Le monde perdu (Professeur Challenger, #1) par Arthur Conan Doyle

« Ce n’est pas parce que le facteur n’a pas été mordu ces derniers temps que le chien a oublié comment mordre. » (BEAnthony)

En d’autres termes, « ce n’est pas parce que le livre est vieux que ce n’est pas une bonne lecture ». (Moi)

En fait, j’irai un peu plus loin et soulignerai que des écrivains victoriens et du début du 20e siècle comme Edgar Rice Burroughs et Arthur Conan Doyle ont pu faire ce que des écrivains célèbres comme Micheal Crieghton ont eu du mal à faire, c’est-à-dire superposer un monde fantastique basé sur la science. au sommet du banal et théoriquement compréhensible

« Ce n’est pas parce que le facteur n’a pas été mordu ces derniers temps que le chien a oublié comment mordre. » (BEAnthony)

En d’autres termes, « ce n’est pas parce que le livre est vieux que ce n’est pas une bonne lecture ». (Moi)

En fait, j’irai un peu plus loin et soulignerai que des écrivains victoriens et du début du XXe siècle comme Edgar Rice Burroughs et Arthur Conan Doyle ont pu faire ce que des écrivains célèbres comme Micheal Crieghton ont eu du mal à faire, c’est-à-dire superposer un monde fantastique basé sur la science. au sommet du monde réel banal et théoriquement compréhensible sans perdre le talent de raconter une très belle histoire.

Il y a des parties de Jurrasic Park que j’ai aimées, des parties que je n’ai pas aimées mais personne ne devrait jamais croire que c’est une œuvre écrite aussi complète que « The Lost World » de Doyle. Jurrasic Park manque de personnages attachants et souvent le gobble-di-gook scientifique surpasse toute valeur de divertissement dans l’histoire. Son prochain roman dans la série « The Lost World »… hmm… titre accrocheur…, fait enfin beaucoup de bon travail pour reconnecter les points, mais il est toujours en deçà du merveilleux récit d’aventure engageant de Doyle.

*** Avant de continuer, je dois vous avertir, il y a des spoilers dans cette critique. J’essaie d’utiliser les outils pour en bloquer certaines parties, mais je suis novice et certains pourraient encore me glisser. Fore Warning est forarmed… un peu comme Popeye je suppose. ***

Le résumé — (voir spoiler)[Our young hero, Ned Malone, an Irish Journalist, which mean’s he’s twice marked, struggling to make of name for himself listens to his love (of the moment) Gladys Hungerton. Ah.. what is in a name?… We’ll talk about the bitch later. Convinced that he has to make a name for himself, perform some heroic deed and to three cartwheels a back handspring and a back flip to win her hand for marriage, and her love, not neccessarily in that order, hits up his editor for a story assignment that allows him no end of heroic deeds. He gets a noncommital suggestion to interview the famed genius, nitwit, hot head, great orator G.E.Challenger, known by the press up till now for throwing journalists out of his house himself, bodily. Surviving an interview with Challenger, « oh, that man » alone should have been enough but once there, Challenger systmatically traps our young Malone with his tale just long enough to infect him with the « wander-lust » bug.

Challenger then tricks the Geogrpahic Scociety into funding an expidition to prove he’s a lunatic which our man Malone allows himself to be drafted in the name of volunterism. Also on the trip, the famed Lord John Roxton (more on him later) and an ill tempered doctor of medicine (and other things) Dr.Summerlee. The quartet makes their way through the Brazilian jungle quickly (as the reader paces) with a few exciting moments provided mostly by Summerlee and Challenger’s constant bickering…I’m sorry G.E.C. « Debating ». They they arrive at « the Plateau » and ignore all warning signs that say « go back, your an idiot if you keep going up this mountain… I told you to turn back. … Do you see the dead body?… LOOK AT THE BONES MAN! » Our hero’s persevere and with Challenger’s help find themselves standing on the edge of the lost world.

The plateau, the lost world, is more like a lint trap in the dryer of evolution and time than it is a place frozen in time. Caught in a delicate ecological balance, Dinosaurs rome the fair sized valley along with terrifying apemen and a large tribe of « indians. » Just when things are going well (in Challenger’s point of view) treachery strikes and two of his indian guides sabatoge the make shift bridge they used to reach the lost world trapping the explorers to face the horrors and wonderous scientific findings of this « lost world. »

Don’t worry about the indians, Jon Roxton shoots one, the other gets his head ripped off by Zamboo, the mentally deficient black bearer that becomes the party’s only link with the outside world. His job in the story is to be bigger and badder than anyone in the valley of death (therefore he shall not fear) and carry Malone’s dispatches to the river where some well meaning and apparently bonded steam boat captain will start the dasy-chain relay that gets them to McCardle in London, his editor, and his sweetheart the Witch Gladdys Hungerton. « Eeew she’s a mean one sir. » (more on Zamboo later, just a statment. His role is to carry the letters, nothing more, which he does well.)

Roxton, Challenger, Summerlee and Malone set about exploring their new world. Every day brings a new find, and a new argument between Challenger and Summerlee (who does give Challenger his due moments before becoming the irascable genius’s foil again). They find that the ape-men are not particularly sportsman like fellows who throw their captives over a cliff and applaud the demise of the fallen… um, if you’ll pardon the unintended pun. Theres daring rescues and all sorts of man eating dinosaurs, some dinosaur eating men, and remarkably witty dialog for this era of tale.

In the end, they bring back one little pterodactle, freak London out and everyone’s a hero. Malone doesn’t get the girl (thank god) and he and John Roxton agree to go back to the Lost World and explore it some more! (yes, this is a series of books, not just a sing shot.) (hide spoiler)]

Voilà, c’est tout en un mot. Voici ce que je n’ai pas dit dans le synopsis qui pourrait vous intéresser davantage si vous décidez de lire le livre.

C’est une histoire délicieuse. Si Doyle était un politicien, il serait un populiste. Il nous raconte d’abord une histoire pour se divertir. L’histoire est rapide, l’écriture agréable pour les yeux, avec le même genre d’arguments logiques et d’énigmes logiques que nous attendons des œuvres modernes.

Points de vue— Ce que j’ai trouvé comme très divertissant et, d’accord, je vais le dire, magistral, c’est la façon dont Doyle a permis à ses personnages Roxton, Challenger et Summerlee de nous donner trois points de vue très différents, mais importants d’une manière où l’on ne l’a pas fait. étouffer l’autre.

Summerlee, représente la science de l’establishment, l’ensemble actuel des connaissances des penseurs d’élite européens. Bien que son point de vue ait pris un coup (il pensait que Challenger était une fraude au début), il a fourni un cadre solide pour comprendre la science impliquée car il avait l’occasion de l’examiner.

Roxton, à condition de l’homme ordinaire, de l’ouvrière-abeille, d’un point de vue sans fard en tant que naturaliste, mais aussi en tant qu’homme qui « fait avancer les choses ». Pas aussi pris dans l’émerveillement que Summerlee et Challenger, il pense comme un chasseur et un pragmatique mais il n’est toujours pas touché par ce qu’il voit. Mais son point de vue ne ressemble en rien à celui de Challenger et Summerlee. C’est le défenseur de l’environnement de la NRA qui déplore tirer avec son fusil parce que le son est quelque chose que rien sur le plateau n’a jamais entendu auparavant. Ne t’inquiète pas, il s’en remet aussi vite.

et

Challenger qui est le « penseur hors du commun ». Là où Summerlee est parfaitement à l’aise avec ce qu’il croit alors que son univers s’étend lentement, Challenger veut être sur la fusée qui va au-delà de toute connaissance dans un grand inconnu. Il est le véritable aventurier ici (à l’exception de John Roxton, qui est un aventurier différent). Il utilise son intellect vif pour prendre l’inconnu en deux poings charnus et l’étudier jusqu’à ce qu’il le découvre. Il aime les problèmes à résoudre et mon garçon n’aime-t-il pas quelqu’un qui ne se retourne pas et accepte tout ce qu’il dit comme un fait. Il est aussi le plus coloré des trois et le moins confiné par convention et croyance.

Oui, on pourrait aussi noter l’époque de Freud et de Karl Jung et souligner qu’il y a aussi un peu de « Id » dans Challenger, le « Ego » chez John Roxton et le « Super Ego » dans Summerlee. C’est probablement un thème récurrent dans les œuvres de cette époque. Comme dans le Seigneur des mouches, les trois parties de l’inconscient collectif travaillent ensemble pour résoudre les problèmes, l’Id (enfant) criant au Super Ego (Parent) tandis que l’Ego (Adulte) traite tout et décide de ce qui doit être fait. Cette représentation analogique des trois parties de l’inconscient psychique est comme une pièce qui se présente à Malone qui, en bon journaliste, nous la rapporte.

Les trésors cachés — Ce qui élève ce livre à un 4 étoiles lu d’un fort 3, ce sont les trésors cachés. C’est tellement d’autres types de livres réunis en un seul. Voici une partie de ce qui est ici.

Début de l’âge C’est l’histoire d’un jeune Malone qui devient un homme. Il y a un message là-dedans. Malone est un jeune homme dans la vingtaine, avec une carrière, mais à l’époque de Doyle, il n’est pas considéré comme « un homme » (adulte). Ce n’est pas un défaut dans son caractère, c’est parce qu’il n’a tout simplement pas vécu pour voir un peu de ce qu’il y a à voir ou avoir ces expériences qui font passer une personne d’une fantaisie enfantine à une capuche adulte pratique et solide.

Au début, Malone est un jeune homme fort, vif d’esprit mais faible de volonté, non pas parce qu’il est déficient, mais parce qu’il est toujours l’esclave de ses propres peurs et désirs comme la plupart des jeunes. Il est amoureux de Gladys (oh, oui, nous connaissons tous une Gladys Hungerton) qui (voir spoiler)[ has no love for him and makes sport of his advances, toys with his emotion and is the driving force behind running off where he could get killed in the name of glorifying her. In the end, he returns to find her married to another, save, very Hobbit like man, who has had little in the way of adventure and likely has trouble seeing the edges of the box, let alone allowing his mind out to work « out of it. »

Malone shows a measure of class as he suddenly realizes that she’s been playing him all along, handles things with courage and dignity (as much as anyone could have) and goes off to find Roxton and join his expidition. He gives up childish things and fancy and steps into the real world (the « adult » world). And with a firm handshake, the « man’s man » John Roxton accepts him as an adult.

Conflict, Man against … All three of the great conflicts found in great works (or at least talked about in them) are present here. Man against Nature, even if it’s prehistoric it’s still nature. That part is obvious and I won’t go into detail about it other than to say, John Roxton leads the foursome through a minefield where any missed step could produce calamity. He only uses his weapon when he absolutely has to to survive, or to save the others. Everything he notices is about the beauty that is here NOW and needs to be preserved. Challenger and Summerlee want to study things as they are, undisturbed. There are a few preciously sparse statements about the delicate balance that had to exist on the plateau in order for everything to stay alive, and not die out or spread into the jungle around and how important that is to preserve. Sure, this is more man against man, but in this case, the nature eats you. So, that’s a given, they lived.

Man Against Man The man against man battles are more philisophical than actual until the last chapters of the book. They are reprsented by arguments between Challenger and… well, just about everybody about the difference between what we know to be true and what could be true.

There is an amusing possibility that comes to mind here. THis book obviously embraces evolution. Doyle himself was known for being a staunch creationist. I wonder if Challenger’s denial that he bore any resembalance to the « ape men » is Doyle, also a known practical joker, thumbing his nose at evolutionists. The one guy who should be embracing evolution, when confronted with the absolute question, « you look like an ape, are you in or out? » rejects association with evolution and wants no part of being decended from these apes. I guess, « Some Apes are better than others? » Or as I think Doyle is trying to put it. « When it comes right down to the brass tacks, nobody really believes we are descended from apes. » I think he’s teasing us again. It’s a matter of opinion, that is mine. I don’t agree with Doyle, but I love the way he works that in there. It got so much play as part of the humor that it couldn’t have been an accident.

This man vs man conflict expands to be new man (the indians) aided by modern man (hence another suggestion that we descended from man) overcome the terryfying and powerful apemen and vanquish them. (could this be a mini-drama like Hamlet’s « Mouse Trap » where creationists finally put an end to any thought we descended from monkey’s by abolishing the missing link?.. just a thought.)

In the end, Challenger’s ideals win out, and leads the world to a new, golden age of knowledge and enlightenment.

Of course much of this could be considered « Man against himself » and each of the characters go through their own version of that time honored sense of conflict. There is too much to detail here and I want to focus on …

Man vs. Himself There is also a wonderful story about facing your own fears here. It’s part of the « coming of age » tale that I mentioned earlier. The story of Malone overcoming cowardice, or better stated, coming to grips with/acceptance of his own fears. This very poingantly includes his fear of being afraid, well, looking afraid anyway. Malone is Doyle’s James Cagney from the movie « The Fightin 69th. »

Malone earned acceptance from John Roxton (the everyman character) not because he was truely brave, but because he was more afraid of John Roxton seeing him as afraid than he was afraid of getting his head blown off…or as FDR put it, « The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself. » Malone gets himself in trouble time and time again because he is afraid of being a failure, afraid of being measured and coming up short, afraid of the others seeing how afraid he is. He goads himself into taking a « walk about, » in the middle of the night even after he finds out he’s grabbed a shotgun and taken a handfull of carbine cartridges. Ironically this saves him from the Apemen, but also tells us loud and clear. If you cannot get a handle on this, Malone, you will ultimately not be there when your 15 minutes of fame arrive for the taking.

In this man vs himself, conflict, Lord John Roxton is the mirror that shows Malone what he wishes to be like, confident, strong, a leader. What he needs is a mirror that shows him what he is like now. Over time and through surviving adventures he gets that but it doesn’t hit home until he goes to his lovely Gladys, to tell her of his heroism and bravery only to find her married to an accountant from Sojo. Wasn’t she the one who rejected him on the grounds that (excuse me Bonnie Tyler) she was « Holding Out for a Hero? » I can hear the music in the opening chapter.

In true keeping with a talented story teller. Malone finds out after all is said and done that it is childish to allow your fear to rule you. The ture measure of a man is not how fearless he is, but how well he manages his own fears. Without fear, there is no bravery. Courage is the ability to continue on, despite, or against, your fears of what may happen to you. He symbolically announces this when he throws his broken heart in with Lord John Roxton to go back to the Lost world for a second expidition. Malone has become a man.

It would be remiss of me not to point out another possibility, my opinion, of course, but possible. Most people do not know how long there have been hostile feelings and actions linked with the English presence on Northern Ireland. That entire subculture of terror, strong fisted doctrine, mouthy speaches and blowing things up started during or possibly before Doyle’s time. Could be Malone was made Irish as a way of suggesting to the Irish that they should grow up and join the United Kingdom. (yes, its more complicated than that, but this isn’t a possibility I know enough about to explore. Just a enough to stir the pot.)

Which brings us to Zambo. I’m not going to appologize or berate Doyle’s depection of the story’s only black man as mentally retarded. It is a sign of the times. To Doyle’s credit, this was only one man, not an entire ethnic group and may not be representative of his view of black men. Native Indians of South America and the Irish might have more to legitimately complain about. Neither am I going to comment (past this) about the use of the word « Negro. » It is just a sign of the times. I wil say this. If you find yourself affected by things like this. « Look at how far we’ve come! » nobody would ever get away with it in this day and age. Progress may be hard to see, but it’s still progress. We are no longer where we once toiled on the mountain. Though there is still plenty of mountain to climb.

and one last fun/oddity that I noticed. Again, a sign of the times and possibly a mark of progress. Doyle’s view of women reflect Victorian Era values and principles, not modern ones. Case in point, when Malone goes to woo Gladys, he should have taken the hint she wasn’t interested, but he allows her to commit himself to visions of heroism to win her hand and off he runs, likely to his death. When Challenger’s wife (a little too french for some) starts to berate him for throwing Malone into the street and giving him a black eye, he simply puts her on a pedistal. No, I mean he litterally puts her on a pedistal that’s too high for her to get down from on her own. Some might call that « Putting her in her place » again it is in sync with the morals and values of the time, but modern ladies might see the symbology there as, distasteful. You tell me. Fortunately I’m not a modern lady. (hide spoiler)]