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.
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: 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: 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: 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: 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 Memorable Early "Pulp" Adventure
Review: 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
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