced and I didn’t get impatient with it. There were times that I thought the side storyline was a little predictable and I wasn’t expecting that in this novel. Overall I really enjoyed this one from Sara Gruen as well. Not only was I entertained, but I was also educated. I highly recommend this novel, especially to the animal lovers out there.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Scrat
Having loved Water for Elephants, I expected to like this book even after reading a being moderately disappointed by Riding Lessons, Sara Gruen's debut novel.
I thought that this would be about apes -- and in a way it was.
Surprisingly, it was also about relationships and what defines family --
Gruen is a master craftsman. In order to communicate the idea that apes are sentient beings she draws parallels between Isabel and the apes and John and Amanda. As Isabel is separated from the apes, John is separated from Amanda. Although their relationships with each other were good, the separation teaches them to value each other more, to treasure each other for their unique qualities.
Gruen also touches on the theme of reality television. Amanda would like to write scripts but is unable to earn a living because reality television costs much less to produce. It exploits the participants. "Networks used to produce a dozen dramas or comedies, hoping one might take. Now they produce a couple and fill up the rest of the time slots with stupid shows about stupid people apparently trying to find true love by having sex in a hot tub with a different person every night while the cameras roll." p. 32 Once again Gruen draws parallels with the apes who end up living in a house equipped with cameras recording and broadcasting their natural sexual promiscuity rather than highlighting their ability to communicate and make cognisant decisions.
Finally, Gruen addresses the use of animals in research. Isabel becomes a victim of extremists who denounce experiments on apes and mistakenly bomb her research facility. Sounds like Gruen is saying that animal research is fine. Wrong. She distinguishes between cruel experimentation and sensitive scientific inquiry.
In this novel, humans are morally inferior to apes. We undervalue our relationships, exploit each other's stupidity and take advantage of those who cannot defend themselves. Yeah us!
I thought that this would be about apes -- and in a way it was.
Surprisingly, it was also about relationships and what defines family --
Show More
mutual respect, caring, fidelity -- not blood ties nor even commonality of species. Also, unexpectedly this novel was also about exploitation and human moral bankruptcy. Gruen is a master craftsman. In order to communicate the idea that apes are sentient beings she draws parallels between Isabel and the apes and John and Amanda. As Isabel is separated from the apes, John is separated from Amanda. Although their relationships with each other were good, the separation teaches them to value each other more, to treasure each other for their unique qualities.
Gruen also touches on the theme of reality television. Amanda would like to write scripts but is unable to earn a living because reality television costs much less to produce. It exploits the participants. "Networks used to produce a dozen dramas or comedies, hoping one might take. Now they produce a couple and fill up the rest of the time slots with stupid shows about stupid people apparently trying to find true love by having sex in a hot tub with a different person every night while the cameras roll." p. 32 Once again Gruen draws parallels with the apes who end up living in a house equipped with cameras recording and broadcasting their natural sexual promiscuity rather than highlighting their ability to communicate and make cognisant decisions.
Finally, Gruen addresses the use of animals in research. Isabel becomes a victim of extremists who denounce experiments on apes and mistakenly bomb her research facility. Sounds like Gruen is saying that animal research is fine. Wrong. She distinguishes between cruel experimentation and sensitive scientific inquiry.
In this novel, humans are morally inferior to apes. We undervalue our relationships, exploit each other's stupidity and take advantage of those who cannot defend themselves. Yeah us!
Show Less
LibraryThing member bragan
Dr. Isabel Duncan loves the bonobos she works with at the Great Ape Language Lab as if they were her family. But when a bomb goes off in the lab, injuring Isabel, the apes are suddenly sold off, only to reappear again as the stars of a new reality TV show. With the help of John Thigpen, a reporter
I very much liked Gruen's Water for Elephants, but this one just didn't do anywhere near as much for me. It's not a bad book -- in fact, it's perfectly readable -- but I just never really bought into the plot or fully engaged with the characters, and I think it's trying to take a slightly satirical tone that just doesn't quite come off completely. I'm afraid it also really doesn't help that I happened to read it not too long after Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct, which strongly questions the scientific believability of the kind of primate linguistic skills depicted here.
Show More
who keeps getting pulled back into the apes' story, she sets about doing everything she can to get them back.I very much liked Gruen's Water for Elephants, but this one just didn't do anywhere near as much for me. It's not a bad book -- in fact, it's perfectly readable -- but I just never really bought into the plot or fully engaged with the characters, and I think it's trying to take a slightly satirical tone that just doesn't quite come off completely. I'm afraid it also really doesn't help that I happened to read it not too long after Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct, which strongly questions the scientific believability of the kind of primate linguistic skills depicted here.
Show Less
LibraryThing member KatherineGregg
I didn't like this nearly as much as Water for Elephants. The story line was too improbable (ape lab bombed by yellow journalist who in turn uses apes for bad reality show) and the characters not well enough developed for me. Although I must say that the information on the Bonobo apes and their
Show More
capacity to communicate using American Sign Language was fascinating. Show Less
LibraryThing member caseylondon
I liked this so much better than WATER FOR ELEPHANTS... I seem to be out of the mainstream in this view but the bonobos really captured my heart and I found the human characters interesting and believable.
LibraryThing member amachiski
Loved this book! Finished it in two days. It was definitely not in the same category as Water for Elephants but it was still a very entertaining read. I always love when I learn something new and found the Bonobos fascinating. It made me want to read even more about them. I though Sarah Gruen
Show More
captured them with the little details and it’s what made the book truly unique and interesting. Show Less
LibraryThing member khager
There are apes called bonobos that are very similar to humans--they can communicate with humans via sign language and they understand English. (This is true, and you can visit them, provided you pass all the requirements and, once that's done, the bonobos consent to meeting you.)
There is a family
Isabel (one of their caretakers, who was injured in the attack) is frantic and desperate to be reunited with the bonobos.
I had read reviews that said this was better than Water For Elephants, and I wouldn't go that far. But this IS a very good book, although the middle sort of dragged for me in parts. I really want to meet bonobos for myself. (Apparently they are very sweet and fun--and one has a fondness for M&Ms.)
There is a family
Show More
of bonobos at a sort of research center, but the center is bombed and a PETA-type group takes credit for it. They "liberated" the apes, which means that basically they took animals that weren't accustomed to living in the wild and then said, "Hey, you're free!" and left them there. They're soon rescued but sold, and nobody knows who the highest bidder was. Isabel (one of their caretakers, who was injured in the attack) is frantic and desperate to be reunited with the bonobos.
I had read reviews that said this was better than Water For Elephants, and I wouldn't go that far. But this IS a very good book, although the middle sort of dragged for me in parts. I really want to meet bonobos for myself. (Apparently they are very sweet and fun--and one has a fondness for M&Ms.)
Show Less
LibraryThing member JackieBlem
Gruen really did her homework for "Ape House", visiting the Great Ape Trust and actually having conversations with the bonobo's and making sure their scenes in the book jive with actual behaviors of the apes. What amazing creatures! What an amazing story that keeps you turning pages because you
Show More
just HAVE to know what happens next! It's a mystery, a thriller, a love story, and a remarkable example of fact based fiction. I very, very, very highly recommend this book for just about everyone. Show Less
LibraryThing member Groovybaby
A great book about animal relationships (both human and otherwise) that is made all the more interesting by learning something new about primatology along the way.
The characters are so haplessly and hopelessly flawed that you can't help but cheer for them and hope they win in the end but I was
Characters that make a career out of teaching apes ASL are interesting, characters that take a meth lab guard dog and make a him a household pet are charecters worth getting emotionally invested in.
Although the story was not quite as complex as Water for Elephants, it wasn't any less a delight to read.
I highly reccomend this book.
The characters are so haplessly and hopelessly flawed that you can't help but cheer for them and hope they win in the end but I was
Show More
not completely sold until the meth lab dog appeared about 3/4 of the way through the story. Characters that make a career out of teaching apes ASL are interesting, characters that take a meth lab guard dog and make a him a household pet are charecters worth getting emotionally invested in.
Although the story was not quite as complex as Water for Elephants, it wasn't any less a delight to read.
I highly reccomend this book.
Show Less
LibraryThing member tammathau
I really liked this book. I was quickly drawn into the storyline and connected with the characters. In today's age of reality TV, I'm surprised there hasn't been a show similar to Ape House!
LibraryThing member cacky
I loved Gruen's Water for Elephants and was looking forward to Ape House. Terribly disappointed. The various story lines were too abbreviated and disjointed. And some of the story lines were just unnecessary.
LibraryThing member pither
Extremely good, literally could not put it down this morning and ended up finishing it in just over one day. Has the grittiness and great characterization of Water for Elephants, but with some highly enjoyable twists of humour as well (Booger the dog just takes it!). Will likely be adding to my
Show More
to-buy list. Show Less
LibraryThing member kindergirl
Finished this book in two days - I COULD NOT wait to finish it - had me hooked from the beginning. I too, am a huge fan of Water for Elephants, and couldn't wait to read this. I was also interested because I read about the bonobos for the first time in the novel Lucy just a few months ago, and was
Show More
anxiou to learn more about them! Ape House does everything I want a book to do: involve me in the plot and characters - both those I like and those I don't (Amanda!) - so much that I can forget about my life for a few hours and lose myself in the story. Enterainment Weekly's review sold it short - its an A! Show Less
LibraryThing member MarkMeg
Not as good as Water For Elephants, but I enjoyed it very much. The story of a group of bonobos who can communicate using ASL and how the scientist, Isabel Duncan, who cares for them becomes more open and aware of humans. She goes through a bombing, the capture of the bonobos by a porno producer,
Show More
the dishonesty of her fellow scientist, also her fiancee, and the role a reporter, John Thigpen plays in all of this. It is an easy read and the story overpowers the message, but it is very good. Show Less
LibraryThing member jovilla
This is a very enjoyable book in which the characters come alive and you can't wait to see what happens on the next page. The book concerns a group of bonobo apes and the people involved with them: Isabel a scientist who considers the bonobos her family; John, a newspaper reporter with lots of
Show More
personal and professional problems, and several others who are affected in some way by the apes. Very enjoyable! Show Less
Pages
370