Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #521909 in Books
• Published on: 2001-07-05
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Synopsis
Spurred on by the woman he loves, young journalist Edward Malone eagerly joins forces with irascible Professor Challenger on an expedition to South America. They are accompanied by Professor Summerlee, keen to expose his old rival as a fraud, and soldier-adventurer, Lord John Roxton. Their mission is to verify Challenger's claim of the existence of a mysterious Jurassic-age plateau untouched by human civilization that brings both wonder and terror in the form of prehistoric creatures, from fierce ape-men to grazing iguanodons and rookeries of pterodactyls. "The Lost World" (1912) is accompanied here by "The Poison Belt", a novella that reunites Challenger and his team of explorers in an apocalyptic adventure, and two fantasies, "The Terror of Blue John Gap" and "The Horror of the Heights".

Customer Reviews

Well written and exciting
Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) is now chiefly remembered for his excellent Sherlock Holmes stories. However, Doyle wrote many exciting stories of adventure and mystery. This book contains four such stories.

1) In The Lost world, reporter Edward Malone accepts the challenge to explore a recently discovered South American plateau that allegedly contains dinosaurs. Teamed up with the eccentric Professor Challenger, the dubious Professor Summerlee, and the heroic Lord John Roxton, the heroes of the story find themselves immersed in an adventure beyond their wildest dreams. 2) In The Poison Belt, Malone is summoned by Professor Challenger with a cryptic note. It seems that the Earth is moving towards a poisonous section of space, and Challenger hopes that he can rescue himself and his associates-the last people left on Earth. 3) The Terror of Blue John Gap is a short diary telling the story of one man's confrontation with a monster that any modern man knows could not possibly exist. And finally, 4) The Horror of the Heights is another short diary excerpt that tells the story of a daring aviators discovery that the air also has its jungles and predators.

While somewhat dated, these stories are well written and quite exciting. They reflect a world that is now gone, but is quite interesting to read about. Overall, I must say that if you like adventure stories, then you must read this book!

A Memorable Early "Pulp" Adventure
Whatever else it may be, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's THE LOST WORLD has certainly been influential. The 1925 silent film version was one of the great special effects landmarks of its day, and the novel has been filmed on at least two other occasions, once in 1960 and once more (for television) in 2002. And one scarcely need mention such LOST WORLD-influenced efforts as THE LAND UNKNOWN or the book-to-film JURASSIC PARK and its various sequels. There seems no end in sight.

Doyle's original is remarkably straightforward and devoid of the subplots and love-interest introduced in the various film versions. The story is told from the point of view of a London reporter, Edward Malone, whose beloved spurs him into action when she declares that she could never marry a man who has no taste for high adventure or bold risk. Malone accordingly begins to cover a scientific scandal: Professor Challenger has returned from South America with outrageous claims of prehistoric life that survives on a plateau in the Amazon. When Challenger suggests a party be formed to verify his claims, Malone jumps at the chance.

It is interesting to read Doyle's LOST WORLD in comparison with Wells' WAR OF THE WORLDS, for the two novels counterpoint each other terms of mindset; where Wells' famous novel is a covert satire of the brutality of English imperialism, Doyle accepts English imperialism with a manly embrace and sends his explorers off into the uncivilized wilds, where they repeatedly encounter undesirables in great need of a blast from an English-made rifle. Indeed, they often seem more interested in eradicating newly discovered life forms than in observing them!

But we would do a disservice to both Doyle and his novel by taking it too seriously. It was written to be a blood and thunder adventure, pitting "modern" men against nature's bloody claw--and while Doyle's style here will likely seem a bit stilted to modern readers, the book still works extremely well. According to lore, Doyle preferred Dr. Challenger to his more celebrated Sherlock Holmes, and indeed Doyle wrote several novels that featured the gruff, blustery, and violent-tempered scientist. While it seems unlikely that Challenger will ever depose Holmes in the public favor, fans of the Holmes stories will likely enjoy THE LOST WORLD as an example of Doyle's non-mystery work--and certainly fans of early pulp adventure will have a field day. Recommended for the pure fun of it!

GFT, Amazon reviewer