Self's indulgent monkey story. (Great Apes - Will Self)

Member Name: peel.rebekah

Product:	Great Apes - Will Self
Date:	12/06/01 (91 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Longer words than I know., Great storyline and all that.

Disadvantages: Not that many., But then Self can really get on your nerves.

HoooGraa! and welcome.

Huu?

Wraa! Welcome to peel.rebekah's opinion on Great Apes, of course.

Oh, alright, I'll do this properly then: Will 'look at me, I'm so clever, I can use really long words and I'm ever so handsome' Self, was once again acclaimed for this little treasure in 1997 (normal line up of critics - Guardian, Telegraph etc.), and rightly so (even though I'm kinda against anyone having their already enlarged trumpet blown this loudly (how British)). Great Apes is a perspectives pastiche on society; a parody of Planet of the Apes, except this time set in the bum parading worlds of Fine Art and intellectual thinkers.

*The Story.

Simon Dykes is an up-and-coming artist who makes the rounds in London's art scene with his close and cynical clique. He has no REAL worries (although thoughts of his ex-wife badger him some, and he has an inclination to see the animal instincts in those around him); he has an exhibition pending that should drive home his name as the next best thing since a dead shark (or even a piece of Blu Tak); he has a beautiful and popular girlfriend who desires his closeness; and he has a head full of ideas for his new body of work.

He has no REAL problems, that is, until he decides to share a little illegal aperitif with Sarah (his girlfriend), that knocks him sideways, out of kilter and into another reality...

Meanwhile, Self introduces us to Dr.Zack Busner - eminent psychologist, Alpha male and chimp. Busner is searching for ways to reaffirm his chimpness - A new patient, a new book, a new surge of interest and acclaim into his aging persona - All of this would be readily welcomed by Busner; and so too is the inexplicable case of Simon Dykes (famous artist), who seems to have had a total mental breakdown, and believes he is a human (in a human world where everyone else has been replaced by chimpanzees).

Busner?s mission to 'cure'
Simon is played on a backdrop of the social twists and turns in the life of a chimpanzee: Subservient males always vying for dominance (therefore conspiring against Busner), sexual readiness (especially with your own offspring) at the drop of a hat, continual brown nosing to superiors (literally) and other general depravities that would only (surely?) be relevant in a world filled by apes.

Simon has to 'recover' his senses (regain his status, relearn his language and reintroduce himself to society) in time for the big opening of his exhibition (his work has also fallen foul of this change in surroundings). Will Busner cure his patient? Will Simon come to terms with this altered state? Or will all this be the desired bad trip that Simon so dearly wants to believe it is?

*The Writing.

For those of you who are not acquainted with Self's over indulgent style:

"The painting was about this: that Babylon contained this moment of explosion, this blatosphere, latent in all its solidity, its municipality.

And if not Babylon, why not London? And if not the plains of heaven, why not the moors of cumulo-nimbus? The smudged cotton wool that kissed the curved undersides of aircraft as they powered across the sky. Why not, why not indeed? Simon distrusted epiphanies..."

Self likes to embellish his thoughts and words with wondrous garments; Great Apes is pretty tame in this department in comparison to My Idea of Fun and Grey Area, but if you don't enjoy his lyrical trimmings, then it can begin to grate a little - Me? I often have a dictionary at my side, just in case, but I'm a sucker for arrogant men who flaunt their intellect :o).

Aside from these gilded words, Great Apes contains another language (or code, if you will): The Chimpanzees and Bonobos ("Throughout this book I have used the term 'bonobo' and its variants to refer to chimps of African origin. I appreciate that som
e of the bonobos prefer the ascription 'Afro-American', or in the case of the British, 'Afro-Carribean'...") do not have the same vocal ability of humans (or at least of humans in a human world), and therefore have to 'sign' their conversations. Self deals with this issue pretty quickly, by writing the text as conversation and introducing it with the tonal grunt that would normally proceed i.e. '"Huuu?" Well yes, I suppose so.' Other variants in the oral utterances are: HoooH'Gra, chup-chupp, Wraff! etc.

The obvious differences that lay between the writing of a text in the context of a human and that of an ape are dealt with well (and with wit):

'Hamble...vaulted over the hedge and began gently to groom him, inparting as he did so, 'Please, Mr Dykes, may I call you Simon "huu"? Don't put yourself down with such deference. I acknowledge your submissiveness joyfully, but really "chup-chupp" don't trouble yourself!''

'As he turned the last thing that Simon saw through his tears was sarah's darling muzzle. On it was an expression of almost insane bewilderment, but despite that she was taking comfort - as apes do - by mating again with Ken Braithwaite.'

Self deduces the reality of ape world with disconcerting awareness: He comments on Sarah's parental problems (she seeks and needs attention from the male of the species as her father failed in his duties to 'service' her on a regular basis), he parallels the subservience of lower apes to the hierarchy within the art world, and he makes a dashing vision of how gay chimps are seen in this not so altered society. He does all this and more; he takes what we know and spins it sideways. I like this book.

*Why I like this book.

Fine, so after putting my little crush on Mr Self away in the cupboard for a moment, why do I like this book?

Do you ever wa
tch a film, read a book or listen to a piece of music and think "That was supposed to exist"? Oh, no? Ok, it's just me then :o) But seriously, this story existed without Self telling it; It existed way back in our genes of what might have been - it takes the theory of evolution to a humorous and reflective level; it lets us see our true nature.

I suppose if you choose to see Great Apes in that light, then it is rather scathing (just wrapped up in sparkling holographic paper (with ribbons) for our consumption), yet notice the comedy, please...Self actually includes a moment when Simon is forced (by Busner) to watch the ape equivalent of Planet of the Apes - Originally entitled Planet of the Humans. Imagine the horror (the laughable horror, as this is still fiction) in discovering that such a well known parody is parodied even further. Imagine the delusion of a sane man waking up to the mayhem of chimps copulating at every given moment - and all that he has known within his own animalistic tendencies (which have been oh so suppressed) suddenly become acoustically enhanced one hundred fold.

Imagine all this, and then add Self's waxen tongue and dancing prose.

Self actually introduces the book himself - as a chimp - and this charade is kept throughout. He paints this alternative universe with blazingly colourful language; he plays the theme to the hilt; he uses strong images and words (at times - so faint of heart, take note), and he never misses a beat in tearing the a*** licking society we live in well and truely apart.

Recommended read for those of you that forgive Self for being such a pompous git.

Enjoy.

Published by Penguin at 7.99 a shot.

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