- Summary
- Doyle Arthur Conan
- lost World
Edward Malone, a 23-year-old journalist, is in love with the beautiful Gladys, who makes him understand that only a man for whom performing feats and overcoming obstacles is a daily need of his nature can count on her hand and heart.
In order to live up to the ideal of his beloved, the young man persuades his editor McArdle to give him any unusual and dangerous task, and he invites Edward to meet with a real science fanatic, Professor Challenger, who is famous for his unsociability and violent temperament, and try to interview him. Despite the fact that the reporter's date with the professor is marred by a fight, the extravagant scientist develops sympathy for the young man, since he, unlike the others, did not complain to the police.
The professor tells Edward about his trip to South America and provides a number of evidence of the existence of dinosaurs living on a mysterious plateau, lost in the Amazon River valley. The scientific community does not consider the professor’s theory worthy of attention, since as evidence in its favor he presents only a few blurry photographs and part of the wing of an unknown creature, which in its structure resembles the wing of a giant bat. To refute the accusations of falsifying evidence and confirm that he was right, Professor Challenger is ready to go on a second expedition. In addition to Malone, Professor Summerlee, who views Challenger’s theory with great distrust, and Lord Roxton, a famous traveler and hunter, also wish to accompany the extravagant scientist.
The expedition goes upstream of the Amazon. At the same time, skirmishes between Challenger and Summerlee do not stop throughout the entire route, and even the discovery of the aforementioned plateau does not cool the latter’s mistrust. However, a pterodactyl that swoops down on their camp forces Professor Summerlee to admit he was wrong.
The group moves to the center of the plateau and encounters living dinosaurs. Thus, Professor Challenger's theory is completely confirmed. However, travelers are in danger and it comes not only from the ancient lizards, but also from the ferocious tribe of ape-men - another inhabitant of this area. To fight these creatures, travelers enter into an alliance with the Indians. Having won the victory, the expedition leaves the plateau, having previously completed scientific research.
Upon returning home, at a meeting of the Zoological Institute, Professor Challenger shows the skeptics a living pterodactyl, thereby completely proving the correctness of his own theory.
In turn, Malone now fully meets the ideal of his Gladys, however, it turns out that during his absence she married an ordinary clerk from a notary's office.
It is quite obvious that all Gladys’s reasoning about Edward’s inconsistency with her ideal was just an excuse to refuse a man whom she does not love. At the same time, his determination to achieve the woman he loved at any cost, his willingness to radically change his life for her sake allowed him to become a truly famous and outstanding person.
Detailed retelling
The story is told from the perspective of an Irish-born journalist named Edward Dun Malone. The narrator is passionately in love with a girl of extraordinary beauty - Gladys. One day he decides to take his friendship to a more serious level, and for this he tries to confess his love to her. But he remains disappointed because he does not feel reciprocity. Malone is far from this girl's ideal. This must be a man whose heroic deeds will become known throughout the world. With all his being he must strive for dangerous adventures. As a result, Gladys should get some of the glory.
Malone, being an employee of the Daily Newspapers, for the sake of his beloved is capable of any task that the editor of the Latest News department can entrust to him.
From him, the main character learns about a man who returned from an expedition two years ago, claiming that somewhere in distant South America animals of the prehistoric period still exist. Challenger loses evidence on the way back. Therefore, the scientific community does not take his story seriously. Edward's attempt to win over the professor succeeded only after a fight. Having escaped with a black eye, Malone was invited by him to a meeting of the council of scientists. The guest is seen by the elderly person as a more respectable journalist compared to others.
Some of Challenger's discoveries have been preserved in the form of part of a pterodactyl wing and an album by an artist who died in the Amazon. He managed to capture what he saw on paper.
This was not the first time that there were visitors to the Zoological Institute who did not believe in the veracity of the professor’s words. Therefore, he proposed to assemble a second expedition in search of a new world.
Among those interested was the middle-aged Professor Summerlee, Lord John Roxton, a man who was a famous hunter and athlete. Malone finds in this proposal the perfect way to prove his masculinity to Gladys.
Getting ready for a long journey, Malone promises to send recordings of observations of what is happening around him. Professor Challenger personally escorts those gathered from the pier. He hands over an envelope with the condition that it be opened no earlier than the specified time. The narrator's narration at this point changes the form of reporting events. Further, it looks like a diary.
For several days, travelers travel by boat along the Amazon to the city of Manaus. Each of them was worthy of such a trip. Professor Summerlee, despite his 65 years, surprised everyone with his endurance and physical fitness. However, he constantly showed his ironic attitude towards Challenger's theses. Lord John strove towards his goal with genuine mischief. Risk was commonplace for him.
After waiting for the envelope to be opened, they are surprised to find a blank sheet of paper inside. But the appearance of Challenger himself in the room causes special delight. Continuing their journey, the companions make new discoveries to the threatening drumbeat of the Indians. The first signs on the way to the goal were high rapids, an assan palm tree, and a hidden channel. The professor encountered them two years ago. Having landed aground, they continued their journey on foot.
On the first series of mountains, the travelers saw a bird, the name of which caused a dispute between the professors. Finding themselves captive in a new world, they encounter phenomena that Challenger had previously described. One of them occurred at the foot of the mountains. Here they see the skeleton of the artist’s satellite that crashed from above. The fleeting attack of a bird again provokes a heated dialogue between the professors. Using Maple White's marks, they find a cave, the entrance to which was blocked with stones. As darkness falls, the group prepares a game dinner, but a swooping pterodactyl deprives them of the dish. This became the reason for the reconciliation of the disputants. With the help of a thrown tree they find themselves on the ridge. The path back to the cliff was closed. Taking revenge on Lord Roxton, the hired assistant Gomez defended in a similar way the honor of his slave-owning brother, who died at the hands of John. Sambo remains on the other side, promising to help.
Throughout the entire time, the Indians are busy delivering the narrator's letters. The team found a clearing for the hut. Then they moved to get acquainted with the nearest places. The meeting with iguanodons shocked travelers. And the pterodactyls, swarming in the swamp by the hundreds, left a feeling of disgust in my soul. A careless movement led to a chase of people whose bites turned out to be poisonous. The main character has a suspicion that someone is watching them. The unexpected appearance of a monster next to the hut explained the night sounds. John distracted his attention with a torch.
Every day the group began to devote more and more time to discussing the issue of how to return to their homeland. However, without evidence, no one wanted to think about it. Malone's idea was suitable for collecting material in a short time. He climbed a tree, from where he captured the entire panorama in the form of sketches. I paid special attention to the story about the meeting with the man-ape. The lake he marked on the map was named after Gladys.
That same night, Malone’s fear of appearing as a coward to his companions pushed him to go to Lake Gladys. There he meets the monster from Maple-White's album. Distant lights are of particular interest. While running through the forest from a ferocious beast, the hero falls into a trap. Having thus got rid of persecution, he returns back. However, the camp is destroyed, and Lord John tells of a merciless raid by the apes, whose comrades were taken hostage. Challenger owed his royal reception to his resemblance to the leader. Not far from the settlement, monkeys from the edge of a cliff demonstrated the Indians falling onto stakes.
Frightened by such a fate, John runs away. Teaming up with Malone, they try to save their comrades. Having got out alive, together with several natives, they hide in the thickets. One of the inhabitants of the Akkala tribe turns out to be the son of the leader, so upon reaching their caves (the same ones that Malone observed during a night walk), the saviors were given a warm welcome. The next morning, a detachment of natives and guests, armed with firearms, set off to conquer the city of monkeys. The bloody battle ended in the defeat of the animals.
Further stay in the Unknown Country boiled down to finding a way out. Once rescued, the leader's son decides to help the guests get out. In the stick figure, he highlights a through cave, in which the satellites discover the exit to the descent. Their journey home ends with the help of Sambo, who calls on the people for help.
The meeting of the Institute of Zoology in London took place on the second day of arrival. The assembled public is again distrustful of their story, which it considered unproven. Only the demonstration of a prehistoric creature brought from America confirmed all the theses of the expedition participants. The frightened monster flew out the window. Its appearance was recorded in different areas of the city.
Malone eagerly searches for Gladys. He finds the girl in the company of a red-haired man who is her husband. He turns out to be a clerk from a notary's office.
A group of friends gathers in the evening at Lord John's house to recall past events. The owner reveals the secret of his activities in the Unknown Country. The blue clay became part of the diamonds that he brought with him to share equally with his friends.
The work teaches you to be able to appreciate human qualities in any difficult situation.
You can use this text for a reader's diary
The novel “The Lost World” summary
The Lost World by Conan Doyle is about a young Irish journalist who has been in love with a beautiful girl named Gladys Hungerton for a long time.
He confesses his feelings to her, but is refused, since the girl wants to build a relationship only with someone who has achieved fame and success. Then Edward Dan Malone (that is the name of the young journalist) goes to his boss and asks for a report that can glorify him. He, without thinking twice, sends Edward to a strange professor named George Challenger. The old man has been living alone for a long time and completely suppresses all attempts by journalists to interview him. When Edward crossed the threshold of Challenger's house, pretending to be a research assistant, the professor immediately exposed him. If you download the book “The Lost World” by Conan Doyle, we will find out that a fight broke out between them, as a result of which a policeman ran up to the house. However, Malone replied to the officer that he had no claims against the professor, which earned him the old man’s favor. He tells the guest about his expedition, because of which he lost contact with the scientific world. Challenger traveled to South America, where he found the body of the artist Maple-White. He examined the deceased's home and found an album with various drawings. One of the images showed a strange plateau and a dinosaur. The picture was so realistic that the scientist thought that Maple-White painted from life and perhaps prehistoric animals existed in these parts. After some time, Challenger found a plateau and saw a pterodactyl and dinosaur bones. He decided to take some pictures and also take one of the bones with him. However, all the photographs during the trip home were spoiled, and none of the scientists believed in the realism of the dinosaur remains.
After the conversation, Challenger invited the journalist to go with him to one of the lectures at the Institute of Zoology. There he again expressed his opinion regarding the existence of a plateau with prehistoric animals. However, again no one believed the professor. Then he decided to assemble an expedition to prove to the entire scientific world that he was right. Professor Summerlee, traveler John Roxton and Challenger’s new acquaintance, Edward Malone, were to go there with him.
In Conan Doyle's novel "The Lost World" we can read that travelers will soon go to Brazil. There they are accompanied by one of the local residents - a black man named Sambo. After some time, the expedition approaches the plateau indicated by Maple-White. However, Summerlee still does not believe in Challenger's idea. He expresses his skepticism to the professor, which causes a heated argument to break out between them. The travelers walked around the perimeter of the plateau, but they never managed to climb it. And the cave described by the murdered artist was now completely covered with a pile of stones. Having failed to achieve a positive result, the travelers decide to rest a little. They are preparing dinner over a fire, but then a pterodactyl flies up and carries away a pig roasted on the fire. Summerlee realizes that Challenger was right all along and apologizes to the professor. Men shake hands and forget old grievances.
In the work “The Lost World” by Conan Doyle, the summary tells that the next day the friends climb a small cliff located not far from the treasured plateau. In order to get to the other side, they had to knock down a tree. One of the local residents named Gomez, wanting to take revenge on Roxton for the death of his brother, throws a tree into the abyss. Thus, the friends find themselves cut off from the world on an unknown and unsafe plateau.
In the novel “The Lost World” by Arthur Conan Doyle, we can read that travelers decide to explore the plateau. They go inside and are amazed at what is before their eyes. Challenger and his friends, as in Jules Verne’s novel “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” stood very close to the huge dinosaurs that miraculously managed to survive for so long. At first, the professor is captivated by this spectacle. However, a little later the friends realize that they are in mortal danger. In addition, on the plateau they meet apes and a tribe of local Indians. It was thanks to the Indians that the travelers managed to avoid death and find the cave that led them down. They explore the plateau up and down, after which they decide to return.
The expedition arrives at home, and the professor immediately goes to the museum to prove he is right. In Conan Doyle’s book “The Lost World” we can read that Malone, Summerlee and Roxton, who were present with him, confirm the words of the old professor. However, other scientists again refuse to believe in stories about living dinosaurs. Then Challenger shows everyone the huge pterodactyl that he brought with him from the plateau. Scientists have no choice but to apologize to their colleague.
"The Lost World" book by Conan Doyle says that Malone was terribly happy that their expedition was a success. Upon arrival home, he goes to his beloved Gladys. However, the girl tells Edward that during his absence she managed to get married. In addition, Gladys blames the young man for this, stating that since he was able to go on an adventure, it means his love was not strong enough. Frustrated, Malone storms off. He plans to join his friend Roxton, who is just assembling a team for a new journey.
