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robconner88 's review for:
The Lost World
by Arthur Conan Doyle
Many times when I read a book, especially a novel that is fairly old, I have to take into account the time in which it was written. Moby Dick, for example, while full of amazing symbolism and characters has long sections where Melville just rambles on and on about "Whale Facts" that, while proven false later on, were considered factual during his time period. That was part of my issue with The Lost World. As an Adventure novel, this book checks all the boxes. It is written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle whose Sherlock Holmes series I absolutely adore! The book is chock full of allusions to the 19th century England where it was written which I love as well. However, the lack of knowledge on Prehistoric life was something that brought me out of the book at times.
Now I know that to most people this would be an entirely unfair criticism to level at the book. Sir Arthur was just writing what people knew at the time about Iguanadons and Stegosaurus and other ancient animals. But to me as a modern reader, I had a hard time getting into the book knowing that most of these "facts" he was stating was patently untrue. It's a fault entirely of my own and nothing for the book itself.
As far as 19th century adventure novels go, I think this one was probably my favorite so far that I've read. Having read Tarzan before, I found myself making many comparisons. While both books do suffer from a colonial narrative that existed in the real world at the time, I found The Lost World to be MUCH less problematic compared to Tarzan. Despite the factual inaccuracies, I actually fairly enjoyed this book. As I have said in the past, the 19th century style of writing made it hard to follow at times as an audiobook, so I think I would recommend reading this book physically. However it was a fairly enjoyable romp through the impossible lands of unexplored South America.
I would recommend this book to fans of Doyle or of the subject matter. I imagine most people won't have the same problems I had with the portrayal of the Dinosaurs and other ancient creatures, but I fully admit that I am odd in that regard. It is a fairly enjoyable book and I would probably read it again if I had the time.
Now I know that to most people this would be an entirely unfair criticism to level at the book. Sir Arthur was just writing what people knew at the time about Iguanadons and Stegosaurus and other ancient animals. But to me as a modern reader, I had a hard time getting into the book knowing that most of these "facts" he was stating was patently untrue. It's a fault entirely of my own and nothing for the book itself.
As far as 19th century adventure novels go, I think this one was probably my favorite so far that I've read. Having read Tarzan before, I found myself making many comparisons. While both books do suffer from a colonial narrative that existed in the real world at the time, I found The Lost World to be MUCH less problematic compared to Tarzan. Despite the factual inaccuracies, I actually fairly enjoyed this book. As I have said in the past, the 19th century style of writing made it hard to follow at times as an audiobook, so I think I would recommend reading this book physically. However it was a fairly enjoyable romp through the impossible lands of unexplored South America.
I would recommend this book to fans of Doyle or of the subject matter. I imagine most people won't have the same problems I had with the portrayal of the Dinosaurs and other ancient creatures, but I fully admit that I am odd in that regard. It is a fairly enjoyable book and I would probably read it again if I had the time.