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Ape House by Sara Gruen
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Ape House (original 2010; edition 2010)

by Sara Gruen (Author)

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2,0131478,015 (3.47)130
An explosion at a center studying language acquisition by bonobo apes sets off an adventure that is both sad and funny, and which manages to blend animal-rights activists, reality TV, tabloid newspapers, Russian strippers, and computer hackers in a highly satisfying read.

I did mark the rating down by one star because of a huge plot hole / disconnect that has to do with the real motivation for the bombing, and seems a rather cumbersome and unlikely method to achieve the bomber's aim. (Sorry to be vague, but it's a major spoiler.) ( )
  LyndaInOregon | Dec 14, 2018 |
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This was a very quick read. I liked it but I think it could have been better. Considering this book kept my attention enough that I read through it in one afternoon, I'm probably being overly critical. But I felt like the story was zipping all over the place. Locations and scenes changed quickly and the story jumped from character to character. One minute the main characters are living in Philadelphia; then they've fled to Kansas; the story moves to LA; then New Mexico and I think they finish up in Hawaii. Also, I was expecting the story to concentrate more on the bonobos and was hoping for more character development there. Having said all that, I did enjoy it. I can't really write a review about the storyline though without giving it away. I would recommend it. It's a quick read with a bit of a love story, animals and a mystery too. ( )
  ellink | Jan 22, 2024 |
So disappointed, not even close to the caliber of "Water for Elephants" IMHO. ( )
  schoenbc70 | Sep 2, 2023 |
I liked just about everything about this book; the main characters, the fast pace, the happy ending. But I did have a problem with the whole premise of a family of bonobo apes "starring" in a reality TV show. In the novel the show becomes a sensational hit and I just don't think humans would pay money to watch a family of apes living in a house fit for humans. I liked the idea of reading a novel which discussed the mistreatment of great apes, I just wish Sarah Gruen had come up with a more plausible premise to get her point across. ( )
  kevinkevbo | Jul 14, 2023 |
Isabell deeply cares for the bonobos she is studying and teaching to use sign language to communicate. John, a reporter who is getting frustrated with how he's treated at work, is doing a story on Isabell and her primates. When someone attacks the lab, nearly killing Isabell and letting loose the monkeys, who are soon secretly sold to a TV producer who makes a reality show out of them, both Isabell and John find their lives turned upside down.

I'm not sure how this one got onto my TBR, but I'm glad it did. It's not my usual fare, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The characters are interesting, and although the story isn't exactly complex, it's fun, and the bonobos are a delight. ( )
  electrascaife | Apr 7, 2023 |
The parts of the story that dealt with the bonobos and the language projects associated with them were great. Other parts veered into the implausible and then straight to just plain bizarre. I did NOT enjoy the narrator. He could be OK at times, but most of the time he just sounded flat. Then, in voicing for one female character, I couldn't tell if he was going for a British accent or valley girl. That became extremely distracting. ( )
  CarolHicksCase | Mar 12, 2023 |
I could've gone my whole life without learning some of the more specific details of bonobo behavior. I may have finished this book, but it is being dropped in the donate box as I have no desire to endure this journey ever again. ( )
  ilkjen | Jan 21, 2022 |
The book is good and the subject matter dealing with the abilities of great apes is really fascinating anf is also based on real things going on with this research. The story is good and topical (reality TV, eco terrorists, etc.) My only negative comment would be that at times I thought there was too much time/pages spent on the back stories vs. the apes. Never the less, I recommend it if you like animals. ( )
  Rick686ID | Jan 27, 2021 |
A somewhat peculiar story about a bunch of bonobos that are freed from a language research center and end up on reality television.

Bonobos are considered the closest to humans of the primates, and this book offers some reasons why. Isabel Duncan is a scientist at the Great Ape Language Lab, and the group of bonobos there are her family. She works with them every day, using sign language. The apes not only learn sign language, they also teach it to their children.

A reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, John Thigpen, is sent on assignment to interview the scientists and observe the bonobos, along with another reporter and a photographer. He forms something of a bond with a bonobo early on but doesn't have much time to explore it, because there is an explosion. The animals are let loose and an animal rights group claims responsibility.

The story gets very odd from here, as Thigpen gets muscled out of his position and Isabel lands in the hospital. Thigpen has developed an interest in Isabel as well, and wants to pursue this story. The two, from different places, are on the track of the animals.

Throughout much of the book we are treated to actions and statements by the bonobos that might surprise many people. Gruen notes in the extra material at the back of the book that everything the bonobos do has been done by bonobos in real life. She clearly has an affection for them. She also ultimately shows some affection for a young animal rights activist, and obliquely for his veganism.

I love that she does so much for these animals with this book. It is rare for a popular book to provide good information about other animals, information that is not human-centered. There are a few things that bothered me in this respect, though:

When the language lab is operating there is an animal rights group protesting it, and showing pictures of apes in horrifying medical research. While we ultimately find some connection between those pictures and the lab, the language lab does no invasive testing. I have never heard of a protest where the organizers did not actually know what goes on behind the doors. And in this case I also wonder why the scientists didn't just invite the protestors in to see the work. The conclusion many may draw is that animal rights people are well-meaning but misdirected, usually young and uninformed. As a 70-year-old animal rights person myself I can say that most of the others I know are very well informed and have been committed for many years.

I also wonder this: we can see from the lab and later events that the bonobos are highly intelligent and very similar to humans. How do you justify caging such animals for any reason? Is it okay to imprison groups of people (say Southerners) to study their speech habits?

And while much attention is paid to bonobos and some other animals, most of the people in this book have yet to make the connection that all animals have feelings, have families, have lives, and are not on this planet simply to be eaten.

Animal rights issues aside (and minor they are, in comparison to most books), I recommend this book. It is well written, informative, often funny. ( )
  slojudy | Sep 8, 2020 |
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 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. ( )
1 vote Bookmarque | Aug 20, 2019 |
I had a hard time with the descriptions of abuse, but overall couldn't stop reading....I had to find out how it ended. ( )
  SusanGeiss | Mar 24, 2019 |
An explosion at a center studying language acquisition by bonobo apes sets off an adventure that is both sad and funny, and which manages to blend animal-rights activists, reality TV, tabloid newspapers, Russian strippers, and computer hackers in a highly satisfying read.

I did mark the rating down by one star because of a huge plot hole / disconnect that has to do with the real motivation for the bombing, and seems a rather cumbersome and unlikely method to achieve the bomber's aim. (Sorry to be vague, but it's a major spoiler.) ( )
  LyndaInOregon | Dec 14, 2018 |
This was a GREAT story. My happy tears are still drying. ( )
  LMJenkins | Nov 28, 2018 |
What a disappointment! Sara Gruen showed us what she could do in [b:Water for Elephants|43641|Water for Elephants|Sara Gruen|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388183358s/43641.jpg|3441236] but her followup novel, Ape House doesn't live up to her previous show of talent in the least. This novel has a silly plot and even sillier characters. I'm impressed with Gruen's extensive research and work with great apes but unfortunately her knowledge doesn't shine through the novel. The unlikeable and stereotypical characters and the absurd plot overpower the message about animal rights that Gruen is obviously trying to show her reader. ( )
  bookishblond | Oct 24, 2018 |
After having read both Water for Elephants and now Ape House I have got to say that Sara Gruen is quickly moving to the top of my favorite author list. I love the way she narrates her stories. I also love her passion for taking real life events and turning them into fictional masterpieces.

I found myself incredibly emotional while reading this book. The characters are perfectly flawed and the apes are wonderfully humanized to allow the reader to attach to them the same way one would humanize their own pet.

Something about the way Sara Gruen narrates really grabs me. She is able to tell a story so naturally that I forget I'm reading a novel and I feel instead as though she is in the room telling me the story. I get lost in reading her words and when I come back to the surface I feel incredibly satisfied.

Overall it was a great concept, great writing and a great story. ( )
  JamieBH | Apr 3, 2018 |
I picked up Ape House while browsing in a book store because I read Water for Elephants and loved it. Gruen did it once but could she do it again? The answer is a resounding yes. If you love animals, Ape House is a definite must read. Gruen's love for animals is clear throughout the novel and her characters. The story of the ape's is an incredible journey and I'm so glad I got to go along for the ride. ( )
  startwithgivens | Mar 21, 2018 |
While this book kept me interested and was a quick read, I expected more. And the way things ended was a little too "happily ever after". ( )
  dariazeoli | Mar 21, 2018 |
A quick and entertaining read; very interesting when dealing with the bonobos themselves, but the human characters were pretty hit & miss.

( )
  Siubhan | Feb 28, 2018 |
Loved it! ( )
  Stephensjillc | Nov 3, 2017 |
This book completely surprised me. I picked it up because I was completing a reading challenge about apes and after a year of doing this challenge, I have found few mystery books dealing with that subject that weren't using monkeys as a sort of humorous point. I was really expecting that when I found out that the bonobos in this book were getting their own reality TV show as part of the plot... I was skeptical.

This book was actually a rather serious look at how we treat animals and how we as humans behave, all wrapped up in the mystery of who caused the explosion that send the bonobos to their new “home.” I absolutely loved the progression of the plot and the thought that must have gone in to balance it perfectly so that it was not a pounding for animal rights, but not a comic relief piece either. I'm glad I found it. ( )
  mirrani | Jun 24, 2017 |
Great book! ( )
  Kimmyd76 | Sep 3, 2016 |
Yes, Water for Elephants is a tough act to follow but Ape House doesn't even come close. The reality TV angle seemed, well, unrealistic and contrived. Which pretty much sums up my opinion of this book. ( )
  wandaly | Jun 30, 2016 |
I think the reviewers who didn't like this are missing something. And that is, that the bonobos behave, for the most part, better than the humans - and we're talking a wide variety of humans here. Of course Gruen tells a story first, and only gradually makes us aware of all the comparisons she's drawing second.

But it's made obvious we should all be more self-aware, and if we were truly so, we would *not* be eco-terrorists but we would, at the very least, eat less meat and support the efforts of humane refuges. I particularly got a kick out of which episodes of the Ape House reality tv show got the best audience response.

The book was too 'thrilling' to be one of my favorites, but for all of you who like action & story, and for my husband who likes Cussler/Koontz/Child, it's probably terrific. Recommended.

Btw, I have not, nor do I plan to, read Water for Elephants. ( )
  Cheryl_in_CC_NV | Jun 6, 2016 |
Sara Gruen displayed an incredible talent for choosing a unique premise, developing believable characters, and telling an emotionally gripping story in her debut novel, Water for Elephants. Her second book, Ape House, was to this reader a disappointment on multiple counts.

Gruen again chose an interesting, unusual premise - the world of the bonobos. This species of great ape has abilities to learn American Sign Language, is capable of communicating with man. Here lies undeniably an area of scientific research that is amazing as well as controversial . The story Gruen wove around one particular group of bonobos possessed blockbuster potential. The author not only took on the conflicting worlds of scientific research and animal activism, but padded in subplot exploring Hollywood fa̤ade, and their recent reality show obsession. Plastic surgery, Botox, and gossip rags were plentiful. It was GruenÛªs lack of development in her characters, and of their relationships, that left this reader flat.

Flat like her characters, and thin as cardboard cutouts. The only character that had any depth at all was the protagonist John Thigpen, who was a combination of realistic, hard-working, soft-centered young man and slapstick cliche - right down to his name (what journalist wouldn‰Ûªt have used a pseudonym with a name that invited the nickname of ‰ÛÏPigpen?‰Û). John‰Ûªs wife Amanda, a struggling author (what other kind is there?) floated in and out of the plot with a different motive every time she appeared. Isabel, the scientist in charge of the bonobos really should have been the strongest protagonist in the novel, but remained an "also ran." Since she was the one person who had the most intensely emotional relationship in the book - with the bonobos - I believe Gruen missed the boat by keeping her on the sidelines.

Not that Gruen didn't take on some difficult topics here: increasing evidence of man‰Ûªs evolution from apes; scientific research vs. animal activists; Hollywood's exploitation of reality and how hungrily we, the "superior race," clamor for more violence, bloodshed, and sex. This reader would have bought into her story with more enthusiasm if the characters - at least the main ones - John, Amanda, Isabel and boyfriend/colleague Peter - had been more than one dimension thick.

( )
  Frances.S.Brown | Apr 26, 2016 |
I loved this book almost as much as Water For Elephants. It was a very uplifting read and suprisingly very informative. ( )
  dogear360 | Feb 20, 2016 |
Due to the overwhelming popularity of Water for Elephants, it seems many want to compare Ape House with her previous book. But the two books are quite different. If I had to compare them, I would say this- I enjoyed this one more (everyone can now gasp and claim blasphemy).

I was a little iffy to start this book after reading and enjoying Water for Elephants. Was she going to be able to pull off another wonderful book? Ape House kept my attention from beginning to end. The many story lines that weaved into one another. The attention to detail. Gruen did plenty of research on this subject and she brings the trouble of animal experimenting and cruelty up front. The fact that such things actually happen is heart wrenching. I was glad to see such a subject being tackled, even if it was in a fictional setting. I enjoyed the characters and felt a connection to them. This is a well written book and I enjoyed it immensely. ( )
  UberButter | Feb 9, 2016 |
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