Allan Quatermain [Library Binding]

H. Rider Haggard (Author)

Product Details

• Library Binding
• Publisher: Buccaneer Books (December 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568492863
• ISBN-13: 978-1568492865
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Things ain't what they appear!, August 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Allan Quartermain and the Lost City of Gold: Gateway Movie Classic (Gateway Movie Classics) (Paperback)

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

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Alan Quartermain & the Lost City of Gold, Creative Titling?, July 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Allan Quartermain and the Lost City of Gold: Gateway Movie Classic (Gateway Movie Classics) (Paperback)

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.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Adventure classic, September 23, 2002

By 

J R Zullo (São Paulo, Brazil) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Allan Quartermain and the Lost City of Gold: Gateway Movie Classic (Gateway Movie Classics) (Paperback)

..."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