For the African novel project, I read the book, Baboon, by David Jones. This book contains 169 pages and is published by the Annik Press Ltd in October, 2007. The genre of this book is fiction and is written from third person restricted point of view. The setting of this book is placed in modern time and in a savanna in the country of Tanzania. The main character of this book is Gerry, a 14 year boy whose body had turned to a baboon’s body. Gerry’s parents study baboons and Gerry had gone with them. While they were traveling on an airplane in a storm, the airplane crashes by a lightning and Gerry’s body somehow changes to a baboon’s body, but with still his human mind. Throughout the book, the little baboon faces conflicts that he has to endure.
There are many conflicts throughout the book. One of them is an internal conflict, person vs. himself. Gerry reborn as a baboon and he first freaks out and is scared that he became a baboon. Gerry is looking at his own human body lying on the ground thinking if he is dreaming. Gerry’s parents didn’t get hurt, so Gerry, as a baboon, tries to communicate with them but words don’t come out. Gerry’s dad shoos him away and leaves the place with an ambulance. Another conflict is when a bully baboon named Lothar, keeps bullies Gerry all the time because Gerry looks very weak and easily winnable. But this conflict ends when Gerry strikes Lothar and kills him. This conflict is an external conflict, a person vs. person (or baboon vs. baboon) of Gerry against Lothar.
The author of the book, David Jones, portrays Gerry as a quite smart and a brave baboon. One example of Gerry being smart in the book is when he makes the cudgel with duct tape, stone, and a dead pilot’s bone. I wouldn't have thought about using a person’s bone to make a weapon when I was in that same situation. Another part that I thought that Gerry is smart is when he took the gun from the farmer so that he can use it for later purposes like protection from poachers. In the same situation, Gerry was brave enough to run to the farmer, and quickly take the gun so that the farmer can’t use it.
I would like to rate this book 3 stars out of 5 being the highest score. I didn’t really enjoy this book (especially the ending) but only the part when Gerry becomes a baboon. There were several interesting parts in the book so I wouldn’t rate the book 1 or 2 stars. My best book I have ever read is a science fiction book called, The House of the Scorpion, by Nancy Farmer. I would have rate that book 5 stars because I like science fiction books. A book that is very similar to Baboon would be The Kite Rider by Gloria Whalen. This book is like the Baboon book because the main character in The Kite Rider leaves their parents and joins a circus group. In Baboon, the main character, Gerry, also has no parents together with him and Gerry also joins a group of baboons to live with. After I read the book BaboonBaboon, I thought that I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone else because it was very boring. But still, I liked the way the author described the details of the story. I would like to read another book written by the same author if I was to do this project again.
Baboon by David Jones
Book report by Justin Jun
May 21, 2010
Part 1
For the African novel project, I read the book, Baboon, by David Jones. This book contains 169 pages and is published by the Annik Press Ltd in October, 2007. The genre of this book is fiction and is written from third person restricted point of view. The setting of this book is placed in modern time and in a savanna in the country of Tanzania. The main character of this book is Gerry, a 14 year boy whose body had turned to a baboon’s body. Gerry’s parents study baboons and Gerry had gone with them. While they were traveling on an airplane in a storm, the airplane crashes by a lightning and Gerry’s body somehow changes to a baboon’s body, but with still his human mind. Throughout the book, the little baboon faces conflicts that he has to endure.
There are many conflicts throughout the book. One of them is an internal conflict, person vs. himself. Gerry reborn as a baboon and he first freaks out and is scared that he became a baboon. Gerry is looking at his own human body lying on the ground thinking if he is dreaming. Gerry’s parents didn’t get hurt, so Gerry, as a baboon, tries to communicate with them but words don’t come out. Gerry’s dad shoos him away and leaves the place with an ambulance. Another conflict is when a bully baboon named Lothar, keeps bullies Gerry all the time because Gerry looks very weak and easily winnable. But this conflict ends when Gerry strikes Lothar and kills him. This conflict is an external conflict, a person vs. person (or baboon vs. baboon) of Gerry against Lothar.
The author of the book, David Jones, portrays Gerry as a quite smart and a brave baboon. One example of Gerry being smart in the book is when he makes the cudgel with duct tape, stone, and a dead pilot’s bone. I wouldn't have thought about using a person’s bone to make a weapon when I was in that same situation. Another part that I thought that Gerry is smart is when he took the gun from the farmer so that he can use it for later purposes like protection from poachers. In the same situation, Gerry was brave enough to run to the farmer, and quickly take the gun so that the farmer can’t use it.
I would like to rate this book 3 stars out of 5 being the highest score. I didn’t really enjoy this book (especially the ending) but only the part when Gerry becomes a baboon. There were several interesting parts in the book so I wouldn’t rate the book 1 or 2 stars. My best book I have ever read is a science fiction book called, The House of the Scorpion, by Nancy Farmer. I would have rate that book 5 stars because I like science fiction books. A book that is very similar to Baboon would be The Kite Rider by Gloria Whalen. This book is like the Baboon book because the main character in The Kite Rider leaves their parents and joins a circus group. In Baboon, the main character, Gerry, also has no parents together with him and Gerry also joins a group of baboons to live with. After I read the book BaboonBaboon, I thought that I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone else because it was very boring. But still, I liked the way the author described the details of the story. I would like to read another book written by the same author if I was to do this project again.
Part 2 Alternative book cover: