Review Tuesday: PLANET OF THE APES by Pierre Boulle

Recently I was in Pennsylvania browsing through a stack of fifty cent books and came across this gem of classic science fiction.

PLANET OF THE APES

by Pierre Boulle

A deep space exploration lands a crew of Earthlings on a planet on which humans are reduced to savages and the apes are in control.

I have been trying to check in with some classic science fiction when I can. Certain tomes are the foundations on which the genre has been built. PLANET OF THE APES happens to be a legend both in literature and science fiction.   

Originally published in 1963, it hit during a time of worldwide turmoil. The USA was busy trying to defend the world from the Red Menace, and looking  very badly in the process. 

The perfect time for this book. 

The genre of science-fiction has always been full of provocative social commentary. So we have a genius, Arthur Levain,  who has developed an amazingly fast engine to propel people to the distant stars in relatively little time. This doctor along with a small crew, including his physician Arthur and journalist Ulysse to document the voyage, traveled to Betelgeuse. 

They arrive at an earth-like planet and land to investigate. They are quickly discovered by a race of humans that appear to be savage and undeveloped mentally. Soon afterward, they are raided by an advanced race of apes. Arthur is killed. Levain is captured and placed in a zoo. Ulysse continued with his journalist mind while incarcerated for research. He was able to convince a chimp, Zira, that he was an intelligent being and not a savage brute like the other humans. They learned each other's languages and set out to emancipate this unusual human specimen. 

Of course this doesn't go very well, going against the fabric of ape society. 

There are twists and turns and all manner of unexpected occurrences, especially the ending. Nope, not the Statue of Liberty, that was Rod Serling's brain child. Something else. Something worth reading on your own. 

 
Sci-Fi has often offered warnings about the future if we are not more careful with how we conduct ourselves and our world. That's exactly what this tale is. A cautionary story about what might happen if WE rest on our laurels and get lazy. Get lazy in our lives, our home, and our businesses. If we're not careful, we can lose it all, especially our liberty. A strong message that we must heed to this day.

The book is very short, but very thorough. It's clever, smart, and fun to read. You won't be able to stop turning those pages. Delightful and well worth your investment of time to read. Better than any of the movies.