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2.0 out of 5 stars
Period Adventure Not suited for Most Modern Readers, Oct 9 2002
Allan's son has just died. Having grown tired of the easy life he leads in England, he gathers up his two friends, Sir Henry Curtis and Captain John Good, and the three of them head to Africa in search of a legendary white civilization. Along the way they add to their party a fierce Zulu warrior and a cowardly French cook.At the time of the writing, "lost civilization" books were popular. For the Victorian reading public, the possibility still existed, however unlikely, that such a civilization existed. Unfortunately for this sub-genre, the idea has not aged well. I found it very difficult as a 21st century reader to suspend my disbelief enough to wholeheartedly embrace Quatermain's adventure. Its easier to accept the idea of Bigfoot, than the idea that at the end of the 19th century, an entire race of white people lived in a completely self-contained kingdom in the middle Africa. Haggard's writing style, while typical of the time for which he wrote, is weighty. Quatermain as the narrator, often gives descriptions of conversations instead of relating the actual spoken word. When he does write dialogue, it's often made up of long, flowery speeches. He has an especially irritating habit of using an older form of English (e.g. "thee", "thou", "wilt", "nay", "alas") for all speech that is supposed to be spoken in a language other than English. He also likes to give to give long descriptions of places and objects. Sometimes they're interesting, but more often they slow down the pacing and seem to serve little purpose (The description of the "Flower" temple is particularly cumbersome). Haggard can write exciting, interesting action, but those portions are few and far between. A final objection to this adventure novel is that Haggard, through no fault of his own, is thoroughly steeped in the Victorian mind set. The British empire can do no wrong. Native Africa is divided into two camps. First there are the ordinary "savages" who need European influence, and second there are the "noble savages" who should be left untouched by the Europeans. Haggard's racism, nationalism, and sexism heavily influence his story. ALLAN QUATERMAIN should be read as a period adventure novel. It will probably appeal to readers who have enjoyed Haggard's other books or the writings of similar authors (Edgar Rice Burroughs comes to mind). However, I do not recommend it to the general reader looking for an adventure novel set in the late 19th century.
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