Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.42 AVERAGE
3.42 AVERAGE
Don't know what page I'm on due to the Kindle version - however we are in the middle of the trip to King's Solomon's Mine and so far only oxen have perished. Sir Henry, Captain Good, Henry Quartermain are on their adventure to find Sir Henry's brother who was last seen heading over the hill to find the treasure. The very interesting character is Zulu as well as Quartermaine.
Well written and nice to have a story that takes me away from my world while on vacation - so when I look up I'm still not finding myself back in the *real* world.
Only problem so far for me was that their is a passage of elephant hunting and not in a PC way - again written many, many years ago.
Adventure abounds!
Well written and nice to have a story that takes me away from my world while on vacation - so when I look up I'm still not finding myself back in the *real* world.
Only problem so far for me was that their is a passage of elephant hunting and not in a PC way - again written many, many years ago.
Adventure abounds!
I unfortunately have to say that overall I didn't really enjoy this book. I was just never able to fully connect with the characters or the story. I can recognize that this book was written in a particular time period in history and that the language and attitudes in the book reflect that period. Even past that however, I just didn't find a lot to really connect with.
Allan Quartermain, the main character I felt just didn't have a lot of redeeming qualities to him, especially when compared next to his companions. He was a wholly unlikable character. Not only that, he appeared to show no real growth as a character as the story and the trials progressed. Normally in a story like this you might see a character whose qualities you dislike change as they "find themselves" due to the journey they are set upon. I felt that while Sir Henry and Good both grew as individuals, Quartermain was the same person out as went in.
I also really never was able to fall in love with the actual story itself. The story seemed like a mash of several disjointed, individual short events from the desert, to the mountain, to the war and finally the mines. They were pockets action that sort of justified the story being written, but never felt like they were truly part of a broader "adventure". The initial cause for the journey at the beginning of the book basically becomes an afterthought throughout the entire novel and seems to only be resolved in the last few pages when the author remembered that he had a loose end to resolve.
Overall it just didn't really work for me and worse I came out with just a bad taste in my mouth for a main character that I have heard so highly regarded in other books and literature.
Allan Quartermain, the main character I felt just didn't have a lot of redeeming qualities to him, especially when compared next to his companions. He was a wholly unlikable character. Not only that, he appeared to show no real growth as a character as the story and the trials progressed. Normally in a story like this you might see a character whose qualities you dislike change as they "find themselves" due to the journey they are set upon. I felt that while Sir Henry and Good both grew as individuals, Quartermain was the same person out as went in.
I also really never was able to fall in love with the actual story itself. The story seemed like a mash of several disjointed, individual short events from the desert, to the mountain, to the war and finally the mines. They were pockets action that sort of justified the story being written, but never felt like they were truly part of a broader "adventure". The initial cause for the journey at the beginning of the book basically becomes an afterthought throughout the entire novel and seems to only be resolved in the last few pages when the author remembered that he had a loose end to resolve.
Overall it just didn't really work for me and worse I came out with just a bad taste in my mouth for a main character that I have heard so highly regarded in other books and literature.
adventurous
challenging
fast-paced
it’s just so racist i have no will to finish it
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
red flag #1 is like 2 pages in when he says that Gagool doesn't count as a woman because she's too old to be marriageable (i'm sorry, what?!?!?!) and red flag #2 is literally the next paragraph when he says the n word and then goes 'actually no, i don't like that word, i won't use it' (DON'T USE IT THEN!?!?!?!) i will say i thought it was well-written, and if not for the blatant sexism and racism that was REALLY a theme throughout the book, i might have actually liked it. alas, it is definitely a product of its time. Gagool knew what was up when she said not to trust white men.
This book is, in my opinion, outdated. Despite the fact that it is under 200 pages, I never felt the urge to pick it up after putting it down, and therefore it took me days to get through.
The wording is dense and the characters were not particularly likeable, probably due to the fact that this book was written as a celebration of colonialism, and we as a society have come beyond that.
It is interesting if you want to know how Victorian colonialism was celebrated, but the story is predictable and I would not recommend it as a ‘fun’ story.
The wording is dense and the characters were not particularly likeable, probably due to the fact that this book was written as a celebration of colonialism, and we as a society have come beyond that.
It is interesting if you want to know how Victorian colonialism was celebrated, but the story is predictable and I would not recommend it as a ‘fun’ story.
Surprisingly gripping end, especially for a book I was forced to read for a course.
Prose for the times. Haggard makes Tolstoy look like a terse writer. The language and interactions are now a bit stilted.
A fun little adventure novel that is certainly of its era. Nothing amazing, or spectacular but a good fun read amongst its contemporary adventure fiction of the late-victorian period. Will be insulting to read for those lacking the ability to contextualise the time of writing.
adventurous
medium-paced