The Lost World – A Book Review

The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I have read most of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes mystery stories and have enjoyed most of them. This is the first time I am reading one of his science fiction novels “The Lost World” and must say that I enjoyed it just as much.

I love Conan Doyle’s style of writing. It is so crisp, and precise. Sort of reminds me of another favorite of mine – Isaac Asimov.

The premise of the novel is as follows:

Professor Challenger returns from the Amazon jungle with wild stories of having discovered prehistoric life still existing, only to be mocked at by other scientists and the general public. To prove his find, he leads another expedition to the Amazon. A reporter Malone (the narrator of the story) in an attempt to impress the lady he loves, decides to join up. They then face various adventures before returning successfully with ample proof of prehistoric life.

This novel is fast-moving, and very easy to read. The story is set in the 1920s but surprisingly does not seem dated at all. Even more astonishing, the fact that I have read far more recent and far more famous novels on the same theme (Jurassic Park and The Lost World by Michael Crichton), did not in any way take away my enjoyment of this novel.

In fact, I appreciate it all the more because it has obviously been a source of inspiration to Crichton. Some of his descriptions of the jungles and the dinosaurs itself have definitely been sourced (not copied, mind you!) from Conan Doyle’s novel.

All in all, a great read, and highly recommend it to all!

Cheers,