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The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle
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The Lost World (1912)

by Arthur Conan Doyle

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: Professor Challenger (1)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
2,139442,785 (3.68)89
  1. 50
    King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard (Rynooo, Polenth)
  2. 51
    Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (jseger9000)
    jseger9000: An obvious rec, I admit. Doyle's story is the original "modern men interact with dinos" tale and Crichton's is the best one since.
  3. 40
    The Time Machine by H. G. Wells (chrisharpe)
  4. 40
    The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells (chrisharpe)
  5. 20
    Dinosaur Summer by Greg Bear (jseger9000)
    jseger9000: Dinosaur Summer is a continuation of Doyle's The Lost World
  6. 10
    The Poison Belt by Arthur Conan Doyle (sturlington)
    sturlington: Also features the same characters.
  7. 10
    The Land that Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs (Sylak)
  8. 10
    Green Mansions by W. H. Hudson (chrisharpe)
  9. 10
    The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan (chrisharpe)
  10. 00
    The Lost Steps by Alejo Carpentier (chrisharpe)
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English (39)  Danish (2)  Swedish (1)  Spanish (1)  French (1)  All languages (44)
Showing 1-5 of 39 (next | show all)
Most people when they think of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle think of his sleuth Sherlock Holmes and trusty sidekick Dr. Watson. (I’ll admit that I do, too.) But, Doyle wrote more than just mysteries. The Lost World is about Professor Challenger finding what he believed to be a plateau in an unexplored region of South America which still held living dinosaurs.

Challenger returns to England where, of course, no one believes there are actually still dinosaurs roaming the Earth. He enlists the help of a reporter who is trying to prove the woman he is in love with that he is more than just a measly reporter, a professor of Anatomy by the name of Summerlee, and Lord John Roxton a sportsman and traveler. Shortly after the crew was assembled they began their journey from England to South America and down the Amazon River.

Eventually they reach the point at which Challenger points out the great plateau. There is however no way to get up there as they only way up had been blocked off. After trial and error they find themselves on top of the plateau, trapped no less because of unforeseen events. They find though that Challenger was indeed correct. There were dinosaurs living on the plateau. There were also creatures, a cross between an ape and a human, which were smart and managed to capture Challenger and Summerlee.

It was during this capture that the crew found that there also happened to be a tribe of natives who lived on the plateau as well. The natives claim not to know of a way off the plateau, or don’t want to help the crew off (after many failed attempts). Eventually, a young native takes pity on them and shows them the way.

They make their way back to England with their findings and the reporter who wrote down an account of the entire trip to be put in to print. I think I’ll leave out the ending and make you read it if you are curious enough to want to find out.

While I enjoyed reading this book, it wasn’t quite different than what I was used to when reading Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. Challenger and Holmes have many of the same qualities. I would say, however, if you liked Holmes than you should giveThe Lost World a read. ( )
  getrus | Apr 24, 2013 |
Allllllllll of the racism. Alllllllllllllll of the colonialism. Allllllllllllllll of the imperialism.

ALLLLLLLLLLLL of it.

I don't even know how to react to this. Like, I kind of want to request a Lord John/Ned fic for Yuletide (that ending, omg, so slashy), but on the other hand, this has so many horrible vile awful assumptions embedded into it that frankly I don't think there's a way to write against them (and if there is, it would take a king hell lot of skill and care, and I would not inflict that on someone for Yuletide) and I can't bear to read slashy adventurefic with this kind of horribleness in it. So.

Basically: shenanigans in the South American rainforest, narrated by a British cub reporter, with a gentleman explorer (Lord John), and two zoology professors, who hate each others' guts more than a little, trying to prove if there is a sekrit pocket of prehistoric animals hidden deep in the Amazon. Spoiler: there is. Further spoiler: there are also savages. You can probably extrapolate from there.

ETA: Which is not to say the shenanigans are not hilarious; this is a rip-roaring adventure yarn. ( )
  cricketbats | Mar 30, 2013 |
Professor Challenger goes on an expedition to an isolated plateau in South America where he is shocked to discover that dinosaurs still exist. Arthur Conan Doyle's science fiction series. ( )
  loki7 | Mar 22, 2013 |
It was an interesting read, not a bad adventure at all.
Would love to know what England did about the surprise at the end of the book. ( )
  dragonasbreath | Dec 9, 2012 |
Professor Challenger leads an expedition to a hidden world on a plateau deep in the jungles of South America, where dinosaurs and cavemen live side-by-side.

Still a surprisingly readable and fun adventure yarn, that doesn't really show its age, despite the cheerful racism throughout. The adventurers' willingness to participate in genocide and slavery is a bit much for modern sensibilities, but we must take the story in the spirit in which it was intended.

Reading the classics (2012). ( )
  sturlington | Dec 4, 2012 |
Showing 1-5 of 39 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (52 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Arthur Conan Doyleprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
McCready, GlenNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Epigraph
I have wrought my simple plan
If I give one hour of joy
To the boy who's half a man,
Or the man who's half a boy.
Dedication
First words
Mr Hungerton, her father, really was the most tactless person upon earth - a fluffy, feathery, untidy cockatoo of a man, perfectly good-natured, but absolutely centred upon his own silly self.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Book description
    DINOSAURS

There was a brush-like growth upon the branch up which I was climbing. I leaned around it in order to see what was beyond and nearly fell out of the tree in horror.

A face was looking into mine!

The eyes were bestial and ferocious, and as the creature opened its mouth to snarl! I saw sharp, curved teeth. I twas a human face - far more human than any monkey's I had ever seen!
    Sub-Human Ape-Men

Deep in the heart of the jungle they found a prehistoric inferno. It was THE LOST WORLD, strange and frightening, filled with all the fury of the bloodiest era the earth eve knew.
    FLYING MONSTERS
Haiku summary

Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0812967259, Paperback)

Forget the Michael Crichton book (and Spielberg movie) that copied the title. This is the original: the terror-adventure tale of The Lost World. Writing not long after dinosaurs first invaded the popular imagination, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle spins a yarn about an expedition of two scientists, a big-game hunter, and a journalist (the narrator) to a volcanic plateau high over the vast Amazon rain forest. The bickering of the professors (a type Doyle knew well from his medical training) serves as witty contrast to the wonders of flora and fauna they encounter, building toward a dramatic moonlit chase scene with a Tyrannosaurus Rex. And the character of Professor George E. Challenger is second only to Sherlock Holmes in the outrageous force of his personality: he's a big man with an even bigger ego, and if you can grit your teeth through his racist behavior toward Native Americans, he's a lot of fun.

(retrieved from Amazon Sat, 05 Jan 2013 06:37:07 -0500)

(see all 9 descriptions)

Two scientists, a big game hunter, and a journalist travel to the Amazon rain forest. On a volcanic plateau, they discover an isolated world still inhabited by dinosaurs, climaxing in a chase scene with a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

» see all 8 descriptions

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