ruthiella 's review for:

The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle

2.0

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This was my choice for the category “Adventure Classic” in the 2016 Back to the Classic Challenge hosted by Karen on the blog Books and Chocolate. I am not a huge Holmes fan, but I thought this title looked like it would be fun. Unfortunately, I think I came to The Lost World a little too late to be able to suspend my disbelief and appreciate it; I recall feeling similarly about Dracula and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I think I sometimes channel my father who, while watching the movie Speed kept shouting at the TV “But a bus can’t do that!”. On the plus side, Michael Crichton wrote the introduction in the Modern Library edition that I read…who better to introduce a science fiction novel from the early 20th century about adventurers who discover an isolated spot in the amazon forest where dinosaurs still roam? However, back on the minus side, The Lost World is chock full of great white hunter, manifest destiny bull-hickey that maybe isn’t surprising in a book published in 1912, but still, it can be disconcerting for the modern reader.