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Loading... The Lost World (original 1912; edition 2008)by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Work InformationThe Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle (1912)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. I surprisingly really enjoyed this book not because of the originality of it, but because how truly funny some parts of it were. I love that it's essentially the precursor to Jurassic Park, and that it goes into the scientific implications of what it would mean if a portion of the world had dinosaurs and primitive men living on it, but some parts of it were actually laugh out loud funny. I really enjoyed ACD's science fiction writing and honestly, I wish that he was more well-known for this rather than Sherlock Holmes (as he famously wanted to be). It takes a long while for the main characters to reach âthe lost worldâ. Prior to this, we get some scientific debate, some of which I found amusing, some of it not. One of the best early scenes is when the narrator â Mr Malone â meets the arrogant and bad-tempered Professor Challenger. Itâs an entertaining conflict. When we reach the lost world, it turns out to be engaging at times, but sometimes bland or slow paced. The threat of danger is in the air, but it rarely feels life-threatening. Dinosaurs are apparent, but without the celebrity that is Tyrannosaurus Rex, excitement is limited. Upon the main characters leaving the lost world, I felt underwhelmed by their adventures. It needed some added sparkle; some dire threat to get the pulse racing. A female character in the group might've improved the dynamic. What follows is over-long and tedious. Apart from the odd scene, much of the closing chapters read like a newspaper report, including much repetition of what we already know. The author shouldâve cut this short, or cut it altogether, rather than have this passive rambling following on from the charactersâ departure of the lost world. So, while this is not a bad novel, I did find it a disappointing one. no reviews | add a review
Is contained inHas the (non-series) sequelHas the adaptationInspiredHas as a commentary on the textHas as a student's study guideDistinctionsNotable Lists
Classic Literature.
Fiction.
Science Fiction.
HTML: Think Sherlock Holmes is Arthur Conan Doyle's sole literary creation? Think again! The Lost World is a fictional tale about swashbuckling explorer Professor Challenger, who travels to South America on a research expeditionâ??and encounters an array of thought-to-be-extinct prehistoric creatures along the way. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.8Literature English English fiction Victorian period 1837-1900LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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The story has a small company of 20th century scientists and adventurers arriving at the top of the strange plateau only to find themselves trapped. They set out to test their courage, skill and knowledge against the gigantic dinosaurs and flying pterodactyls that they find there. Of course it is quite dated and one has to overlook some derogatory terms that are used for the natives and the ultimate enemy that they encounter, a tribe of missing link man-apes seems to bring out the very worst âwhite man arroganceâ in the characters.
If one is able to overlook the blatant racism, The Lost World does provide plenty of adventure and excitement. The author also makes the scientific information easy to swallow as it is steeped in the humor of Professor Challenger and Professor Summerlee disagreeing on every fact. The Lost World is a fine example of a Victorian swashbuckler with itâs chin-up, confident turn of the century British attitude. ( )