Helpful Score: 4
From Publishers Weekly
The protagonist of this good-humored though long-winded novel is a chimpanzee. Jennie lives for almost a decade during the 1970s and enjoys the period's activities, e.g., peace marches and dropping LSD. Written in the form of diary entries and interviews, the narrative draws on research with actual primates (Preston is the author of Dinosaurs in the Attic and other nonfiction works on scientific subjects) and advances the theory that chimps are nearly human. Naturalist Dr. Hugo Archibald delivers baby Jennie from her dying mother in the Cameroons and brings her home to his American family. His young son Sandy bonds with Jennie, but daughter Sarah, only eight months old when Jennie arrives, grows to fiercely resent the chimp. A minister who sees Jennie as a "child of God" teaches her about Jesus. After being trained in ASL (American Sign Language), the apt chimp learns to converse, wheedle, taunt, lie and swear. Her antics resemble those of a gleeful, willful human brat, given to tantrums that include tearing up furniture. She hoards and steals. She shops at Bloomingdale's. She meets celebrities. She gets arrested. Sexual maturity is Jennie's downfall. Sent to a wildlife camp, she identifies her fellow chimp as a "black bug," feels betrayed and violently grieves for her lost freedom. The tale gives Preston a chance to discourse on evolution and socialization, aggression, love, suffering and death, successfully integrating these topics into his whimsical narrative. While some readers may delight in Jennie's exploits, others may find the narrative cartoonish and one-dimensional, a joke that keeps repeating itself in different keys.
The protagonist of this good-humored though long-winded novel is a chimpanzee. Jennie lives for almost a decade during the 1970s and enjoys the period's activities, e.g., peace marches and dropping LSD. Written in the form of diary entries and interviews, the narrative draws on research with actual primates (Preston is the author of Dinosaurs in the Attic and other nonfiction works on scientific subjects) and advances the theory that chimps are nearly human. Naturalist Dr. Hugo Archibald delivers baby Jennie from her dying mother in the Cameroons and brings her home to his American family. His young son Sandy bonds with Jennie, but daughter Sarah, only eight months old when Jennie arrives, grows to fiercely resent the chimp. A minister who sees Jennie as a "child of God" teaches her about Jesus. After being trained in ASL (American Sign Language), the apt chimp learns to converse, wheedle, taunt, lie and swear. Her antics resemble those of a gleeful, willful human brat, given to tantrums that include tearing up furniture. She hoards and steals. She shops at Bloomingdale's. She meets celebrities. She gets arrested. Sexual maturity is Jennie's downfall. Sent to a wildlife camp, she identifies her fellow chimp as a "black bug," feels betrayed and violently grieves for her lost freedom. The tale gives Preston a chance to discourse on evolution and socialization, aggression, love, suffering and death, successfully integrating these topics into his whimsical narrative. While some readers may delight in Jennie's exploits, others may find the narrative cartoonish and one-dimensional, a joke that keeps repeating itself in different keys.
A scientist goes to Africa to gather specimens for his studies. He ends up bringing home a baby chimpanzee. Told as if to an interviewer years later. Some parts were better than others, but overall, I didn't really care for it
Here's a switch for Douglas Preston. Jennie will catch you up in a fascinating story with a main character you'd never expect. A special book from a special author.
Jenny was hard to put down. Such a believable story!
Through a series of letters and times remembered by characters in the book, we come to know Jenny, an orphaned baby chimpanzee. Jenny was born in the jungles in Africa, delivered by Dr. Archibald, a visiting scientist from the USA. Her Mother Ape lay dying as the story unfolds.
When the newborn baby chimp gazed into Dr. Archibald's eyes, the good doctor fell in love with her. And so, Jenny gpes to the states to be raised as a "daughter" in her new human family.
My favorite parts of the book are times when Jenny played with the children as they all grew up. She ate meals at the table with them, rode bikes through the neighborhood and eventually learned sign language to communicate. Years later when Jenny's adolescence proves traumatic for the family and Jenny alike, life changes for everyone.
Not a true story yet one based on a similar incident, I found Jenny a fascinating story and didn't want it to end for I feared it would not be a happily ever after story. What it was turned out to be is a story I thought of many times after reading it. Very poignant.
Through a series of letters and times remembered by characters in the book, we come to know Jenny, an orphaned baby chimpanzee. Jenny was born in the jungles in Africa, delivered by Dr. Archibald, a visiting scientist from the USA. Her Mother Ape lay dying as the story unfolds.
When the newborn baby chimp gazed into Dr. Archibald's eyes, the good doctor fell in love with her. And so, Jenny gpes to the states to be raised as a "daughter" in her new human family.
My favorite parts of the book are times when Jenny played with the children as they all grew up. She ate meals at the table with them, rode bikes through the neighborhood and eventually learned sign language to communicate. Years later when Jenny's adolescence proves traumatic for the family and Jenny alike, life changes for everyone.
Not a true story yet one based on a similar incident, I found Jenny a fascinating story and didn't want it to end for I feared it would not be a happily ever after story. What it was turned out to be is a story I thought of many times after reading it. Very poignant.
