H. Rider HaggardKing Solomon's Mines

I read 'King Solomon's Mines' years ago in a Dutch translation (when I was 16 or thereabouts? I remember having read 'She' around the same time) but in an ongoing effort to read (or read again) all major Victorian novelists I ordered a brand-new copy, in English this time. Reading it now - having turned 49 recently - was obviously a very different experience. I'm sure I was more captivated the first time by the adventures of Allan Quatermain, Sir Henry Curtis, Captain John Good and Umbopa in Kukuanaland, whereas now I could not help noticing how for instance the language is old-fashioned and to our modern ears may sound stilted at times, or the latent racism that appears now an then (one of the native guides is characterised as 'for a native a very clever man').Be that as it may, I still found 'King Solomon's Mines' to be one of the finest adventure stories I have ever read! It's up there with gems like  Treasure Island (Oxford World's Classics) , Captain Blood (Vintage Classics) , The Thirty-Nine Steps (Wordsworth Classics)  or  Kim (Vintage Classics)  to name but a few. Fast-paced action, archetypical heroes and villains, what's not to like? This remains one of the books every boy - young or old - should read at least once in his lifetime. Treasure Island (Oxford World's Classics)Captain Blood (Vintage Classics)The Thirty-Nine Steps (Wordsworth Classics)Kim (Vintage Classics)

excellent

excellent

Very god

Good tale