Customer Reviews

The Lost World

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(4.5 stars) Fans of the Sherlock Holmes series may be as surprised as I was by the complete change of style that this novel represents for its author. Gone are the formulas, the formal language, the stilted dialogue, and the gamesmanship between author and reader that characterize the Holmes novels, however delightful and successful those may be as mysteries. Instead, we see Doyle letting his imagination run free in a sci-fi romp that is both fun and funny, and often thoughtful. Written in 1912, during an eight-year hiatus from his Sherlock Holmes novels, and six years after his last "historical novel," The Lost World is the first of five works involving temperamental Professor Edward Challenger, a scientist investigating evolution and related subjects.

Challenger is a scientific outcast, vilified for his most recent paper, in which he claimed to have seen dinosaurs and pre-historic creatures in a remote area of South America, but which he refuses to locate on a map. Blaming the press for much of the controversy over his research, he despises reporters, and regularly assaults them. Young Ed Malone, a reporter looking for more excitement than he is getting on his regular beat, manages to make a connection with Challenger, after passing a test of his mettle.

Along with two other scientists, Elizabeth Summerlee and Lord John Roxton, they travel with Challenger to the mysterious plateau in Brazil where he claims to have seen extraordinary beasts believed dead for millions of years. Malone's newspaper, which partially funded the expedition, expects him to send daily reports of his adventures by messenger back to "civilization. These form much of the novel's narrative.

The place where Challenger has made his discoveries, which the other scientists are soon able to verify, is at the base of a high plateau in the jungle which has protected it from intrusion by man. This self-contained universe has protected creatures that have become extinct elsewhere. The scientists' often death-defying thrills--with canoes going over falls, shooting by headhunters, vengeance taken by one of the guides for past crimes, a war to the death between two separate, but related, species on the evolutionary tree, attacks by pre-historic creatures, and even a love story--make this novel non-stop fun to read. Far more "relaxed" in style and more imaginative in content than the novels for which Doyle is now (justifiably) famous, The Lost World, written almost a hundred years ago, builds on our universal spirit of adventure and our never-ending fascination with dinosaurs and their behavior. n Mary Whipple

The Poison Belt: Being an Account of Another Amazing Adventure of Professor Challenger (Bison Frontiers of Imagination), #2 in the series
THE LAND OF MIST, #3 in the series
When the World Screamed, With the Lost World, #4
The Disintegration Machine and Other Stories, #5

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's (Sherlock Holmes) best work. An original that isn't worth reading JUST because it's a classic. It is simply a magnificent book.

Join two self-absorbed and bickering scientists, Challenger and Summerlee, cautious Lord John the Lion Tamer (see Muldoon, Jurassic Park I) and some kid (made out more or less to be you) as they somewhat arrogantly force their way into a veritable living museum of flora and fauna........shooting, maiming, and dominating everything along the way, in their quest to satisfy their own wanderlust and attain world recognition.

A true turn-of-the-century attitude book, complete with Zambo, a black companion more or less made out to be a loyal dog, Mexican guides who are shot dead at point blank range (justifiably, of course) for their treachery............ and a community of ape-looking people who are mercilessly slaughtered so "civilization can prevail".
Dinosaurs vary from near brainless death-machines whos only seeming purpose in life is to be gunned down on sight until their legs stop moving, to curious-looking but farmable cows kept for their meat and resources.
The book ends with the authors slight nagging regret that all the wonders they discovered are soon to be raped and pillaged by money-making opportunists once the secret gets out, and the forgotten place becomes "unLost" and nationally recognized. Duhh.

The book is not entirely without satire however, and the author takes time to point out (and quite humorously) the irony of self-aggrandizing Challenger and skeptical Summerlee in all their pompousness being forced to reckon with humbling surroundings far unlike any lecture hall. (One memorable scene in particular where the noble Challenger is found to closely resemble the neandrethal Ape-King in features and temperment, much to his staunch denials).

Really a well done story, and certainly considering the time it was written an original and imaginative work. Worth reading!

When it first came out almost two decades ago, "Jurassic Park" (the movie) was a huge sensation. Steven Spielberg marshaled Hollywood's technical wizardry in order to create the closest that we'll ever be to seeing the actual dinosaurs. Spielberg's adaptation of Michael Crichton's novel by the same name was revolutionary in many respects. However, the distinction of creating and popularizing the "modern man meets dinosaur" sci-fi subgenre belongs to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Almost a century ago he wrote "The Lost World," and imaginative and suspenseful novel that tracks an expedition of European scientists, journalists, and adventurers deep inside the South American jungles where they explore a hitherto undiscovered plateau that seems to have been cut-off from the rest of the world for millions of years, and where some dreadful prehistoric creatures still roam.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is best known for creating Sherlock Holmes, one of the most famous literary characters of all time. Sherlock Holmes was based on an actual person, a university professor that Doyle knew, and was characterized by cold, calculating and brilliant abilities of deduction. "The Lost World" has seen the introduction of Professor Challenger, a character that Doyle used for a few more of his subsequent works. Challenger is no less brilliant than Sherlock Holmes, but in every other psychological (and physical) trait is the exact opposite of the famous sleuth. Where Holmes is cold and aloof, Challenger is passionate and physically confrontational. In terms of appearance, Challenger is stocky and exceptionally strong, and sports a long black beard. Challenger continues Doyle tradition of strong-minded characters that use wit and ingenuity to solve even the problems where the brute force may seem to rule the day. Personally I found the scenes of disputes between scientists and academic particularly amusing: it seems that very little has changed in the last hundred years.

The creatures in this story are a bit of a jumble of dinosaurs and some more recently extinct plants and animals. A few scenes in the book are worthy of any action movie, and have been well orchestrated. In today's terms it is quite unrealistic to believe that over millions of years certain species have persisted (and others had joined them), but if you can suspend disbelief on this point then you will certainly enjoy this book.

Doyle is a masterful storyteller, and aside from a few linguistic and historical peculiarities that reveal its age, "The Lost World" could easily go head-to-head with anything that Michael Crichton or some other modern sci-fi/thriller writer could come up.

I was apprehensive about reading this story, thinking it might be dated. I have recently read several modern 'dinosaur thrillers' and was concerned this book would be too old to be compelling. I was wrong! This story was fantastic, funny, and very engrossing. Professor Challenger is one of the most hilarious and compelling characters I have read in a long time. The science aspect of this novel is fine. It may be a bit dated, but that doesn't take away from the story. If you like books about expeditions, bravery, and adventure, this book will certainly please!

This may be the original "Jurassic Park" story. It's about a group of people from Britain who discover an isolated plateau in South America that contains prehistoric life. It's a fun read, but its got its shortcomings.

First among its shortcomings is that Doyle sets up a potentially wonderful set of encounters with dinosaurs...and then makes very little of the idea. Having introduced these fabulous creatures from the Jurassic era, it's almost as though Doyle is immediately bored with them. He therefore introduces some hominids around whom most of the action revolves. That's just disappointing, and Doyle's racist attitudes towards non-Europeans, (while undoubtedly a product of the time-period in which he was writing) make it all the more unappealing.

Another thing I didn't like about the book is that one of the main characters, Dr. Challenger, is a horrible human being. While this is pretty-much acknowledged in the book, it is nonetheless evident that one is meant to respect this arrogant, egotistical, self-centered, misogynistic, racist man. Doyle, while acknowledging in his writing that Dr. Challenger is insufferable, still seems to tacitly imply that his disgusting behavior is acceptable, and is to be forgiven - perhaps even commended - because he is a "devil-may-care" kinda guy who gets things done. It's the equivalent of saying "Oh, boys will be boys" with a nod and a wink. I find it really irritating.

Finally, the book suffers from what I believe is a gaping plot flaw: the protagonists all get stuck on an isolated plateau, and can't get down. This seems hard to believe, because they have ropes, saws, axes, and guns and the plateau has all manner of vegetation (including trees, bushes, vines) etc, with which they might have fashioned means of escape. Doyle has to keep coming up with more and more contrivances to explain why none of these options works for them.

All these complaints aside, however, it's still worth a read. Why? Because the writing is good. One interesting thing to note is that the book starts off very slowly. At least one quarter of the book is devoted exclusively to character development. During that time, the protagonists don't even leave England, let alone see a dinosaur. And it's really enjoyable! It was interesting, well-written prose that built the tension. These days, everybody wants to cut to the chase. As an aspiring author, I prowl around websites that offer advice to same. Often, I read comments from writers, agents, and editors who admonish writers to "start your book", "cut the fluff," and so on. One comment I read recently stated very matter-of-factly that any fantasy novel in which magic didn't feature in the first chapter was a "waste of time". How ridiculous! We live in a very impatient age.

Arthur Conan Doyle is best known as the creator of Sherlock Holmes who thinks his way through mysteries with tightly-reasoned deductions. This book is the first in a less-known series that focuses on Professor Edward Challenger, an impulsive, boisterous adventurer who must repeatedly prove his assertions to the stuffy and skeptical British scientists of the Royal Academy. The contrast between Holmes and Challenger shows the author's range in style and imagination.

This book chronicles an expedition's attempt to document Challenger's claims that dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures survive on a remote Brazilian plateau. Accompanying Challenger are Professor Summerlee, a fussily-skeptic fellow scientist; Lord John Roxton, a fearless and famous explorer; and Edward Malone, a naïve young reporter. A supporting cast of non-Caucasian extras is given equal inattention by the author and other explorers. Once reaching Challenger's "lost world," the adventurers quickly establish the existence in abundance of dinosaurs, prehistoric vegetation and primitive humans and near-humans. Their concern becomes whether they can escape from this dangerous plateau and return to civilization. Their discoveries, challenges, and inventive and harrowing escapes make good reading.

This book is strongly recommended for fans of good old fashioned adventure stories like Raiders of the Lost Ark. Readers who enjoy this first Professor Challenger book way wish to continue with The Poison Belt, The Land of Mist, When the World Screamed, and The Disintegration Machine. Engaging stories all, from a less civilized age.