King solomon s mines is a 1950 technicolor adventure film, the second of five film adaptations of the 1885 novel of the same name by henry rider haggard. I wonder what sort of a history it will be when i have finished it, if ever i come to the end of the trip. King solomons mines is a wonderful book, full of great adventures. King solomons mines is credited with creating the lost world, genre. The cities, rivers, landmarks, and tribes mentioned in the story are all real, though at the time, little was known about this part of southern africa. Having read it again as an adult, once more my dreams have been filled with ideas of treasures and wonderful adventures.
The adventures include crossing a deadly desert and deadlier mountains, taking part in a bloody native uprising, and foiling the evil intentions of an ancient female witch doctor. Touted by its 1885 publisher as the most amazing story ever written, king solomons mines was one of the bestselling novels of the nineteenth century. The robeson king solomons mines is the best adaption by many miles, although it still isnt the book. I gave a quick look at imdb to discover that, quite amazingly to me, the movie has only a 6. Rider haggards king solomons mines with extended analysis, commentary. King solomons mines is a twopart tv miniseries that features the late patrick swayze as allan quartermain not quatermain as in the credits together with alison doody. It does seem a shame that most of his stuff seems to have drifted out of print. King solomon s mines clearly expresses certain racial prejudices that were dominant attitudes in haggard s own time. King solomons mines 1885 is a popular novel by the english victorian adventure writer and fabulist sir h.
As alexandra fuller explains in her introduction, in. Haggard himself had lived in south africa, and it is his detail concerning the setting which lends more credence to quatermains account. The real king solomons mines, haggards later article about the books. Rider haggards thrilling saga of elephant hunter allan quatermain and his search for fabled treasure is more than just an adventure story, though. Preparers note this was typed from a 1907 edition published by cassell and company, limited. Rider haggards classic adventure novel follows allan quatermain who served as a model for indiana jones on his quest to find the ancient treasures hidden in solomons longlost mines in unexplored africa. Three men trek to the remote african interior in search of a lost friend and reach, at the end of a perilous journey, an unknown land cut off from the world, where terrible dangers threaten anyone who ventures near the spectacular diamond mines of king solomon. In 1885, he created king solomons mines, a story in which allan quatermain, a gentleman adventurer, is hired to locate a man who had disappeared into the heart of africa while hunting for the legendary lost diamond mines of king solomon. King solomons mines is a 1950 technicolor adventure film, the second of five film adaptations of the 1885 novel of the same name by henry rider haggard. King solomons mines 1885 is a popular novel by the english victorian adventure writer and. Advertised as the most amazing book ever written, this fantastical adventure story was an immediate success.
King solomons mines is an adventure story that takes place in africa and haggard makes the setting an integral part of the story. Rider haggard s novel, was directed by compton bennett and andrew marton in 1950. King solomons mines 1885 is a popular novel by the victorian adventure writer and fabulist, sir h. Rider haggards classic adventure novel follows allan quatermain who served as a model for indiana jones on his quest to find the ancient treasures hidden in solomons lo. The fact that africa was relatively unexplored increased readers interest in the story. King solomons mines 1885 haggards first successful novel, it made him immediately famous. While its not hard reading and not very philosophically deep its the perfect book for a chilly winter afternoon. The king solomon of the books title is the biblical king renowned both for his wisdom and for his wealth. King solomons mines is the narrative of allan quatermain, elephant hunter and explorer, and his adventures in the company of danish man of action sir henry curtis and royal navy officer captain good. King solomon s mines is unified by many meaningful themes, the broadest of which is the struggle between good and evil embodied in the heroes quest to discover the fate of sir henry curtis s lost. King solomons mines was one of the first of the lost world novels. Sep 01, 2016 king solomon s mines 1885 is a popular novel by the victorian adventure writer and fabulist, sir h.
Full of action and excitement, skilfully brought to life by colourful, modern illustrations. King solomons mines clearly expresses certain racial prejudices that were dominant attitudes in haggards own time. In the classic adventure novel king solomons mines by h. After that, however, the book starts to pick up and gets quite interesting by the end. Rider haggard book summary minute book report duration. Rider haggard s thrilling saga of elephant hunter allan quatermain and his search for fabled treasure is more than just an adventure story, though. The original indiana jones3 september 20ti remember watching a movie based on this book starring richard chamberlain. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. Rider haggards king solomons mines has entertained gen. King solomons mines is based on the novel of the same name by rider haggard.
In the book king solomons mines, what are the main characteristics of the character allan. Rider haggard dedication this faithful but unpretending record of a remarkable adventure is hereby respectfully dedicated by the narrator, allan quatermain, to all the big and little boys who read it. I havent read the book yet, though from what ive heard, its quite different from the film. Dec 11, 2009 i really cant think of any reason not to read king solomons mines, unless you just dont like the genre. In this stunning new edition, illustrated by fanfavourite comic book artist, bryan hitch, its widescreen, cinematic vision is celebrated.
Sir henry curtis hires quatermain to use his knowledge of africa and his skills as a hunter to lead an expedition in search of sir henrys lost brother, george neville. The explorer allan quatermain agrees to take sir henry curtis and a friend on an. It is a curious thing that at my agefiftyfive last birthdayi should find myself taking up a pen to try to write a history. It tells of a quest into an unexplored region of africa by a group of adventurers led by allan quatermain in search of the missing brother of one of the party. As alexandra fuller explains in her introduction, in its vivid portrayal of the alliances and battles of white colonials and african tribesmen, king solomons mines brings us the world of extremes, of the absurdly tall tales and of the illogical loyalty between disparate people that still informs this part of the world. It stars deborah kerr, stewart granger and richard carlson. Rider haggard envisioned king solomons mines as a boys book, and its focus is on manly adventure. Many readers in fact took the book as an actual account of the authors. Oct 15, 2010 king solomons mines is based on the novel of the same name by rider haggard. The question and answer section for king solomons mines is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.
I really cant think of any reason not to read king solomons mines, unless you just dont like the genre. King solomons mines is unified by many meaningful themes, the broadest of which is the struggle between good and evil embodied in the heroes quest to discover the fate of sir henry curtiss lost. The story of king solomons mines takes place in the midnineteenth century, a period roughly contemporary with haggards own lifetime. Typically in stories of this period of european exploration in and exploitation of africa, there is a general assumption that the white man is superior, the natives are brutal, stupid, and easily tricked. The book became an instant sensation and has remained popular ever since. It relates a journey into the heart of africa by a group of adventurers led by allan quatermain in search of the legendary wealth said to be concealed in the mines of the novels title. Following a mysterious map of dubious reliability, a small group of men trek into southern africa in search of a lost friendand a lost treasure, the fabled mines of king solomon. The setting was also appropriated for oddities like the italian peplum film maciste in king solomons mines 1964, the spanish tarzan in king solomons mines 1973 and even turns up in congo 1995 and shark in venice 2008, while quatermain also appears amid a host of other characters from victorian literature in the league of. Rider haggard and was intended as direct competition to robert louis stevensons treasure island. But the greatest dangers of all await at the chilling king solomons mines. He used other settings for such striking romances as cleopatra 1889, montezumas. It is the fifth film adaptation of the 1885 novel of the same title by henry rider haggard. Rider haggards novel, was directed by compton bennett and andrew marton in 1950.
In 1886, the book king solomons mines was published. In 1872 a man claiming to be the rightful ndebele king, nkulumane, made an abortive. While its not hard reading and not very philosophically deep its the perfect book for a chilly. The project gutenberg etext of king solomons mines, by h. All quotes referencing king solomons mines have page numbers. Critical guide to settings and places in literature. It was adapted by helen deutsch, directed by compton bennett and andrew marton and released by metrogoldwynmayer. I found a nice collection of h rider haggard books a few years ago, and really enjoyed them. The characters are british and fit the stereotypical role of the british gentleman to a tea.
May 01, 2000 free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. Dec 20, 2018 king solomons mines is credited with creating the lost world, genre. King solomons mines is a great book to explore the ancient world and discover wisdom through haggards amazing narration. It tells of a search of an unexplored region of africa by a group of adventurers led by allan quatermain for the missing brother of one of the party. Quatermain explains to sir henry that neville was attempting to find king solomons mines, a mythical cave in africa that contains great riches of diamonds, and has since received a hand drawn map. The map included in the novel shows kukuanaland as forty leagues about one hundred and twenty miles north of the lukanga river. I actually quite enjoyed the film, though one of the major differences that i discovered between the film and the book is the inclusion of a beautiful white female. It is the tale of a group of men setting out on a journey across a vast desert that no man has successfully traveled.
The fact that, like his creator, quatermain admires and respects black africans does not obscure his belief that blacks and whites must remain separate. Rider haggard foulata theme recommendations fun facts this book starts off quite slowly, and stays that way up until page 110. But then he met sir henery curtis and captain good, and soon the three of them were on a angerous journey into the heart of africa,in searching of king solomons mines. Allan quatermains search for a missing aristocrat leads to a heartstopping african adventure through scorched deserts, frozen mountains and a warring lost tribe. The author keeps the pace going at a tremendous rate and each adventure is described so vividly. Composition of book actual chase scenes or violence 20% planningpreparing, gather info. Allan quatermain agrees to help sir henry curtis locate his brother neville who set out three years earlier in search of solomons mines. But before raiders of the lost ark there was king solomons mines. Today, hollywood depends on the massive success of its superhero, science fiction, and action and adventure franchises. Quartermain was returning home from a bad hunting trip, and he did not want any more adventures. One of the first african adventure stories, it concerns the efforts of a group of englishmen to find the legendary diamond mines of king solomon. King solomons mines, first published in 1885, was a bestselling novel by the victorian adventure writer h. Rider haggards king solomons mines has entertained generations of readers since its first publication in 1885.
Rider haggard s classic adventure novel follows allan quatermain who served as a model for indiana jones on his quest to find the ancient treasures hidden in solomon s lo. King solomons mines tv miniseries 2004 king solomon. King solomon s mines 1885 is a popular novel by the english victorian adventure writer and fabulist sir h. An important narrative thread of king solomons mines was inspired by an actual incident in ndebele history. King solomons mines chapters 1 and 2 summary and analysis. Quatermain has a map to the fabled king solomons mines, whose treasure the. It has been hugely influential on the adventure genre ever since, the indiana jones movies being just one example of its continuing influence. H rider haggard published it in 1885 to immense commercial success.
Rider haggard wrote king solomons mines it was in an independent kingdom called barotseland, now part of zambia. A bestseller in its day, h rider haggards colonial african tale now seems both misogynist and racist. Haggard, is an adventure story that uses the search for fable of king solomons mines as a driving factor for the characters. King solomons mines is the story of the leader allan quatermain and his adventurous group of followers on their mission to find the lost brother of an aristocrat, sir henry curtis. Made into movies in 1950 and 1985, the book is now in the public domain.