Pierre Boulle (1912–1994)

The book is good. But I'd recommend watching the epic David Lean film instead.

Boulle creates a promising premise. The idea that both the British POWs and the Japanese soldiers have internalized the values of a hellish war is cool. I could see how some people think this book is critical of the UK, as it does ask hard questions about stoicism and other cultural aspects.

But it loses me in a few places. It is written with an almost technical manual approach when it comes to bridge building. And the hopping from one character to another doesn't give you a good enough sense of psychology and drive. Lastly, the pacing is all over the place, with the final chapters building to something that just stops. I would've liked to have seen how these characters returned having changed.

Still, it holds up well (outside of some weird racism). But it's another example of a film adaptation that is made stronger by focusing on characters, removing the silly bits, and improving the ending.… (lisätietoja)

I started off disliking this book quite a lot. In fact, I was very tempted to take it back to the library only a few chapters in. However, by the end, I loved it. I mean, it's not amazingly written, the first person narrative doesn't quite work, the concept's completely ridiculous and Boulle uses the word “latter" far too many times BUT it really does turn out to be a great story. It's quite different from the film in a lot of ways but it's still easy to go through the book thinking that you know exactly what's coming. Well, likelyhood is you probably don't. If you've seen the film then it's much better just to forget everything you remember and tackle the book afresh. Think of the film and the book as separate entities. Both have good twists and both are worth feasting your eyes. The film's worth watching just for Charlton Heston, “damn dirty ape!" and the “you blew it up!" speech. The book is worth reading simply because it has a fuller story than the film and a different/better twist.… (lisätietoja)

Ce livre est moins connu que les films qu’il a inspirés, mais est aussi extrêmement bon. La planète des singes est un livre assez court et facile à lire, mais contient des éléments philosophiques important à laquelle nous pouvons analyser, incluent les âmes – qui les ont? Toutes les créatures, ou juste ceux que nous croient « intelligent »? Qui est une « personne » qui mérite de pas être maltraité? Ce livre remettre en question les assomptions scientifique, religieux et éthique qui été populaires à l’époque.… (lisätietoja)