The Poison Belt Illustrated

Oh, <b>Sir Arthur</b>...you sage, you <b>luminary</b>, you <b>genius</b>!! What a memorable, <b>momentous</b> achievement, my good chap! Simply <b>stupendous</b>!! It's just <br><a href="http://s153.photobucket.com/albums/s207/sullypython/Awesomeness/?action=view&amp;current=Guiness-Brilliant-1.jpg" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"> <img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380318335i/689564.jpg" alt="Photobucket" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> </a><br>A singularly superb accomplishment!! <br><br>Oh, forgive my <b>loquaciousness</b>, I don't mean to <b>prattle</b> on so (<i>you certainly never would</i>), but I just find it so spirited and impressive. <br><br>Hmm...pardon? To what am I referring...oh, excuse me. Let me explain. <br><br><b>First</b>, you create one of the most iconic literary characters in all of history and easily the most celebrated detective of all time...namely <s>Batman</s> Sherlock Holmes. You then create dozens of stories featuring <i>The World’s Greatest Detective</i> that enjoy such incredible popularity that the masses salivates at the mere hint a new story is going to be released. <br><br>So what do <b>you</b>, the great Sir Arthur, do? <br><br>You use that enormous popularity as a spring board to finally publish that novel that’s been kicking around in your brain for years. You know the one called <i>The Lost World</i> starring that other intrepid genius, Professor Challenger. The character you created after that <b>petulant</b> scoundrel <b>H.G. Wells</b> called you a “one hit wonder” and wagered that you couldn’t produce another sustainable literary character to save your life. <br><br>Well, you certainly showed that <b>smack-talking assclown</b>, did you not? <br><br>Hell, you already had a built-in audience for the novel, especially since the publisher <s>duplicitously</s> cleverly decided to downplay the fact that Sherlock Holmes was <b>not</b> the star of the novel. And lo and behold, the book turned out to be fairly popular and the people genuinely seemed to like Professor Challenger, seeing him as kind of a rugged, abrasive mirror to the Great Detective.<br><br>Of course, <i> The Lost World </i> was certainly not as popular (or as profitable) as Sherlock Holmes. So being the astute businessman that you are, you naturally decided to focus the brunt of your creative energy into producing the next Holmes masterpiece. <b>HOWEVER</b>, that certainly didn't mean, in the interim, that the money had to stop rolling in now did it. Of course not. <br><br>You’re Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for crying out loud! You could wipe your ass and put your name on it and it would be a bestseller. <br><br>What to do, what to do....WAIT, you said...how about a sequel to <i>The Lost World</i>? Of course, no sequel was ever intended and you didn't have the foggiest whiff of a clue of an idea what the plot for such a story would be. <b>BAH!!</b> Details, merely details. A lesser person might have given up, but not you sir. <br><br>YOU are Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. <br><a href="http://s153.photobucket.com/albums/s207/sullypython/Famous%20people/?action=view&amp;current=conan-doyle-719785-1.jpg" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"> <img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380318335i/689565.jpg" alt="Photobucket" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> </a><br><br>So you let your mind go blank and clamped onto the first thought that popped into your noggin. Suddenly, it hit you. What was it that the <b>homeless opium addict</b> was ranting about the other night when he passed you on the street? You think back...right before you pushed him down into the gutter and beat him with your cane for asking you for some change. It was something about the air being poisoned and Judgment Day and the world’s pending destruction.....and you think PERFECT!! All I have to do is play with that and throw Professor Challenger into the mix and it practically writes itself. <br><br>Or course, a lesser writer might have delayed putting ink to paper until they had researched the science thoroughly in order to make the plot as accurate as possible. I can see you now Sir Arthur, staring at such a cad with a long, perplexed look before finally shaking your head in bewilderment at the naivete of some people. Without further delay, you sit down, begin to write…..AND THE POISON BELT IS BORN!!!! <br>.<br>.<br>.<br>. <br>Okay, while the above was just me being playful, it was inspired by the kind of thoughts that kept occurring to me while I was reading this. Don't get me wrong, the story is not BAD and I have no complaints about Doyle's prose as he was a good writer. I just didn’t find the plot or the characters (except for Professor Challenger) very interesting or compelling. He just seemed to have phoned this one in. <br><br>The story basically involves a poisonous belt of “aether” (the substance that a century ago was believed to have occupied all of space and acted as a physical medium for other substances) passing over the Earth from space and apparently killing everyone except for Professor Challenger and his three cohorts from <i> The Lost World</i> who are protected as a result of Challenger’s foresight and preparations. The four people are stuck inside a room while the event occurs and eventually come out into the world to see the effects of the tragedy. THAT...IS...BASICALLY...IT!!!<br><br>Overall, I just wasn’t that interested in the story and so give it a passing great for quality of prose and an interesting main character but can’t go so far as to say I like it. It was just okay. 2.0 to 2.5 stars. <br>

<b>Doyle's contribution to "post-apocalyptic" literature!</b><br /><br />While Professor George Edward Challenger, a short, stocky, hirsute bull of a man is physically the complete opposite of Doyle's more well known protagonist, Sherlock Holmes, the same cannot be said of his pomposity, arrogance and mental dexterity. In that regard, he could well have been Sherlock's and Mycroft's long lost sibling.<br /><br />As a scientist of the first order, comfortable in his astute, complex analysis of <i>"the blurring of Frauenhofer's lines in the spectra both of the planets and of the fixed stars," </i>Challenger concluded there had been a fundamental change in the ether that would <i>"involve the ultimate welfare of every man, woman, and child upon this planet."</i> In fact, his private prognostications were that the end of the world was at hand and, on the basis of that certainty, he issued a peremptory summons to his friends and colleagues from the "lost world" expedition - young Edward Malone, the reporter for the Daily Gazette; Professor Summerlee, a fellow scientist; and Lord John Roxton, gentleman adventurer and sportsman - to join him and his beloved wife as witness to the world's final hours!<br /><br />Having only recently completed Conan Doyle's <b>THE LOST WORLD</b>, I expected <b>THE POISON BELT</b> to be a garment cut of the same cloth - a swashbuckling Victorian adventure tale of the exploits of heroic men's men! Not even close ... instead Doyle served up an optimistic, post-apocalyptic tale of a world given a taste of Armageddon and an unexpected second chance. Doyle's philosophical musings, disclosed through the conversations of the last five people to remain on the face of a dying earth, touched upon such tender ideas as love and friendship in the face of death. While Doyle might not have recognized it by the more modern label, his musings even wandered into what a modern cosmological philosopher would label the "anthropic principle".<br /><br />A modern reader of <b>THE POISON BELT</b> will know that the notion of an all-encompassing ether in the universe has long since been debunked. But that single failing detracted not one whit from the quality of the story. That same modern reader, I expect, will also be unlikely to share Doyle's optimism regarding the world's reaction to a second chance at life. But, for myself, when I finished the story, I smiled and silently prayed that Doyle was right and I was wrong!<br /><br />Enjoy!<br /><br />Paul Weiss

The end!<br /><br />This review is from the following free Kindle edition:<br />Product Details<br />ASIN: B0083Z64UY<br />Publication date: May 16, 2012<br />Language: English<br />File size: 249 KB<br />Simultaneous device usage: Unlimited<br />Text-to-Speech: Enabled<br />Screen Reader: Supported<br />Enhanced typesetting: Enabled<br />X-Ray: Not Enabled<br />Word Wise: Not Enabled<br />Print length: 64 pages<br />Page numbers source <br />ISBN: 1547066741<br />Lending: Enabled<br /><br />The end of the world! Or so it seems as Earth enters a poison belt in the ether of space which fills the apparent void between objects. A gulf stream in the ether as Challenger describes it. He, his wife and his companions from the Lost World prolong their lives thanks to Challenger's hurried preparations. But do they want to live on in a dead world?<br /><br />Not one of Doyle's better efforts.

This short story - less than 100 pages - forms the second of Conan Doyle's <b>Professor Challenger</b> series. We have the same cast of characters - Challenger, of course, Professor Summerlee, Lord John Roxton and Malone, the journalist who is our narrator. They are joined in this case by Challenger's wife.<br /><br />There is very little to the plot, so spoilers abound I suspect, but most of this is pretty obvious from the outset. There a confused reports of large scale rioting and unrest in far away parts of the world, and according to Challenger the earth is passing through a <b>poison belt</b> of deadly ether. Challenger invites his companions to his house, bringing with them canisters of oxygen - yet they fail for foresee the obvious use of these.<br /><br />So as they watch from windows where the local population collapse and die, they eventually use up their oxygen supply and preparing them selves for a final journey open the door. It is obvious from the outset that the worlds population don't die, but I won't spoil the fairly obvious ending. <br /><br />I will say that this didn't come close to the highs of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3717346208" rel="nofollow noopener">The Lost World</a>, and the three stars awarded are probably 'only just'.

Το πρώτο διήγημα πολύ καλό, το δεύτερο...οκ...

Продължение на любима история от детството. <br /><br />До скоро дори бях в неведение, че историята за ексцентричния професор Челенджър от "Изгубеният свят" не е само една. Може би и за добро. <br /><br />Но ето, от издателство "Сиела" са се понапънали и са издали на български "Отровният пръстен", не знам точно с каква идея. И предполагам, че няма да издадат третата книга от поредицата. :(<br /><br />Книжката е кратичка, чете се бързо, но е остаряла безславно и няма какво толкова да предложи на съвременните си читатели.<br /><br />Моята оценка - опасно близо до 1*.<br /><br />P.S. Нямах големи очаквания и съответно не съм разочарован.

It fascinates me how my opinion of a book can significantly change during a re-read. I read THE POISON BELT back in high school, being a huge fan of the Sherlock Holmes canon and THE LOST WORLD. What I recalled most was thinking that THE POISON BELT was "okay," but I couldn't hide my disappointment. The great adventure that I was anticipating just didn't seem to be present.<br /> <br />Since I've been re-reading the Holmes stories, and I was completely transported by my return to THE LOST WORLD, I decided to give THE POISON BELT a revisit. Thank goodness I did. I thoroughly enjoyed it.<br /> <br />The writer, Arthur Conan Doyle, obviously didn't intend this story to be another "grand adventure" on par with what had transpired on that South American plateau. First of all, THE POISON BELT is a novella, not a full-length novel. There is little attempt to acquaint the Reader with the characters, obviously assuming that THE LOST WORLD (which is referenced multiple times) had already been enough of an introduction to Professor George Challenger and company. I imagine that coming to this story first would leave an impression that it was populated more by caricatures rather than characters. (For this reason alone, I strongly recommend reading THE LOST WORLD beforehand.)<br /> <br />Secondly, there is a "grand adventure," but it is much less apparent than a remote plateau filled with dinosaurs. The central theme in THE POISON BELT is an examination into the practical, scientific, moral, religious and philosophical purpose of Life. The story involves Professor Challenger's discovery that the Earth is soon to pass through an "ether belt" in space ... the result likely being the extinction of all human Life.<br /> <br />Throughout the tale, characters prepare for their ultimate termination. Thoughts and discussions touch on so many different categories (including the metaphysical), and the pondering of just what will be lost beyond the the physical aspect of "being." This could have been incredibly pedantic and dull, yet Conan Doyle presents these thoughts as behavioral aspects of the different characters, adding an intriguing level of depth.<br /> <br />Mental explorations include:<br /> <br />* Is there a "transition" into what we would consider to be an afterlife?<br /> <br />* What did we mean to accomplish that we kept putting off ... until time ran out? Were these things important?<br /> <br />* What is Life? We naturally think of human existence. But, Life is vastly broader than that. What Life would still exist if humanity was gone, and what would that mean (biologically and philosophically)?<br /> <br />* Is securing more time for living the most important aspect of Life?<br /> <br />The story also invites speculation on the part of the Reader to ponder the choices that would be made if the end of personal existence was swiftly approaching. In this way, THE POISON BELT becomes more "participatory" than the Sherlock Holmes stories or THE LOST WORLD. It has been several hours since I finished reading the novella, yet I've mentally come back to consider different aspects of it a number of times.<br /> <br />THE POISON BELT transitions the Professor Challenger stories from being centered on the sheer entertainment value to also taking the time to look at the social concerns surrounding us. (I'm fascinated to consider how H.G. Wells would have handled this one.). Yes, I preferred THE LOST WORLD, but my perspectives were challenged by THE POISON BELT.

2,5*

What’s a proper English gentleman to do when faced with the end of the world? Why, commence tea time, of course, because nothing settles the spirit, mind, and body quite like a nice hot cup of Earl Grey with a dash of milk, no sugar, please, in the face of global destruction.<br /><br />Professor Challenger, the brilliant albeit arrogant scientist who hypothesized---and proved---that dinosaurs still exist deep in the jungles of South America in Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Lost World”, returns in the sequel, “The Poison Belt”, in which he theorizes that the gas cloud emissions of a passing comet will envelop the Earth and kill every man, woman, child, and beast in its poisonous ether. He is right, of course.<br /><br />It begins with reports of British colonies on the other side of the world “going dark” with mysterious communications black-outs and terrifying reports of people, en masse, fainting into oblivion. Challenger predicts that it will be mere days before the poisonous gas belt strikes London, killing everyone where they stand.<br /><br />Challenger and his companions---pressman Edward Malone, adventurer John Roxton, and scientific rival/friend Professor Summerlee---along with his wife and servants all gather at his summer home in the countryside. It is there that they wait out the end, locked in a tea-room which has been safeguarded with protective shielding and several tanks of oxygen, in the hopes of perhaps outlasting the gas cloud or merely prolonging their lives for a few more hours.<br /><br />In the meantime---tea!<br /><br />It is difficult to describe the weirdness of this novel. Written in 1913, the novel is essentially one of the first true science fiction global disaster novels (H.G. Wells preceded him with a world-wide catastrophe in his classic 1898 novel “The War of the Worlds”), which probably helped inspire other now-classic sci-fi disaster novels such as Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer’s 1933 “When Worlds Collide” about a rogue planet on a collision course with Earth.<br /><br />Unlike Wells’s or Wylie/Balmer’s novels, “The Poison Belt” is relatively staid in comparison. Indeed, a majority of the novel takes place in a single room of a country house in Sussex. The characters literally drink copious amounts of tea while lamenting the end of the world around them. It is almost laughably silly and humorous.<br /><br />Except it’s not. (Well, not totally.) Doyle’s end of the world reminds me, in a creepy and truly unsettling way, of the oft-quoted line from T.S. Eliot’s poem “Hollow Men”: “This is the way the world ends/ Not with a bang but a whimper.”<br /><br />It actually strikes me as completely reasonable and believable that Victorian-era Brits would face the untimely end of humanity in the exact same way that Challenger and his companions do. There is something utterly human and endearing about it.<br /><br />Despite the ridiculousness of the science involved (keep in mind that this was based on a very real public fear of comets and their newly-discovered tails of gas and debris), one can quite easily suspend one’s 21st-century disbelief and feel the terror that these characters feel. There is even a scene near the end when Challenger and his companions walk outside and investigate the nearby towns, seeing the thousands of lifeless bodies of not only humans but birds, deer, foxes, dogs, cats, etc. scattered across the ground to the horizon, listening to the eerie silence. It is actually a truly disturbing scene. <br /><br />Of course, Doyle doesn’t end the novel on a completely hopeless note. There is the relieving and inevitable happy ending, which shouldn’t strike any astute reader as a spoiler since Doyle wrote several more sequels after this one.

Liked it. I liked author's style. I also liked the character Professor Challenger, though he is arrogant. In fact, his arrogance is the reason of my liking. Also liked the story.