Book Report Monday: Ape House by Sara Gruen

Title: Ape House

Author: Sara Gruen

Genre: Fiction

Why did I pick it up?: Pure animal love. Sara Gruen's books focus around animals who are shown as having defined personalities.

Synopsis: 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.

(from Goodreads)


My Review: Gruen's formula which she used in Water for Elephants is apparent in Ape House. I enjoyed both books, but I know some people might not. They are too many coincidences, too much deus ex machina for some people's tastes. A lot of things, "just so happen" to work out. Since I assume most people have either read Water for Elephants, seen the movie, I'm going to drop some spoilers. That was your warning.

The protagonist, a veterinarian student who is a few exams away from being a licensed vet, while in the midst of crisis hops on a passing train which turns out to be a circus train. As it just so happens this circus is in desperate need of a vet, so they don't throw him overboard. Very quickly, I think it was the next day, they stumble upon an elephant and it just so happens this elephant has already been trained only she was trained in Polish. Oh, did I mention our protagonist just so happens to speak Polish?

That's a lot of coincidence, too much? I think it depends on what you are looking to get out of a novel. Judging by the novel's success I don't think most of the country minds. If you want a realistic story, this might bug you. I didn't mind, because it's fiction and if it's obviously fiction that's cool. I also find the crux of Gruen's skill lies in her research. I learned a lot about elephants and the depression in America and the strange, cruel lives of the circus people in Water for Elephants. In Ape House, I learned about bonobos and I loved that aspect of the book.

The bonobos are smart, eerily smart. Though they seem more like children than human adults in how they give in to their desires and make demands. One example of this is a bonobo who wants Starbucks and refuses to accept "no" from Isabel, who eventually gives in and sends her assistant to get the ape a macchiato. Each ape has its own personality and I would have liked to have them fleshed out a bit more, but perhaps that was just me being more interested in the apes as characters.

Isabel considers herself an advocate for animal rights. She's a vegetarian and considers the apes as her family. She loves and spoils them with things like expensive coffees. But there are also extremists who protest at the language lab where Isabel works, she muses that this is largely in part to their lack of understanding what happens at the language lab and that the word "lab" gives them this incorrect impression. On the other end of the animal rights spectrum are the companies who experiment on animals and the entertainment mogul who buys the bonobos to create a Reality TV show around them. Isabel has discussions and arguments with representatives from all of these groups and I enjoyed seeing the issues brought to the reader's attention. However, I would have liked to hear why the work at the language lab was important. What do we have to learn from bonobos? How does communicating with them help us? How does it help them? After reading Ape House, I'm still wondering, though I feel it is important to understand the world around us and the other animals that inhabit it beside us. It would have been nice to hear a deeper reason for teaching apes sign language.

My Recommendation: Animal people,Water for Elephants fans, and readers of bestsellers would most likely enjoy this.

For Next Week: The Stand by Stephen King

Book Report Monday: Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls

Title: Half Broke Horses

Author: Jeannette Walls

Genre: A True-Life Novel

Synopsis: Lily Casey Smith, this novel's feisty Texas protagonist, is a frontier teacher, a rancher, a rodeo rider, a poker player, and bootlegger. In Half Broke Horses, she survives droughts, tornados, floods, poverty, and whatever else fate can throw against her. Based on author Jeannette Walls's grandmother, Lily is a plausible character because she has a voice that synchronizes with her history. This novel lives up to the still gathering acclaim for Walls's novel The Glass Castle. 

(from Goodreads)

Why did I pick it up?: Years ago, I read The Glass Castle for a book club and I'd been meaning to pick up Half Broke Horses since I heard it came out. Yes, I've been meaning to read this for four years. I'm glad I got around to it.

Favorite Lines: "I hadn't been paying much attention to things like the sunrise, but that old sun had been coming up anyway. It didn't really care how I felt, it was going to rise and set regardless of whether I noticed it, and if I was going to enjoy it, that was up to me."

My Review: Similar to The Paris Wife, in that the story is a fictionalization of true events. Though in my opinion it's much better done in Half Broke Horses. Perhaps novelizing your own Grandmother's life is easier, plus I wasn't rooting for someone else the whole time. If you've read The Glass Castle, I think most people have, then you will most likely enjoy this story. There are little nuggets of references that foreshadow events that take place in Jeannette's memoir.

A Half Broke Horse, is a horse that has been caught and partially trained and then released back into the wild and its own natural devices. Lily who helped her father train horses before leaving home, is familiar with these horses who when caught again no enough to submit to a rider but also know they might escape again. Throughout the story she encounters people who are likewise only "half broke" and will never quite fit into society as a result. Anyone who has read The Glass Castle would see how Jeannette's parents are just like half broke horses.

I found the details about life in the South Western United States in the early 1900's to be fascinating. The lack of paved streets, indoor plumbing, electricity and everything I've never lived without seemed trying and it was insane to realize it really wasn't that long ago that the story is taking place. Lily lived in a rural part of Texas and late in a rural part of Arizona. People out in the more densely populated East, had electricity and running water much sooner. And just like I loved learning that when America was discovered the rest of the world was highly suspicious of the tomato, which they'd never seen before. They called it the witch's apple and said it was poisonous. Crazy, right? Well maybe it's just amusing to me. Similar to the mistrust of new foods, when Indoor plumbing was spreading across the country a lot of people were skeptical and grossed out. In Half Broke Horses people ask, "Isn't that unsanitary?" and "Who would do that in the house?"

There's no rush to finish the book, no great mystery waiting to be revealed., and yet the story held my interest. However, if you're the sort of reader who needs a strong reason to turn the page this probably isn't for you.

Recommendation: Fans of memoirs and anyone interested in settlements in America should check this out.

For Next Week: The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

Boston Book Festival 2013

Saturday was the Fifth Boston Book Festival in Copley Square. I went to hear the YA: Legends Revisited talk featuring Maggie Stiefvater, Nancy Werlin, Shelly Dickinson Carr, and Marisa Meyer. I haven't read anything by Carr or Meyer yet, though Meyer's Cinder has been on my to read list for a while and after hearing about Carr's take on Jack the Ripper in Ripped, I can't wait to pick it up. I've reviewed Stiefvater and Werlin's books on this blog. The talk focused on using pre-existing stories, myths, fairy tales, and historic events in their writing. It was right up my alley! Also, it was conveniently located near my office.

I felt a familiar sense of validation in hearing successful authors discuss their writing methods. 

"Hey, they do some things like I do. Maybe I am really a writer." 

Okay, maybe I let go of the doubt about whether or not I'm a "real writer" a while ago. Thank goodness! Still it's nice to know these women have had success and their processes are not all that different from mine. They also got me thinking about some things that could become blog topics in the future. Thanks ladies!

There were a lot of panels and readings, though I only attended that one. Outside they had booths set up for local publishers, self publishing companies, magazines, schools featuring MFA programs, and pretty much anything related to books, literature or reading. It was a gorgeous day and I was totally in the zone.

Check out the swag I snagged: a copy of Writer magazine, a SciFi Story Anthology, and a free ticket to the Boston Book Fair in November.