The Lost World and Other Stories (Wordsworth Classics)

Good book,bit dated now but still a good story

I loved this book as a kid and I have rediscovered it now with my son. And it is more than just the Lost World as well. Type is quite small but that is only so you can cram in more of Arthur Conan Doyle's inventive and richly imaginative stories and really good value for money all told. It all ticks along at a far lick and harks back to a more innocent time. Taught Crichton and Spielberg everything they know. For all you adventurers out there.

This book is is a compilation of all five of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Professor Challenger stories: "The Lost World", "The Poison Belt", "The Land of Mist", "The Disintegration Machine" and "When the World Screamed". At 197x125x25mm, it's just a little bit on the bulky side. Text is printed clearly in a formal-looking serif typeface but the print is quite small, with 42 lines to a page, making pages with longer paragraphs look quite daunting. It's perhaps not suitable for being a bedside book due to the small text and bulky size, also you might think it a tad too big to take travelling. It seems to have been printed more for the benefit of those who dislike omissions from their personal library than for reading comfort, which is fine for me because that's exactly why I wanted it. It's the kind of book which would please someone who already owns a complete compendium of Sherlock Holmes (like me) but the stories can be enjoyed by anyone. I first read "The Lost World" and "The Poison Belt" when I was 10 years old and loved them. I can thoroughly recommend these stories! To now have all of the Challenger stories on my shelf, and together in one handy volume, is very satisfying.

Mostly excellent.

I'm very pleased with the shipping on this product, it had arrived just a few short days after placing the order, came nicely packaged, I however was shocked when I saw the size of the book only to discover there were more of Arthur Conan Doyle's works in among the weight of the book! (Should have read that as stated on the product description but I was in a Haste to purchase this book as a recommended) Very pleased, cannot wait to give it a read after I've finished the last of the Sherlock Holmes collection! And the price was very good.

These wordsworth classics are an excellent way of reading all those classic books without spending a fortune. This one which contains stories from Arthur Conan Doyle shows us the non Sherlock Homes side of the man and a taste of his other work. All in all a good read, although I did find 'The Land of Mist' a pointless and dull story ( but this is my opinion).

I enjoyed all of the stories but the lost world was superb

This is a collection of two novels, a novella and two short stories. Set in the early part of the twentieth century, in which they were also written, they are linked through the theme of concerns at the time that after the discoveries in various fields over the past couple of centuries what else is there for academics, explorers and adventurers still to discover. Thus, they are adventure stories involving voyages of exploration in one form or another. The five stories explore the unknown regions of the world, the centre of the Earth, the afterlife, the orbit of the planet and areas that perhaps scientific experimentation shouldn’t go. As such it is an eclectic collection. These escapades are linked through the character of Professor Challenger. Although very different to Doyle’s more famous Holmes, they do share some similarities in that Challenger’s confidence in always being right and his sense of self worth often lead to him being obnoxious and belligerent resulting in him being someone you would find it difficult to get on with in real life however much you admired or respected him. These stories share the common theme of Challenger living up to his name by ‘challenging’ all those around him and attempting to prove he is right above all others. Although Challenger may be considered the principal character, the stories come through the perspective of Malone. With, perhaps, echoes of Watson, three of the stories are told from him in the first person. The other two are told by others who adopt him as the main protagonist where Challenger is portrayed from his viewpoint. ‘The Lost World’ is obviously the most famous here. There is considerably less interaction with dinosaurs than various adaptions may have led you to expect. Instead the focus is more around the exploration of undiscovered areas in the Amazon, echoing the real-life exploits at the time of someone like Fawcett and his search for his lost City of Z. ‘The Land of Mist’ is about the seances and mediums which at the time of writing were endeavouring to establish themselves as more legitimate scientifically. It’s the least enjoyable of the stories as it is a bit preoccupied with trying to assert Doyle’s own views in support of the subject and often reads as just one séance occurring after another. ‘The Poison Belt’ and ‘When the World Screamed’ despite the dubious premise behind each certainly have their moments. The first is much more focussed and has some really good atmospheric scenes. Meanwhile ‘The Disintegration Machine’ deals with a ‘weapon of mass destruction’ idea and despite its short length provides further insight into Challenger.

In the 19th century Sir Author Conan Doyle wrote some science fiction stories that are still worth reading nowadays. Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was a physician but surely will be most remembered for his second profession as a writer. There is hardly any one who doesn’t know the detective living in Baker Street, London: Sherlock Holmes and his partner Dr. Watson. But apart from this crime ficiton Doyle also wrote science fiction stories. In this collection you will find five mostly amazing, spectacular and enjoyable stories with the main character Professor Challenger. The first story is surely the most famous, „The Lost World“. It has been written in 1912. Almost more than a hundred years ago. The maps we have today had not been drawn at this time and there were unknown territories especially for the so called western society. This is even more true when you keep in mind that even today scientist find unknown creatures in a world that seems to hold no more secrets. Professor Challanger gets knowledge of a world where dinosaurs are still alive. This world is somewhere in the amazonas where upon a plateau a flora and fauna has survived that was lost already in the rest of the world. Four men start the journey. This world is full of strange plants and creatures. „Curupuri is the sprit of the woods, something terrible, something malovent, something to be avoides.“ Doyle lets you think you are walking with the men you smell and see the wonders and dangerous of this world. „It was dreadful in the forest.“ Some things might be a little irretating in the story but do not think to long about this you might be missing a really good adventure. In the second story „The posion belt“ the same four characters unite again to face a danger coming to earth through the medium ether. In this time ether was believed to be the medium that fills the space. This time the men can not much do but describe the end of the world. They see everyone around them die and they know they have to die very soon. Just like other stories with professor challenger this one is very philisophical. The men think about the force in the world that is stronger than they are. „…lying so helpless beside the machine which it used to control. The third adventue is called „The land of the mist“ and it is by far the longest and worst story in this collection. The first two narratives are seen throught the eyes of the reporter Malone. But in this one Doyle changed his way of storytellinǵ. This time it is the author who tells the story. One might speculate why Doyle chose this way. Maybe the story about spiritualism is a very personal one, but let us not think too much about the narrative. And It is not such a bad one sometimes it even gets you. “They don’t mind honest doubt, or honest criticism, but if they are badly treated they are dangerous. But soon you get bored. The next story is the shortest, The disintegration machine“. But maybe it is the best one, it is really fun to read about a scientist, no not Challenger but he plays an important part in this story, who invented a machine like the teleporter in Star Trek and he wants to sell it to country that could use it in warfare. „Who holds this rules the world.“ In the last story „When the world screamed“ Professor Challenger believes that the world is a living creature. „Let us then regard the world as a huge echinus“, and he wants to let the world know that there are humans living on his surface. „You propose to sink a shaft through the earth’s crust?“

"Se in 100 anni mi ricorderanno solo come l'uomo che ha inventato Sherlock Holmes, allora considereró la mia vita un fallimento" - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Premetto di aver comprato questo libro usato da Amazon Warehouse. Il libro è arrivato avvolto in una busta di cellophane e in ottime condizioni! Le pagine interne sono perfette e la copertina presenta qualche imperfezione totalmente impercettibile. Quanto al libro.. Arthur Conan Doyle è sicuramente noto al mondo per la sua saga di Sherlock Holmes, ma in realtà egli ha scritto anche delle storie più simili alla science fiction che alle detective novels. E devo ammettere che anche in questo campo questo autore non delude! Non vi aspettate un romanzo uguale alla saga di Jurassic Park (nonostante esso ne funga da ispirazione), ma piuttosto un romanzo di inizio novecento intriso di linguaggio e idee completamente normali per l'epoca in cui è stato scritto. Se siete interessati all'autore e volete espandere il vostro repertorio, questo libro è un must read!

Bought for my daughter as a -something to do during the crisis-she so enjoyed the story and book in general that she read it all in about a day. Good book

I like it very much.

Excellent!