Monkey Planet / Planet of the Apes / La Planète des Singes, by Pierre Boulle
I confess that I haven't seen any of the films based on this book, but this is still a very interesting read (or rather reread; I had first bought it around thirty years ago). Of course, the reversal of human and ape is meant to make the reader reflect satirically on what it means to be human, and on how we treat other species; some of those points are well-aimed. But at the same time, for a French writer of 1963 fresh from the national traumas of Algeria and Indochina, it's pretty obvious what is meant and feared by the concept of the apes taking over; and it's noticeable that all the "humans" in the book seem to be pale-skinned. It's uneasy reading in places, but fascinating all the same.