Reviews

The Land That Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs

loralhealth's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

branomir's review against another edition

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3.0

Your typical turn of the century lad's novel. All about the strong hero fighting the monsters and the girl mostly swooning over him. Though she could have been treated worse. This book has certainly aged but still has a sort of charm to it. People sure had some strange ideas about dinosaurs in the late 19th, early 20th century. As this was written and takes place during WWI there are some very strong anti German sentiments in there too. All in all it was enjoyable but not as good as the similar novel The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in my opinion.

nivalix's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

lexish00's review against another edition

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3.0

really interesting ideas about humanoid people who basically evolved parallel to humans. fairly racist and see is, but in an absurd old timey scifi kind of way. essentially a predictable adventure story, but Burroughs' ideas on evolution and language are fun to read and ponder. plus it is a quick story (three parts that are fairly unconnected).

topdragon's review

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4.0

One of the few ERB worlds I've missed...up to now. Enjoyed this one quite a bit and look forward to the other two books in the series.

gstwilson's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

For such a short piece that has inspired so much, it was a bit of a slog to get through. This may just be reflective of the writing style of the time, and so perhaps once I've managed a few more classics and become accustomed to the style, I should revisit. I will definitely need to do so to complete the series, as there are many questions left unanswered.

There are obvious issues with colonialist thought and racism explicit in the text, which are difficult to overlook. 

I will say, for all the excitement, it's a relatively hopeless piece. With every step forward, their situation seems bleaker.

Written now, I'd love to see this fleshed out with descriptions of the land, and the day-to-day conversations and doings of the party, to really get a sense of the place and the people. All too often, it was easy to forget who's who and their surroundings.

I had hoped to love this based on my other readings, and perhaps one day I will.

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apheline's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

3.0

loz1327's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

melanto_mori's review against another edition

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2.0

Ecco, questo titolo si prende di diritto il premio di "Lettura peggiore di Gennaio" e ci sono rimasta supermale :(

SpoilerUn'ottima idea, degli spunti interessantissimi... ma una narrazione terrificante, un protagonista Gary Stu, un tell continuo dall'inizio alla fine.
Dal capitolo 6 in poi - ed è davvero un libro piccino - ho cominciato a saltare pezzi interi, perché non vedevo l'ora di finirlo e passare al prossimo titolo.
Mi spiace tantissimo, perché avevo aspettative enormi: la trama aveva tutto quello che mi interessava (e che speravo di trovare in un buon libro di avventura), il trope dell'isola sperduta con civiltà preistoriche e dinosauri lo adoro, ma dopo un po' non ce l'ho fatta più a reggere.

La storia ha un solo punto di vista, poiché narrata come manoscritto ritrovato. E fin qui, va benissimo.
Se non fosse che il protagonista: sa tutto lui, fa tutto lui, risolve tutto lui, decide tutto lui, comanda tutto lui, salva (quasi) tutti lui. L'unica figura femminile si innamora di lui (e lui le giura amore eterno dopo tre righe che si conoscono e nemmeno sa come si chiama. Io amo il colpo di fulmine, ma così anche no), lui la salva di continuo e via discorrendo.
Oddio, no.

Nonostante gli spunti narrativi interessanti dell'ambientazione e il fatto che avvengano davvero tante cose, l'uso quasi esclusivo del "tell" sullo "show" rovina tutto. Non si crea pathos, tensione, aspettativa. È tutto un "ho fatto questo, ho visto quello, è successo quell'altro" uno dietro l'altro come un enorme elenco che ti lascia l'amarezza nel veder rovinata un'idea bellissima.


So che questo titolo è il primo di una trilogia, ma non la continuerò, con sommo rammarico. Ma se tanto mi dà tanto, col cavolo che mi avvicinerò a Tarzan.
Il voto avrebbe dovuto essere zero, per quanto mi riguarda, ed è arrivato a due solo perché la traduzione è ottima e mi spiaceva penalizzarla.

croaker's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0