I just finished Ape House, the much anticipated follow up to Water for Elephants, which was a book that I highly enjoyed and is one of the first things I recommend when friends or family ask me what they should read. Unfortunately, almost everyone I know has now read Water for Elephants, so I pretty much can't suggest it anymore. All my friends to whom I lent it or at least suggested it ("all save one," to borrow from Shakespeare in Love) delighted in the book as much as me and thought it was one of the cleverest "murder mysteries" to come along in a long time.Alas, as is the case with so many authors' works, the follow up (not a sequel in this case), does not compare favorably with the "masterpiece" that came before it. The plot is not as intricate nor as gripping in Ape House, and it was hard for me to get very emotionally involved in the story.
In a nutshell, the plot revolves around Isabel Duncan, a scientist who works with bonobo apes in an ape language lab set at the University of Kansas (Go Jayhawks!) and John Thigpen (yes, the name is klunky, but there is humor in the book addressing this awkwardness), a journalist who interviews both Isabel and the apes right before the language lab is blown up, thereby "freeing" the apes. Isabel is severely injured, and the apes mysteriously disappear, then suddenly reappear on a "reality" television show. Together, John and Isabel investigate the mystery of the explosion and try to discover who is behind the exploitative television series.
Despite my overall opinion that it is not as well-written as Water for Elephants, I wonder what I would have thought had I never read that first book, because there are things I truly like about Ape House and I do think it is worth the time to read it. It wasn't one that I "couldn't put down," but it was very sweet in parts.
Except for the villains, of course, I truly liked the characters. John's marriage is troubled, and at first I thought his wife was going to be a vain, shallow, one-dimensional character, but the author surprised me. Despite her flaws, I truly was rooting for Amanda in her struggle to find her identity and self-worth. I was also rooting for John, even though at times he and Amanda were at cross-purposes. It takes a skillful writer, in my opinion, to write about a stressful marriage and make neither partner the villain and further, create sympathy for both in the mind of the reader.
The apes are also characters, maybe even more so than the elephant in WFE. We come to know and love the bonobos who have learned to communicate through American Sign Language. These include Bonzi, the alpha female; her baby Lola; Mbongo, who teaches John that apes can get offended/have their feelings hurt; and the pregnant Makena, as well as several others. At one point in the book, Isabel says they are her family. We get hints that Isabel grew up in a less than ideal human family as a girl, but I wish the author had fleshed her backstory out a little more.
Other intriguing characters include Celia (Isabel's assistant or secret radical activist?); Peter, Isabel's fiance who may not be what he appears on the surface; and the green-haired boy who takes strong exception whenever he sees someone eating meat and who has a surname that is eerily familiar to John. Not to mention the aging porn star bent on revenge and determined to make a life for herself.
The author also cleverly works in the Fred Phelps cult (I refuse to call them a church) by having them protesting at the Ape House reality show as the "Eastborough Baptist Church" (Ha!) Since the show turns into a media circus, I know Sara Gruen is right and that his clan would be there in all its ridiculous glory.
Overall, I did like this book and I would recommend it. When I was finished, I was sad, not so much that I was done with the book, but that I was done with the characters and would not find out what happened next in their lives.
Give me some feedback and let me know what you think, both about Ape House and my review. Happy Reading!
P.S. This is a fairly clean read.
