For the vast majority of readers, Arthur Conan Doyle is the author of detective stories and the literary father of detective Sherlock Holmes. But on his account there are other works, albeit not as popular as the stories about the adventures of the great detective. They include the story "The Lost World", a summary of which we will try to present to you.
Here, Sir Arthur speaks to readers as a science fiction writer. The author turns to the flora and fauna of the Jurassic period, making a bold assumption that dinosaurs could still have survived on our planet, living so far in remote and poorly studied corners of the earth. At the time of writing, the most poorly studied place on the planet was South America, however, there are now many places where “the white man’s foot hasn’t stepped”, as the author’s contemporaries used to say.
Conan Doyle - The Lost World
The summary of the story can be stated in just a few words: in the Amazon jungle on a high plateau, a scientific expedition finds quite surviving dinosaurs. But such a retelling is unlikely to interest the potential reader, so we’ll try to explain the plot more coherently.
Let’s start re-writing the summary. The Lost World begins with a declaration of love. Budding reporter Edward Melone begs the hands and hearts of his beloved Gladys. The girl refuses him for the reason that he is too ordinary for her exalted nature, and that only an outstanding and courageous person who is capable of committing risky acts for the sake of love can count on her husband. Impressed by such a rebuke, our hero rushes to the editor, demanding to immediately send him to the most risky place on Earth. So that he could make an outstanding report from there. The wise editor satisfies the request of an ambitious young man. The most dangerous assignment is the task of interviewing the infamous Professor Challenger, who has become famous throughout London for his pathological dislike for the journalistic fraternity. Meloun can only agree to this task, and after a little fight with the professor, he receives an invitation to attend a press conference at which Challenger must make a sensational statement.
As all readers of the book “The Lost World” have guessed, the summary of which we set forth, this statement is that dinosaurs did not die out. The professor himself saw them during his expedition, but failed to save evidence. The scientific community laughed at such a bold statement, but nevertheless decided to organize another expedition, consisting of Challenger opponent Professor Summerly and independent public representatives. Naturally, our hero decides to become this very representative from the press. The second candidate was the famous hunter Lord John Roxton.
The composition of the commission is approved, and a group of daredevils travels to South America. There, Challenger unexpectedly joins them, who decides to personally lead the expedition. After numerous adventures, they come to the foot of the plateau, on which the lost world is located.
The summary of the story does not imply a detailed retelling of the ups and downs of the plot, the interested person will read them in the book, but we will only outline the outline of the work. By the will of fate and a criminal conspiracy, our heroes find themselves cut off from the world on this mysterious plateau and are forced to not only watch dinosaurs as researchers, but also save their lives, which carnivorous dinosaurs actively encroach on.
After numerous expeditions, the expedition still manages to leave the lost world. A summary of their journey is recorded by our reporter, and he provides it to his editorial office immediately upon return. A new conference is being convened, now four are claiming that dinosaurs are alive. But again there are skeptics who do not believe in it. If earlier only Challenger's words were questioned, now they express their distrust in the message of our heroic four. But taught by bitter experience, Challenger presents the audience with a living pterodactyl, which fully confirms the veracity of his statements.
Our travelers are proclaimed almost national heroes, and the young lover hurries to his Gladys in order to repeat the attempt of marriage proposal. Now he can count on reciprocity, because thanks to him a whole lost world has been discovered.
The summary of the story leaves no room for describing the scene of the explanation, everyone can read it on their own, and we will only say that our hero remains single and plans to go on a new expedition.