King Solomon's Mines - H Rider Haggard

Published by Hodder & Stoughton: Great Britain, 2007. 
First published 1885.

This well-known novel is the story of Allan Quartermain, a hunter and trader living in Africa, who joins Sir Henry Curtis and Captain John Good on a journey to search for Curtis' missing brother. The three white men and their native servants travel into 'uncharted' Africa and enter the unknown country of Kukuanaland. Here they get caught up in the politics of the nation, face off against the sinister with-doctress Gagoola, and search for the lost diamond mines of King Solomon.

As an English novel written in the Victorian era, King Solomon's Mines does contain moments that could be uncomfortable for the modern reader, particularly in the superiority shown by the main white characters to their African allies (one native is complimented as being intelligent 'for his race' and it is meant sincerely) yet Haggard is perhaps less 'arrogant' than many of his contemporary writers, and there does seem to be at least an understanding that both races have their strengths.

The story itself, which has inspired many adventure stories since, including the Indiana Jones franchise, grows on the reader. Once you get used to the cadence and language of the time it is fairly well-written and often exciting, with splashes of humour thrown in to keep things interesting.

Of its day in a lot of ways, this is still a novel I would recommend to any fans of adventure fiction.

Completed with Elise, 15 September 2020.



(Elise Books)

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