The Lost World

Written by Arthur Conan Doyle

Narrated by Paul Hecht

Written by the legendary author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World is one of the best-selling adventure stories of all time. A scientific expedition headed by Professor George Edward Challenger-Doyle's favorite fictional character-sets out to explore an isolated South American plateau where it is rumored that dinosaurs and other creatures from the Jurassic Era are still alive. This classic adventure novel continues to thrill modern listeners, pitting four men against the unknown with no guarantee any of them will return to the modern world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 16, 2014
• ISBN: 9781449802677

Arthur Conan Doyle

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was a Scottish author best known for his classic detective fiction, although he wrote in many other genres including dramatic work, plays, and poetry. He began writing stories while studying medicine and published his first story in 1887. His Sherlock Holmes character is one of the most popular inventions of English literature, and has inspired films, stage adaptions, and literary adaptations for over 100 years.

Reviews for The Lost World

[jco123_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good book. A nice classic, but a little dated it seemed.

[verenka · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed the book. I don't read a lot of classics so I was surprised how much I liked it. I enjoyed the writing style and how the story was delivered in installments of letters sent home by the storyteller.It is of course shocking for politically correct people like me to read how they refer to their native south american helpers and how they thought nothing of wiping out this formerly unknown tribe of ape men. This is, however, a story that was written 97 years ago, long before expressions like racial discrimination and the protection of species became part of the dictionary. I read the story trying to keep that in mind and ended up liking it a lot, particularly the characters and their development from timid journalist to adventurer, from infamous professor with a bad reputation to celebrated authority on prehistoric biology. And the setup of the story being delivered in installments of letters, gradually uncovering the journey's progress.

[clfisha · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A fun rip roaring Victorian(ish) adventure. Not sure an introduction is needed..but it's a tale of expedition to a hidden plateau, a land where dinosaurs roam and an ancient war rages between humans and ape men. I confess I dislike the Sherlock Holmes books so I have never tried his other books which is a shame because its immensely enjoyable. It has aged rather well, enhanced by more recent versions it almost seems pastiche, with its stereotypes and dubious moral messages. The story moves along at a fair old pace, humorous & exciting in equal measure (although I may of brought a tiny bit of the humour with me). The characters are best thing though; the gentleman adventurer, the keen young journalist, the dastardly savages and my favourite the larger than life professor. The only downside was a minor one (hardly any dinosaurs!) so I might check out more in the Professor Challenger series.

[wktarin · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Good characters, but bogs down in too much narrative.

[jennyo_587543 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm a big fan of Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, but I didn't realize he'd written a series of science fiction stories as well. This is the first of his Professor Challenger books, and it's thoroughly delightful to read. I won't spoil the plot, but will say there are interesting creatures, vicious battles, and raucous scientific debates aplenty. I'll probably end up reading this one aloud to the kids and may even look for one of the film versions of the story. It's a lot of fun.

[avhacker · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

this book is for anyone who has a spirit of adventure!!!!the dinosuar aspect is also really cool so if you love dinosaurs give this book a try!

[mrtall_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In the days before airplanes and satellite photography, it may just have seemed possible that the vast remoteness of the Amazon might hide a land that time forgot. Arthur Conan Doyle takes us there in The Lost World.Our protagonist is a news reporter who’s looking to make his mark on the world – and to impress his status-conscious amour – by an act of derring-do. He encounters a seemingly mad scientist who insists he has found a land that dinosaurs walk. And then when a scientific dispute explodes into a mission to prove – or disprove – these wild claims, our hero seizes the opportunity, and signs on. What follows is a highly enjoyable and well-written adventure story, with occasional bursts of humor as well. Although this boys’ own adventure theme is perhaps a bit unexpected coming from Conan Doyle, it’s interesting to note the commonalities with the Holmes stories: chiefly, the faith in reason and scientific verification of theories. I read this on my phone during a trip; it’s freely available from Project Gutenberg, and is a perfect ‘just in case’ book to have along when you need a diversion.Recommended.

[mccin68 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyable but ended too soon. The pace was frenetic too little time in describing such a world as so much was focused on action, would have prefered more of a balance. IThe story was missing details about the reprecussions of the discoveries made and the decisions the team enacted while in the lost world which would have made the story more enjoyable.

[theokester · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As a teenager, I had a lot of fun when Jurassic Park came to the theaters in the '90s. After enjoying the movie, I sought out and read the book which I also found very enjoyable. Spurred by its success, a sequel was created, The Lost World. Like many sequels, it wasn't as good as the original. It still had its fun elements but for me at least, it lost a good deal of the charm and fun from the first book.I think in part it was the Jurassic Park sequel that kept me from seeking out and reading the far earlier book The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle. Not only was I not terribly impressed by the 1990s book/movie of the same name, but I was a little unsure of the transition Conan Doyle would make going from Sherlock Holmes to a world of dinosaurs. Fortunately, I finally gave it a try.Not surprisingly, the Conan Doyle book is considerably slower paced than the Michael Chrichton adventures. The book was serialized in 1912 is set in the late 19th or early 20th century. The story is told through a series of newspaper articles and letters written by Malone, a newspaper reporter eager to impress his girlfriend and make a name for himself in the news world. Malone's editor McArdle gives Malone the assignment of interviewing Professor Challenger. Challenger is a scientist making outrageous claims and evoking his violent temper against anybody who questions them. Before long, Malone finds himself on a journey deep into the jungles of South America in search of a world which Challengers claims is inhabited by prehistoric creatures.As you might expect from the author of the Sherlock Holmes stories, this book is filled with lengthy and very detailed descriptions of settings, characterizations, behaviors and motivations. Malone has a reporter's eye for detail taken to the extreme. He painstakingly describes the minute details of Professor Challenger as well as the various traveling companions with whom Malone sets off in search of the Lost World. The early parts of the book are set in London and involve weighty scenes of research and discussion to decide what's what and what's to be done about it all. When we finally do start winding through the jungles, we are still given intense descriptions of the surroundings and the actions.For those looking for adventure, you'll finally find it about midway through the book once the characters have finally found passage into the elusive Lost World. Though even once they finally reach their destination, there are still many pages of suspenseful investigation before any major confrontation with prehistoric adventure. Their investigation and exploration is careful and methodical. As they are confronted with challenges, they quietly and calmly attempt deduce solutions as efficiently as possible even amidst deadly time constraints.Looking back over my thoughts, it may sound that this is a dry travel narrative rather than a rousing adventure. While it does have elements of a 19th century travelogue, the book also does a good job of amazing the reader with new ideas and concepts as well as taking us on an exciting adventure with unexpected twists and turns. I admit that it was sometimes hard to imagine that these adventurers would be so calm and level headed among all the troubles and adventures they encounter, but part of that is just the style of the era. The other part comes from the distinct characterization of these individuals. Each of the travelers possesses a personality prone more to smart, strategic level-headedness than rash and frantic running around.The first portion of the book was an interesting read and well crafted. I enjoyed the style and pacing overall but often found myself wanting to skip ahead to "where the real action was." Once we got into the adventure portion of this adventure novel, the style of writing remained precise and well defined while still providing us with surprising new elements and mysteries. I think that if you were to start reading the book at the midpoint, without first becoming accustomed to Conan Doyle's narrative style, the adventure would have felt more strained. You gain a greater sense of the style after plodding along with Malone and the others as they dealt with the minutia of getting the journey underway and slowly reaching their destination.I suspect that Conan Doyle's "Lost World" was for its time what Jurassic Park was for ours…a fun and exciting tale of fantastic adventure set along the edge of speculative science and imagination. I really enjoyed this story. After finishing this book, I learned that Conan Doyle wrote a number of other stories featuring Professor Challenger. I'm looking forward to reading those and some of his other non-Sherlockian works.*****4 out of 5 stars

[psiloiordinary_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A jolly good romp. A good demonstration of the same effect that makes many 1970s sit coms now un-showable.Casual racism, sexism and and a total disregard for anything living, this tale has enough style to just about make this funny.

[sturlington_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Still a surprisingly readable and fun adventure yarn, that doesn't really show its age, despite the cheerful racism throughout. The adventurers' willingness to participate in genocide and slavery is a bit much for modern sensibilities, but we must take the story in the spirit in which it was intended.

[yosarian_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The first, I think, non-Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle book I have read and I was not disappointed even without Dr Watson narrating the story. It is a fast paced old fashioned ripping yarn of an adventure story of one scientist out to prove to the world that his theories of finding prehistoric animals on a plateau not yet visited by man (or at least western man with cameras and notebooks) are not a load of 'poppycock'.Full of larger than life characters this book is narrated by the journalist Edward Malone who, to prove his adventurous spirit to the woman he loves, convinces Professor Challenger to take him along on a journey to South America to prove his claims of a 'Lost World' are true. Together with another scientist, Professor Summerlee, and an altogether more-english than English adventurer Lord John Roxton they find the plateau, their proof and trouble as they escape death from dinosaurs, capture, execution and finally escape. A great story and the start of of a series of books starring the great, intelligent, agressive and short tempered Professor Challenger. I will definitely be looking out for the next books starring him.

[ben_a_11 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Conan Doyle has few greater partisans than me, but this is dreadful. (12.29.06)

[tapestry100 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'll be honest, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World took me forever to read, and it's not that long of a book. Part of the problem is the edition that I bought, a Dover Thrift Edition, because they use small, compact type to get as much text on a page as possible to cut down on the book size, thereby keeping the price lower. The other problem is that Conan Doyle's story is wordy. Very wordy. But, it is also part of the charm of the story. He's taken his four main characters and made them into such caricatures of themselves that they seem almost comical: Professor Challenger, the gruff, overly-charismatic leader of the expedition; Professor Summerlee, the skeptical intellectual who needs physical proof of Challenger's outrageous claims of living, prehistoric life; Lord John Roxton, the sportsman who is looking for his next big adventure; and the narrator, reporter Edward Malone, who is trying to win the hand of the woman he loves by becoming the man of adventure her overly-romantic self seems to be looking for. Filled with adventure and peril at every turn, the story did take some time to get moving, but once the adventurers found themselves in the lost world, the story really takes off and is a non-stop thrill ride.The whole idea of the book is that Professor Challenger says that he has been to a 'lost world' in South America where dinosaurs still live. Naturally, he is laughed out of the scientific community, but eventually he finds a group of explorers who are willing to go with him, either to prove him wrong and a fraud or to partake in the adventure of a lifetime. Once they finally reach the plateau where the lost world is, they find themselves in the midst of both dinosaurs and mammals that have been lost thought extinct, as well as in the middle of a civil war between a tribe of Indian 'natives' and a nation of ape-men.I've read a lot of reviews that go on about how wordy the story is and how it doesn't really seem to hold up so much for our time. Well, it was written almost 100 years ago, and I think if you take it in the context for when it was written, it stands up very well and is actually quite an enjoyable book to read. Yes, some of it seems rather outdated, but at the time was probably quite the thrilling idea of a book. Taken for what it is, I really enjoyed the book and will probably look for more of the Professor Challenger books.

[missboyer3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The notorious Professor Challenger claims that dinosaurs still walk the earth. When the press and the scientific community ridicule him, Challenger vows to show them proof. And so he sets off for South America, accompanied by a big game hunter, a scientist, and a young reporter eager to impress the woman he loves. On a remote plateau in the middle of impenetrable jungle, they discover the impossible truth, but must battle monsters and men before they can bring their testimony home.

[kudou_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

If you like adventure, you will like it.But ,although I don't know if the story is omitted, story developping is too early, I though.

[hjjugovic · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'd read Doyle's Sherlock Holmes novels and had no idea that he was the author of this one until I stumbled across it on DailyLit. Very entertaining and fun, with the usual pitfalls of some unfortuante racist language due to the time in which it was written. Doyle knows how to tell a clean story without using extra words, even when he was world-building. Good stuff.

[cdvicarage · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A good, and interesting, Ripping Yarn but spoiled for modern readers by the racism, sexism, classism throughout. Of course, like so many of these type of stories, it's of its era and I wouldn't like to see it edited for greater political correctness. I enjoy Ripping Yarns, on the whole, but some have so much of these outdated opinions that it becomes too intrusive to read comfortably and this one was verging on that level but it was leavened somewhat by the humour and excitement of the story.

[heidialice · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A seemingly mad professor (Challenger) comes to London claiming to have found, in the heart of the Amazon, a wild and disturbing place that time hasn't touched. There, he claims, live dinosaurs, and other prehistoric creatures. Intent to verify (or more likely, falsify) his claims, a party sets out on the adventure of a lifetime. Our hero, a young reporter, intent on impressing a young lady; a rival scientist who seeks to completely discredit Challenger; and an adventurer for whom even the safari has lost its allure. When they arrive, they find more than they bargained for.The premise is intriguing enough, and the characters are fun, if mostly caricatures. The book progresses at a maddeningly slow pace for the modern reader, with too much explanation, review and ejaculation. "The Lost World" has not aged all that well: the racism is jarring and the style makes even the most exciting parts almost boring. Read a different Arthur Conan Doyle, or a different adventure story!

[getrus · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Most people when they think of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle think of his sleuth Sherlock Holmes and trusty sidekick Dr. Watson. (I’ll admit that I do, too.) But, Doyle wrote more than just mysteries. The Lost World is about Professor Challenger finding what he believed to be a plateau in an unexplored region of South America which still held living dinosaurs.Challenger returns to England where, of course, no one believes there are actually still dinosaurs roaming the Earth. He enlists the help of a reporter who is trying to prove the woman he is in love with that he is more than just a measly reporter, a professor of Anatomy by the name of Summerlee, and Lord John Roxton a sportsman and traveler. Shortly after the crew was assembled they began their journey from England to South America and down the Amazon River.Eventually they reach the point at which Challenger points out the great plateau. There is however no way to get up there as they only way up had been blocked off. After trial and error they find themselves on top of the plateau, trapped no less because of unforeseen events. They find though that Challenger was indeed correct. There were dinosaurs living on the plateau. There were also creatures, a cross between an ape and a human, which were smart and managed to capture Challenger and Summerlee.It was during this capture that the crew found that there also happened to be a tribe of natives who lived on the plateau as well. The natives claim not to know of a way off the plateau, or don’t want to help the crew off (after many failed attempts). Eventually, a young native takes pity on them and shows them the way.They make their way back to England with their findings and the reporter who wrote down an account of the entire trip to be put in to print. I think I’ll leave out the ending and make you read it if you are curious enough to want to find out.While I enjoyed reading this book, it wasn’t quite different than what I was used to when reading Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. Challenger and Holmes have many of the same qualities. I would say, however, if you liked Holmes than you should giveThe Lost World a read.

[loki7_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Professor Challenger goes on an expedition to an isolated plateau in South America where he is shocked to discover that dinosaurs still exist. Arthur Conan Doyle's science fiction series.

[shawse_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a delightfully fun read. It was true to the form of a boy's adventure novel of it's era.

[dragonasbreath · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It was an interesting read, not a bad adventure at all.Would love to know what England did about the surprise at the end of the book.

[rachelfromsarasota · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I've long been a fan of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes canon, but I had not read any of his other works. So it was a great pleasure to dive into this book and find, in Professor Challenger, as interesting a character as the inimitable detective.For anyone unfortunate enough to have watched the awful travesties that the TV and movie industries have made of this terrific adventure tale, put aside the cartoon caricatures and bountifully bosomed savage jungle queens that pranced across the screen. This book is the real thing, and far better than any film depiction.For one thing, Conan Doyle tells the tale with a wry humor that is deliberate and charming. He takes Victorian stereotypes and stands them on their heads. From the the lovelorn swain whose beloved urges him to go out and do manly deeds for her, and the hidebound scientist who insists that what he's seeing must be rationally explained away, to the boisterous joy that Challenger takes in immodestly demonstrating his superiority to everyone around him; the book is a joyful romp through both Victorian London and a prehistoric jungle.I can't wait to get my hands on the other books starring the brawny and brainy professor.

[robble_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This, in my opinion is Conan Doyle's best work. Professor Challenger presents a more compelling and entertaining character study than does Sherlock Holmes.