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Loading... The Great Dinosaur Robbery (original 1970; edition 2014)by David Forrest (Author)
Work InformationThe Great Dinosaur Robbery by David Forrest (1970)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1417328.html#cutid3 The original book on which the Disney film was based is set in New York, not London, in the contemporary early 1970s, so the Chinese are Maoists rather than followers of a warlord. Also the dinosaur gets dismantled by the nannies overnight rather than driven off on the back of the truck; and, most crucially setting the tone for the book, in the opening scene the Earl of Hastings is killed by his own cyanide capsule when his ex-nanny belts him across the face, rather than being held captive for most of the story like Lord Southmere in the film. The book concentrates much more on the work of the police investigators of the dinosaur theft, a special team of stereotypes brought together to fight international organised crime. One of the nannies is shagging her employer, while another is allergic to men; this is supposed to be funny, as are the freqent citations of Mao by the Chinese and their eventual fate (sent to Taiwan, where they will probably be executed). One or two jokes from the book made it into the film, but really this is for grownups who aren't looking for anything very worthwhile. no reviews | add a review
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Five frightfully British nannies, working in New York, pull off the most extraordinary theft - they steal the gigantic, 200-million-year-old skeleton of a brontosaurus from the American Museum of Natural History, for the sake of Queen and country. And to hurry them along, a handful of pedantic but inefficient Chinese spies. Add to this the antics of an off-beat team from the American counter-espionage service who are also tracking the spies as well as trying to work out why the nannies stole the dinosaur, where they have stashed it and what they intend to do with it. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.91Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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I read this 50-odd years ago and enjoyed the sheer ludicrousness of it, but it hasn't really worn well - especially the stereotype Chinese spies. The scene between Tarzan the parrot and the museum guard is still funny, though. ( )