Good yarn, though a bit too simple
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A rattling adventure story that, if anything, I found rather too fast to read. It lacked some of the depth of the author's other classic, She. Quite a dramatic final section.
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If you are thinking Debra Kerr you will be shocked.
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I grew up on the movie so it was quit a shocker to read the book. As stated in the beginning there are no petticoated women in this book. It is a men's adventure written by a man for men. You can not miss the hand of H. Rider Haggard as he has a unique sense of humor that pops up at the strangest times. He may be a little verbose but every word has a use. And as with written stories this one is much more intricate than the movie adaptations. You will find many assumptions of the time such as any complex construction must have been built by white people and natives on their own may turn savage.
The story is told first person by Allan Quartermain. Nevil is off to make his fortune by finding King Solomon's lost diamond mines. Allan sends him a 300 year old map to help. This is the last anyone heard from Nevil. Turns out that Nevil is really the estranged brother of Henry Curtis. Sir Henry Curtis now wants to make amends and he with his friend Captain John Good, bribe Allan Quartermain to take them across an endless desert and trough impassible mountains to an adventure that will hold you to the very end. Along with them is their self imposed helper Umbopa who carries a secret of his own.
If you get a chance to also hear the recording, an added plus is narration by John Richmond; He brings the characters to life and adds to the mystique that this story has been passed down.
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good old fashioned adventure story
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This is a good old fashioned adventure story that takes place in Africa. Yes the story is far fetched but once you get into it you just can't put it down. The descriptions of the exotic landscapes would have excited readers in the nineteenth century but I still feel that they make a modern reader, who will have either visited Africa or at least seen it on TV, feel in awe at the wild nature of the country.
If you are at all politically correct then you will not enjoy this book because of the descriptions of the African tribes and the fact that some of the characters hunt wild elephants. But if that doesn't bother you then you will find that the characters are wonderfully fun and lively, with "Alan Q" having several more books created about his adventures.
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