Rating: 
Summary: The Spielberg/Crichton book is better....
Review: I found this book to be slow,tedious, painful to read, and were full of the narrow mindness/bigotry toward other cultures that Doyle was looking at and puts in this book at various points. True, it was written near the close of the 19th Century when almost everyone in the English empire looked at other nations and other cultures as beneath them. This is very clear in the picture in this book of the various ape/men tribes that the explorers encouter on the plateau, the written passages of them are not very flattering and well, that was the attitude of the time when this book was written, I hated it, and thus do not reccomand this book. the Amazon review got it all wrong.
Rating: 
Summary: In the Rider Haggard tradition
Review: After many years of searching for this book, I finally found it and read it in a single afternoon. It was an excellent yarn, written by an imaginative medico, sitting in his study in England who could only have had scientific journals as references. Other reviewers are chagrined that he didn't write like Jules Verne, so maybe they should just stick to Verne.The action is slower than the filmed renditions of this book, but it is an adventurous journey in the H. Rider Haggard tradition. Now to read Greg Bear's sequel...
Rating: 
Summary: Jurasscic Park, 19th Century Style
Review: Arthur Conan Doyle has done it again, and this time, without Sherlock Holmes. In "Lost World", the egotistical, eccentric professor, the desperate lover, the cynical skeptic, fantastic life forms, danger, and conflict all play their roles in the weaving of this tale. George Edward Challenger, the eccentric professor, shocks and challenges London's scientific community with incredible tales of prehistoric animals living in South America. Challenged to prove his position, he leads an expedition in search of this 19th century Jurassic Park, an expedition which will prove him a giant or a charlatan. I won't ruin it for you, but trust me, join the expedition. This truly is a book which you will not want to put down.
Rating:
Summary: A classic adventure, as good today as it was a century ago
Review: Arthur Conan Doyle may be famous for his legendary Baker Street detective, but The Lost World has always been closest to my heart. Doyle's preface for the book is: `I have wrought my simple plan / If I bring one hour of joy / To the boy who's half a man / Or the man who's half a boy.' From this modest aspiration comes one of the greatest adventure novels of our age, with a warmth and depth rarely matched before or since. I enjoyed the book when I was `half a man' for the pure adventure, and I can enjoy it now that I'm `half a boy' for the finely drawn characters, the sometimes-subtle but always-pervasive humor (usually at the expense of the two Professors -- can you tell that Doyle was once a medical student?) and the social commentary.
I won't reveal too much of the plot. The tale is told by the young Irishman Edward Malone, whose self-obsessed girlfriend (I can certainly appreciate this chapter of the book better now than as a lad) sends him off to find adventure. This leads him to the arrogant, violent-tempered, but hysterically amusing (in Doyle's hands) Professor Challenger, and eventually to the Lost World on a South American plateau. Malone's companions are Challenger himself, the old, acerbic zoologist Professor Summerlee, and the very British sportsman and adventurer Lord John Roxton.
The Lost World is a classic example of the adventure novels of its era, which are characterized by the exuberant ideals of exploration and discovery, and of scientific curiosity. What differentiates this book from the novels of Jules Verne, H. Rider Haggard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, et al is that The Lost World is really about the characters. Professor Challenger and his band take center stage, and their quirks, motivations, and idiosyncrasies draw us into the narrative. On the other hand, when I read Verne or Burroughs, I can't help thinking that they must have said, `Let me see how many cool concepts and plot devices I can come up with, and then I'll throw some characters in because I have to.' In other words, Doyle is a true writer who has written an adventure novel, not just a guy with a good imagination who's decided to write books.
Some reviewers here have commented that the book seems a bit `dated,' but I can't agree. Of course scientific knowledge has progressed in the last century, and I agree it's hard to picture today's superficial society getting excited about anything science-related, like the discovery of dinosaurs on a lost plateau (unless, of course, dinosaur meat turns out to be `low-carb'). But the characters and the adventures they go through are based on archetypes that are at least as old as the Odyssey or Beowulf. Indeed, what seems dated in my mind is not the book itself but some of the criticism I've read here claiming that the book is `sexist,' `racist,' `imperalist,' etc. I can't imagine anyone but the most fervently politically correct being offended by the content of this book. This is a story of adventure and discovery, not British imperialism or exploitation.
One note of caution: if you've seen any of the several movie or television adaptations, beware; they've taken great liberties (as Challenger would say) with the plot and characters. Approach this book with an open mind, and enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Great Adventure- Politically Correct It's Not
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It is the first book I have read by Conan Doyle. It is a no frills adventure story, that moves along at a good pace. This takes place when men were men. You have dinosaurs, Ape-men, peril, etc. What I really liked about the book was the way Doyle describes the ape-men , dinosaurs and the like. He calls them hideous, vile creatures that should be eliminated as needed. Today they would be labeled as misunderstood and put on the endangered list. This book was written in 1912 so attitudes were different. All in all a good read.
Rating: 
Summary: Something nasty in the jungle
Review: I thought that "The Lost World" was an entertaining novel, taking the reader back to the glory days of the Empire, when heroes sporting bushy moustaches and eccentric professors with beards dressed in Harris tweeds and armed with little more than a trusty service revolver and hunting rifle, could venture into the most inhospitable wildernessesa and survive. Professors Challenger and Summerlee, along with Lord John Roxton and the Irish journalist Edward Malone, go on an expedition to the deepest Amazon in an attempt to prove Challenger's claim the prehistoric life had survived there. The rest of the story has been copied and adapted so many times, tha it's not worth going over. Nonetheless, "The Lost World" is still a good read: Conan Doyle could spin a decent yarn. True, it's very much of its age: the modern reader might feel assaulted by the Social Darwinianism and racial stereotypes which run through it: the only black character is the faithful yet simple "Zambo" (ouch); and the Latin American characters are all treacherous (of course). Even Malone, being Irish, is not exempt from this kind of stuff. I was struck also by the violence permeating the novel. Challenger brawls with or threatens everyone who disagrees with him, the explorers decimate every living thing around them (hunting trophies being sought assidously), fights break out at scientific meetings, and the expedition members participate eagerly in a battle which is justified by the "survival of the fittest" mantra. No doubt we live in violent times at the moment, but if this is any representation of times past (albeit it is only a work of fiction) our ancesters seemed to be squabbling and brawling their way towards World War One! G Rodgers
Rating:
Summary: Conan Doyle Smiles
Review: Professor George E. Challenger, noted scientist, says dinosaurs are still alive, and he knows where to find them. The scientific community says he's a madman or a fraud, or both. Challenger's only evidence is a bunch of blurry photographs. Fellow scientists say the photos are obviously doctored and the newspapers call it a fantasy. Boiling with rage, Challenger goes into seclusion. Anyone foolish enough to bring up the tender subject around him is liable to end up in the gutter outside his house, with a few extra lumps for the gutter press. The only reporter brave, or stupid, enough to face the professor's wrath and get the story is Edward Malone, young, intrepid journalist for the Daily Gazette. At a boisterous scientific meeting, Professor Summerlee, a rival scientist, calls Challenger's bluff. Summerlee will return to South America and prove Challenger wrong. The young journalist volunteers to go along. Lord John Roxton, the famous hunter, can't miss an opportunity to return to the jungle and adds his name to expedition. Professor Challenger is happy they are taking him seriously, even if they don't all believe him. But what will they find in South America? A strange, living time capsule from the Jurassic period filled with pterodactyls and stegosaurs? Or will they only find vast tracks of endless jungles and Challenger's daydreams? Either way there will be danger and adventure for all. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote "The Lost World" in 1912 for the Strand magazine, the same magazine that published his Sherlock Holmes stories. It's a great Edwardian science-fiction adventure, although some may not like the British Imperialism and Darwinian racism. Still, in "The Lost World" Conan Doyle lets his hair down a little. Changing narrators from the earnest Doctor John Watson to the rash reporter Edward Malone makes for a big change. There is a good deal more humor. The students in the scientific meetings are forever yelling out jokes at the expense of nutty Professor Challenger. Affairs of the heart play a big role in Malone's life. He matures from a young swain out to impress his girlfriend to more of a wistful man-of-the-world by the end. It is a very different Conan Doyle than some are used to reading. Different, but just as good, maybe, dare I say it, even better.
Rating:
Summary: Showing Its Age, But Still A Classic
Review: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Lost World" is a classic adventure story first published in 1912. It is the story of a scientific expedition that is sent to determine if the reported findings of prehistoric life still existing in a remote area of South America are true. Professor Challenger is the one defending his findings, Professor Summerlee is the skeptic, and there are two unbiased observers: the guide, Lord John Roxton, and a reporter Ned Malone, who also servers as the Narrator of the story. This book is certainly showing some of its age. The opening of the book, in which we learn of Ned Malone's motivation, certainly comes across as dated and sexist. In it the woman of his dreams tells him "There are heroisms all round us waiting to be done. It's for men to do them, and for women to reserve their love as a reward for such men... That's what I should like - to be envied for my man." Much later in the book, we have the scientific expedition deciding to try to wipe out a race of previously unknown ape-men, hardly something a scientist would contemplate in this day and age, and I doubt it would have been even when this book was first published. Yet despite these and other flaws, I did enjoy reading this book. The characters were eccentric and entertaining, and I was compelled to keep reading to find out what would happen to them. This book was tied for 9th on August Derleth's Arkham Survey of `Basic SF Titles', but it really is more of an Adventure novel than a Science Fiction novel.
Rating:
Summary: Showing Its Age, But Still A Classic
Review: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Lost World" is a classic adventure story first published in 1912. It is the story of a scientific expedition that is sent to determine if the reported findings of prehistoric life still existing in a remote area of South America are true. Professor Challenger is the one defending his findings, Professor Summerlee is the skeptic, and there are two unbiased observers: the guide, Lord John Roxton, and a reporter Ned Malone, who also servers as the Narrator of the story. This book is certainly showing some of its age. The opening of the book, in which we learn of Ned Malone's motivation, certainly comes across as dated and sexist. In it the woman of his dreams tells him "There are heroisms all round us waiting to be done. It's for men to do them, and for women to reserve their love as a reward for such men... That's what I should like - to be envied for my man." Much later in the book, we have the scientific expedition deciding to try to wipe out a race of previously unknown ape-men, hardly something a scientist would contemplate in this day and age, and I doubt it would have been even when this book was first published. Yet despite these and other flaws, I did enjoy reading this book. The characters were eccentric and entertaining, and I was compelled to keep reading to find out what would happen to them. This book was tied for 9th on August Derleth's Arkham Survey of 'Basic SF Titles', but it really is more of an Adventure novel than a Science Fiction novel.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth the time
Review: The first few chapters of this book are some of the wittiest that I have read in a while. There are great comments in relation to newpapers and popular science that come from the mouth of one of the characters that read like they were written yesterday. Some reviewers have suggested that the story reads a bit dated. On the contrary I found Doyle's style to be very modern (as well as humorous). Also his writing is unpretentious. He doesn't send you to a dictionary to look up words or batter you over the head with his philosophy. He doesn't speak down to his reading audience either. The narrative moves swiftly and is packed with colourful characters and incidents. There is racism in the novel (interestingly in the Oxford World Classics Edition it is pointed out that much of this is directed at the Irish) and you have to read the book with the knowledge that Doyle is the product of the British Imperialist mindset. The racism in the novel actually provides for fascinating reading because it allows a window into the prevailing thoughts of the day in England. You could read a history book for that or you could read this book and see for yourself. While those who enjoy scientic or historical romances would like this short novel it will also be of interest to anyone curious about early 20th century social history in Britain. I'm not a fast reader but I read this book in a day. And it was a day well spent. This was the first work I have ever read by Doyle (I have never read a Sherlock Holmes story) and I look forward to reading more.
|
