Sunday, January 17, 2016

Edgar Rice Burroughs's "The Land That Time Forgot"...A Book Review

Cover of The Land that Time Forgot*

Last week I was looking for a quick read. I had finished my latest audiobook and was waiting for some others to come available at the library. After a search, I found a novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and I found out something...

I found out that The Land that Time Forgot is a very fast read.

I downloaded the audiobook and was done with it a few hours later.

I know Burroughs is a pioneer, like Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, and I'm almost embarrassed to say that this may be the first Burroughs book I've ever read.

The story is a re-telling of one man's adventure during the first World War. A ship on which he is riding is attacked by a German submarine. He and his dog are rescued by another ship that is attacked by the same u-boat.

This happens, then that and the narrator ends up on a mysterious island with his dog, a beautiful woman, a German submarine and half its crew. Also on the island are dinosaurs and primitive humans. And because the narrator wrote down his story and sealed it inside a bottle, the reader (which is all of us...) discovered the man never escapes from this island where time was forgotten.

I enjoyed the short read very much. I did find it interesting how these men could kill the humanoid inhabitants with so little regard. I found it also interesting how the dinosaurs were used in the story. Burroughs was writing during a time when, though dinosaurs had been known for decades, some may not be familiar with them. All my life I've known about dinosaurs--they're not much of a mystery. I would think that this story was a way for the author to introduce some of this information to people.

Of course, I may be completely wrong...I'm just spit-balling here.

In other news, I liked the book. I should read more Edgar Rice Burroughs.

* Photo used without permission from: http://pioneerutah.lib.overdrive.com/A7A20523-ACF8-423D-8CE8-3A9F60BB17D6/10/50/en/ContentDetails.htm?id=1AEE2A9A-B490-4DD6-9764-E73197543496

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