We live in an age when "art" has become horrifically bloated. Every major movie is three hours long, even the insipid Summer blockbusters. Authors from Don DeLillo to Tom Clancy crank out enormous doorstop-like novels of 700 to 1,000 pages. The artist Cristo doesn't just paint pictures, he wraps entire islands in pink cellophane. It is as if artists had lost confidence in their capacity to say anything meaningful and so they opt instead to try to bury us in pure volume. Heck, Bill Clinton's State of the Union message this year--a message which until modern times President's were content to simply write out and send up to the Hill--resembled a Fidel Castro harangue, lasting over an hour and a half. Apparently, if you're not sure about the quality, make up for it with quantity.

The results have been predictably uneven--on the one hand, the perfectly adequate 1934 comedy Death Takes a Holiday, which ran under 80 minutes, was recently turned into the interminable vanity project, Meet Joe Black. But on the other hand, Tom Wolfe's terrific A Man in Full (see Orrin's review) actually had one of the best set pieces he's ever written, Ambush at Fort Bragg (see Orrin's review), excised from the final novel. It seem that, just as we would expect, the sheer size of these projects bears no relation to the quality of the finished product. It is still the case that great writers and directors can produce outstanding longer works, but mediocre artists can not salvage their's, no matter how they inflate them.

All of which brings us to Bridge on the River Kwai. I'm sure that everyone is familiar with the story from David Lean's 1957 masterpiece, starring Alec Guiness, William Holden, Jack Hawkins and Sessue Hayakawa. Lean was the undisputed master of the movie epic--with films like River Kwai, Doctor Zhivago, Passage to India and Lawrence of Arabia to his credit--and his film version of Boulle's novel is a mammoth, 2 1/2 hour, panorama. It is unquestionably one of the greatest movies ever made.

Boulle's original, while every bit as great, is a spare, economical novel, which compacts vexing moral questions and ethical confrontations into a small but powerful package. It stands as sort of a demonstration that artists who actually have something to say need not resort to gigantism. The only major element that differs from the movie is that Lean needed an American actor for promotional purposes, so the whole scenario with William Holden escaping the camp and then returning with the demolition crew was added. All of the moral quandaries that make the story so memorable and timeless remain, despite the brevity of the book.

In fact, some of the themes emerge more forcefully. Pierre Boulle was himself captured, imprisoned, set to forced labor and then escaped from such a camp in Malaysia and one of the strongest undercurrents in the book is the author's obvious contempt for the Japanese. This is in many ways one of the most racist (I mean that in a non pejorative sense, if such a thing is possible any longer) stories ever told. The underlying assumption is that the two colonial powers find these places in a state of primitive savagery. The Japanese merely seek to exploit them for their own purposes and do so in an accordingly slipshod way. The British, meanwhile, attempt to bring the highest standards of civilization to bear and try to reengineer the wilderness so that it will stand as an eternal monument to British values. Boulle uses the construction of the bridge to demonstrate that the Japanese are brutal incompetents and that the British, while they are the world's master builders (both of engineering marvels and of civilizations), are so warped by their own rigid codes of duty and honor that they are blinded to ultimate issues of the propriety of their actions.

I must have read this book or seen the movie dozens of times since I was a kid. One of the really remarkable things about the story is how different facets stand out each time, or is it just that at different ages or in different social circumstances certain themes seem more important than at others. When you're a callow youth, the whole thing is just a bang up military adventure. In the late 60's and early 70's the point of the story seemed to many to be simply anti-war--"Madness! Madness!" as Clipton says. Today, I read it and see a Frenchman dissing the Japanese and the British. That Boulle achieves this kaleidoscopic effect with such brevity is a remarkable accomplishment and should serve as a reminder to all that increased size is no substitute for substantial ideas.

GRADE: A+

I think this is one of the best books you can ever read. It is decriptive and exciting. A sure prize if you can get one. The story being set in Thailand (formerly Siam) is wonderful because it sets the scene for many of the dramatic events. It is my absolute favorite book, and anyone who gets the chance should read it.

Havent seen the movie for awhile, but have a question about it? Was the movie taken place in Africa and if so, where was the river Kwai? Is it in Kenya? Thanks for the help.

It is quite unfortunate that only two books by Pierre Boulle are generally available in the U.S.: Bridge on the River Kwai and Planet of the Apes. However, The Whale of The Victoria Cross shows how wonderfully fertile a writer's imagination can be. Boulle gives us a most unusual premise involving a naval battle and the critical involvement and influence of marine mammals. I also recommend Ears of the Jungle by the same author -- a Vietnam War story told from the main character's perspective, who just happens to be a high level North Vietnamese strategist. Fabulous!

When I finally got a chance to read this book I took my sweet time. Too many others knock the book because it's not the movie. This book is one of the greatest narratives I have ever read. It's very refreshing! Too much SF gets heavy-handed and pounds a message into you. Planet Of The Apes let's you decide as to what depth you wish to explore the story.

Despite the fact that I really liked the film, I enjoyed the book even more. You can tell where a lot of the ideas for the follow-up films came from and that alone says how much story is really in this short piece. Which, by the way, has been seriously lacking in today's SF.

Too many books are written with the intent of selling them as movies, long trivial side stories and multiple characters used just to fill in pages.

And to all of those who miss the surprise ending (in the movie)...did you read the same book...

Read It! (Slow). Nuff Said!! :)

It's the year 2500. Three astronauts have set off from Earth to travel to the distant star of Betelgeuse. Carrying a small variety of vegetables, animals, and a chimpanzee their estimated time of travel is a little over two years.

After arriving at the star of Betelgeuse, they find, to their excitement, a planet that looks not unlike Earth. Initial views show landmasses, oceans, and an atmosphere that could possibly support life. Taking a shuttle down to the planet, signs of civilization can be seen as they fly overhead to a landing location.

This story reveals the plight of Ulysse Merou, one of the astronauts from Earth. He is thrown into a backwards world were Apes rule, and humans are the animals. The apes of this planet have science, technology, and art. They hunt humans for game and use them for experiments much like the humans of earth use monkeys. How, did a world so comparable to ours evolve into such a different state?

This is the first book I've read where I had a hard time separating the book from the movie. This is probably because I've seen the movie so many times before I read the book. I thought I should read it before the next movie comes out. The movie follows closely to the "concepts" of the book. The biggest differences being in how much more technically advanced the apes are in the book. Recognizable characters such as, Cornelius, Zira, and Nova are in the book. Ulysse Merou would actually be the George Taylor of the movie.

Boulle elegantly crafts a satire that points out how cruel humans can be. What could happen if the tables were turned? Possibly, even a glimpse of what we could be heading for in the far distant future. This is science fiction at it's finest.

The book has a nice twisted ending like the movie. However, it's much different and actually better crafted.

After seeing both versions of this classic tale, I just had to get my hands on the original. "Planet of the Apes," was written before the original movie by a French writer named Pierre Boulle and was used as a model for all of the numerous movies. I went into the book not knowing what to expect and I wasn't let down.

"Planet of the Apes," follows the travels of three French astronauts and their chimp in a time period where space travel is as common as driving cars. They travel to a distant star much resembling the Sun and explore a planet in it's orbit that looks like Earth. Once landing on the planet, they discover the up-side-down world where humans are non verbal savages and apes are the rulers of the planet. Their ship is destroyed and they are become stranded on this strange planet where humans are used for scientific purposes. The main character Ulysse Merou(nothing at all like Charlton Heston) befriends two ape friends in hopes of defining himself as a civilized human, not a savage one.

The book is very well written and has very good characters. Although the story recieved little acclaim, it certainly will fufill the hunger for authentic "Planet of the Apes." With a surprise ending, unlike the movies, the book defines itself as one of the greatest books of it's time and a good model for books to come. I recommend this book to all science fiction lovers and literature lovers.

Pierre Boulle said about this book it was his favorite. You'll find two parts in this book. The first one, "On earth...", is made of several very good tales about Nazi and about a strange suicide. "Son Dernier combat" ("His Last fight") shows Adolf Hitler as a 70-year-old man in South America, who meets Martin Borman (very bad Nazi who disappeared in 1945). They talk about the past, and... but let's keep the story in the secret. Read it, it is terrific ! The second part is about hell and heaven. It is about angels that come on Earth to erase the Religion because they have understood that the man is not ready. It is about Eve (in the Garden of Heaven) who doesn't want to eat the forbidden fruit, and God knows she HAS to. So God cheats. Well... the plots are great, read it !

Upon reading a review of Tim Burton's movie version of "Planet of the Apes", I was surprised to learn that the original was a French novel, and sufficiently intrigued to buy a copy at French Amazon. The book is a lot better than either movie version. It could actually be classified as literature. I'll admit that watching movie actors prance around in ape suits has a certain cheesy charm, but the novel is much more interesting than the films.
The novel is serious and thought-provoking, but also has its highly entertaining, funny moments. For instance, in the book the Charlton Heston character is captured by the apes and is then held captive in a laboratory as an experimental subject. The study's goal: elucidate human mating habits. The wounded pride and perplexity of our hero as he gradually figures out exactly what the apes expect him to do are wonderfully expressed in the book. (By the way: I don't recall this happening to Charlton Heston in the movie.)
For fellow students of French, I can assure you that this novel is readable. It's level is not too difficult, and the story holds your interest.

True story of WW II Japanese prisoner of war camp in which Allied POWs are forced to build a railroad bridge to benefit the Japanese war effort. The book served as the basis for the 1956 Oscar winning movie for Best Picture. The book deals with the grim brutality of war, but still depicts the humanity of both captors and captives

Bridge Over the River Kwai is a very interesting novel depicting the true story of POW's from a Japanese Labor Camp who are forced to build a bridge for the Japanese war effort. Although the novel can be dry at times, the descriptions of camp life and the grueling work conditions come alive, putting you right there in the thick jungle next to some sweaty G.I.s. Plus the underlying issue of personal desires getting in the way of the big picture (the Allied war effort) is undeniably strong and is a lesson in life that everyone should be exposed to. Bridge Over the River Kwai is a definite "must read" in my opinion.

This book is one of Pierre Boulle's best works. This story is intriguing and action filled. If you are looking for a great read, get this book!

This is a very strange story. A Chinese executioner in the middle ages is banned because it is discovered that he murders just before he executes ! Good book about a Kafka-like society where you may kill but you may not murder. The end is disappoiting so...3 stars.

Any fan of S/F stories has to read 'Monkey Planet'. Its influence, especially through the 'ape' franchise, is evident in all subsequent S/F media. As a stand alone novel, it is a thought provoking and emotional story that unfolds through the reading of message in a bottle. What prevents it from getting four stars is the feeling that it has lost some shine in translation. A personal feeling backed up by no fact whatsoever. A book you have no choice in reading but you will enjoy greatly regardless.

This book bears many similarities to Boulle's earlier masterpiece, "The Bridge on the River Kwai." Like Col. Nicholson in his earlier book, the hero Butler is in a bad situation (former Vietnam vet turned heroin addict) and becomes obsessed with a task (producing pure heroin for his new employers) which leads him into a grand scheme (producing five tons to be imported into the US). And much like the earlier book, there is a lesser storyline of others (the US "Narcotics Bureau") working secretly to counter this plan. And yes, like the other book, the two sides meet in a what might be regarded in a tragic climax. This book, however, is much less compelling and interesting than its predecessor.

Sorry for my bad English. This is not his best book, but you can find in "The Photographer" a Pierre Boulle's leitmotiv : the absurd obsession, that grows up to the drama. A French photographer who has been wounded during the war in Algeria has always wanted to take THE picture and has never been satisfied. But he discovers that one of his friends wants to murder the President. So he decides to help him in order to take a photograph of a dying President. Cynical and nervous but could be more => 2 stars.