Looking Out To Sea

Peter Høeg writes unsuspecting, subtle science fiction stories. They sneak up on you, until you’re two-thirds in and it could go either way. Then suddenly he pulls some crazy but fantastic idea out of the hat and runs with it.

The Woman and the Ape is about the alcoholic trophy wife of a London zoologist. Her husband is involved in the discovery and secret study of a new type of great ape, a new and closer genetic cousin than the chimpanzee. She, like other people who meet the ape, is struck by its apparent intelligence and self-awareness — and vows to help it escape.

The book is, like Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow, about progress and civilisation. The writing style is unusual: I find it hard to describe. Very cold and exact, almost, but not lacking humanity. Just slightly… pedantic? It’s still very enjoyable, and quite direct. I often feel that when authors get lyrical and philosophical they begin to lose the place. The writing becomes less coherent. That’s something that Peter Høeg doesn’t do.

I don’t want to give the twist or the ending away, so I’ll stop here. Worth a read if you come across it.