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    The Lost World
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    The Lost World
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    The Lost World
    Ebook278 pages4 hours

    The Lost World

    By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    The Lost World is a novel released in 1912 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle concerning an expedition to a plateau in the Amazon basin of South America where prehistoric animals (dinosaurs and other extinct creatures) still survive. It was originally published serially in the popular Strand Magazine and illustrated by New-Zealand-born artist Harry Rountree during the months of April–November 1912. The character of Professor Challenger was introduced in this book. The novel also describes a war between indigenous people and a vicious tribe of ape-like creatures.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLettere Animate Editore
    Release dateJan 21, 2014
    ISBN9788868820220
    Author

    Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

    Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) descendía de una noble familia irlandesa y cursó estudios de Medicina. Sin embargo, nunca ejerció, pues apenas dos años después de licenciarse en 1885 dio a luz el primero de sus relatos de suspense, Estudio en escarlata (1887). Su éxito fue tan grande e inmediato, que nuestro autor ya no dejaría de escribir. El personaje creado por él, su detective Sherlock Holmes, se hizo famosísimo y protagonizó nada menos que sesenta títulos. Entre los más conocidos se encuentran El perro de los Baskerville, El valle del terror o los relatos incluidos en su libro Las aventuras de Sherlock Holmes, publicado en Gribaudo. También cultivó la ciencia ficción, la novela histórica y otros géneros. En 1900 dio a luz su libro más extenso, La guerra de los bóers, y se pronunció en favor de la contienda británica en África. Según su opinión fue esto sobre todo lo que favoreció su nombramiento como caballero de la Orden del Imperio dos años después. Había alcanzado un lugar de prestigio, con apenas cuarenta años. Poco después (1906) murió su esposa Louise Hawkins y se casó con la médium Jean Elizabeth Leckie. Este vínculo con las ciencias ocultas se acrecentó tras la desaparición de su hijo Kingsley en la Primera Guerra Mundial. Del vínculo directo con el espiritismo nació su Historia del espiritismo (1926) así como numerosas polémicas, por ejemplo, contra su amigo Harry Houdini. Fue asimismo aficionado al fútbol, al críquet y al golf, entre otras pasiones. Murió de un ataque al corazón en la ciudad de Crowborough, en donde había residido durante veintitrés años.

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    Reviews for The Lost World

    3.5/5

    840 ratings47 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A romp into the deep of the Amazon in search of glory. This novel was very palatable and exploratory of the wide range of the imagination, fancy, and possibility. Despite the fact that it is not grounded in any fact, it manages to accelerate with adventure until the final denouement- which is then surprising in itself and the ending is one to be remembered.3.5 stars!
    • 3/5
      A quick read. Lots of action, dinosaurs, primitive tribes and weird beasties. Not bad but nowhere near as good as his Sherlock Holmes stories.
    • 3/5
      Arthur Conan Doyle. It didn't really hold up well. I guess it is just to familiar and dated.
    • 4/5
      The first, I think, non-Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle book I have read and I was not disappointed even without Dr Watson narrating the story. It is a fast paced old fashioned ripping yarn of an adventure story of one scientist out to prove to the world that his theories of finding prehistoric animals on a plateau not yet visited by man (or at least western man with cameras and notebooks) are not a load of 'poppycock'.Full of larger than life characters this book is narrated by the journalist Edward Malone who, to prove his adventurous spirit to the woman he loves, convinces Professor Challenger to take him along on a journey to South America to prove his claims of a 'Lost World' are true. Together with another scientist, Professor Summerlee, and an altogether more-english than English adventurer Lord John Roxton they find the plateau, their proof and trouble as they escape death from dinosaurs, capture, execution and finally escape. A great story and the start of of a series of books starring the great, intelligent, agressive and short tempered Professor Challenger. I will definitely be looking out for the next books starring him.
    • 4/5
      As a teenager, I had a lot of fun when Jurassic Park came to the theaters in the '90s. After enjoying the movie, I sought out and read the book which I also found very enjoyable. Spurred by its success, a sequel was created, The Lost World. Like many sequels, it wasn't as good as the original. It still had its fun elements but for me at least, it lost a good deal of the charm and fun from the first book.I think in part it was the Jurassic Park sequel that kept me from seeking out and reading the far earlier book The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle. Not only was I not terribly impressed by the 1990s book/movie of the same name, but I was a little unsure of the transition Conan Doyle would make going from Sherlock Holmes to a world of dinosaurs. Fortunately, I finally gave it a try.Not surprisingly, the Conan Doyle book is considerably slower paced than the Michael Chrichton adventures. The book was serialized in 1912 is set in the late 19th or early 20th century. The story is told through a series of newspaper articles and letters written by Malone, a newspaper reporter eager to impress his girlfriend and make a name for himself in the news world. Malone's editor McArdle gives Malone the assignment of interviewing Professor Challenger. Challenger is a scientist making outrageous claims and evoking his violent temper against anybody who questions them. Before long, Malone finds himself on a journey deep into the jungles of South America in search of a world which Challengers claims is inhabited by prehistoric creatures.As you might expect from the author of the Sherlock Holmes stories, this book is filled with lengthy and very detailed descriptions of settings, characterizations, behaviors and motivations. Malone has a reporter's eye for detail taken to the extreme. He painstakingly describes the minute details of Professor Challenger as well as the various traveling companions with whom Malone sets off in search of the Lost World. The early parts of the book are set in London and involve weighty scenes of research and discussion to decide what's what and what's to be done about it all. When we finally do start winding through the jungles, we are still given intense descriptions of the surroundings and the actions.For those looking for adventure, you'll finally find it about midway through the book once the characters have finally found passage into the elusive Lost World. Though even once they finally reach their destination, there are still many pages of suspenseful investigation before any major confrontation with prehistoric adventure. Their investigation and exploration is careful and methodical. As they are confronted with challenges, they quietly and calmly attempt deduce solutions as efficiently as possible even amidst deadly time constraints.Looking back over my thoughts, it may sound that this is a dry travel narrative rather than a rousing adventure. While it does have elements of a 19th century travelogue, the book also does a good job of amazing the reader with new ideas and concepts as well as taking us on an exciting adventure with unexpected twists and turns. I admit that it was sometimes hard to imagine that these adventurers would be so calm and level headed among all the troubles and adventures they encounter, but part of that is just the style of the era. The other part comes from the distinct characterization of these individuals. Each of the travelers possesses a personality prone more to smart, strategic level-headedness than rash and frantic running around.The first portion of the book was an interesting read and well crafted. I enjoyed the style and pacing overall but often found myself wanting to skip ahead to "where the real action was." Once we got into the adventure portion of this adventure novel, the style of writing remained precise and well defined while still providing us with surprising new elements and mysteries. I think that if you were to start reading the book at the midpoint, without first becoming accustomed to Conan Doyle's narrative style, the adventure would have felt more strained. You gain a greater sense of the style after plodding along with Malone and the others as they dealt with the minutia of getting the journey underway and slowly reaching their destination.I suspect that Conan Doyle's "Lost World" was for its time what Jurassic Park was for ours…a fun and exciting tale of fantastic adventure set along the edge of speculative science and imagination. I really enjoyed this story. After finishing this book, I learned that Conan Doyle wrote a number of other stories featuring Professor Challenger. I'm looking forward to reading those and some of his other non-Sherlockian works.*****4 out of 5 stars
    • 3/5
      The Lost World is a science fiction novel without much actual science to it, which shouldn’t be that surprising considering that it was written by one of the time’s premier mystery writers. It’s really more an adventure tale than anything, and has quite a bit of interesting elements to it. A group of Englishmen travel to uncharted territory to an area from a bygone era. They travel to South America to find a land that has not only dinosaurs but also a race of prehistoric man. The group included the intrepid reporter looking for adventure, the skeptical professor, the professor who takes life by the horns in hopes of new discovery, and a British lord who is your basic big game hunter type.There were a lot of aspects that I like about this novel, mostly the characters and the adventure portion of it. It had a real trailblazing feel to it, which I’m sure worked well for the time in which it was written. On the down side, there were some latent racism in the way Doyle handles the “negroes” and natives to the land, even the prehistoric men. There was also a distinct lack of female characters in the novel, which could have added something to it. I also felt that the writing kept the reader at a distance rather than involving them in the action. All together, this novel was enjoyable but not one that resonates.Carl Alves – author of Two For Eternity
    • 4/5
      Great fun.
    • 3/5
      I'll be honest, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World took me forever to read, and it's not that long of a book. Part of the problem is the edition that I bought, a Dover Thrift Edition, because they use small, compact type to get as much text on a page as possible to cut down on the book size, thereby keeping the price lower. The other problem is that Conan Doyle's story is wordy. Very wordy. But, it is also part of the charm of the story. He's taken his four main characters and made them into such caricatures of themselves that they seem almost comical: Professor Challenger, the gruff, overly-charismatic leader of the expedition; Professor Summerlee, the skeptical intellectual who needs physical proof of Challenger's outrageous claims of living, prehistoric life; Lord John Roxton, the sportsman who is looking for his next big adventure; and the narrator, reporter Edward Malone, who is trying to win the hand of the woman he loves by becoming the man of adventure her overly-romantic self seems to be looking for. Filled with adventure and peril at every turn, the story did take some time to get moving, but once the adventurers found themselves in the lost world, the story really takes off and is a non-stop thrill ride.The whole idea of the book is that Professor Challenger says that he has been to a 'lost world' in South America where dinosaurs still live. Naturally, he is laughed out of the scientific community, but eventually he finds a group of explorers who are willing to go with him, either to prove him wrong and a fraud or to partake in the adventure of a lifetime. Once they finally reach the plateau where the lost world is, they find themselves in the midst of both dinosaurs and mammals that have been lost thought extinct, as well as in the middle of a civil war between a tribe of Indian 'natives' and a nation of ape-men.I've read a lot of reviews that go on about how wordy the story is and how it doesn't really seem to hold up so much for our time. Well, it was written almost 100 years ago, and I think if you take it in the context for when it was written, it stands up very well and is actually quite an enjoyable book to read. Yes, some of it seems rather outdated, but at the time was probably quite the thrilling idea of a book. Taken for what it is, I really enjoyed the book and will probably look for more of the Professor Challenger books.
    • 4/5
      I'm a big fan of Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, but I didn't realize he'd written a series of science fiction stories as well. This is the first of his Professor Challenger books, and it's thoroughly delightful to read. I won't spoil the plot, but will say there are interesting creatures, vicious battles, and raucous scientific debates aplenty. I'll probably end up reading this one aloud to the kids and may even look for one of the film versions of the story. It's a lot of fun.
    • 5/5
      Funny book, fast read that is just fun. A little dated but to me it adds to the charm.
    • 4/5
      Professor Challenger goes on an expedition to an isolated plateau in South America where he is shocked to discover that dinosaurs still exist. Arthur Conan Doyle's science fiction series.
    • 4/5
      Overall, this was a fun book, I just wish it had revolved more around the dinosaurs and less about the people and ape-men living on the plateau.
    • 4/5
      As you would expect from Mr. Conan Doyle, a rousing story well told. I've seen any number of movies based (some quite loosely) on the story line, so the story was familiar to me, but a very enjoyable read.
    • 3/5
      Well-written and well-told. The characters were engaging and the scenes vivid, and I was definitely pulled in. But the protagonists' decisions at a certain point became disturbing, and I'm not convinced that the author didn't mean to endorse such decisions or the ideologies driving them.
    • 5/5
      Read a few times as a teen and then again a few years ago. Rousing good adventure, what ho? Rich commentary on evolution and race, too.
    • 4/5
      In an effort to win the heart of a fickle young lady, intrepid newspaper reporter Edward Malone volunteers as a member of an expedition to South America to seek proof or otherwise debunk the wild claims of arrogant and intractable paleontologist Professor George Edward Challenger.Upon returning from South America many years prior, Challenger claimed to have discovered prehistoric life still thriving atop a plateau deep in the jungles of Brazil. Unfortunately, his camera was damaged during a boating accident, leaving him with scant and inconclusive photographic evidence and only the sketchbook of one Maple White, a poet and artist who died of severe injuries shortly after escaping this supposed land of dinosaurs.During a contentious interview, Challenger permits Malone to peruse the sketchbook, wherein White had drawn numerous mundane flora and fauna—until the final image of an impossibly large reptilian creature. Malone, however, remains unconvinced.Despite his unadulterated aversion toward the press, Challenger sees some potential in Malone and invites him to a meeting of the Zoological Society where Professor Challenger, living up to his name, disrupts the guest lecturer when mention is made of the extinction of the dinosaur before the dawning of man.Challenger’s claims of eyewitness accounts of pterodactyls in Brazil draws ridicule from both the audience and his peers, including one botanist and zoologist Professor Summerlee. By the end of the raucous evening, a new team of explorers agrees to travel to Brazil and put the matter to rest. In addition to Malone and Summerlee, famed adventurer and big game hunter Sir John Roxton offers his considerable skills.Shortly thereafter, the trio embark for South America and are surprised by the appearance of Professor Challenger himself once they reach Brazil. Challenger naturally assumes the role of team leader and guide as the adventurers, along with a number of local hired hands, begin their voyage along the Amazon into the realm of the unknown—where they encounter far more than any of them ever imagined possible.The story is told from the POV of the reporter, Edward Malone, as he journals the team’s adventures through this unfathomable—and unmistakably treacherous—domain. It had been at least 30 years since I’d last read The Lost World, yet so many elements remained with me since then, such as the cantankerous and haughty Professor Challenger, the fearsome ape men, the pterodactyl pit, and a few other vivid details. After reading it again this past week, I found myself just as enthralled as I was the first time. This should come as no surprise since much of Doyle’s work, most notably Sherlock Holmes, has soundly withstood the test of time.
    • 3/5
      A good, and interesting, Ripping Yarn but spoiled for modern readers by the racism, sexism, classism throughout. Of course, like so many of these type of stories, it's of its era and I wouldn't like to see it edited for greater political correctness. I enjoy Ripping Yarns, on the whole, but some have so much of these outdated opinions that it becomes too intrusive to read comfortably and this one was verging on that level but it was leavened somewhat by the humour and excitement of the story.
    • 5/5
      I've long been a fan of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes canon, but I had not read any of his other works. So it was a great pleasure to dive into this book and find, in Professor Challenger, as interesting a character as the inimitable detective.For anyone unfortunate enough to have watched the awful travesties that the TV and movie industries have made of this terrific adventure tale, put aside the cartoon caricatures and bountifully bosomed savage jungle queens that pranced across the screen. This book is the real thing, and far better than any film depiction.For one thing, Conan Doyle tells the tale with a wry humor that is deliberate and charming. He takes Victorian stereotypes and stands them on their heads. From the the lovelorn swain whose beloved urges him to go out and do manly deeds for her, and the hidebound scientist who insists that what he's seeing must be rationally explained away, to the boisterous joy that Challenger takes in immodestly demonstrating his superiority to everyone around him; the book is a joyful romp through both Victorian London and a prehistoric jungle.I can't wait to get my hands on the other books starring the brawny and brainy professor.
    • 3/5
      Most people when they think of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle think of his sleuth Sherlock Holmes and trusty sidekick Dr. Watson. (I’ll admit that I do, too.) But, Doyle wrote more than just mysteries. The Lost World is about Professor Challenger finding what he believed to be a plateau in an unexplored region of South America which still held living dinosaurs.Challenger returns to England where, of course, no one believes there are actually still dinosaurs roaming the Earth. He enlists the help of a reporter who is trying to prove the woman he is in love with that he is more than just a measly reporter, a professor of Anatomy by the name of Summerlee, and Lord John Roxton a sportsman and traveler. Shortly after the crew was assembled they began their journey from England to South America and down the Amazon River.Eventually they reach the point at which Challenger points out the great plateau. There is however no way to get up there as they only way up had been blocked off. After trial and error they find themselves on top of the plateau, trapped no less because of unforeseen events. They find though that Challenger was indeed correct. There were dinosaurs living on the plateau. There were also creatures, a cross between an ape and a human, which were smart and managed to capture Challenger and Summerlee.It was during this capture that the crew found that there also happened to be a tribe of natives who lived on the plateau as well. The natives claim not to know of a way off the plateau, or don’t want to help the crew off (after many failed attempts). Eventually, a young native takes pity on them and shows them the way.They make their way back to England with their findings and the reporter who wrote down an account of the entire trip to be put in to print. I think I’ll leave out the ending and make you read it if you are curious enough to want to find out.While I enjoyed reading this book, it wasn’t quite different than what I was used to when reading Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. Challenger and Holmes have many of the same qualities. I would say, however, if you liked Holmes than you should giveThe Lost World a read.
    • 3/5
      Enjoyable but ended too soon. The pace was frenetic too little time in describing such a world as so much was focused on action, would have prefered more of a balance. IThe story was missing details about the reprecussions of the discoveries made and the decisions the team enacted while in the lost world which would have made the story more enjoyable.
    • 4/5
      A seemingly mad professor (Challenger) comes to London claiming to have found, in the heart of the Amazon, a wild and disturbing place that time hasn't touched. There, he claims, live dinosaurs, and other prehistoric creatures. Intent to verify (or more likely, falsify) his claims, a party sets out on the adventure of a lifetime. Our hero, a young reporter, intent on impressing a young lady; a rival scientist who seeks to completely discredit Challenger; and an adventurer for whom even the safari has lost its allure. When they arrive, they find more than they bargained for.The premise is intriguing enough, and the characters are fun, if mostly caricatures. The book progresses at a maddeningly slow pace for the modern reader, with too much explanation, review and ejaculation. "The Lost World" has not aged all that well: the racism is jarring and the style makes even the most exciting parts almost boring. Read a different Arthur Conan Doyle, or a different adventure story!
    • 4/5
      Good book. A nice classic, but a little dated it seemed.
    • 3/5
      If you like adventure, you will like it.But ,although I don't know if the story is omitted, story developping is too early, I though.
    • 3/5
      Professor Challenger's descriptions of a pre-historic culture with animal life somewhere in the jungles of South America is met with derision by the scientific community. It is decided Professor Summerlee, his chief opponent, along with Lord John Roxton and newspaper reporter Edward Malone will accompany him on an expedition to investigate the claim. The tale is told through the eyes of Malone who sends letters back to his editor by a faithful watchman who stays on the opposite side of their destination plateau. They fell a tree to gain entrance to the plateau, but it falls in the gorge, leaving their only connection to the other world a rope which can deliver supplies or letters but not get them back across. They decide to accomplish their mission and then worry about a means to exit the plateau. They encounter a pterodactyl almost immediately. They encounter many dangers and adventures on this well-preserved plateau, including some "half-men, half-ape" creatures which could be the "missing link." I'll leave the rest of the story and adventures for your enjoyment along with their reception upon their return. I'm not a fan of science fiction, but I decided to give this summer AudioSync offering a try since it was authored by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This tale is very mild in comparison to many of today's science fiction offerings because of the genre's evolution over time. The adventure seemed to appeal to the interest in Darwinian theory at the time of the book's writing. The book was narrated by Glen McCready who seemed to have the perfect voice for Professor Challenger.
    • 5/5
      A timeless adventure story

      There are many reasons why this book is often considered to be a classic. The descriptive and intimate way that the story is told, the interpersonal relationships between the memorable characters and the underlying thread of humor which weaves through the tale, will guarantee it a place in collectors' bookshelves for many years to come.
    • 4/5
      The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a model for adventure stories in science fiction. The book influenced Michael Crichton in his creation of the LOST WORLD (Jurassic Park).
      Edward Malone, a reporter for the Daily Gazette, but finds no real excitement in his role. Ed wants to woo Gladys, but Gladys wants to marry a romantic hero. Gladys does not see Ed as a knightly figure, at least not yet. So Ed must find his romantic quest in the name of his beauty Gladys.
      Questions Doyle poses are: will Ed come home a hero? Will this quest earn the right to Gladys’s love? What lost world will Ed find in the Amazon? And what about the dinosaurs and the primitive humans, will he find the missing link?
      The book was published in 1912, and exhibits the world of Victorian Empire on the move. British empire was attempting to find “a dreamland of glamour and romance, a land where we had dared much, suffered much, and learned much—OUR land, as we shall ever fondly call it.*” Caveat lector, the ideas of the Victorian Era are not of our own, and may offend those with politically correct notions.
      But this book is a great adventure and I believe a good book for young readers.

      *Doyle, Arthur Conan (2011-03-30). The Lost World (Kindle Locations 2705-2706). Kindle Edition.

    • 3/5
      A jolly good romp. A good demonstration of the same effect that makes many 1970s sit coms now un-showable.Casual racism, sexism and and a total disregard for anything living, this tale has enough style to just about make this funny.
    • 2/5
      Conan Doyle has few greater partisans than me, but this is dreadful. (12.29.06)
    • 4/5
      Still a surprisingly readable and fun adventure yarn, that doesn't really show its age, despite the cheerful racism throughout. The adventurers' willingness to participate in genocide and slavery is a bit much for modern sensibilities, but we must take the story in the spirit in which it was intended.
    • 4/5
      Journalist Edward Malone wants to impress his girlfriend with his heroic prowess. He asks his editor for an assignment worthy of such a challenge, and he’s given the assignment to interview Professor George Edward Challenger, a noted zoologist notorious for his hostility to the press. The last reporter that attempted a word with him ended up with a broken skull. Challenger has recently returned from South America with some damaged photographs and the sketch book of a previous explorer depicting prehistoric beasts. Challenger is sure that they were drawn from a live model, and he intends to prove it. It was delightful to reread this old favorite in a new illustrated edition. This 1912 action adventure by the creator of Sherlock Holmes became the basis for the original creature feature silent film in 1925.What struck me was Doyle’s technique of indicating action in the midst of dialog, and the implicit racism of the time. The four adventurous explorers, three Anglos and an Irishman, are aided by a support team of “a gigantic negro named Zambo, who is a black Hercules, as willing as any horse, and about as intelligent. … Gomez and Manuel, two half-breeds … They were swarthy fellows, bearded and fierce, as active and wiry as panthers. … [and] three Mojo Indians from Bolivia.” (page 67) As it turns out Zambo is both heroic and faithful, not to mention having the wits to stick around and provide information to the outside world when the white people find themselves stranded; the half-breeds are deceitful and traitorous (although they are significantly less bearded and swarthy than Professor Challenger) and the Indians run away when they get scared, which is behavior also demonstrated by the Europeans. It’s interesting to read this in 2017 and see how much attitudes have changes and not changed in the following century.