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Planet of the Apes: A ­Novel

Rating
46,289 Ratings by Goodreads |
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Format
Paperback, 272 pages
Published
United States, 1 May 2001

The original novel that inspired the films!



First published more than fifty years ago, Pierre Boulle's chilling novel launched one of the greatest science fiction sagas in motion picture history.



In the not-too-distant future, three astronauts land on what appears to be a planet just like Earth, with lush forests, a temperate climate, and breathable air. But while it appears to be a paradise, nothing is what it seems.



They soon discover the terrifying truth: On this world humans are savage beasts, and apes rule as their civilized masters. In an ironic novel of nonstop action and breathless intrigue, one man struggles to unlock the secret of a terrifying civilization, all the while wondering: Will he become the savior of the human race, or the final witness to its damnation? In a shocking climax that rivals that of the original movie, Boulle delivers the answer in a masterpiece of adventure, satire, and suspense.


Pierre Boulle was born in Avignon, France in 1912. He originally trained as an engineer, but in 1936 went to Malaysia as a rubber planter. In 1939 he was called up in the French forces in Indochina. When France fell during World War II, he fled to Singapore, where he joined the Free French Mission. After the Japanese invasion, he was sent via Rangoon and the Burma Road to Yunnan to establish contact with Kuomintang forces. He infiltrated Indochina as a guerilla where he was captured in 1943. He escaped in 1944, was picked up by a British plane, and served in the Special Forces in Calcutta for the rest of the war.



His first novel published in the United States was The Bridge on the River Kwai. It was awarded the Prix Ste. Beuve in France, and led to the motion picture that received an amazing seven Academy Awards. He considered his subsequent books, of which Planet of the Apes is the most well-known, to be social fantasies.

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Product Description

The original novel that inspired the films!



First published more than fifty years ago, Pierre Boulle's chilling novel launched one of the greatest science fiction sagas in motion picture history.



In the not-too-distant future, three astronauts land on what appears to be a planet just like Earth, with lush forests, a temperate climate, and breathable air. But while it appears to be a paradise, nothing is what it seems.



They soon discover the terrifying truth: On this world humans are savage beasts, and apes rule as their civilized masters. In an ironic novel of nonstop action and breathless intrigue, one man struggles to unlock the secret of a terrifying civilization, all the while wondering: Will he become the savior of the human race, or the final witness to its damnation? In a shocking climax that rivals that of the original movie, Boulle delivers the answer in a masterpiece of adventure, satire, and suspense.


Pierre Boulle was born in Avignon, France in 1912. He originally trained as an engineer, but in 1936 went to Malaysia as a rubber planter. In 1939 he was called up in the French forces in Indochina. When France fell during World War II, he fled to Singapore, where he joined the Free French Mission. After the Japanese invasion, he was sent via Rangoon and the Burma Road to Yunnan to establish contact with Kuomintang forces. He infiltrated Indochina as a guerilla where he was captured in 1943. He escaped in 1944, was picked up by a British plane, and served in the Special Forces in Calcutta for the rest of the war.



His first novel published in the United States was The Bridge on the River Kwai. It was awarded the Prix Ste. Beuve in France, and led to the motion picture that received an amazing seven Academy Awards. He considered his subsequent books, of which Planet of the Apes is the most well-known, to be social fantasies.

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Product Details
EAN
9780345447982
ISBN
0345447980
Dimensions
10.7 x 1.8 x 17.5 centimetres (0.10 kg)

About the Author

Pierre Boulle was born in Avignon, France in 1912. He originally trained as an engineer, but in 1936 went to Malaysia as a rubber planter. In 1939 he was called up in the French forces in Indochina. When France fell during World War II, he fled to Singapore, where he joined the Free French Mission. After the Japanese invasion, he was sent via Rangoon and the Burma Road to Yunnan to establish contact with Kuomintang forces. He infiltrated Indochina as a guerilla where he was captured in 1943. He escaped in 1944, was picked up by a British plane, and served in the Special Forces in Calcutta for the rest of the war.

His first novel published in the United States was The Bridge on the River Kwai. It was awarded the Prix Ste. Beuve in France, and led to the motion picture that received an amazing seven Academy Awards. He considered his subsequent books, of which Planet of the Apes is the most well-known, to be social fantasies.

Reviews

This thrilling 1963 sf novel has lost none of its power. Those familiar with its film/TV adaptations will be surprised by the story's suspenseful nature and ending. Three French astronauts in the year 2500 travel to an Earth-like planet and are shocked to find it very much like home with one major exception-humans are naked, animalistic, unthinking savages and apes are the civilized species. It takes Ulysse Merou some time to impress upon his simian captors that he is an aware, intelligent human. While he is at first viewed as wondrous, Ulysse increasingly senses that he poses a major threat to the apes' sense of evolution and society. With the chance that he might father an intelligent human baby, his peril grows. British actor Greg Wise's superb narration adds to the increasing sense of unease, effectively conveying the confusion, horror, shock, and egotism evinced by Ulysse. While his American accent can be a bit dicey at times, the fervor with which Wise imbues each sentence overcomes any quibbles listeners may have. VERDICT Essential for all public library collections.-B. Allison Gray. Goleta Branch, Santa Barbara P.L. Syst., CA (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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3.99 out of 5 | From 46,289 Goodreads Ratings

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By scott on March 23, 2014
A truly surprising book, in that it remains easily readable and just as telling as the social fable it was when first released. Although the auther never falls into heavy moralising the human attitudes his hero conveys are effective in putting humanity, rather than the apes, under the microscope.
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