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Hackenfeller's Ape
When my species has destroyed itself, we may need yours to start it all again.
In London Zoo, Professor Darrylhyde is singing to the apes again. Outside their cage, he watches the two animals, longing to observe the mating ritual of this rare species. But Percy, inhibited by confinement and melancholy, is repulsing Edwina's desirous advances. Soon, the Professor's connection increases as he talks, croons, befriends - so when a scientist arrives on a secret governmental mission to launch Percy into space, he vows to secure his freedom. But when met by society's indifference, he takes matters into his own hands . . .
A trailblazing animal rights campaigner, Brigid Brophy's sensational 1953 novel is as provocative and philosophical seventy years on. An electric moral fable, it is as much a blazingly satirical reflection on homo sapiens as the non-human - on our capacity for violence, red in tooth and claw, not only to other species, but our own.
In London Zoo, Professor Darrylhyde is singing to the apes again. Outside their cage, he watches the two animals, longing to observe the mating ritual of this rare species. But Percy, inhibited by confinement and melancholy, is repulsing Edwina's desirous advances. Soon, the Professor's connection increases as he talks, croons, befriends - so when a scientist arrives on a secret governmental mission to launch Percy into space, he vows to secure his freedom. But when met by society's indifference, he takes matters into his own hands . . .
A trailblazing animal rights campaigner, Brigid Brophy's sensational 1953 novel is as provocative and philosophical seventy years on. An electric moral fable, it is as much a blazingly satirical reflection on homo sapiens as the non-human - on our capacity for violence, red in tooth and claw, not only to other species, but our own.
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1953
5 people are currently reading
296 people want to read
About the author
Brigid Brophy
40 books50 followersBrigid Antonia Brophy, Lady Levey (12 June 1929, in Ealing, Middlesex, England – 7 August 1995, in Louth, Lincolnshire, England) was an English novelist, essayist, critic, biographer, and dramatist. In the Dictionary of Literary Biography: British Novelists since 1960, S. J. Newman described her as "one of the oddest, most brilliant, and most enduring of [the] 1960s symptoms."
She was a feminist and pacifist who expressed controversial opinions on marriage, the Vietnam War, religious education in schools, sex (she was openly bisexual), and pornography. She was a vocal campaigner for animal rights and vegetarianism. A 1965 Sunday Times article by Brophy is credited by psychologist Richard D. Ryder with having triggered the formation of the animal rights movement in England.
Because of her outspokenness, she was labeled many things, including "one of our leading literary shrews" by a Times Literary Supplement reviewer. "A lonely, ubiquitous toiler in the weekend graveyards, she has scored some direct hits on massive targets: Kingsley Amis, Henry Miller, Professor Wilson Knight."
Brophy was married to art historian Sir Michael Levey. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1984, which took her life 11 years later at the age of 66.
She was a feminist and pacifist who expressed controversial opinions on marriage, the Vietnam War, religious education in schools, sex (she was openly bisexual), and pornography. She was a vocal campaigner for animal rights and vegetarianism. A 1965 Sunday Times article by Brophy is credited by psychologist Richard D. Ryder with having triggered the formation of the animal rights movement in England.
Because of her outspokenness, she was labeled many things, including "one of our leading literary shrews" by a Times Literary Supplement reviewer. "A lonely, ubiquitous toiler in the weekend graveyards, she has scored some direct hits on massive targets: Kingsley Amis, Henry Miller, Professor Wilson Knight."
Brophy was married to art historian Sir Michael Levey. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1984, which took her life 11 years later at the age of 66.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
July 2, 2013
Spoilers! A professor responsible for helping save the endangered Hackenfeller’s ape species is now concerned that a scientist, Kendrick, is planning to send one specimen, Percy, into space against its will. The ramshackle Professor Darrelhyde embarks on a scheme to save the hapless creature by breaking into the zoo where it lives with its mate, enlisting the assistance of a young female pickpocket, whereupon his scheme is scuppered by Percy’s inherent distrust of the shifty homo sapiens who caged him in the first place. Fortunately for the professor, Kendrick has taken Percy’s fur and smuggled himself into the rocket, and blasts off into space where a very hairy death awaits him. Written in 1953 before the biggest developments in space travel (Laika the dog was launched into orbit in 1957), Brophy’s curious novella is a morally centred comedic curiosity firmly concerned with the mistreatment of our furry friends in the name of progress. Its elegant brevity and sparkling dialogue keep the novel vibrant and witty for the modern cynic.
October 29, 2023
A professor attempts to prevent a captive monkey from being used in a test rocket launch. What's unusual about this tale is how half of it is told from that monkey's point of view
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January 28, 2021(1953)
The cover of this first edition (not the one pictured above) caught my eye in a second hand bookstore. It was a cartoon of a professor type guy with an umbrella. He is sitting on a park bench looking concerned. He has his arm around a chimpanzee who is sitting next to him on the bench. The chimpanzee looks troubled.
I vaguely recognized Brophy's name. It was only $10 for a first edition with a cover in very good shape and it was a relatively short novel. I bought it.
It was very good. Professor Clement Darrylhyde is studying two Hackenfeller apes, named Percy and Edwina, in a zoo. (Hackenfeller apes are a species discovered by Hackenfeller, the Dutch explorer.) The professor is particularly hoping to get some knowledge of their mating habits, which are unknown to science.
He has been observing them for weeks and has become attached to them. He feels that he understands their personalities.
The plot is driven by a Governmental plan to remove Percy from the zoo and use him as a test animal in a space rocket. The professor joins up with Gloria, an adventuresome young lady, to try to save the apes.
This is a gentle story. Everyone, even the bad guys, is civilized. Brophy slowly unfolds the point that the apes should be respected. She does it all with a light hand. This is a comedy, not a sermon.
Brophy was an English writer of Irish descent. She was one of nature's outsiders. She was an animal activist, a pacifist, a feminist. She is credited as the founder of the animal rights movement in England. This was her first novel, and the only one of hers that I have read, but my sense is that her tone and approach got stronger and more direct as she got older.
Dialog I enjoyed.
The professor is discussing the arms race with a reporter who says that firing rockets into space is essential to national defense.
"I should have thought," Darrylhyde said, "that sending up rockets was more offense than defense."
The reporter shook his head. "Everything to do with war is called defense nowadays. I think its an American word."
The cover of this first edition (not the one pictured above) caught my eye in a second hand bookstore. It was a cartoon of a professor type guy with an umbrella. He is sitting on a park bench looking concerned. He has his arm around a chimpanzee who is sitting next to him on the bench. The chimpanzee looks troubled.
I vaguely recognized Brophy's name. It was only $10 for a first edition with a cover in very good shape and it was a relatively short novel. I bought it.
It was very good. Professor Clement Darrylhyde is studying two Hackenfeller apes, named Percy and Edwina, in a zoo. (Hackenfeller apes are a species discovered by Hackenfeller, the Dutch explorer.) The professor is particularly hoping to get some knowledge of their mating habits, which are unknown to science.
He has been observing them for weeks and has become attached to them. He feels that he understands their personalities.
The plot is driven by a Governmental plan to remove Percy from the zoo and use him as a test animal in a space rocket. The professor joins up with Gloria, an adventuresome young lady, to try to save the apes.
This is a gentle story. Everyone, even the bad guys, is civilized. Brophy slowly unfolds the point that the apes should be respected. She does it all with a light hand. This is a comedy, not a sermon.
Brophy was an English writer of Irish descent. She was one of nature's outsiders. She was an animal activist, a pacifist, a feminist. She is credited as the founder of the animal rights movement in England. This was her first novel, and the only one of hers that I have read, but my sense is that her tone and approach got stronger and more direct as she got older.
Dialog I enjoyed.
The professor is discussing the arms race with a reporter who says that firing rockets into space is essential to national defense.
"I should have thought," Darrylhyde said, "that sending up rockets was more offense than defense."
The reporter shook his head. "Everything to do with war is called defense nowadays. I think its an American word."
June 24, 2015
One of the modern novels disliked by old Gervase Fen in his final literary appearance, "The Glimpses Of The Moon", according to his creator Edmund Crispin. Fen gave up after the first few pages, which means he missed the chance to read a jolly little comedy, with a few philosophical moments that clang a little, but not enough to slow things down. This is the 50s so the Space Race is expected to start soon, and Britain is expected to be in the front rank of it, with our own rocket programme under way at Northolt. It's a world in which academics are still impractical patricians who expect to fall in to posts without any trouble; we also get some exciting young people on the scene, and the idea that women might want and enjoy sex on their own terms is quietly mentioned. The plot is run through briskly with minimum fuss and is pleasantly surprising (I luckily avoided the spoilers that other reviewers have let out). I wonder if this was ever optioned or considered for a film version as in many ways this suits the style of British cinema at the time, though maybe it would have needed more gags and padding to suit a top comic performer.
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July 17, 2023Well...It's not as good as the first novel I read of Brophy's: The Snow Ball, but it was still entertaining and Brophy's writing was still excellent! In part, this shorter work of fiction reminds me of "Two in One", the short story by Flann O'Brien, and Brophy's satirical writing makes this story all the more hilarious. Like The Snow Ball Brophy infuses her story with references to music, specifically references to opera.
If you're a fan of Brophy's writing, satire, smart humour, and shorter fiction that critiques the relationship between humans (as if we're not animals) and animals, then this could be for you!
[Physical copy, discovered in a Little Free Library]
If you're a fan of Brophy's writing, satire, smart humour, and shorter fiction that critiques the relationship between humans (as if we're not animals) and animals, then this could be for you!
[Physical copy, discovered in a Little Free Library]
January 18, 2025
Very strange but very enjoyable. Not quite up there with Brophy’s brilliant novel The Snow Ball (1964), but interesting to see where she started with this, her first novel from 1953. It is great that these rather forgotten, interesting works are now back in publication.
November 19, 2025
I feel like I need to read this again. A neat little head-scratcher about monkeys and tbf I did not see the plot twist coming
February 6, 2011
A piece of ape arcana from the early 1950s. Buckle up: there WILL be a government researcher who skins a dead ape and wears that skin so he can take a rocket into space. I don't know how this has not been anointed as a modern classic.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 19, 2021
A brilliant, often funny, satire set in a zoo, in which the animals are much superior to the humans.
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March 30, 2024Read a great review of this book in the LRB. There’s some really interesting ideas crammed into this very sim novella. I really liked the section that flitted between the perspective of the humans and animals—it was light and graceful. I was less keen on the dogmatic narrative voice that creeps in from time to time—some sections read like a polemic—though thankfully this falls away by the second half; Brophy at least allows us to come to our own conclusions.
July 4, 2024
Book wasn’t bad at all. A really funny strange plot. Super unexpected and fun. Lots of good lively characters. Felt close to a Wes Anderson movie for sure. Just not what I was expecting. Bunch of bible and other references which I sort of got but definitely a more cultured reader would get more from. Lots of morals from Brophy for sure. (some that I everyone can get and some I’m sure I missed the deeper layers of) just solid. Nothing else to say. High 3, could be a 4 tbh. Might change
February 26, 2024
An adroitly balanced tale of farce and tragedy that is gloriously funny but, like all the best comic novels, possessed of a savage melancholy too. I wish had been twice or three times the size because it was too good, too fine a novel to be over so bloody quickly!
February 19, 2020
Extremely very good, but Brophy spells "show" as "shew" and it made me purse my lips unintentionally while reading along, in what I guess is kind of an appropriately Pavlovian thing.
March 13, 2024
One of the most exciting literary developments in recent years is the emergence of new imprints specialising in rediscovered gems – lesser-known or neglected writers given a new lease of life through carefully curated reissues. The Faber Editions series is proving to be an excellent source of forgotten classics, championing voices from the past that speak to our present. I think I’ve read seven of these books now, and they’ve all had something thrilling and original to offer.
Hackenfeller’s Ape – the debut novel by the British writer, critic and political activist Brigid Brophy – is a recent addition to the list, and what a brilliant choice it is, too. By turns witty, playful, beautiful and sad, this highly original novella is a provocative exploration of man’s treatment of animals, particularly those closest to us on the evolutionary scale. Moreover, the book feels eerily prescient, particularly in a world where animal rights, sustainability and a variety of environmental issues have risen in importance in recent years.
‘When my species has destroyed itself, we may need yours to start it all again.’ (p. 27)
Brophy’s mischievous story revolves around Professor Clement Darrelhyde, a scientist specialising in the study of apes. As the novel opens, the professor is in the midst of a project at London Zoo where he hopes to observe the mating ritual of two Hackenfeller’s Apes, Percy and Edwina. These apes, which hail from Africa, rarely mate in captivity, and details of their courtship rituals are little known, hence Darrelhyde’s interest in the study. Percy, however, is not playing ball, spurning Edwina’s advances much to the latter’s (and the professor’s) dismay. Even Darrelhyde’s enthusiastic singing – he is a lover of Mozart’s operas – fails to do the trick.
If the Chimpanzees’ Tea Party, which sometimes took place on a nearby lawn, was a rollicking caricature of human social life, here was a satire on human marriage. Separated by the yard or two that was the extent of their cage, not looking at one another, tensed, and huffy, Percy and Edwina might have been sitting at a breakfast table. (p. 9)
The Hackenfeller, we learn, is the closest creature to man in evolutionary terms, and Brophy does an excellent job of giving us hints into Percy’s character – particularly his apparent confusion and suffering. At times, the ape seems almost human – to Darrelhyde at least.
Nonetheless, Percy’s rebuttal was more than an animal gesture. He disengaged himself with something the Professor could only call gentleness. He seemed to be perplexed by his own action, and imposed on his muscles a control and subtlety hardly proper to his kind. His own puzzling need to be fastidious appeared to distress him as much as Edwina’s importunity. After their entanglements he would turn his melancholy face towards her and seem to be breaking his heart over his inability to explain. (p. 13)
One day, the professor’s observations are rudely interrupted by the arrival of Kendrick, an ambitious, self-assured young man intent on commandeering Percy for a scientific mission. Percy, it seems, is to be propelled into space, destined to be a guinea pig for experimental purposes – a test case, if you like, for humans to follow. The professor, for his part, takes an instant dislike to Kendrick, determining to save Percy from this inhumane endeavour.
To read the rest of my review, please visit:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2024...
Hackenfeller’s Ape – the debut novel by the British writer, critic and political activist Brigid Brophy – is a recent addition to the list, and what a brilliant choice it is, too. By turns witty, playful, beautiful and sad, this highly original novella is a provocative exploration of man’s treatment of animals, particularly those closest to us on the evolutionary scale. Moreover, the book feels eerily prescient, particularly in a world where animal rights, sustainability and a variety of environmental issues have risen in importance in recent years.
‘When my species has destroyed itself, we may need yours to start it all again.’ (p. 27)
Brophy’s mischievous story revolves around Professor Clement Darrelhyde, a scientist specialising in the study of apes. As the novel opens, the professor is in the midst of a project at London Zoo where he hopes to observe the mating ritual of two Hackenfeller’s Apes, Percy and Edwina. These apes, which hail from Africa, rarely mate in captivity, and details of their courtship rituals are little known, hence Darrelhyde’s interest in the study. Percy, however, is not playing ball, spurning Edwina’s advances much to the latter’s (and the professor’s) dismay. Even Darrelhyde’s enthusiastic singing – he is a lover of Mozart’s operas – fails to do the trick.
If the Chimpanzees’ Tea Party, which sometimes took place on a nearby lawn, was a rollicking caricature of human social life, here was a satire on human marriage. Separated by the yard or two that was the extent of their cage, not looking at one another, tensed, and huffy, Percy and Edwina might have been sitting at a breakfast table. (p. 9)
The Hackenfeller, we learn, is the closest creature to man in evolutionary terms, and Brophy does an excellent job of giving us hints into Percy’s character – particularly his apparent confusion and suffering. At times, the ape seems almost human – to Darrelhyde at least.
Nonetheless, Percy’s rebuttal was more than an animal gesture. He disengaged himself with something the Professor could only call gentleness. He seemed to be perplexed by his own action, and imposed on his muscles a control and subtlety hardly proper to his kind. His own puzzling need to be fastidious appeared to distress him as much as Edwina’s importunity. After their entanglements he would turn his melancholy face towards her and seem to be breaking his heart over his inability to explain. (p. 13)
One day, the professor’s observations are rudely interrupted by the arrival of Kendrick, an ambitious, self-assured young man intent on commandeering Percy for a scientific mission. Percy, it seems, is to be propelled into space, destined to be a guinea pig for experimental purposes – a test case, if you like, for humans to follow. The professor, for his part, takes an instant dislike to Kendrick, determining to save Percy from this inhumane endeavour.
To read the rest of my review, please visit:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2024...
August 3, 2023
I would give this book 3 stars. It was published in 1953: the author, Brigid Brophy, was prescient in predicting that humankind would take an animal and launch it into space (before trying it out in humans) and that we would have an orbiting space station. And by golly, she was right! 😮
As well, this is also about how humans treat animals (putting them in cages in zoos, eating them)...Brophy became a vegetarian in 1954 and a vegan in 1980....so she practiced what she preached.
I gave her slightly later work The King of a Rainy Country (1956) 3.5 stars.
This is a novella — 125 pages in my Virago Modern Classics reissue — and it won the Cheltenham Festival Prize for first novel in 1954.
Synopsis from back of my VMC reissue:
• Percy is a rare Hackenfeller’s ape (JimZ: there is no such thing...but in the novel it was portrayed as the closest simian to a human) caged in London Zoo with his humble, desirous companion Edwina. Professor Darrelhyde, a diffident bachelor, longs to witness the apes’ reputedly beautiful mating ritual, but Percy, inhibited by confinement and loneliness, will not oblige either Darrelhyde or Edwina. As the Professor stands by the cage, talking to Percy and singing Mozart, their empathy increases daily. But a determined scientist plans to launch Percy in a rocket. Outraged, the Professor, abetted by a young female burglar, plots Percy’s nocturnal escape...
• Moving effortlessly between fabulism and naturalism, ‘Hackenfeller’s Ape’ illuminates Brigid Brophy’s abiding concern with the way humankind treats the rest of the animal world. The nature of speech and communication, the absurdities of gender and the exhilarating genius of Mozart weave other strands into this idiosyncratically graceful tale.
Reviews:
• https://www.stuckinabook.com/hackenfe...
• https://voiceforethicalresearchatoxfo...
As well, this is also about how humans treat animals (putting them in cages in zoos, eating them)...Brophy became a vegetarian in 1954 and a vegan in 1980....so she practiced what she preached.
I gave her slightly later work The King of a Rainy Country (1956) 3.5 stars.
This is a novella — 125 pages in my Virago Modern Classics reissue — and it won the Cheltenham Festival Prize for first novel in 1954.
Synopsis from back of my VMC reissue:
• Percy is a rare Hackenfeller’s ape (JimZ: there is no such thing...but in the novel it was portrayed as the closest simian to a human) caged in London Zoo with his humble, desirous companion Edwina. Professor Darrelhyde, a diffident bachelor, longs to witness the apes’ reputedly beautiful mating ritual, but Percy, inhibited by confinement and loneliness, will not oblige either Darrelhyde or Edwina. As the Professor stands by the cage, talking to Percy and singing Mozart, their empathy increases daily. But a determined scientist plans to launch Percy in a rocket. Outraged, the Professor, abetted by a young female burglar, plots Percy’s nocturnal escape...
• Moving effortlessly between fabulism and naturalism, ‘Hackenfeller’s Ape’ illuminates Brigid Brophy’s abiding concern with the way humankind treats the rest of the animal world. The nature of speech and communication, the absurdities of gender and the exhilarating genius of Mozart weave other strands into this idiosyncratically graceful tale.
Reviews:
• https://www.stuckinabook.com/hackenfe...
• https://voiceforethicalresearchatoxfo...
June 16, 2024
This is a slim little novella that still feels deeply relevant to this day. Granted, I do think the racial undertones against Brown/Black people in here were kind of ... weird. Barring my issues with that for a bit, it was a really solid look at how humans treat animals and the animal kingdom more generally. It asks what we do in the name of progress and how and why we have come to this conclusion. I was really fond of the little moments Brophy decided to deviate from expectation formally, using music, note sheets, and even drastic POV changes here and there; it added for an interesting touch. There is some comedic commentary of the nature of bureaucracy in here which I really liked.
We had surprisingly complex (which is to say that they are imperfect; yes, the bar is in hell for characterisation) characters in this. I really liked the inclusion of Gloria and Kendrick. The plot twist did!!! catch me off-guard and added some depth to who we considered the villain all along. I won't spoil things, but you do wonder if man is immensely smart or just reckless. The final chapter in this was amazing. You can tell this was written by a woman because only the fairer sex can articulate the anger and vitriol that comes with a pregnancy without hinging on excessive violence against the mother. Banged.
Basically, this was part thriller, part heist, part philosophical-political commentary, and ultimately a tragicomedy. It was hilarious, if not a reflection of how depressing the depraved state of humanity has come to.
We had surprisingly complex (which is to say that they are imperfect; yes, the bar is in hell for characterisation) characters in this. I really liked the inclusion of Gloria and Kendrick. The plot twist did!!! catch me off-guard and added some depth to who we considered the villain all along. I won't spoil things, but you do wonder if man is immensely smart or just reckless. The final chapter in this was amazing. You can tell this was written by a woman because only the fairer sex can articulate the anger and vitriol that comes with a pregnancy without hinging on excessive violence against the mother. Banged.
Basically, this was part thriller, part heist, part philosophical-political commentary, and ultimately a tragicomedy. It was hilarious, if not a reflection of how depressing the depraved state of humanity has come to.
April 1, 2024
This is a 1953 novel, just reissued. It’s interesting for us because it’s about the relationships between humans and other creatures, and remarkable because part of the narrative is imagined through the mind (sic) of the eponymous, near-human, ape.
It scores highly because it is satirical and witty, and undermines human vainglory and exceptionalism. True, it actually tends to reinforce that exceptionalism by having the ape effectively ‘aspire’ to the condition of being human, but that’s understandable given the date of writing.
Short, entertaining, thought-provoking. Well worth tracking down.
‘[The professor] passed between the vultures and the flamingoes, creatures no less extravagant and bizarre as Man.’
‘The past was so dim to [the ape’s] mind that it was almost a new experience to be free. He clasped his hands and swung his arms up to the sky, exulting in the oiled articulation of his bones.’
Of humanity in Regent’s Park: ‘The ground, too hard to receive their spoors, shook beneath games that revealed a high degree of social organisation. On the gravel paths, scuffles and hoots gave evidence of courting rites; and in every part the characteristic calls of the kind lay clear and pleasant upon the vivid air.’
2024 Thumbnail Review #21 Hackenfeller’s Ape by Brigid Brophy
It scores highly because it is satirical and witty, and undermines human vainglory and exceptionalism. True, it actually tends to reinforce that exceptionalism by having the ape effectively ‘aspire’ to the condition of being human, but that’s understandable given the date of writing.
Short, entertaining, thought-provoking. Well worth tracking down.
‘[The professor] passed between the vultures and the flamingoes, creatures no less extravagant and bizarre as Man.’
‘The past was so dim to [the ape’s] mind that it was almost a new experience to be free. He clasped his hands and swung his arms up to the sky, exulting in the oiled articulation of his bones.’
Of humanity in Regent’s Park: ‘The ground, too hard to receive their spoors, shook beneath games that revealed a high degree of social organisation. On the gravel paths, scuffles and hoots gave evidence of courting rites; and in every part the characteristic calls of the kind lay clear and pleasant upon the vivid air.’
2024 Thumbnail Review #21 Hackenfeller’s Ape by Brigid Brophy
April 8, 2024
Really loved this one from 1953 (although the date seems to be currently showing as 1964). One could mistake this for a semi-historical take on the use of animals in space travel. One could also decide it's simply a larger investigation of animal rights, and it could certainly be read as that, but this would be to minimize the range of its power and pleasures, in my opinion. The novel is gorgeously lean both in terms of page count and setup. Brophy's an uncanny stylist who had me utterly transported from the inside of the ape enclosure to the top of the zoo walls to the outer confines of the planet's gravitational pull. This is ultimately a book about the cages we build for ourselves and others through our actions and our expectations. I plan to re-read it every few years.
January 14, 2024
Slow at first, I was hooked by the end of the first chapter. It's so well written - clean and succinct - that at times it feels like historical fiction rather than of it's time. This is partly (a large part) of it's themes around how we use natural resources and treat animals.
Admitting there is a problem doesn't make it go away and this short, but effective, book reminds us that the same problems haven't stopped and that we have done nothing to better the situation.
I'm now going to get off my soap box and find more by and about Brigid Brophy.
Admitting there is a problem doesn't make it go away and this short, but effective, book reminds us that the same problems haven't stopped and that we have done nothing to better the situation.
I'm now going to get off my soap box and find more by and about Brigid Brophy.
August 24, 2023
It was interesting and I loved the references throughout to Mozart's opera, The Marriage of Figaro which I have loved since my student days.
It seemed somewhat prurient( seeing as how it takes place in a zoo and that the Professor (the antihero of the novelette) wants to see apes copulate (purely for scientific study) is rather a foregone conclusion, in my opinion. Granted, it is handled delicately but I quickly became bored.
It seemed somewhat prurient( seeing as how it takes place in a zoo and that the Professor (the antihero of the novelette) wants to see apes copulate (purely for scientific study) is rather a foregone conclusion, in my opinion. Granted, it is handled delicately but I quickly became bored.
January 28, 2024
It's wonderfully written with biting wit. My only gripe is that the entire time I was ever so slightly just missing out on what felt like the essential takeaway. The whole picture never quite coalesced for me, which was so frustrating because it is so well written.
I did enjoy it but it took me a long time to get through such a short book - probably the main reason I wouldn't rate this book higher. 3/5 stars.
I did enjoy it but it took me a long time to get through such a short book - probably the main reason I wouldn't rate this book higher. 3/5 stars.
April 1, 2024
A slightly lackluster novel that involves an ape who is chosen to be jettisoned into space, a lonely scientist who projects strongly upon his subject and a thief. To be quite honest, despite being quite bizarre, it is very trope laden and it didn't quite gel with me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 19, 2024
Another banger from London.
June 1, 2024
3.5 stars
August 8, 2024
Ape together strong
May 18, 2025
Really incredible book. Very funny and so ahead of it's time.
May 21, 2025
Honestly kind of boring and underwhelming but I guess not so much that I needed to put the book down.
June 29, 2025
got me thinking fr
July 31, 2025
in turns baffling and morally didactic with two of my favourite things... novel about apes AND what i like to call an 'evil baby' ending
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews