The Lost World

Professors Challenger and Summerlee, along with Lord John Roxton and the Irish journalist Edward Malone, go on an expedition to the deepest Amazon in an attempt to prove Challenger's claim the prehistoric life had survived there. The rest of the story has been copied and adapted so many times, tha it's not worth going over.

Nonetheless, "The Lost World" is still a good read: Conan Doyle could spin a decent yarn. True, it's very much of its age: the modern reader might feel assaulted by the Social Darwinianism and racial stereotypes which run through it: the only black character is the faithful yet simple "Zambo" (ouch); and the Latin American characters are all treacherous (of course). Even Malone, being Irish, is not exempt from this kind of stuff.

I was struck also by the violence permeating the novel. Challenger brawls with or threatens everyone who disagrees with him, the explorers decimate every living thing around them (hunting trophies being sought assidously), fights break out at scientific meetings, and the expedition members participate eagerly in a battle which is justified by the "survival of the fittest" mantra. No doubt we live in violent times at the moment, but if this is any representation of times past (albeit it is only a work of fiction) our ancesters seemed to be squabbling and brawling their way towards World War One!

G Rodgers