Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World and Other Stories is a classic collection of stories comprising The Lost World, The Poison Belt and The Land of Mist. It is an irrefutable claim to Sir Arthur's supreme skill n imagination as a storyteller. He's of course famous for creating Sherlock Holmes, the indomitable detective and his faithful sidekick Dr Watson. But even his lesser known works are a pleasure to read...
So coming back to my topic...I bought the said book alongwith a couple of others on the insistence of Prateek (thanks man!!!)...I read the other two first n let my brother read this one...Then I picked it up n got so hooked that I had a fight with my brother n told him to go to hell in so many words!!! Sir Arthur starts off with The Lost World from the eyes of a newspaper journalist Edward Malone, a charming Irishman in love with a selfish, conceited girl called Gladys...To win her heart, he decides to go on an expedition with the brilliant Professor Challenger to verify some outrageous claims he's making about a prehistoric world somewhere in South America...Accompanying them on this somewhat preposturous mission are Professor Summerlee (a cynical non-believer) and Lord John Roxton (a shikari and a courageous man)...The three gentlemen, without Professor Challenger, embark on the voyage to South America...Just before leaving, Professor Challenger gives them a letter telling them to open it only at the given time and place...As they approach the given time n place (somwhere in South America), our flamboyant professor makes an entry telling them that he'll guide them to this lost world himself...So after a lot of adventures, they reach the botttom of the plateau on which the said prehistoric life exists...Our brave friends somehow find a way to climb this unscalable plateau n once they do, they see a beautiful vista of trees, flowers n shrubs...They set up camp below a huge gingko tree n set about exploring...They have a lot of adventures here which see you either sittin on the edge of your seat or biting your nails in anticipation...Your heartbeat never stays constant n stable during such times...I won't be a spoilsport by divulging much now...But take my word for it...It talks about a Lost World long before Crichton was even born!!!
The Poison Belt comes next in which Malone is again the narrator...The story starts off with our dear old Professor Challenger shooting off a letter to the Times that due to the blurring of the lines of some spectrum (I don't remember the name now!), the world n all living things in it was going to come to an end!!! Of course nobody believes him and he is criticised for his prediction...So he summons his three fellow adventurers (Malone, Roxton n Summerlee) to his home in the country, imploring them to get oxygen tanks with them!!! They are of course quite puzzled by the request but they do as they are told...What happens after that you'll have to read on your own because again I don't wanna spoil it for you...So please bear with me...
The third n final story in this amazing collection is The Land of Mist...It is an exploration of Spiritualism as a religion in post-World War One Britain...It is of course trashed by the Church, its followers n scientific men (the supposedly "sane people")...Here Malone is not the narrator but a character in the story...The main one I should say as it is his journey from non-believer to believer that is chronicled here...He is accompanied by his fellow journalist and Professor Challenger's daughter Enid, who's also his sweetheart...I'm yet to complete this tale though so I'm really not sure what happens in the end...As far as I know, Malone wants to convert the Professor too as his scientific mind doesn't believe in all this bosh!!! So we get to read some spine chilling stories about dark souls who need help n the good ones too...
So I implore you all to go ahead n get ur hands on this book asap...You can borrow it from me too...I'd like to add something else here...Although Sir Arthur was a great novelist, he still had the views n opinions of colonial Britain...And that shows in this book vividly...There are references to the "lower races of Africa and Asia" n these racial undertones do jar your nerves when you come across them in the book...Nonetheless, don't let such a minor thing deter you from missing a classic such as this one...So till the next time...Adios!!!
P.S.:About Gladys...well by the time Malone gets back from his adventure...naah!!! You read it yourself :-)
3 comments:
Thanx for the review.... I'll definitely try them out and get back to you. In the meantime, i would suggest Brick Lane by Monica Ali for you (if you haven't gobbled it up already , that is). Just finished it and loved it.
A gripping review of the book.
I kinda liked the way you lead the reader up the garden path without revealing too much.As they say, 'The thrill is in the chase'.
You sure managed to create a shortage for the classic with your crisp write-up.
A few wrinkles you may want to address in your next blog entry :
- Do divide the text into paragraphs and make it easy on our eyes when reading.
- Run a Spellchecker over it, before publishing.
Awaiting your next review.
cheers !!!.
Rajagopal
parijat: Will definitely try n get my hands on the book you've suggested.
rajagopal: Thanks for the suggestions. Have acted on some of them atleast. Will keep them in mind for my next post..
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