HAM'S HEAVEN

Gersht’s historical novel tells the story of a young chimpanzee’s harsh training during the 20th century’s Space Race.

Oklahoma college student Bradley Rose works at the Institute for Primate Studies. Though he initially does it just to make some extra money, he grows close to one of the chimpanzees there. This leads to a gig with NASA—he becomes a trainer at the Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, where scientists are preparing chimpanzees for space flight. It’s the 1960s, and the United States and the Soviet Union are fighting to be the first to get an astronaut in outer space and, later, on the moon. Bradley is assigned to and quickly connects with “65” (“he took a step forward, lifted his arm and gently touched Bradley’s hand with one finger”); every chimp at Holloman has a number for a name, though 65 is later dubbed Ham. The training involves electric shocks as well as tests that render Ham disoriented and cause vomiting or headaches. Bradley soon wonders if winning the Space Race is worth the trauma that the chimpanzees are subjected to. Gersht pulls no punches in this story, which Chen has translated into English from Hebrew. Meticulous descriptions detail the grueling training Ham suffers in addition to his woeful capture in Cameroon when he was only a few months old. The author recounts relevant true-life tales, including those of Ota Benga, a Pygmy man “imprisoned” in the Bronx Zoo, and various rhesus monkeys who died in attempted space flights. Bradley is more a witness to Ham’s ordeal than an integral part of his story; while there’s no doubt that Ham trusts him and often calms at his touch or the sound of his voice, the narrative focuses more on Ham’s inhumane treatment than this particular human-chimpanzee bond. Readers will easily sympathize with the chimp and his harrowing plight. The text includes a handful of black-and-white photographs of the real-life Ham at NASA.

A taut, well-written tale of the tragic, innocent victims of technological advancement.