A classic adventure yarn, set in 19th-century southern Africa, and written in 1885. Although it takes liberties, and reflects the limited knowledge of the interior of Africa at that time, it is at least written by someone who lived in Africa and had some idea what he was talking about. His view of the "natives" reflects contemporary views, but he comes over as relatively progressive for his times. Very British, very manly and patriarchal, but well worth reading ( )

Recommended by Graham Greene in an interview ( )

Great adventure story, one of the first of its genre. Lost diamonds, biblical legendary, forgotten peoples, war, and the restoration of a king. A search for lost diamonds turns into an amazing adventure. My modern day sensibilities had trouble with what was acceptable over 100 years ago (elephant hunters and they even eat Giraffe steaks!) Even from this adventure novel there are great life lessons:"What is life? Tell me, O white men, who awise, who know the secrets of the world, and the world of the stars, and the world that lies above and around the stars; who flash your words from afar without a voice: tell me, white men, the secret of our life--whither it goes and whence it comes!You cannot answer me: you know not, Listen, I will answer. Out of the dark we came, into the dark we go. Like a storm-driven bird at night we fly out of Nowhere; for a moment our wings are sen in the light of the fire, and lo we are gone again into the Nowhere. Life is nothing. Life is all. It is the Hand with which we hold off Death. It is the glow-worm that shines in the night-time and is black in the morning. It is the white breath of the oxen in winter; it is the little shadow that runs across the grass and loses itself at sunset." p 65 ( )

Given its shortness, it's amazing that this book still wears out its welcome. What starts out as a rollicking adventure story, promising a fantastic journey, becomes bogged down about halfway through in the politics of a problematically-depicted group of Africans. But even if they weren't problematic, they'd still be boring. Thankfully, things still come to a roaring and satisfying conclusion, despite the highly convenient death of the black love interest of one of the white heroes. Quite fun otherwise, though, especially thanks to the matter-of-fact but slightly dim narrative voice Haggard given Allan Quatermain.

The notes in my Penguin Classics edition are a little basic, but that's probably because there's not much to note, and Robert Hampson feels compelled to say something.

A rip-roaring boys own adventure! ( )

This is the first of the Alan Quartermain novels, that adventure series from the late 1800s. As a ground breaking adventure novel, I suppose I should have liked it better. The problem is, I've read so many "lost world" tales in my day that King Solomon's Mines seemed a bit cliched. I do have to admit, though, that despite the racism and other 19th Century attitudes, the story has weathered pretty well. The novel is nowhere near as thick as some of its contemporaries that I've read.
--J. ( )

One of my favourite reads of 2008. Makes you feel like you've visited another world. ( )

Reading what is said to be the grandfather of all adventure stories, I was left a little wanting. There was a multitude of things that kept distracting me from the story. Obviously, the book dripped with imperialism, racism, and sexism. However, I kept reminding myself that that was typical for the time, but that wasn't the only issue.
In the version I read, there were a few reactions to the book provided in the back. C.S. Lewis said it best, "The real defects of Haggard are two. First, he can't write. Or rather won't ... Secondly, the intellectual defects ..... though Haggard had sense, he was ludicrously unaware of his limitations." I'd like to think my response is not so harsh. The writing was weak. Haggard would repeat himself in word choice and sometimes even passages. He would spend paragraph after paragraph describing a scene, but advance the narrative little.
So, what makes this book a classic? I think that even with all its faults the book is a fun read. It speaks to the little kid in all of us. ( )

In 1884, Haggard bet 5 shillings 'that he could write a more successful novel than Robert Louis Stevenson's TREASURE ISLAND.' (bio, pg vii) I wonder who paid off the bet, Haggard or his brother, because KING SOLOMON'S MINES, written in 6 weeks, sold well over half a million copies in his lifetime. Today Stevenson is in the Canon of dead white guys, and Haggard is nearly forgotten. Perhaps that rapid draft, little revised, has something to do with it, along with the hearty colonialism, racism, & misogyny. Still, if you can handle the fact that he was a man of his times, he has written a rip-roaring, high-charged romance of a quest for the grail stone.

It includes all the stock elements of a Jungian search for the Self -- [this might be a spoiler if you don't know the tropes of the adventure novel] the secret treasure and its map, the lost brother, the trek through the pitiless desert, the isolated & savage kingdom, the twin Kings -- one noble & betrayed & the other 'cruel and sensual' (103), the exiled heir to the throne, the sacrificed maiden, the crone/witch, the treasure chamber deep in the earth & secured by a locking mechanism.

Again from the bio: E.M. Forster once made an observation about 'the novelist sending down a bucket into the unconscious.' V.S. Pritchert elaborated on this notion, claiming that Haggard 'installed a suction pump. He drained the whole reservoir of the people's secret desires.' (pg x)

When describing an African landscape, Haggard's elephant-hunter hero happily states his biases: ' ... here and there a white house, smiling out at the placid sea, puts a finish and gives an air of homeliness to the scene. For to my mind, however beautiful a view may be, it requires the presence of man to make it complete, but perhaps that is because I have lived so much in the wilderness, and therefore know the value of civilisation, though to be sure it drives away the game. The Garden of Eden, no doubt, was fair before man was, but I always think it must have been fairer when Eve was walking about it.' (26)

A classic adventure story that still has the power to grab you. Chocked full of humour, Alan and his friends battle across the desert hunting elephants, dying of hunger, duping the natives and getting themselves in scrapes. Complete with happy ending. Marvellous. ( )

A rattling adventure story that, if anything, I found rather too fast to read. It lacked some of the depth of the author's other classic, She. Quite a dramatic final section. ( )

a good old potboiler adventure novel. ( )

Sometimes a classic is a classic just because it provides so much entertainment to readers over the years. This is just a good fun read. Don't look for any deep social comment. Just take it as a fun entertaining story in which every guy can think " I am Allan Quartermain." This has obviously been the inspiration for so many of the adventure stories that have been written since King Solomon's Mines publications in the late 19th century. Just read it and have fun. ( )

This a classic rip-roaring adventure yarn about a group of men heading into deepest darkest Africa on the hunt for a lost brother and treasure. This book is most definitely a product of its times, with all the racism and chauvinism which that entails, but despite that it actually manages in some ways to be a more sympathetic treatment of "the natives" than many other books of a similar era. Just don't go in expecting enlightened attitudes!

The story is engaging, and the voice of the "narrator" of the piece shows a writer at the full peak of his talent. He manages to maintain the line between Quatermain's natural voice and the voice of someone attempting to write a proper narrative for others to read, which maintains the fiction of Quatermain writing about his experiences very well.

The humour is often unexpected, the story is well-paced, and the action is well-written. It's not a deep read, but it's a thoroughly engaging one. ( )

I listened to an audiobook version of this from Librivox. Being a story about a bunch of white guys wandering around Africa in the 19th century, it's unsurprisingly quite amazingly racist in parts, but the whole epic-quest aspect was fun. I liked the bit when they were trapped in a cave full of diamonds, and sat around going "lol irony! you can't eat diamonds! woe." ( )

This adventure classic has aged fairly well, given the author's clear respect for the peoples of Africa. Predictable by today's standards, but very interesting when held in perspective of its time. ( )

Although this book has been described as a book "for men, about men" I (decidedly female) really enjoyed it. There are bits where it's a little gruesome but it's not described in a vivid way which would make me feel uncomfortable. The story is really well put together and exciting all the way through. ( )

"King Solomon's Mines" has been described as a "story full of men for male readers written by a man". Indeed, I can see boys and men in 1894 eat this story up as it features a 19th century version of Indiana Jones - Allan Quatermain.

Sir Henry Curtis has lost his estranged brother, who went missing in Africa so Curtis, and his friend Captain John Good, recruit Allan Quatermain to help them search for the missing brother George. The search will be dangerous so Quatermain demands a high price. After agreeing the terms, they set off.

Aided by a treasure map that came into Quatermain's possession, the three men set off on a hazardous journey across blazing hot deserts, treacherous mountains and into deep dark caves. For not only are they looking for George Curtis but thanks to the treasure map, they are also searching for the lost treasure chambers of King Solomon, whose diamond mines are legendary but have never been seen. If they can find the diamond mines, they will be indescribably rich. But what of the legends that all who set foot in King Solomon's treasure chambers end up dead?

Along the way, they meet a despot King and they help the real deposed King mount a revolution to take back his kingdom.

Haggard writes a good story but it is very verbose and wordy most of the time. The language is showing its age with "thou" and "thee". I personally thought the story was good but for those who find this book too much can always watch the terrible Patrick Swayze movie version instead. ( )

This was a great read and I would reconment it to any teen that enjoys quest and adventure stories. Just because it is old (classic) does not mean its not great! ( )

King Solomon's Mines wasn't really what I thought it would be; lots more interaction with the natives than the straight treasure hunt I had been expecting. It's a basic Quest tale. Told from the perspective of Allen Quartermain, a weathered old hunter, the story is about Sir Henry Curtis' search for his estranged brother in the remote parts of Africa. George Curtis had heard the legend of the fabled riches to be found in King Solomon's mines, and has disappeared without a trace into the rough country.

The book is very much a product of its times. Animal rights activists and politically correct people, beware. I was able to enjoy it though.

I find it interesting that the narrator, Allen Quartermain, describes himself many times as a timid man. This is directly contrary to how the character was portrayed in the movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (not a very good movie, by the way). Quartermain's sense of humor reminded me a good deal of Betteredge in Wilkie Collin's The Moonstone. Near the beginning he writes of his old lion wound (paraphrased): "When you have shot sixty-five lions without incident, and the sixty-sixth turns around and chews on your leg like a quid of tobacco, it upsets the order of things. I'm an orderly man and I don't like change." Fun stuff!

Note: One thing that was extremely annoying about this edition (Penguin Classics) was the inordinate number of blatant typos. Did ANYONE read this before it went to press? Multiple instances of missing punctuation, "as" spelled "aso," proper names misspelled ("Ignosi" spelled "Ingnosi"), an entire line in the last chapter with no spaces between the words — it's enough to make you cry. What a careless printing this is. ( )

This was one of my favorite childhood adventure stories. Don't be influenced by the bad movie versions.

http://yoyogodreviews.blogspot.com/20... ( )

This is it: the grand-daddy of adventure stories. It's the story that inspired the pulps that inspired Indiana Jones; its hero is a founding member of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen; it's the original source of more cliches than Citizen Kane. There's a lot of expectation built up around such a classic, and Haggard's wild ride does not disappoint. The story features a deadly desert, a long-lost brother, an ancient map, treasure from Biblical times, an evil witch, a king in exile, and an all-out civil war. It's said that Haggard completed the novel on a bet in a whirlwind six weeks of writing, and the reader's experience is similarly breathless.

For modern readers, the "classic" European view of Africa and Africans is always likely to be politically troublesome, and you might worry that King Solomon's Mines would fall on the racist spectrum somewhere between Heart of Darkness and Little Black Sambo. The introduction by Alexandra Fuller deals with just this question, and comes to the surprising conclusion that Haggard (through Quatermain), in his 19th-century way, shows great respect both for Africans as individuals and for the diversity of African culture and geography. Haggard lived in Africa for many years, and his setting is based on a real place, not just a savagely exotic "other." (Lest we get too smug in our own political correctness, Fuller contrasts Haggard's Africa with the pastiche of stereotypes in the most recent film adaptation.)

Original post on "All The Things I've Lost"

Three Englishman, a hunter, a soldier, and a gentleman, go off through the wilds of Africa in search of a lost brother, who was in search of the lost diamond mines of King Solomon. The adventurers encounter many obstacles, from the formidible terrain, to malicious animals, to native warriors. The version I listened too had Patrick Tull as the narrator, he had the perfect voice, he sounded just like you'd expect a crusty English hunter from the late 1800's to sound. Haggard's storytelling is superb, and I loved the way he had his narrator put in his little observation and asides. I highly recommend this adventure tale to anyone who loves suspense. ( )

Classic adventure story, a secret map and hidden treasure, only involving a trek across the desert to become fabulously rich. Told with a, at the time reasonable, white man's view of black africans. It comes across very perculiar to modern tastes. However later chapters when the tribesmen are found do rectify the balance somewhat. ( )