Customer Reviews

Allan Quartermain and the Lost City of Gold: Gateway Movie Classic (Gateway Movie Classics)

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Hi, I bought this book as I had not come across the title before in any Haggard listing. On receipt I found that it is really "Allan Quatermain" and the "new" title is presumably based on the film which starred Richard Chamberlain (which I have not seen).

The decription on the back cover of the book states "Allan must postpone his wedding to rescue his brother, who has been tracking a lost white tribe. Allan's travels take him through dangerous jungles and to a mythical city where the streets are paved with gold". I believe some liberties have been taken with this book but as a curio I suppose it might be worth the price.

regards

Paul Webb

I am a serious Haggard fan. Of his 50+ novels I own all but 12, including many first editions. Of the ones I do not own, I have read all but two. Sir Henry Rider Haggard wrote Allan Quartermain in 1887 following his successful King Solomon's Mines in 1885, and She in 1886. No one ever heard of Alan Quartermain and the Lost City of Gold until that ridiculous Richard Chamberlain movie was released. I personally will not support a publisher that takes liberties with titles of classic lost world fiction, and suggest that if you wish to read Alan Quartermain, check out some of the reputable used book sites.

..."Allan Quatermain" is another adventure story of the character of the same name. After the King Solomon's mines, Quatermain is back in England, where his son dies, and he's eager for new adventures. With his two best friends, Good and Curtis, they depart again to the heart of Africa, where they expect to discover a nation of white people undiscovered until now.

This story, while a classic Haggard tale, has not all the good elements "King Solomon's mines" had. There is fighting, there's thrilling, but this book is somewhat slower. This might be because Allan Quatermain, telling the story in his point of view, is older, close to sixty-five years. In fact, there are some really anoying parts, where Quatermain is extra-shy and puritan, almost to the point of being ridiculous. And, as another reviewer wrote, there's no point in writing about a white race, civilized, organized and secret, in the heart of Africa, instead of a more plausible black one. This can only be excused in historical contexts. Back in the late XIX century, Africa was such a type of novelty and unknown that people thought almost everything could happen in there. But, today, if the reader doesn't have an open mind and doesn't know his History, this can be interpreted as pure racism, which is not. Haggard wrote this book in a time where the biggest thing about Africa was Livingstone trying to find where the Nile came from.

So this is how this book should be taken. A classic adventure.

Grade 7.6/10

ALLAN QUATERMAIN is the sequel to H. Rider Haggard's famous tale of KING SOLOMON'S MINES. It is as every bit entertaining and delightful as its predecessor. Along with being an entertaining tale, it is at times educational in its descriptions and details of Africa during the late 1800s. It is also, just like KING SOLOMON, an intriguing example of the imperialist racist attitude of the British in Africa. A great story to further understand the racist beliefs held by Europeans toward Africans in the 1800s-1900s.

Many of you will have read King Solomon's Mines by Sir Henry Rider Haggard. The majority of you will have found the story as spell-binding as one of the incantations of old Gagool herself! Allan Quartermain is the sequel to this first adventure in darkest Africa and, like the original, throws up a fine selection of genuinely 3-D characters. Quartermain, the great hunter, tells the tale but his English companions, Curtis and Good, and the old Zulu Umslopogas are all beautifully drawn by this master of Victorian ripping yarns. If you have an ounce of romance in your soul, read this book! Please note, the DREADFUL movie bearing the same title has virtually no connection with the book and certainly should not deter anyone from reading the novel.

The book, Allan Quartermain appears to be the last of a series of books penned by H. Rider Haggard about the exploits of a fictitious Englishman and African big-game hunter. In it, the leading man, Allan, is a bit more philosophical about life and his place on earth, and we follow his last great adventure in deepest, darkest Africa before he passes on, fully satisfied with his life and accomplishments, to the final Beyond.

Once again, Quartermain teams up with his good friends, Captain Good and Sir Henry Curtis, this time around to find a fabled lost race of people(whom Quartermain later suspects as being a lost tribe of Persians when he finally finds them). Once in Africa, the intrepid English trio re-unite with the Mighty Umslopogaas, a bloodthirsty Zulu warrior and loyal friend and servant who also happens to have a heart of gold. Then, the Fabulous Four sally forth, and take on in short order a tribe of savage Masai, save a proper English damsel (of course very much in distress), undertake a perilous journey to an uncharted region of Africa, and inadvertently begin (and bloodily end) a civil war amongst the lost tribe they have sought.

Without a doubt, the best character in this book is Mighty Umslopogaas and his trusty axe, Inkosi-kaas. Quartermain also puts in a good showing, especially as the old sage entangled in palace intrigues charged with amorous feelings and their attendant, homicidal jealousies.

The first third of the book reads quickly, and is packed with action, while the second third gets bogged down in descriptive detail of the lost tribe- its people, customs and the land it occupies. The final third works the reader up to a rousing finish, and we see Mighty Umslopogaas bearing deadly Inkosi-kaas with skill and valor. England nor America could never hope to produce and officer and a gentleman as fine a soldier (and a man) as The Mighty Umslopogaas, who singlehandedly saves the Queen of the Lost Tribe and her kingdom to boot.

In this final outing, Quartermain's age and dering-do finally catch up with him, but he has just enough mettle left in him to save his old friend Captain Good from the greedy paws of the Grim Reaper. And yet, though he lived loudly, Quatermain manages to exit the Stage of Life quietly with his friends Good and Curtis at his side, and by story's end, Good resurrects his sea legs among the Lost Tribe and Sir Henry manages to snare the Queen's heart and hand in marriage. All in all, the reader doesn't feel bad about the ending, and comes away thinking that all worked out as it should have.

High adventure never gets better than this. Haggard wrote at a time when expansionism and imperialism were all the rage, and even then, his book were viewed as sensationalist. Now we know better, or at least we should, but back then, Haggard still managed to give Africa and her people, via The Mighty Umslopogaas, a small slice of dignity that many during his time were reticent to the point of belligerence to give. Haggard's Umslopogaas takes his rightful place in literary history alongside many noble, yet magnificient and exotic savages much like his contemporary, Robert B. Parker's Hawk of the Spenser mysteries, does today.

In sum, this book and the others preceding it, make for good escapist fun, and writers today are hard-pressed to top, let alone equal, these classic masterpieces.

The title of this book is deceptive. Not a very nice way the publisher chose to sell a book that is already well-known. While generally a fan of Haggard books this is not one of my favorites.
I prefer books such as Nada the Lily, Queen Sheba's Ring and The Virgin of the Sun.

I can't say much about the story - I've only made it to Chapter 4. However, around about Chapter 2, the pages started falling out of the book. Not well assembled.

It is a pleasure to read an interesting piece of fiction which could be almost true and presents good pictures in the mind's eye. It is also a pleasant change to read a book without any swear words or laced with sex.

Very speedy delivery and in excellent condition. I'm very happy with this purchase and the seller.