The Lost World Summary

Dear students:

Below is a summary of the novel we are reading in class. I hope you find it useful for the preparation of your exam!!! Good luck!!!!

THE LOST WORLD

A NOVEL WRITTEN BY SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

-BURLINGTON BOOKS GRADED READERS SERIES 3º ESO-


PLOT SUMMARY


CHAPTERS 1-6

Edward Malone, a journalist for the Daily Gazette, wants to marry Gladys Hungerton, but she refuses because she wants to marry a man of adventure. Edward is determined to win her love. He asks his boss to send him on a dangerous mission so that he can prove to Gladys that he is a man of adventure.

Edward´s boss sends him to interview professor Challenger, a brilliant zoologist. People think the professor is crazy because he returned from a study trip in South America with a fantastic story about dinosaurs. No one believes him. Professor Challenger hates journalists, so Edward pretends to be a science student to get an interview with him.

Challenger quickly discovers Edward is really a journalist and he gets furious. However, Edward Wins his trust and Challenger tells him an interesting story. In South America, he assisted a dying man. In the man’s bag, he found a drawing of a dinosaur on a high plateau. Challenger believed the man had really seen a stegosaurus. He found the plateau, but couldn’t climb it. However, he took a photograph of a pterodactyl near the plateau. When the creature attacked him, he shot it and brought home a bone from its wing. Edward then believes the professor’s story is true.

Challenger invites Edward to a conference at at the Zoological Institute. The speaker talks about the extinction of dinosaurs. Challenger claims that dinosaurs are still alive in South America, but everyone laughs. Challenger suggests sending a group of people to South America to see if his story is true. Professor Summerlee wants to go, to prove Challenger is wrong. Lord John Roxton joins because he knows the Amazon forests well. Edward decides to go so he can prove to Gladys that he is a man of adventure.

When the three men reach Manaos, in Brazil, they are unexpectecly joined bu professor Challenger. They agree that he can join them because he is the only one who knows the way to the plateau.

Accompanied by Zamba, a native from the area, the men go deep into the Amazon forest. They make their way first by boat, then in small canoes and finally on foot. At last, they reach the area below the plateau.

One night as they were having dinner, they are attacked by pterodactyls that come down from the plateau. Summerlee admits Challenger´s claim was true and the two men become friends.

For days the men search unsuccessfully for a way up to the cliffs of the plateau. They find a cave and once into it some big rocks fall from above them in what apparently seems to be an accident. Does someone want to kill them?

Eventually Challenger finds a solution. He asks Edward to cut down a tall tree on a high pinnacle opposite the plateau. They use the tree to make a bridge across the deep abyss between the plateau and the pinnacle. But when they reach the other side, the tree falls into the abyss, leaving them stuck in the Lost World. Zamba is left at their camp to guard their belongings.


CHAPTERS 7 - 12


The next days are exciting, but terrifying. Edward and Summerlee are bitten by pterodactyls and the poisonous bites cause them to become ill for a short while. The men see several kinds of dinosaurs. Some of the larger ones attack and kill smaller dinosaurs. The four men decide it is too dangerous to stay on the plateau, but before they leave, they plan to make a map of the area. To get abetter view, Edward climbs a tree. Among the branches he sees a face –half-ape, half-human-, looking maliciously at him, but it suddenly disappears.

From the treetop, Edward sees a large lake in the distance. He names it Lake Gladys. That night, he remembers Glady’s words about heroes, and decides to walk alone to the lake. On his return to the camp, a tyrannosaurus rex chases him and he falls into a deep hole. The hole is clearly man-made, probably as a trap for dinosaurs. Edward manages to climb out and return safely to the camp, only to find that his friends are not there.

In the middle of the night, Lord Roxton appears, looking terrible. He tells Edward that ape-men captured their companions and some Indians. One of them is Motosawi. Edward remembers the face he saw in the tree. He and Lord Roxton take their rifles, locate the ape-people’s village, shoot some of the ape-men, and rescue their friends. Then, they help the Indians defeat more ape-men in a big battle.

The Indians are friendly to the adventurers, but won’t help them leave the plateau. They believe the adventurers bring them good luck. Before long, Motosawi visits the group and gives them a drawing. T looks like a map showing an exit through one of the caves. With the help of the drawing, they leave the plateau and return to the pinnacle where Zamba is waiting for them.

Back in London, the adventurers tell their story at a meeting at the Zoological Institute. Professor Challenger opens a bag and a baby pterodactyl comes out. People scream and frighten the pterodactyl and it flies out of the hall through an open window! Everybody cheers –now they know Challenger’s story is true!

Edward visits Gladys and finds that she is married to an ordinary clerk. Lord Roxton announces that he’s going to make another trip to the Lost World. Edward decides to return with him.