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Great Apes
 
 
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Great Apes (Paperback)

"Simon Dykes, the artist, stood, rented glass in hand, and watched as a rowing eight emerged from the brown brick wall of one building, slid..." (more)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)

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First Sentence
Simon Dykes, the artist, stood, rented glass in hand, and watched as a rowing eight emerged from the brown brick wall of one building, slid across a band of grey-green water, and then eased into the grey concrete of another building. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

48 Reviews
5 star:
 (18)
4 star:
 (17)
3 star:
 (10)
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 (1)
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4.0 out of 5 stars (48 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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4.0 out of 5 stars brilliant, July 12 2004
By Lizzie D (Wellington New Zealand) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Great Apes (Paperback)
There really isn't too much to add to what others have said in reviewing the book. This is a world weary cynical satire of human life which is one of the funniest things I have read in years. Having said that boy oh boy does it make you think. As I read about life through the eyes of a chimp that which is initially hysterically funny becomes less so when you realise what you are reading parallels aspects of your own life.
Despite my review seeming somewhat contradictory in its 'effulgence' of this book I would recommend it to anyone and all my friends have had it for Christmas or a birthday and now they are passing it on to others.
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4.0 out of 5 stars beneath the planet of the humans, Mar 7 2004
By A. Dutkiewicz "jan-luke_adam" (Norwood, South Australia Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Great Apes (Paperback)
A wicked view of humanity and its hypocrisies. A great novel to make you think about humans, their genetic programming and their place in the world. It also satirises the contemporary art scene in London and the academic world ruthlessly.

A substantial and important work, even if it is extremely seamy and seedy. It reminded me of visions like Anthony Burgess's Clockwork Orange and seems to sit well in the British tradition of satire going back to Swift.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Alternative reality?, Mar 2 2003
This review is from: Great Apes (Paperback)
For those who've journeyed before into Will Self's London, there's bound to be lots that's familiar in "Great Apes": the themes of drug abuse, psychiatry, obsession with sex and so on. Indeed, you could view "Great Apes" as a mere variation on the stories in "The Quantity Theory of Insanity" and "Grey Area" (the characters will ring lots of bells).

The plot centres on the chimpanzee artist Simon Dykes, who imagines he's really a human, and finds help in the shape of the eminent psychiatrist/academic/TV personality Dr Zack Busner. Part of Busner's therapy is to take Dykes to meet real humans at London Zoo, in the hope that when confronted with humanity, Dykes will recover his real (chimp) nature. Will Busner succeed?

The big attraction of "Great Apes" is its sheer imaginativeness: the London is this novel is a chimpanzee-based society. The interest and sheer fun of the novel derive from that - it's great to be carried along on Self's outrageous imagination, enjoying his identification of differences between the real world and his imagined "chimpworld" (but far more enjoyable than that is spotting where things are pretty much the same!).

Great fun.

G Rodgers

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 		 Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Hoooo'Graah
This is one of the funniest books I have ever read and I've been reading since 1964. What it lacks in profundity if makes up in snobery. Read more
Published on Feb 27 2003 by Alex

4.0 out of 5 stars A Clever Kafkaesque Fantasy With a Shot of Gary Larson
First of all, I am biased. I am a big fan of chimpanzees. I also love to jokingly compare people (most notably in a corporate setting) to primate groups. Read more
Published on Feb 24 2003 by E. Richards

4.0 out of 5 stars clever and entertaining
My wife bought this book for me because she liked the cover. I like it too, and think it looks rather like a simian Duane Gish (of the Institute for Creation Research)--do a... Read more
Published on Dec 19 2002 by James J. Lippard

4.0 out of 5 stars extrodinarily odd, but entertaining
This is my first experience with Will Self and I must say it is unique. I really enjoy Chuck Pahlniuk's work and was recomended to this author. Read more
Published on Dec 17 2002 by M. Hickman

5.0 out of 5 stars HooohGraah!! - Four Thumbs up for Will Self
I have never been inparted with 'Grnn' any of Will Self's previous books. So I can't sign much about the 'euch-euch' cuffing he has received from critics in the past. Read more
Published on July 14 2002 by Michael Bowen

5.0 out of 5 stars Go to the zoo, read this book, then go to the zoo again
The 1st 2 chapters seem hard work as you're reading them, I almost gave up too, but their importance becomes clear as you read on. Read more
Published on May 28 2002 by edna

5.0 out of 5 stars Kafka and a Half
This book is so surreal that, by the end, you will honestly begin to wonder about the reality you inhabit. Read more
Published on April 25 2002

4.0 out of 5 stars Self's Opus
I just finished "Great Apes" after putting it off for 3 years or so after a friend recommended it highly. Read more
Published on Jan 3 2002 by Richard Cunningham

5.0 out of 5 stars Sex, drugs and chimpanzees
One day, the artist Simon Dykes, a member of London's artistic elite, awakes after one of his a usual nights of sniffing cocaine and drinking large quantities of alcohol,... Read more
Published on Nov 1 2001 by Emma Husar

4.0 out of 5 stars Cheeky Monkey Business
When you pick up a book that weighs in at somewhere around the region of 500 pages it had better be good. Read more
Published on Sep 16 2001 by Will Bown

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