The Lost World
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Lost World
FictionAdventureClassicsScience FictionFantasy
25 chapters·8h 23m listening
3.93from 74,652 ratingson Goodreads
"The Lost World" by Arthur Conan Doyle is an adventure and science fiction novel published in 1912. When journalist Edward Malone seeks a dangerous assignment to prove himself, he joins the formidable Professor Challenger on an expedition to a remote South American plateau. There, the team encounters living dinosaurs, prehistoric creatures, and hostile ape-men in a hidden world lost to time. Stranded by treachery and facing unknown dangers, the explorers must survive in this extraordinary land where ancient life still thrives.
Contains spoilers for the entire book
- Themes
- Atmosphere
About the book
Published in 1912 after appearing in The Strand Magazine, The Lost World is narrated by Edward Malone, a young newspaper reporter who volunteers for a dangerous assignment to impress the woman he loves. He joins an expedition led by the explosive Professor Challenger to prove that prehistoric creatures survive on a remote plateau in South America. Arthur Conan Doyle sends Malone, Challenger, the sceptical Professor Summerlee and the hunter Lord John Roxton up onto the plateau, where they face dinosaurs, ape-men and the problem of getting back down. Full of comedy as well as danger, the novel set the pattern for many later stories of lost worlds and surviving dinosaurs.
Characters
Edward Malone — Narrator
A young reporter seeking an adventurous assignment that will prove his courage.
Professor Challenger — Expedition leader
A combative scientist who claims that prehistoric creatures survive on an isolated South American plateau.
Professor Summerlee — Skeptical scientist
An academic who joins the expedition to test Challenger's extraordinary assertions.
Lord John Roxton — Explorer
An experienced sportsman and traveler whose practical courage serves the expedition.
Gladys Hungerton — Malone's beloved
A young woman whose admiration for heroic achievement encourages Malone to seek danger.
About the author
Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) was a Scottish physician who began writing Sherlock Holmes stories while waiting for patients who did not come. He modelled the detective on Joseph Bell, an Edinburgh surgeon who could name a stranger's trade and recent travels from the state of his hands and boots. Doyle thought his historical novels the serious work, killed Holmes off at the Reichenbach Falls in 1893, and was pushed into resurrecting him by public protest and a great deal of money. He spent his last decades campaigning for spiritualism, and twice for men he believed wrongly convicted.