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The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore

by Benjamin Hale (Goodreads Author)

3.59 of 5 stars 3.59 · rating details · 1,533 ratings · 437 reviews

Bruno Littlemore is quite unlike any chimpanzee in the world. Precocious, self-conscious and preternaturally gifted, young Bruno, born and raised in a habitat at the local zoo, falls under the care of a university primatologist named Lydia Littlemore. Learning of Bruno's ability to speak, Lydia takes Bruno into her home to oversee his education and nurture his passion for...more

Hardcover, 578 pages

Published February 2nd 2011 by Twelve (first published 2011)

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Feb 27, 2011 Jafar rated it 4 of 5 stars

A book like this should come with a warning on the cover: This book will interfere with your normal life. It’s almost 600 pages, and you won’t be able to put it down. This will be a serious problem unless you’re one of those prodigal fast readers. You’ve been forewarned. To hold a full-time job and finish this book in less than a week is an achievement in itself for a sluggish reader like me. This book provides a good excuse to stay at home on a Saturday night when it’s cold and windy and you re...more

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Feb 13, 2011 Tony rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: u-s-lit, top-10-2011

Behold Genius.

Benjamin Hale is scary smart and as good a writer as it is legal to be. What a debut! He knows his Shakespeare and has captured his rhythm. And Eliot. And the Bible. The Language that flows through us all. Hale, a literary Incubus, seduces with timelessly crafted sentences on every page.

Start with a great idea....

No, to start: That is the greatest cover for a book, ever.

Now, restart with a great idea: a chimpanzee who learns to speak, who evolves in starts and fits into Man. I've r...more

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Feb 13, 2011 Lori rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc-reviewers-copy, fiction

Review copy from publisher

Well, there is one positive to calling out sick and feeling like death warmed over - and that is the ability to clock in uninterrupted "couch time", which allowed me to breeze through the final 150 pages of The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore today.

One of the more talked about novels back in May 2010 during the BEA's, I managed to somehow walk right by this hefty novel without adding it to my many bags of books. Huge thanks go out to it's publisher, Twelve, for making a r...more Review copy from publisher

Well, there is one positive to calling out sick and feeling like death warmed over - and that is the ability to clock in uninterrupted "couch time", which allowed me to breeze through the final 150 pages of The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore today.

One of the more talked about novels back in May 2010 during the BEA's, I managed to somehow walk right by this hefty novel without adding it to my many bags of books. Huge thanks go out to it's publisher, Twelve, for making a review copy available.

Prepare to be schooled by an ape. Bruno Littlemore - "Bruno I was given, Littlemore I gave myself" - narrates the story of his life from a jail cell. Yes, that's right. The book is cleverly narrated by an ape. And not just any ape. Our ape, Bruno, is capable of human speech. A bi-pedal ape who loves, longs, and lies just like a human. And has apparently committed murder in a fit of rage like one too.

Taken from his home at the Lincoln Park Zoo at an early age, Bruno finds himself the subject of many scientific behavioral test at the Erman Biology Center of the University of Chicago. Demonstrating a severe preference for human contact, Bruno quickly falls in love with Lydia - one of the research center's female employees. Just as quickly, Lydia discovers Bruno's ability to think and rationalize like a human and begins spending all of her time, and much of the center's money, teaching and developing Bruno's ever-evolving mind.

Told through the childlike mind of a chimp who speaks more fluently and scholarly than most humans I know, we are exposed to the many raw, graphic moments of his life. This ape, who believes himself human, who begins to live his life as a human, also begins a love affair with a human. I had to repeatedly remind myself that what I was reading was taking place between a chimp and a human. Sometimes sweet and tender, other times creepy and beastly, Bruno spends much of the novel's 576 pages confessing his reciprocated love and obsession for Lydia. Fair warning - this book oozes taboo topics. Be prepared to read it with an open mind, or do not read it at all.

He also divulges his passion for painting, classical music, and theatre - all of which he spends some time dabbling in. An ape who wraps himself in human clothing, perfecting his brush strokes while listening to Bach, and rehearsing his lines for an upcoming presentation of Shakespeare's The Tempest, you ask? You really must read it to believe it!

Weighing in at such a heavy page count, the book reads much faster than you would expect it to. (Granted, I'm sure it's author, Benjamin Hale, could have cut some of Bruno's musings and self-indulgent, narcissistic ramblings without sacrificing any of the storyline.)

Bruno, who sometimes refers to himself in the third person, is a creature of human consciousness. That means he suffers a wide range of human emotion - such as curiosity, guilt, shame, love, lust, fear, and rage. Much of this novel finds Bruno reflecting on each one of these feelings, philosophizing about religion and evolution, questioning the differences between man and animal, and sometimes damning humankind for taking away something he can never get back - his naive animal consciousness. It also deals heavily with his ideas of acceptance and vanity, and his increasingly urgent need to fit in at all costs.

What he has learned, he cannot unlearn. As he passes from pre-linguistic thought to spoken language, Bruno struggles to maintain the balance between his primal urges and the more subtle, unspoken actions of man.

A very well written, thought-inspiring take on what it is to be human, what it was to be an ape, and what happens when one attempts to become the other.(less)

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Nov 14, 2011 Jane rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, original

It has been such a long time since I read fiction this good. I almost didn't read it when I read the premise (a memoir of a chimpanzee.) It didn't seem possible that this could make a good book. I trusted the goodreads reviewers though and this time was so glad that I did. The author did an amazing job of bringing Bruno to life. I felt like I knew him and he became a part of my life for the 10 days I spent reading this book. I couldn't wait to pick up the book each day and I was sorry when it en...more

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Mar 13, 2012 Paul rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Actual rating: 3.5 stars.

A long novel widely held by critics to be profound, I finished it wondering whether in fact it really is that profound. Benjamin Hale's concept is sound: by creating a chimpanzee infatuated with humans and gifted with speech, examine what it is to be human, what it is to be animal. It isn't that great a philosophical leap for me to see that the lines are blurred ... hell, my dog taught me that years ago. The concept, though, does give the author ample room to poke fun at...more

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Jun 12, 2011 Rosalía rated it 5 of 5 stars

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Imagine a novel that includes Philosophy, Psychology,Biology, mystery, love, Theology, Anthropology, and...sex. I dare say to read my fellow bookworm Tony's review:
"Behold Genius.

Benjamin Hale is scary smart and as good a writer as it is legal to be. What a debut! He knows his Shakespeare and has captured his rhythm. And Eliot. And the Bible. The Language that flows through us all. Hale, a literary Incubus, seduces with timelessly crafted sentences on every pag...more

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Mar 25, 2011 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Whew. I finally finished this 576-page book! When I picked it up at the library, I was surprised to see how huge it was. Normally, I love thick books, but somehow I knew this wouldn't be a good thing here. Bruno Littlemore, a human trapped in an ape's body, is, to sum it up in one word: verbose. (See, I can do what he can't!)

The other problem is that Hale crams too much in one novel. In doing so, he riffs on different things about our society - all of which is amusing and often on target. He's...more

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Aug 05, 2011 Kelly Konrad added it

Um .... yeah. I desperately want a friend to read this book so I can debrief with them, but have a hard time telling anyone it's a must-read. It's not a bad book—one where you set it down and think to yourself, "Wow, that was a colossal waste of my time. How did they get that printed?" But it's not a "Crikeys, everyone MUST.READ.THIS." For a debut effort, I'm really impressed with Benjamin Hale, but I would suggest the book is beyond verbose. There are quite literally entire chapters you could b...more

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Feb 06, 2013 Literary Review The rated it 5 of 5 stars

By J.D. Reid

For The Literary Review
Volume 54 "Emo, Meet Hole"

Since the dawn of man, humans have always enjoyed a good monkey story. The
Monkey King of Chinese mythology is sort of a super monkey, who cast spells, is
an expert at wielding his compliant rod, or staff, and who can leap something like
30,000 miles in one awesome somersault. Even today, we go ape for primates. The
1998 film Mighty Joe Young reintroduced the world to 1949’s Mighty Joe Young, a
gigantic freak gorilla. We may not have d...more

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Feb 05, 2013 Marlon Manalese rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very insightful read! Bruno is an interesting protagonist to read a story through. Although he is intelligent enough to be the first chimp to acquire language, he is still quite primitive when it comes to his carnal instincts around human women. Yep that's right, this chimp has the hots for human women, especially for Dr. Lydia Littlemore the scientist who cares for him the most enough to let him live in her apartment with her.

I was impressed by how vivid to the most minute detail Bruno was whe...more Very insightful read! Bruno is an interesting protagonist to read a story through. Although he is intelligent enough to be the first chimp to acquire language, he is still quite primitive when it comes to his carnal instincts around human women. Yep that's right, this chimp has the hots for human women, especially for Dr. Lydia Littlemore the scientist who cares for him the most enough to let him live in her apartment with her.

I was impressed by how vivid to the most minute detail Bruno was when describing Lydia and all her little quirks. From the way she wears her hair to the way she plays with it under certain circumstances. The way she smells the way she smiles etc etc. though the one chapter that over described her apartment was a bit much as it held the story back from continuing.

I really loved Bruno's voice as he starts off vulnerable and empathetic towards other animals and how they're treated, and then a little arrogant when he gets used to being able to speak. His relationships with his family that shared a zoo cage with him resembles that of a human family even having never spoken in language to communicate their bonds. Ooooh and the relationship that he develops with Lydia... Let's just say it gets controversial.

This book is separated in 6 parts, and although I thoroughly enjoyed parts 1-4 and 6 I just couldn't care less for part 5. It dragged on too long and ruined the climactic pace the end of part 4 set up. Basically part 5 is about Bruno escaping his problems that were created by his romance with Lydia, and befriending an eccentric hobo actor, where together they star in a huge fail of a production.

The book still has a promising premise but it could use some paragraph breaks especially in part 5s imaginative chapter that makes you believe his stage show was actually spectacular. A minor spoiler but it doesn't spoil the rest of the books much grander elements like Bruno's never ending battle against mad scientists who mistreat animals as expendable science experiments.

Overall this was still a great read because of the intrinsic perspective Bruno has on the most minor details in daily life we all take for granted. Even though there's never a clear dialogue between Bruno and Lydia when he learns how to speak, perhaps it's a symbol as to how little dialogue between lovers has anything to do with communication. It's a huge and heavy read, and only pick it up if you're willing to open your mind vastly to a grandiose narrative and also attempt to wade its much slower sections.
(less)

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Jan 25, 2012 Robert rated it 3 of 5 stars

I was excited to read this, since blogger Mimi Smartypants, who reads an inhuman number of books, gave it four stars (a VERY rare rating for her), and while it certainly was very sharp and funny, with lots of amusing references to culture of both the highbrow and lowbrow varieties, in the end I didn't find it all that amazing. It felt sort of like a fascinating writing experiment carried too far. Sort of like those movies that get made out of Saturday Night Live sketch characters, which work as...more

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Jan 18, 2012 Karen Loveridge rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 20, 2011 Hayley rated it 5 of 5 stars

Some writers focus their craft with laser precision, building it piece by piece like a type of architecture. Some writers make me so sick with their talent. These writers parade their prose back and forth like it’s their groomed Bichon Frise at Westminster. Some writers often arrogant with their skill, filling pages with leaps of precise logic and seemingly effortlessly composed metaphor.

Benjamin Hale, makes me forgot about the actual craft of writing. This is not to say that Benjamin Hale isn’t...more

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Aug 21, 2011 Amanda rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore was published back in April, and caused nary a splash as it hit an unsuspecting public. I've seen very few reviews and not many discussion points concerning this novel. It's not been put onto any longlists or shortlists that I'm aware of, and Benjamin Hale has not been feted as one of the bravest debut novelists of recent times.

In my opinion, The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore should have exploded into people's consciousness. It should have been reviewed by peopl...more
The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore was published back in April, and caused nary a splash as it hit an unsuspecting public. I've seen very few reviews and not many discussion points concerning this novel. It's not been put onto any longlists or shortlists that I'm aware of, and Benjamin Hale has not been feted as one of the bravest debut novelists of recent times.

In my opinion, The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore should have exploded into people's consciousness. It should have been reviewed by people who admire both contemporary/literary works and those who appreciate a more speculative bent to their fiction.

I can't even point to a particular reason why it didn't perform as well as it should have. Possibly because this is a large brick of a debut novel, and people these days don't like to put out cash on an unrecognised name. Possibly because the subject matter is so bizarre and, at times, outright taboo.

For me, The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore was virtually as challenging a read as comes along. It challenged my perceptions of what it means to be human. It challenged my ideas of science versus art. It shocked me into laughter at times. At other points I was curling my lip in disgust and reading the novel through eyes blinkered by societal norms. This is a bolshy, brazen novel that does not shy away from that final step into offensiveness and darkness.

Bruno is the very definition of an unreliable narrator. He is telling his story to "Gwen", who remains off-screen for the duration of the tale. Everything we find out about Bruno himself and the life he leads is coloured by his own neurosis, arrogance and self-loathing. He is frustrating, witty, compassionate, rambling and often incredibly difficult to read about. Apart from the fact that you spend much of the novel suspending disbelief about the very nature of Bruno and his relationship with Lydia, sometimes Bruno can also be pretty bloody unlikeable. But he is a magnetic narrator, and I remained mesmerised by his story almost all the way through.

I say "almost", because sometimes The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore descends into a rambling mess. Sometimes it feels pretentious. Sometimes the language was wilfully difficult to process - beyond purple prose. When it touches the heights of its prose, though, it is difficult to imagine a better novel. It defies belief that this is a debut novel.

I admired particularly the level of intellect and discussion present in The Evolution of... such as the following passage:

"I hope that the future's scholars of dramaturgy (if indeed such people will exist in the future) will recognise that I, Bruno Littlemore, was the first actor to realise that the role of Caliban should be played through an evolutionary perspective. While I understand The Tempest was first performed in 1612, a good two and a half centuries before the publications of Charles Darwin, on closely studying the text, I find it hard to believe that Shakespeare was not in some way anachronistically informed and even influenced by The Origin of the Species. Time perhaps is not as uninterestingly linear as we imagine, Gwen. Shakespeare was at the very least a clear premonition of his future fellow Englishman. I even go so far as to imagine that the ship in The Tempest is the Beagle, and Prospero's island, Galapagos."

When it was applied in the following passage, it made me snort with laughter:

"We watched the cartoons that take eternal pursuit as their theme: both the amorous pursuit of lover and beloved [...] as well as the violent pursuit of predator and prey: Coyote and Road Runner, Sylvester and Tweety, Tom and Jerry...all that mythic pursuit! - the endless flux of the chase, the magnetic push-and-pull of aggression and defense, of repulsion and desire!...perhaps the true spirit of myth - of Echo and Narcissus, of Achilles and Hector - survives for us, in its pure form, only in cartoons."

So, how to conclude my thoughts on this novel? Probably to say that The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore is more than good enough for you to spend money on. Probably also to say that if you were to buy only one more novel this year, you should make it this. It is dark, brave, satirical and surprisingly tender and moving. The story of Bruno Littlemore demands patience and attention, but it is worth every minute. (less)

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Aug 12, 2011 Robert E. Kennedy Library rated it 4 of 5 stars

For anyone who's met the gaze of a primate and felt unsettlingly seen, Bruno won't be that big of a leap in imagination. Rescued from the zoo, he becomes part of a language study at the University of Chicago. Left alone for the first time in a cage at night when the primatologists go home for the evening, without the comfort of his family, he flies into a rage and shreds the blanket left for him, hurling food everywhere. But he soon makes friends with the developmentally disabled custodian who c...more

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Jul 04, 2011 Carol rated it 4 of 5 stars

Amazing book. Kept wondering why I was continuing to read it, and yet I was pulled along. Do not undertake it lightly. The erudite, loquacious, and pedantic man-ape narrator and the huge number of pages may drive you crazy. Ultimately, the multi-syllabic words and voluminous descriptions of every little thing fit the theme.

Navel-gazing. Lots of navel-gazing. Do apes have navels? Yes they do. Showing again, as Bruno often does, how little separates us from our sibling primates. Bruno loves to con...more

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Jul 03, 2011 Paula Margulies rated it 4 of 5 stars

This freakishly compelling Humbert Humbert meets Curious George tale had me at hello. There is brilliant writing ("Like Satan," the main character, a preternaturally gifted chimpanzee named Bruno Littlemore, says, "I am a beautiful loser.") and mawkish humor (including the hilarious monkey/frog sex scene with Rotpeter, Bruno's father). Even so, I found Bruno too soulless and self-centered for my taste. Despite his initial protestations of undying love for the strangely childlike researcher, Lydi...more This freakishly compelling Humbert Humbert meets Curious George tale had me at hello. There is brilliant writing ("Like Satan," the main character, a preternaturally gifted chimpanzee named Bruno Littlemore, says, "I am a beautiful loser.") and mawkish humor (including the hilarious monkey/frog sex scene with Rotpeter, Bruno's father). Even so, I found Bruno too soulless and self-centered for my taste. Despite his initial protestations of undying love for the strangely childlike researcher, Lydia Littlemore, who rescues him from the primatology studies center at a Chicago research institute and takes him home to become her pet and, yes -- what you've heard is true -- her lover, Bruno displays a callous lack of interest in her once she's brutally attacked for carrying their monkey/human love child. Bruno heads to New York after escaping yet-another scientific research center and spends his time and attention on Emily, a spoiled suburban teenager; Leon, a disreputable street performer; and the narcissistic joys of cosmetic surgery. Once Leon and Bruno's underground production of The Tempest is raided by police, Bruno suddenly remembers Lydia (formerly his love, his life, his Lolita) and heads back to Chicago to find her.

Despite the author's attempt to resurrect our admiration for Bruno with a last-ditch effort to save another chimpanzee from his nemesis, Dr. Norman Plumlee, the magic was broken for this reader. I enjoyed the premise -- that an animal could learn enough about human speech and emotion to suffer the slings and arrows of an examined life -- but once Bruno drops his yearning for Lydia, I found him to be so self-absorbed that he ended up unsympathetic and, ultimately, unlikeable.

This book will delight literary readers with the artfully crafted tone of Bruno's eloquent voice and the skillfully woven references to Eliot, Milton, Shakespeare, and others like them laced throughout. Despite its disappointments, this is a remarkable work from a debut novelist, and a must-read for those who enjoy humans, and chimpanzees, who play with words. (less)

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Jun 18, 2011 Judith rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is the story of a chimpanzee who was born in captivity in the Lincoln Park Zoo, in Chicago. His life really begins when his savior, in the form of research scientist Lydia Littlemore, chooses him for further study in language development and behavioral science conducted at a prestigious local university. It is love at first sight for beauty and the beast, and the introductory scene of bestiality can be a shocker if you are not prepared for it. However, while essential to the plot developmen...more

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Apr 06, 2011 Emma rated it 4 of 5 stars

First, I want to express my surprise: I read a lot about this book before its publication; it was published about 2 months ago, and I no longer see anything recent said about it, or book blogging about it. It sounds as if it were very quickly dropped.

I am very surprised, as this book is phenomenal; ok let’s put aside what may gross you out, and yes the first sexual graphic scene between Bruno and Lydia is not the best passage of the book.

The writing is fantastic, it’s incredible how the author t...more

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Apr 02, 2011 Darin rated it 2 of 5 stars

I heard about this book and was very excited. It's a book about a chimp who learns how to talk! It's like Nim Chimpsky but fiction! I MUST LOVE. Eh, not so much. The tone of the narrator (Bruno, the chimp who learned to talk) is just not pleasant. Spread that over 580ish pages and you have a rather challenging book to get through. In all fairness, I get WHY Bruno has his tone and perspective as the whole impetus of his evolution is his rejection of animal nature. Of course he is then rejected by...more

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Mar 24, 2011 Michelle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Is Chicago really the second city? Are chimps really less human than we are? This amazingly entertaining romp of a book takes on this, as well as even more intense, philosophical issues. A fascinating disquisition on language acquisition, consciousness, love, literature, and just about everything you could think of aside from the kitchen sink, this is also an absorbingly hilarious page turner.

The only reason I don't give it four stars is that it lags for about 100 pages (it's 576 pages long; it...more

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Mar 02, 2011 Sam rated it 4 of 5 stars

A monkey gains the power of speech in this high-strutting show-off act of a debut novel. A whiz-bang opener of a story that can't quite sustain its own ideas and narrative energy, but given how much narrative energy is injected in the first two hundred and fifty pages - including, but by no means limited to, a shit-throwing primate family, monkey/woman sex, and linguistic coming-of-age - I was okay with the fact the temperature died down a little in the second half, especially insofar as it mimi...more

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Feb 09, 2011 Ken marked it as to-read

From the first page of Benjamin Hale's exquisite novel, The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore, Hale’s linguistic talent locks the reader into their seat and sends them ticking up the roller coaster ride of Bruno Littlemore’s life. An unlikely narrator, Bruno is a chimpanzee trying to become a man--a process he sees as “equal parts enlightenment and imprinting your brain with taboos.” Bruno acquires a fervent love of language--and of primatologist Lydia Littlemore, with whom he develops a deep (and,...more

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Dec 31, 2012 laurenpie rated it 2 of 5 stars

A unique, creative and even beautiful novel RUINED by its one major flaw.

Sprinkled throughout the pages of this book, you will find exceptional prose and unique creativity of thought. However, unfortunately, the book's one flaw is overwhelming to the point of ruining the entire novel.

That flaw was NOT, as other reviewers assert, any unlikeable aspect of the main character, Bruno. I felt Bruno's character was perfectly created and developed. I didn't find him unlikeable at all, but rather, entire...more A unique, creative and even beautiful novel RUINED by its one major flaw.

Sprinkled throughout the pages of this book, you will find exceptional prose and unique creativity of thought. However, unfortunately, the book's one flaw is overwhelming to the point of ruining the entire novel.

That flaw was NOT, as other reviewers assert, any unlikeable aspect of the main character, Bruno. I felt Bruno's character was perfectly created and developed. I didn't find him unlikeable at all, but rather, entirely credible and effective as a protagonist. Bruno's opinions and actions are true to form to his innate nature and successive levels of maturation.

The debilitating flaw lays within the plot itself... the absurd implausibility of Lydia, the leading lady, and her sexual "LOVE" affair with Bruno. And no, my problem isn't with the bestiality. (Surprising, since I'm Christian, but Bruno was humanized enough that it was an unpleasant non-issue.) Lydia's incredibility is really in the timing. At the point where they "fall in LOVE", Bruno is still practically infantile and then juvenile in his stage of INTELLECTUAL development. The question of whether he's human or chimpanzee pales in comparison to the question of his effectual age. It's like claiming that a highly-educated professional woman with multiple post-graduate degrees falls truly and romantically in love with a ten-year old boy. I cannot wrap my mind around that. It's impossible (unless Lydia is unbalanced, which is not the author's intent), not to mention demeaning.

Finishing this book became a dreaded task. My gut-reaction is to give this book only one star, but because the author himself is greatly talented and the prose so beautiful, and because without the "LOVE" affair I would have given it 5 stars, I've compromised at two.

Later addition:
M. Tobin has pointed out to me that perhaps this incredibility was purposeful, to make us wonder whether our narrator was in fact telling the whole truth... or, rather, inventing details to suit his idealized view of what he wished had happened. Good point, interesting to contemplate.(less)

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Oct 10, 2011 Jennyreadsexcessively rated it 4 of 5 stars

What does it mean to be human? How have we evolved from our possible knuckle-walking ancestors to upright, speaking, cultured, modern Homo sapiens? Bruno Littlemore is a chimpanzee rescued from a Chicago zoo and reared among humans at a research lab who longs to become human. At the age of 40, Bruno walks upright, speaks and reads, and even directs theatrical plays (albeit with mostly ape actors). How did this remarkable transformation occur? Bruno narrates his story and, most shockingly and ten...more

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Feb 19, 2011 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebooks, general_fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. In The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore, Benjamin Hale introduces us to Bruno, a chimpanzee with language skills (and a knowledge of art, music and literature that would put most Renaissance Men to shame) who considers himself more human than animal. Bruno’s story is absolutely fascinating, with one glaring exception. Fortunately, the good far outweighs the bad. I loved the concept of the book, which was unlike anything I’ve ever read. I loved Bruno as a narrator, despite the fact that he was equal...more In The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore, Benjamin Hale introduces us to Bruno, a chimpanzee with language skills (and a knowledge of art, music and literature that would put most Renaissance Men to shame) who considers himself more human than animal. Bruno’s story is absolutely fascinating, with one glaring exception. Fortunately, the good far outweighs the bad. I loved the concept of the book, which was unlike anything I’ve ever read. I loved Bruno as a narrator, despite the fact that he was equal parts insightful and insufferable. I even loved the relationship between Bruno and Lydia. Before I go any further: yes, there is human/chimp sex, and yes, it is described in some detail. In the hands of a lesser writer, this could have been a disaster. However, I think Hale handles it perfectly- their physical relationship is a crucial part of the story, it’s completely believable, and although it makes the reader (understandably) uncomfortable, it is far from the most disturbing aspect of this book. That award goes to the frog- oh God, the frog...

Now for the bad part, which is that this otherwise amazing book took a bizarre and frustrating turn after Bruno escaped from the research facility and found himself in New York City. This part of the story was well written and funny, but it just didn’t fit with the rest of the book. I felt like I was reading a lost chapter from A Confederacy of Dunces, starring Leon Smoler as Ignatius J. Reilly and Bruno the Talking Chimp as his equally ridiculous sidekick. The transition from the seriousness of Bruno’s life in Chicago (complete with a deathly ill love interest and throngs of religious protesters picketing his apartment building at all times) to the absurdity of his life in New York was jarring, and I had trouble focusing on this part of the book because I kept wondering what was happening in Chicago in Bruno’s absence.

That being said, this was still a wonderful book. Hale’s insights on language, evolution, and what it means to be human were fascinating, and Bruno was the perfect narrator for this story. At times funny (“The Gnome Chompy,” anyone?) and at times sad (the heartbreaking backstories of Hilarious Larry and Hilarious Lily), The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore is a book I won’t soon forget.(less)

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Feb 06, 2011 Joy H. marked it as keep-in-mind

Shelves: fiction, animals, sample-on-my-ebook, reviewed-in-ny-times

RE: _The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore_
I read about this book of fiction in a 2/4/11 NY Times Book Review at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/boo...
Sounds interesting.

The Google eBook description starts out with:
========================================================
"Bruno Littlemore is quite unlike any chimpanzee in the world. Precocious, self-conscious and preternaturally gifted, young Bruno, born and raised in a habitat at the local zoo, falls under the care of a university primatologist na...more

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Jan 24, 2011 Andrew Shaffer rated it 5 of 5 stars

The advance hype for "Bruno Littlemore" stretches all the way to last June, where it was the talk of the BookExpo America in New York. The hype is justified. Benjamin Hale has created one of the most distinctive and playful narrators in years in the form of Bruno Littlemore, a talking chimpanzee who dictates his story to an assistant. If you read the first three pages, you won't be able to stop. Trust me on this.

Bruno is intelligent, witty, and quite arrogant--a wonderfully glorious combination....more

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Feb 18, 2012 Osvaldo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Osvaldo by: Matt Matros

Once again I am frustrated by my inability to grant ½ stars on Goodreads. I would give this 3½ stars if I could. I more than liked it. I less than really liked it. I am sure Ben Hale would know a good word for the liminality of my liking - or at least, he'd know how to look up good one in the kick-ass thesaurus he must have.

Despite being a long book I flew through it - though I must admit there were a few parts I kind of glossed over thinking Hale's editor could have done a better job of explain...more Once again I am frustrated by my inability to grant ½ stars on Goodreads. I would give this 3½ stars if I could. I more than liked it. I less than really liked it. I am sure Ben Hale would know a good word for the liminality of my liking - or at least, he'd know how to look up good one in the kick-ass thesaurus he must have.

Despite being a long book I flew through it - though I must admit there were a few parts I kind of glossed over thinking Hale's editor could have done a better job of explaining that you don't need three pages to explain finding the beauty salon that doubles as a backroom plastic surgeon, or many other examples of verbosity that could be excused by means of the talking chimp's idiosyncratic delivery, but that nevertheless could have been conveyed without the reader made to suffer through the thickness with which language is laid - but then again language is the central theme of this novel. Language makes us human. Language composes the world, and Bruno's story is really the story of language. Still, the book could be about 150 to 200 pages shorter and not suffer.

The use of Caliban as analogy for poor little Bruno was striking for me because of how often the Tempest is used as the object of post-colonial literary studies of the Caribbean/South America. Shakepeare's black brute slave to Prospero is a sympathetic figure in contemporary examinations of the play and Hale (and thus, Bruno) plays this up - but at the same time this metaphor leads to the unfortunate parallel between the colonial constructions of primitive blackness and an ape - problematic no matter how sympathetic the depiction. I can't help but think, however, that because of this (not despite it) there is something productive rising from the text, that buried in its florid vocabulary there is a critique of language's privileged position in determining humanity and thus humanity's monopoly on value and dignity. Thus the West's "textual attitude" (see Said) towards the rest of the world and its peoples. In the end, Bruno's desire to return to his animality seems to be saying as much.

My biggest disappointment is that a book that does rest its proposition so heavily on The Tempest does not mention race and "colonial consciousness" (see Fanon) at all, and that a figure as equally observant and he is occasionally clueless as Bruno Littlemore would not have something to say on the subject, especially in a historically racially turbulent environment like Chicago.

Read it. It is compelling and worth the time.(less)

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Dec 19, 2011 Cheryl in CC NV rated it 5 of 5 stars

I am *so* glad I spied this at the library. It's huge (by my standards at least), but I read 1/2 of it one night (when I was supposed to be sleeping, but oh well).

A little like Flowers for Algernon, but with more science and romance and heartbreak and gorgeous language. Story-telling that immerses one in the chimp's world, heightened sense of smell and all. Lots of provocative issues, exploring what it means to be human, what kinds of experiments are justified, how it works to do science, or ar...more I am *so* glad I spied this at the library. It's huge (by my standards at least), but I read 1/2 of it one night (when I was supposed to be sleeping, but oh well).

A little like Flowers for Algernon, but with more science and romance and heartbreak and gorgeous language. Story-telling that immerses one in the chimp's world, heightened sense of smell and all. Lots of provocative issues, exploring what it means to be human, what kinds of experiments are justified, how it works to do science, or art, the different kinds of love, etc.

I've a strong feeling I'll be giving this five stars.

Ok done. Actually finished a couple of days ago, but I have so much to say in this review I'm struggling to select and then be concise. I will say I read the second half in one night, too, missing sleep. Darn short chapters ('just one more...')!

The story that Bruno keeps thinking about is Pinocchio. Sometimes he agrees with the puppet's choice to become human, sometimes he doesn't. Sometimes he identifies more strongly than at other times. It's interesting to see the evolution of Bruno's perspective and attitudes.

It's also interesting to read him tell his story in different voices. If he's feeling stressed, or rmembering times when he felt more the beast, his language is more direct than when he's feeling more like royalty-in-exile.

I liked another minor theme, expressed early as "This terrible fear of not being taken seriously haunts the heart of every scientist!" I read a lot of non-fiction science books, and keeping this concept/ opinion in mind will add to my appreciation of them, I'm sure.

And what about this insight, that goes beyond confirmation bias, beyond creation myths: "[Humans] are meaning makers. We do not discover the meanings of mysterious things, we invent them. We make meanings because meaningless terrifies above all things.... We gild the chaos of the universe with our symbols."

Or think about this one, "If I were a rational creature (which, obviously, because I am also a conscious creature, I almost by definition am not), ..."

Lots to think about. Gracefully, beautifully written. Plenty of opportunities to laugh, cry, and feel suspense, too.

And this is a debut. I wonder whether Hale's next book will be a patch on this.

ETA - I have to warn you that the yuck factor is pretty high in this. Nothing gratuitous, as it's all key to understanding who and why Bruno is, and is also all very believable - but if you're squeamish just be forewarned and forearmed.(less)

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About Benjamin Hale

Benjamin Hale is a recent graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop. He is the recipient of an Iowa Provost’s Fellowship and a Michener-Copernicus Award. He grew up in Colorado and now lives in New York.

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Introduction To The Mechanical Principles Of Carpentry, In Two Parts: Strength And Stiffness Of Timber, Statics Applied To Constructions Of Timber (1827)

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“...we, and I mean humans, are meaning makers. We do not discover the meanings of mysterious things, we invent them. We make meanings because meaninglessness terrifies us above all things. More than snakes, even. More than falling, or the dark. We trick ourselves into seeing meanings in things, when in fact all we are doing is grafting our meanings onto the universe to comfort ourselves. We gild the chaos of the universe with our symbols. To admit that something is meaningless is just like falling backward into darkness." (p184)” — 7 people liked it

“In paradise there is nothing to say. Eden was sacrificed not for the pleasure of a fruit, but for the pleasure of the word. Now we have shame and pain and knowledge of death and whatnot, but at least we can talk about it.” — 4 people liked it

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