Jonathan K (Max Outlier) > Recent Status Updates

While I don't recall verse and phrase from the original Dickens novel, this is curious

It's interesting but unlike the Tom Sawyer interpretation titled "James"..been decades since I read Oliver Twist though the characters are memorable and then some

Wonderful!

Hmmmmm

Lackluster and tedious..UGH

Mediocre at best..

Mediocre when compared to the Horse Whisperer

Convoluted is the best word I can think of..After countless pages of evolution theory it turns to analysis of the characters in the Bible, maps from thousands of years ago then Ishmael is sold to a carnival. Again, I haven't any idea how the studio turned this into a story about an anthropologist who studied mountain gorillas and was arrested and imprisoned

Other than loving Horse Whisperer, the other reason I chose this story was its focus on wolves. I mention this having just finished The Feather Thief which among other things reminds us of how human greed caused extinction of millions of birds. Here we see something similar with wolves who were 'harvested' during the 1800s for their fur..UGH!

A different brand of story than Horse Whisperer, but engaging nonetheless. Hopefully Evans will open the spout and fill us with plot twists

I'll be honest saying that while interesting, its borderline fantasy. A conversation between a journalist and a gorilla whose knowledge of religion, evolution and science is PhD level is a bit hard to swallow in some respects. In the film adaptation, Anthony Hopkins plays an anthropologist who studies mountain gorillas but unlike Ishmael, they don't speak nor are they college grads, LOL

While somewhat interesting I've yet to figure out how the studio that produced "Instinct" developed a script from this since this is a deeply philosophical discussion between a gorilla and a man about the laws that govern life..And while apes are intelligent, Ishmael is PhD level

Maybe I'm jaded since I loved the Horse Whisperer, but for an author that lives in the UK, his ability to tell stories based in Montana that engage the reader with relatable characters and plot are terrific

Nice..Evans builds tension from the start

Unfamiliar with the author, I just read his GR bio which makes this book's story understandable since he's highly educated and scientifically oriented. Definitely one of the more unique books I've come across

Not sure what to think..a gorilla probes the man to learn whether he's figured out that the universe is governed by laws but man hasn't been able to establish one for how he ought to live. I personally feel that expecting the reader to believe a gorilla has this level of knowledge is far reaching

At its core, this is a philosophical discussion. Since evolutionists say man evolved from ape, the author broaches the topic of creation/man using the ape as a highly intelligent being who seeks a human interpretation. Again, this has little to do with the Hopkins film; I'd love to speak with the studio that adapted it to see what they had in mind, LOL

Very curious indeed..the essence of the story is an intellectual conversation between a gorilla and man about what it is to be human. In the Hopkins film, he goes to Africa to study gorillas; here the gorilla refers to the humans as takers or leavers; so far that's the only element they have in common. I've witnessed numerous adaptations but none like this

Don't see any correlation between a man who answers a classified ad seeking a teacher and discovers the student is a gorilla named Ishmael. Stranger still is how Ishmael articulates his story telepathically; he comes across as highly educated. Very curious indeed

Hmm...checked this book out from the library since it was used as bassis the Anthony Hopkins, Cuba Gooding film "Instinct"..so far I don't see the connection other than Ishmael the gorilla..in the film Hopkins plays an anthropologist studying mountain gorillas and is arrested for killing several poachers

Fascinating factual account that demonstrates how natural history museums fail to inventory the collective. And when robbed there is no way for them to know how many were stolen. Brief 4 star review tomorrow.

Amazing.. 50 pages of bibliography, acknowledgements and footnotes. You'd think he'd just written the Origin of the Species!

Incredibly well written, the narrative engages, informs and reads like a mystery. For those unaware Kirk formed a non-profit to help refugees from Iraq after the war. When this story took hold, his passion to tell it and find the missing birds caused him to close the doors and remain focused on the completion of the book

While not unusual for an author to chronicle facts related to thefts, when Kirk learns there are hundreds of birds that weren't recovered after Rist was sentenced, he take it upon himself to find them. Good stuff

As you make your way through the factual account, the name John McClain. A police officer assigned to the Edwin Rist case, it triggered memories of Bruce Willis in "Die Hard" since his character was also a cop with the same name. Stranger than fiction