Customer Reviews

King Solomon's Mines (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

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I grew up on the movie so it was quit a shocker to read the book. As stated in the beginning there are no petticoated women in this book. It is a men's adventure written by a man for men. You can not miss the hand of H. Rider Haggard as he has a unique sense of humor that pops up at the strangest times. He may be a little verbose but every word has a use. And as with written stories this one is much more intricate than the movie adaptations. You will find many assumptions of the time such as any complex construction must have been built by white people and natives on their own may turn savage.

The story is told first person by Allan Quartermain. Nevil is off to make his fortune by finding King Solomon's lost diamond mines. Allan sends him a 300 year old map to help. This is the last anyone heard from Nevil. Turns out that Nevil is really the estranged brother of Henry Curtis. Sir Henry Curtis now wants to make amends and he with his friend Captain John Good, bribe Allan Quartermain to take them across an endless desert and trough impassible mountains to an adventure that will hold you to the very end. Along with them is their self imposed helper Umbopa who carries a secret of his own.

If you get a chance to also hear the recording, an added plus is narration by John Richmond; He brings the characters to life and adds to the mystique that this story has been passed down.

In case you somehow didn't know, this book was written in the 1800s about an adventure in Africa. As such it doesn't reflect modern political correctness. If that's shocking to you, I'd suggest skipping over this novel.

Otherwise, the author, Sir H. Rider Haggard, spent a lot of time in Africa during his lifetime and was very interested in it's politics and sociology. He paints a very vivid picture in simple words of the journey of Alan Quatermaine and his group to their final destination at King Solomon's mines. The story is well woven and well told. If you're a fan of adventure stories, I'd definitely say not to overlook it.

This version contains the original story as it was written by Haggard, not a novelized adaptation of later movies and not a derivative work. It includes footnotes to explain some more cryptic colloquialisms and a short introduction and ending that explain a bit about Haggard and the literary context of the story.

All in all, I could not find much to criticize in this edition. I can see how some people might find the writing style too simple, or the narrative too dated but, just don't go into expecting a Tom Clancy style novel and you'll probably find it enjoyable.

.. and don't judge the book by it's boring cover.

King Solomon's Mines is an outstanding adventure story. It inspired many others in the genre, including that Tarzan series, Indiana Jones, and even The Goonies. So though some of the scenes maybe feel familiar, do not immediately discredit Haggard's work. He was the originator and the others are mere copies.

The narrator is refreshingly frank, and warns us immediately that this will not be a complete story, filled with boring details of the equipment, the locations, the exact time frames. Instead, the book is a recounting of the unbelievable exploits of himself and two fellow travelers on a mission to find a missing brother and to discover King Solomon's fabled treasure across the African desert. The story is broken up into mini-adventures, beginning with setting out on the journey and hunting wild game, then heading into the desert and risking death by thirst, stumbling upon a lost African tribe, and finally finding the mines. Each section is fascinating and keeps the reading easy and enjoyable.

This book has not lost its ability to excite and shock. The author paints vivid, sometimes gruesome pictures with words and leaves one wanting more.

King Solomon's Mines is a great, quick read that doesn't try to educate or improve the reader -- it just provides a fun few hours of escapism reading adventure. The beginning was a little slow, and the political correctness is clearly lacking in a few places (although there are also a couple of instances in which Haggard must have deliberately slapped conventional views of the times in the face), but Haggard writes with an easy flow and he crafts an adventure story that contains battle scenes, plot twists, and clearly defined villains. It's too bad that we now know the planet so well that it's not possible to have the plot element of discovering a "lost civilization" to provide room for dramatic license, because Haggard shows how useful such conventions are -- that probably explains in part why fantasy writing has grown so popular, so that writers can achieve the same imaginative settings as Haggard uses here. Read the book, and enjoy!

his book is undoubtedly a classic that started the whole Lost World craze. I got kind of bored reading it. The writing was pretty good, and the plot was really entertaining. Some of the travel parts just dragged on. For much of the book I found myself wondering what was so exciting. There are a few humorous parts, like Good walking around with his pants off and being worshiped as a God. The end notes helped with the context of the story.