The Land of Mist

Professor Challenger #3

by Arthur Conan Doyle

This is the third and last novel in the "Professor Challenger" series, and is a marked departure from the previous tales. In this novel Challenger becomes a Spiritualist, and the novel strongly promotes the concept of Spiritualism. A belief strongly adopted by the author towards the end of his life.
This novel was first published in a serial form in "The Strand" magazine July 1925-May 1928.

Genres: Classics, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Adventure, Mystery, Audiobook

294 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1926

About the author

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.

Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.

Reviews

[Thibault Busschots · Rating 2 out of 5]

Edward Malone and Edith Challenger work together on a story about mediums, séances and spirituality for a newspaper article. They're skeptical at first, but they find it hard to stay that way.

They meet a medium who gets convicted for being a fraud, but Malone in particular is convinced he is the real deal.

They also try to prove to Edith’s father, professor Challenger, that the spiritual world is real. His scientific background makes him even more skeptical about the spiritual world than them.


They do go from skeptics to believers rather quickly. Even professor Challenger is rather quick to join in to be honest, though the focus is very much on his daughter Enid and Malone. And this was to be expected because of the author's strong and well-documented belief in the spiritual world.


In the first book of the series, the Lost World, Malone had one of my favorite character arcs ever. While it is not perfect, I do like that his character finally gets the love he deserves here. This doesn't mean there's a lot of romance in this book. As the author puts it: the love affair is not of interest to the reader, for the simple reason that it is not of the slightest interest to the writer.


There are some snippets of brilliance to be found here. Like when they enter the haunted house and face off with the shadows, it comes across as a little Ghostbusters story. Or how you should fit your theories to the facts, instead of trying to fit the facts in your theories.


What ruins it though is just way too much focus on the spiritualistic beliefs winning against science, especially near the end. Plus there’s also some outdated beliefs and language.


Maybe it's because my expectations weren't very high after the previous book in the series, but this story honestly isn’t as bad as I was expecting it to be. It's still not a great read though, make no mistake about that. My opinion: read the first book of the series, the Lost World, as a brilliant and magnificent standalone book and forget that it has sequels.

[Daren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow, this is a terrible novel, and I thought that Professor Challenger #2 was poor. This is little more than an opportunity for ACD to push spiritualism, conveniently summarised as a social religious movement according to which the laws of nature and of God include "the continuity of personality after the transition of death" and "the possibility of communication between those living on Earth and those who have made the transition", in case you were unsure: you know spirit medium and that sort of hocus.

To achieve this, the novel sets up Ed Malone, the newspaper reporter as a sceptic (for about 5 pages) then a convert, along with Challenger's daughter, Enid, whom Ed is courting. They are easily converted to belief by what are recognised by most as charlatans speaking to the dead, in seance after seance.

Challenger himself doesn't feature until well into the second half of the novel, and unsurprising starts of staunchly on the side of science. However he also is converted to belief, and the novel plays out in a boring attempt to convince the reader.

I already own Challenger #4 & #5, but these are very short stories, and the fact I already own them are the only reason I would persist with this series.

1.5 stars, but I have given some pretty poor books 2 before, so this can join them.

[Hanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is pure tripe. If it hadn't been about Challenger I would never have finished it. I can't look past the blatant nonsensical propaganda and the agenda Doyle had when he wrote this. He used his character to promote his own cause, forcing his own on them. Bad form and misuse! I disapprove heartily.

[Dave T · Rating 2 out of 5]

"As you can see, like all newcomers to a religion, he was intoxicated by his conversion, and, in headlong rush to join, he went too far."

Victor Hugo, Les Miserables.

Marius was the subject of the above quote but it kept springing to my mind while I was reading 'The Land of Mist'. Arthur Conan Doyle wrote this (the third book to feature the great Professor Challenger) after great bereavements and whilst he was increasing his involvement and devotion to spirituality.

Doyle is a great story teller and snippets of that still shine through from time to time here, but that is only the real positive I can conjure from this book. Written in third person unlike the other outings of Professor Challenger's existence, this feels like a very different book and there's no real reason for that character to be used here as we see so little of him he's almost redundant. But the real failing of this book is that it simply comes across as anti-science pro-spirituality propaganda. Conventional science, which Doyle has praised in the past, is slandered and painted as an incredibly negative and misguided vice whilst seance's are passed over as real fact.

While this book was written at another time when there could have been doubts to the fraudulence of "professional" mediums, that it's thankfully not the case today and while I dislike judging an old book on today's standards in some cases, when certain practices are put on pedestals, it's sadly unavoidable.

DT 22/02/2013

[Rafo Zarbabyan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Դասականի համար շատ թույլ գործ էր: Կարդում ես Կոնան-Դոյլ ու անընդհատ սպասում ես ինչ-որ անսպասելու շրջադարձի, ինչ-որ մեծ wow էֆեկտի, բայց տենց սպասելով էլ մնում ես:

Շարունակում ենք պրոֆեսոր Չելենջերի արկածները: Բայց այստեղ սա լրիվ այլ, ավելի թույլ, ավելի ոչ ազդեցիկ դեմք է: Ասես լրիվ ուրիշ կերպար: Ավելին, գրքում շատ քիչ է հայտնում, ու երբ հայտնվում է, հիասթափեցնում է:

Գիրքը ոչ թե արկածային կամ դասական գրականություն է, այլ ավելի շատ սպիրիտիզմի պրոպոգանդա: Հարկավոր է միայն հիշել, որ Կոնան Դոյլը հավատում էր սպիրիտիզմին ու վստահ էր, որ հնարավոր է կապ հաստատել «այն աշխարհի» հետ:

[Joeri Ryckaseys · Rating 5 out of 5]

A magnificent story about the supernatural. A.C. Doyle, a famous supporter of the spiritualist movement, defends his ideas by putting them in a nove, where he combines sciense with spirituality. Since I am interested in spiritualism I particulary liked to get a view on how things worked in the spiritualist movement in the early 21th century. Verry interesting to read about Doyle's experiences with certain phenomena. I really enjoyed it, and even if you don't believe, it's a great novel anyway :)

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ratings seemed a bit low for this book but I didn't read the first Challenger books before this. I really liked the story and love that it is by Arthur Conan Doyle. I am not a great fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories yet but this was I thought an Excellent Ghost story. A good read My ratings do give credit for books written so long ago, In all fairness the older authors did not have nearly the access to the reference material that new authors have now.

[Rikke · Rating 2 out of 5]

As just about every other Arthur Conan Doyle books, this is a very well written book. The topic of this book, however, could not be further apart from a traditional ACD book. Personally, I didn't like the story. It lacked the depth and extraordinary imagination that can usually be found in his story. The only interesting part of this book, is how this dramatic change in writing style reflects the great effect the death of his wife had on Arthur Conan Doyle.

[Julianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75/5

[Bogdan Korytskyi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Країна Туманів-неймовірно наївний та простакуватий твір. Відчуття, що якби Конан-Дойль жив на 50-60 років пізніше, роман був би не про спіритизм, а діалектику.
2 за серйозність, 4-якщо сприймати як гумористичний твір)

[Rory · Rating 1 out of 5]

First off I'm just going to say that I really do like Conan Doyle's writing. I think he has an incredible way with words when it comes to descriptions. I also like the character he created in the form of Professor Challenger, I feel he has some level of intelligence and endearing qualities despite his blatant attitude as a world class git.
I was stoked as you can imagine but what you can't imagine is how I felt when the disappointment on the printed page befell me.

The book starts of quite promising actually, you get to see some old faces like Ned Malone (the protagonist), The Professor himself and even a new character in the form of his daughter, Enid. but this is where my positives end and my negativity reigns.

So this is heavily inspired by the author's beliefs in spiritualism, (which I have nothing wrong with) and you can definitely tell since pretty much the first scene after Challenger's introduction where Malone and Enid go to a seminar to get a headline for the papers to expose these mediums as frauds. Cool, so that means Challenger is going to help them both by uncovering their shady activities through the use of his scientific expertise right? Well not exactly, because you would be wrong...DEAD WRONG!
He doesn't appear in the entire main section of the story until it's almost drawing to a close and even then he only does one or two things that are remotely faithful to his character, it's almost like the writer forgot it was a Challenger story and quickly shoehorned him in as it was ending. Sure I can understand him mellowing out slightly in his later years and normally I wouldn't mind everyone's favourite 'cave-man in a lounge suit' going through a transitonal period of sorts, I'd be able to forgive that if the story surrounding it was good but it is just so dull and I mean INCREDIBLY DULL! Which is saying something considering how quick I was reading it, I'm not entirely sure if it was my regular reading speed or if I was just reading it quicker than normal because I just wanted to get it over and done with because it seemed like the minutes I was reading were like hours.

The story itself, like Challenger's daughter, I found it to be bland and underwritten, even with Doyle's descriptions which are generally supposed to be comprehensively detailed (in fact the edition I was reading from had a few footnotes on spiritualist annecdotes which I basically just skimmed over), and the lack of substance made the writing seem long winded, leaving the prose about as purple as an eggplant, and I was desperately waiting for a moment where the pace would speed up again but alas, no such luck.
I also found the shifting narratives quite distracting as the book makes it seem like these characters (excluding Enid and Malone) have an impact on the plot (what little there was of it) but none of them did as somewhere along the line it would end up with one dying or another getting arrested. If re-written it probably could have worked better as a standard Sherlock Holmes story with Holmes (and his loyal aid Watson) investigating mysterious deaths which surround those of spiritualist beliefs and the transporting narrative would make more sense in this case since it could show him looking for clues and interrogating suspects etc. But as it just stands it is fairly boring, mediocre at best.

You may not have read through all this (and frankly I wouldn't hold it against you) so in short I do think this is worth a read, mainly for Conan Doyle completists so just be aware of that and don't expect any thrilling scientific adventures or anything because it's certainly a book that I'm not likely to revisit.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

“You! Yes, you, with the red feather. No, not you. The stout lady in front. Yes, you! There is a spirit building up behind you.”

(1926) A new world, the end of the world, and now… the world hereafter. The Professor Challenger series can be seen as a trilogy representing the spiritual journey from life to death to the afterlife. This was probably unintentional or perhaps post hoc, but I wouldn’t put anything past Doyle.

“Malone noted the point as one which he could use for destructive criticism. He was just jotting it down when the woman’s voice sounded louder and, looking up, he found that she had turned her head and her spectacles were flashing in his direction.”

I knew going in that this novel was a thinly disguised spiritualist symposium, that Doyle was by now getting old (67), and moreover that the Professor Challenger connection was a bait-and-switch.

“It was like another world when they came out into the frosty air, and saw the taxis bearing back the pleasure seekers from theatre or cinema palace.”

What I didn’t know was how delightful it all is: entertaining, snug, kooky, and full of spooky effects. Whenever detective novel fans review a non-detective novel, you can discount the low ratings. All they like is Sherlock, all they know is the same formula over and over. No wonder Doyle rued being known for his weakest stuff (and I say this as a Sherlock fan myself). And in the case of this novel you also need to factor in the modern disdain for religion. Yes, the spiritualism movement was risible, but the enlightened reviewers here would sneer just as much if this were a Christian novel.

”Some are mischievous children like the poltergeists. And some—only a few, I hope—are deadly beyond words, strong, malevolent creatures too heavy with matter to rise above our earth plane…”

There’s not so much a plot as a paranormal extravaganza. The book is part Ghost (1990), part Ghostbusters, with its psychic researchers and ectoplasm, part The Exorcist, and all propaganda. But it’s propaganda dramatized. There’s a courtroom drama, a night-in-a-haunted-house subplot, evil spirits and evil psychics, a big (surprisingly relevant) debate that ends in riot (similar to how the series began, but this time Professor Challenger is the loser). There’s also a storyline with a Dickensian ruffian which I didn’t care for. Only intermittently does the novelist segue into the educator. Your mileage may vary with this. I didn’t mind it so much because the lessons, usually in dialogue, are breezy, and the whole thing was interesting to me just as an artifact. One notable feature, in this regard, is how Christian the spiritualist movement described is—not what you’d expect today, but it makes perfect sense that that’s how it started. There are prayers and hymns and talk of Christ mixed in with the New Age mumbo jumbo. The seances and such appeared to me like magic shows run by acting troupes (sorry, Conan Doyle). I thought it was funny that the spirits raised are often exotic characters like American Indians or a little black girl from the South—clearly a tell that the participants were reading too many dime novels.

“Come back, if you can, Malone, and let me hear your adventures among the insane.”

Doyle’s personal story here is very compelling to me. It’s sad, yet there’s a nobility to it. And he’s so intelligent, lends all his formidable eloquence to his detractors with such fairness, and anticipates and voices their myriad counterarguments so well, in order to forestall them, that it does almost give me pause. Though Doyle suggests advances in science were distancing Man from the important truths, I get the feeling it was precisely those mind-blowing breakthroughs that led him to believe some new spiritual one possible too. (The irony is that he was treating religion as if it were a subject for scientific examination. Also he evinces the same smug superiority towards the gullible of the Church that he protests against when directed at his “proven” beliefs). One thing is sure: the movement did not give birth to a new religion on a par with Christianity as Doyle hoped, however correct he was about the decline of Christianity in the future.

The wishful thinking behind it all almost breaks your heart. But when one of the spirits says he was a seaman on the HMS Monmouth, and you look up the fate of the ship, sunk off the coast of Chile in the Battle of Coronel, 1914, and you see the casualties—1,660 British dead, 0 German—you begin to suspect why spiritualism was so popular.





__________________
More quotes:

* “Good Heavens, where are your brains? Have not the names of Summerlee and Malone been associated with my own in some peculiarly feeble fiction which attained some notoriety?” Funny inside-joke. Incidentally, the way you learn of the death of old Summerlee, from the previous novels, is nicely done.

* “Oh, it works out all right sometimes. I value my electric reading-lamp, and that is a product of science. It gives us, as I said before, comfort and occasionally safety.” “Why, then, do you depreciate it?” “Because it obscures the vital thing—the object of life. We were not put into this planet in order that we should go fifty miles an hour in a motor-car, or cross the Atlantic in an airship, or send messages either with or without wires. These are the mere trimmings and fringes of life. But these men of science have so riveted our attention on these fringes that we forget the central object.” “I don’t follow you.” “It is not how fast you go that matters, it is the object of your journey. It is not how you send a message, it is what the value of the message may be. At every stage this so-called progress may be a curse, and yet as long as we use the word we confuse it with real progress and imagine that we are doing that for which God sent us into the world.”

* ”The blow fell. Ten million men were laid dead upon the ground. Twice as many were mutilated… Russia became a cesspool. Germany was unrepentant of her terrible materialism which had been the prime cause of the war. Spain and Italy were sunk in alternate atheism and superstition. France had no religious ideal. Britain was confused and distracted, full of wooden sects which had nothing of life in them. America had abused her glorious opportunities and instead of being the loving younger brother to a stricken Europe she held up all economic reconstruction by her money claims; she dishonoured the signature of her own president, and she refused to join that League of Peace which was the one hope of the future. All have sinned, but some more than others, and their punishment will be in exact proportion.”

* “Was it exaggeration to call a man a fool who believed that his grandmother could rap out absurd messages with the leg of a dining-room table? Had any savages descended to so grotesque a superstition? These people had taken dignity from death and had brought their own vulgarity into the serene oblivion of the tomb. It was a hateful business. He was sorry to have to speak so strongly, but only the knife or the cautery could deal with so cancerous a growth. Surely man need not trouble himself with grotesque speculations as to the nature of life beyond the grave. We had enough to do in this world. Life was a beautiful thing. The man who appreciated its real duties and beauties would have sufficient to employ him without dabbling in pseudo sciences…” To which Challenger’s opponent astutely responds that the beauty of the world is enough to satisfy Challenger only because he is healthy.

*”But we want to cut out the frills and superfluities. Where did they all come from? They were compromises with many religions, so that our friend C. [Constantine] could get uniformity in his world-wide Empire. He made a patchwork quilt of it. He took an Egyptian ritual—vestments, mitre, crozier, tonsure, marriage ring—all Egyptian. The Easter ceremonies are pagan and refer to the vernal equinox. Confirmation is mithraism. So is baptism, only it was blood instead of water. As to the sacrificial meal....”

____
Marginalia:

*Would be interesting to read the correspondence between Conan Doyle and H. Rider Haggard on this topic.

*It is a bit unfortunate that the Challenger series follows up a novel about the ether with one about ectoplasm.

*One character quotes Thackeray: “What you say is natural, but if you had seen what I have seen you might alter your opinion.” But I can’t find the source on this.

[Cillian Flood · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Hey guys! Ghosts are totally real! The proof is undeniable. It's so obvious that anyone who takes a look with even the slightest open mind will be utterly convinced in seconds. Mediums are oppressed by unreasonable laws that should be oppressing gypsies instead. Also the world is ending because of materialism." That's the book. Pretty much in its entirety. Doyle had an agenda and he wasn't exactly hiding it. It's pretty clear propaganda...but you know what, it's still kind of fun though. I mean, Doyle is a good writer, his prose do something for me, he became famous for a reason. And there is something of a message in there about how the scientific method needs to be open to all possibilities, which, yeah, I'm on board for that. Course we're a hundred years on and the situation of mediums hasn't changed in the slightest. So having an open mind hasn't really convinced me otherwise that the hole medium thing is hokey pokey. And that's probably why I enjoyed the opening chapters where the characters are appropriately skeptical better. But then it just jumps off the deep end really quickly as Malone is instantly convinced (despite saying otherwise). You'd think the book would then be about convincing the infamous Dr Challenger, but he actually barely appears at all until the ending, and we're mostly subjected to characters explaining ghosts like it's a DnD instruction manual. I like Doyle's writing, and I like his Professor Challenger cast, so to some extent I did enjoy this book. It just plain would have been better if Doyle took a more nuanced approach and wrote it as an actual heartfelt story rather than a treatise. In other words, if it's propaganda, make it good propaganda.

And as a last note, I'm not sure Challenger was the better character for this story. If you'd asked me how Challenger felt about Spiritualism after the first two stories, I would have found it very believable he was all for it. After all, the guy's records are steadfastly believing dinosaurs still exist and that the world was about to end. He's a bit of a cook to begin with. Stubborn and arrogant, yes, but stubborn and arrogant about some pretty out there stuff (that he's always right about). Now, Sherlock Holmes, probably would have been a lot more interesting to clash with ghosts. As his world is so grounded in logic and reason. Might have been a shark jumping moment for Holmes though. And, at the very least, we have Ace Attorney to see how something like that could vaguely play out.

[Oleksandr Zholud · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third, probably the most controversial installment of the Professor Challenger series. It is linked deeply with the personal experiences of the author after the WW1. His son died at the front, therefore in his grief, Doyle became a supporter of spiritualism, and this book can be seen as an attempt to convert other people.

The book starts with the journalist Malone, who was formally the author of the previous books, now about to be married to Professor Challenger’s only daughter, who is as talented as her dad, but not Neanderthal-like in her physique. The couple visits different churches and cults and then critically dissects them in the newspaper. This time they visit a spiritualist and they are initially disdainful and dismissive of the whole idea, but as their knowledge grows they turn into believers. The very story is written to introduce readers step by step to the idea that the dead are communicating with the living, that there are ‘facts’ like ectoplasm “Was the Professor aware that this ectoplasm which he derided had been examined lately by twenty German professors—the names were here for reference—and that all had testified to its existence?” – this is clearly refers to a some kind of study conducted then in Germany. The narrator readily agrees that there are frauds, but states “There were frauds in every profession, and if a man deliberately invested and lost a guinea in a false medium he had no more right to protection than the man who invested his money in a bad company on the stock market.” And “the fraudulent medium was the worst enemy of Spiritualism, that he was denounced by name in the psychic journals whenever he was discovered, and that such exposures were usually made by the Spiritualists themselves who had spoken of “human hyenas” as indignantly as his opponent had done. One did not condemn banks because forgers occasionally used them for nefarious purposes.”

I guess this is an interesting one-time read, for it not only extolls spiritualism but provides a unique outline of multiple layers of the afterlife, from evil poltergeists to souls whose duty is to uplift other souls. In my teens I was interested in the subject of the supernatural and read some early 20th century books on it, so I often understand what the author refers to. The book speaks more about times and attitudes and as such is an interesting source.

[Rose-Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had characters from the Professor Challenger series, and that provided additional interest.
Primarily, Arthur Conan Doyle wrote this after he had begun his explorations of Spiritualism. There is a mix of fictional and historic characters. The book revolves around Edward Malone (a reporter for the Daily Gazette), Professor Challenger, and Challenger's daughter Enid. Malone has been writing a weekly column about various religions, and now he endeavors to write about Spiritualism. We are presented with the characters' original views, and the process by which they accept and embrace it.
Doyle used the book to evangelize this system of belief, even going so far as to claim that the Bible was misinterpreted, and he goes into non-Christian dogma that he believed in. There is a lot that as a Christian I could find objectionable.

[Alvyane Kermoal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Étonnée des notes, étoiles que l'on donne à l'oeuvre (oui, nous sommes assez prétentieux pour penser pouvoir juger un tel écrivain), je me suis plongée dans le monde du spiritisme. Beaucoup de personnes ont avancé le fait que cette aventure était une propagande pour ce mouvement et ont stoppé la lecture.

Pour ma part, il me semble que c'est l'arbre qui cache une bien plus intéressante forêt.

Nous nous trouvons face à Malone, ami de Challenger et Enid, fille de Challenger qui font une enquête sur les sectes et les nouvelles églises émergentes. Le professeur, lui, ne peut que rire de ces fous qui pensent qu'il existe une vie après la mort. Pour l'homme de science, ce sont aussi des charlatans sans scrupules. C'est l'esprit ouvert, malgré tout rationnel que nos deux journalistes farfouillent dans la vieille Angleterre.

L'écriture de Sir Conan Doyle est de son époque, si vous aimez la simplicité et la conjugaison simple, passé votre chemin. J'ai apprécié les apartés qu'il fait avec son lecteur, un procédé que l'on voit moins aujourd'hui. Si l'histoire est dans le mode science-fiction (et oui, ce fut sa classification de genre) elle est aussi un récit philosophique, théologique et une critique de la société dans laquelle l'auteur évoluait. Il sait de quoi il parle, car en tant que médecin, il a côtoyé les bas fonds, les bourgeois ainsi que les nobles.

Après l'avoir lu ainsi qu'analysé... comment peut on lire cette histoire en n'en contemplant que sa surface ? Dès les deux premiers chapitres, on met la lumière sur l'ouverture d'esprit et l'analyse des choses dont l'humain devrait se pourvoir. Deux mondes s'affrontent (enfin, c'est à chaque fois des duels, si vous lisez le livre vous comprendrez vite ce que je veux dire) : Les matérialistes qui sont sûrs qu'il n'existe pas de vie après trépas et les spirites qui pensent que la conscience survie après la mort.

Cela pourrait expliquer pourquoi les lecteurs se sont arrêtés à cette dimension-là... sauf qu'à bien y regarder, on se trouve aussi face à l'image d'une société qui stagne, qui ne s'appuie que sur ses propres certitudes sans chercher plus loin. L'image du doute que l'on trouve dans les personnages de Malone et Enid (et pas qu'eux d'ailleurs) véhicule l'idée que l'on ne peut évoluer qu'en posant des questions sans aucune certitude de vérité statique, bien au contraire.

Le professeur Challenger représente l'homme que l'on écoute, que l'on craint, un pair du royaume. Lorsqu'il affirme quelque chose, on n'approuve sa parole. C'est justement ce que reproche l'auteur. Il stigmatise l'immobilisme d'un pays, d'une société à travers le professeur. On ne réfléchit plus. On ne cherche pas à comprendre l'autre ou la nouvelle possibilité. On reste immobile sur ses acquis. Le conflit entre la science et le spiritisme n'est qu'un prétexte pour la critique.

Cela va ? vous tenez bon ? Vous ne vous ennuyez pas ? Je vous laisse deux minutes pour aller boire un verre d'eau. Il est dit que le lecteur du net ne tient pas plus de 250 caractères dans les messages et qu'il lui faut des images... pas de bol ^-^ Continuons !

Malone et Enid représentent donc la curiosité, l'envie de découvrir, d'aller plus loin que ce que l'on sait déjà. Il faut reconnaître qu'ils sont dubitatifs au début... et franchement c'est génial, car automatiquement, vous avez un débat qui s'ouvre entre des personnages venant de castes sociales très différentes. Les points de vue se tiennent parfaitement et vous obligent à réfléchir. L'auteur aurait pu faire de Malone un converti au spiritisme tout de suite. Cependant, en faisant cela, Sir Conan Doyle s'ôtait la possibilité de mettre en lumière chaque avis totalement recevable.

Un dialogue m'a subjugué (en fait, pas qu'un !) le voici :

[Le monde de la science est à la base de notre matérialisme. Il nous a aidés à nous procurer le confort ; la question est de savoir si ce confort nous sert à quelque chose. Mais par ailleurs, le monde scientifique s'est comporté pour nous comme une véritable malédiction, il est surnommé le progrès, et il nous a communiqué l'impression fausse que nous progressons, alors qu'au contraire nous sommes en pleine régression.]

Humm un certain Albert Einstein pensait ainsi également. Vous vous rendez bien compte que nous ne sommes plus dans du spiritisme, mais bien dans un questionnement du bien et du mal qu'engendre le "Progrès", selon son utilisation (tiens... pourrait-on parler de la bombe atomique ?? ah bah non... le livre fut écrit en 1926). Il faut savoir que la suite du dialogue est passionnante, car il admet qu'on a besoin de ce progrès et les deux parties se retrouvent à philosopher sur ce qui pourrait être la mission de l'Homme sur cette terre. Peut-on rejeter la science et ses bienfaits parce que le matérialisme en fait un produit de richesse ? Perd-on son humanité en oubliant l'essentiel de notre existence, ses valeurs ?

Je ne vais pas tout vous décortiquer, car ce n'est plus un article que je vais écrire mais bien un nouveau roman.

Sir Conan Doyle n'est pas méchant avec l'église, il lui trouve juste trop de similitudes avec le matérialisme. On ne sort pas du Dogme. On le suit à la lettre, à la virgule près. Cela est ainsi et pas autrement. Pourtant, des débats théologiques palpitants et endiablés (oui, j'ai osé niark niark niark) se révèlent dans cette oeuvre. J'ai même appris des choses sur la religion catholique.

Tout est critique d'un monde figé dans ce livre. Les médias possédés par des hommes qui décident de ce que l'on doit penser en fonction de leurs propres intérêts. Ils font taire les avis contraires, tournent en ridicule ce qui ne va pas dans leur sens, manipulent la populace crédule ou sans recul, binaire (tout est blanc ou noir), lui fait croire qu'elle a pensé par elle-même. La justice et la police y passent aussi. Les lois et les convictions qui les animent sont désuètes et d'une autre époque.

Nous ne sommes pas, à mon avis dans l'apologie du spiritisme, même si l'auteur en fut un adepte, mais bien dans une réflexion sur la société et l'Homme.

J'ai trouvé très intelligent de la part de l'auteur de montrer à travers l'extrémisme buté du Professeur Challenger, que le monde ne pouvait pas évoluer, la société ne pouvait pas aller mieux si l'on n'acceptait pas de communiquer et d'écouter les arguments de autres... sans tenir compte de leurs origines sociales ou ethnique. C'est assez terrible que ce personnage garde son extrémisme. Il n'a rien compris à l'importance de ses choix. il reste dans des certitudes. Il s'y cloisonne.

Alors oui... l'histoire est basée sur du spiritisme, des fantômes, des pouvoirs, des guerres d'influences également... Seulement ce n'est pas que cela, c'est aussi un magnifique questionnement sur la société, qui résonne avec force aujourd'hui encore en 2020.

Serions-nous tous des matérialistes incapables d'évoluer et forts de nos certitudes ?
(sujet de philo, vous avez deux heures pour plancher)

Merci de m'avoir lu jusqu'au bout... et si vous avez vu autre chose dans ce livre... venez en discuter tranquillement ^-^

Ouvrons le champs des possibles.

[Jonathan Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know if I have ever read such a biased book in my life. This is one of many examples of a false religion that strives to portray itself as Christianity. And it is much, much worse to teach a false Gospel than teach a different religion, for you are blaspheming the name of the Lord. Here are some quotes from the book, from a conversation between a raised spirit and it's 'good medium'(apparently there are such things):

"Is it right that you can come back?"(medium)

"Would God allow it if it were not right? What a wicked man you must be to ask!"(Since when does God only allow things that are right? Never says that anywhere in the scriptures.)

"What religion are you?"(medium)

"We were Roman Catholics"

"Is that the right religion?"(medium)

"All religions are right if they make you better"(WHAT. If that isn't blatant Universalism, then I don't know what it is.

"Then does it matter?"(medium)

"It is what people do in daily life, not what they believe."(uhhh...?)

And it went on and on. Did manage to find two quotes: "You never know who are your friends. They slip away like water when it comes to the pinch."

"One thing we have learned, is that two souls, where real love exists, go on and on without a break through all the spheres. Why then, should you and I fear death, or anything which life or death can bring?"

[Nicolas · Rating 3 out of 5]

What an interesting read.
There are some obvious flaws:
- Some passages aged poorly.
- Enid is such a promising character (Challenger‘s daughter, now also a journalist, chasing ghosts through London alongside Malone?). Unfortunately, she gets dropped halfway through for no reason, never speaks again and becomes only a passive love interest. Incredible waste of potential.

The story itself is very intriguing, even more so because of the context it was written in. I was genuinely curious to read how it would turn out because it seems an unstoppable force (Challenger) meets an immovable object (Conan Doyle‘s personal belief in spiritualism). Will Conan Doyle sacrifice the integrity of his own main character?

Spoiler: Yes. Challenger suddenly believing felt way off to me. They previously found the lost world too, I guess, but this is simply Conan Doyle using his characters/writing as propaganda for the spiritualist cause.

Three stars because it was a genuinely interesting read to me, just not necessarily because of the book‘s own qualities.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel is a milestone for all the wrong reasons.
Firstly, it demolishes Professor Challenger's hard-earned stature in academia.
Secondly, it ruins the fame of ACD as a storyteller by demonstrating that such a huge work can be composed by him solely to extend the spiritualist agenda, and NOT for the readership whom he had so carefully nurtured through "No ghosts need apply" motto.
Thirdly, by having Malone married into Challenger's family, it ruins the prospect of further adventures.
In short, this single work negates everything that had been achieved through 'The Lost World' (and partially by 'The Poison Belt'). It's both saddening and maddening in that way.

[Tonk82 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Marco el libro como finalizado porque efectivamente, he terminado con él. Apenas he leído la mitad, pero ha sido más de lo que soy capaz de soportar, la experiencia me ha irritado bastante.

La editorial Jaguar lo editó hace unos años, olvidado desde hace decenios en el mercado español. No estoy muy seguro de como de accesible está en el extranjero, pero es perfectamente comprensible que muchos aficionados a Doyle tiendan a olvidarlo.

Arthur Conan Doyle no solo fue el creador de Sherlock Holmes o el Profesor Challenger. También se pasó buena parte de su vida defendiendo públicamente el espiritismo, en ocasiones de maneras realmente polémicas. No era un timador, ni mucho menos, pero si era un ferviente creyente en todo lo que tenía que ver con lo paranormal. Su imagen de cara al publico se vio ampliamente perjudicada por sus declaraciones fuera de tono, y su aparente obsesión con el tema. No me extraña que sea una faceta suya que muchos tienden a apartar.

"El país de las brumas" hay que tomárselo desde ese punto de vista. La novela es una justificación de las prácticas espiritistas, supuestamente basada en las experiencias personales del propio Doyle. Hay dos razones fundamentales por las que no he sido capaz de soportar el libro:

1.- El protagonista es el insigne Profesor Challenger (El mundo perdido). Es un golpe bajo en toda regla usar a un tipo tan inteligente y querido, para estos menesteres. En el prólogo se comenta que Doyle se planteó usar al mismísimo Sherlock Holmes, cosa que habría sentado peor aún a sus fans. Por suerte durante la mayor parte de la novela el peso recae en su amigo Edward Malone, que se introduce en el tema por motivos profesionales, para progresivamente convertirse en un autentico creyente en la causa espiritista.

2.- No hay sentido crítico ninguno. Se compone de una serie de situaciones creadas para convencer a Challenger, y al lector de paso, de la veracidad de todo lo que se expone. Conforme se va avanzando en la narración, uno puede evitar la sensación de que esta leyendo un simple panfleto obvio y bastante descarado. Incluso el habitual buen escribir de Doyle se ve notablemente empobrecido.

Sabía más o menos a que me atenía cuando lo empecé a leer... pero confiaba en cierto buen hacer por parte de su autor, que por norma general suele gustarme enormemente. El resultado es indigno y bastante irritante.

Solo podría recomendárselo a aquellos interesados en esta peculiar faceta del autor, y que quieran conocer sus justificaciones y puntos de vista sobre la temática. En cierta forma tiene bastante de novela autobiográfica. Como historia en sí, bajo mi punto de vista, no vale nada.

[Abraham Martinez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Este es un libro que me dejó el corazón roto.

Publicada en 1926, 8 años después de la muerte de su hijo y 20 después de que falleciera su esposa, nos muestra a un Profesor Challenger envejecido y viudo, pero padre de una vivaz muchacha, Enid. Aquí el brillante explorador y científico, el Profesor Challenger, se topa con los círculos espiritistas británicos (no, el país de la bruma no es el otro mundo, sino la Inglaterra escéptica) debido a un reportaje de Malone, quien acompañado por Enid ha estado yendo a varias sesiones. Sir Conan Doyle ya tenía muchos años metido en eso, y el mismo año que salió esta obra, presentó su "Historia del espiritualismo" y aprovecha al profesor Challenger, un hombre racional, con los pies en la tierra, y quien piensa que al morir, no quedará nada; para enfrentarlo a varios mediums... no para demostrar su falsedad, sino por el contrario, para ser convencido de forma contundente, de que el espiritismo no es una patraña, que nuestros seres amados nos esperan del otro lado, y que el espiritismo es la forma mas pura de religión.

Como obra literaria, a ratos es un melodrama lacrimógeno (cuando conocemos a un borracho pendenciero y a unos polis corruptos), a ratos cae en un triste victimismo cuando un medium es encarcelado; y en un par de ocasiones, nos entrega escenas de verdadero terror (Lord Roxton en una casa embrujada, donde aparece un espectro con forma de murciélago) que brillan por si solas.
Sin embargo al final, ofrece un panorama "esperanzador" y este es, que pronto llegará el final del mundo (Conan Doyle moriría poco después de la segunda guerra mundial) y que habría que prepararse.

El autor defendió a capa y espada todos los embustes sobrenaturales que pudo, y mientras leía sus "argumentos" en defensa de los espiritistas, me sentí una y otra vez triste por el largo duelo de este autor y su profundad necesidad de consuelo, mismo que tanto él como muchas personas, buscan en supuestas pruebas "irrefutables" de que hay vida más allá de la muerte.

Una cosa más: Harry Houdini fue su amigo, un acérrimo crítico del espiritismo, de sus "manifestaciones de ectoplasma" y de sus "toquidos fantasmales en la mesa" que una y otra vez demostró que eran fraudes. En 1922, Jean Elizabeth Leckie, medium y segunda esposa de Conan Doyle, lo invitó a Atlantic City a una sesión. Ahí le fue "dictada" una larga carta a la medium, de voz de la madre de Houdini. El la recibió y tras leer sus amorosas palabras, replicó antes de enemistarse para siempre con ella y su esposo:

"Mi madre era húngara y no hablaba inglés"

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Professor Challenger and Malone return for a third adventure, this time exploring the spiritual world. Malone, along with Challenger's daughter Enid, starts investigating spiritualist meetings for his newspaper. Initially a skeptic, he soon discovers that the spiritualists are right. But can he convince Professor Challenger of the same thing?

This is an odd story as it is essentially Doyle's attempt at making his readers believe in spiritualism. He was an avid believer and much of the contents here is based on "real" events that Doyle either witnessed or read about. It's almost a spiritualist piece of propaganda.

Whatever you think about the spiritualism, this isn't really a great novel. For the most part it's Malone going to seances interspersed with linking scenes and the odd other ghost story. It doesn't really feel like a coherent story in it's own right. After a few seances I was beginning to get bored of them. It also means the book isn't really character driven and for much of the book the characters are fairly passive, simply watching things happening.

Still, Professor Challenger is a wonderful character and though he is largely absent in this book he does have some excellent moments towards the end, including a rather lively public debate. When Doyle breaks out of the ghost stuff here he does give us some great character scenes, it's just that they are few and far between.

It's also well written- Doyle could always tell a good story but this is the latest work of his I've read and it is even better. It's a little more modern in style which makes it easier to read and I enjoyed the conversational tone of the narration and the descriptions that brought chapters to life. It's a shame really that Doyle took his excellent characters and brilliant writing style and gave them this awful plot.

In summary, I feel this was a book with too many spirits yet not enough spirit, if that makes sense...

[Ember · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the one stinker SACD has. It's written in third person, which takes away much of the character and scenery descriptions. It felt more like propaganda with known characters vaguely scattered throughout. Summerlee is dead. Challenger's wife is dead. Challenger has a daughter, who is the love interest of Malone, not that anything is ever mentioned about it, which is another reason it felt more like propaganda. At times I wondered if it was really him who wrote it, it was that unlike him and his style.

Since Summerlee is dead, and Roxton doesn't come in until halfway through, and the third person telling, I felt like the "dream team" had fallen apart. Years had gone by, as Malone is now "fully grown" (even though he'll always be the naive "kid" to me) and Challenger's got some grey going on.

There isn't the sense of adventure and life and death uncertainty anywhere in this story. Absolute 180 from The Lost World. Spoiler alert, Challenger is a believer by the end. I was very disappointed.

That's about all I can say without reiteration. I don't recommend this for anyone who is looking for the continuation of the "dream team".

[Clea · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this one as part of the Professor Challenger series when I was going over the early history of Science Fiction a couple of months ago, and I managed to soldier through out of sheer stubbornness. To say that it was awful would be putting it mildly. Yes, I understand the circumstances in which this book came to be written, and I realize that it was an attempt by the author to promote his most treasured beliefs, but it basically slaughters the characters and makes the weaknesses of Conan Doyle's style painfully apparent.

[Diego · Rating 1 out of 5]

So far, this is the only book from Arthur Conan Doyle I have not liked. It reads more like a several hundred pages long pamphlet for spiritism than like a novel. Actually, I left it to rest for several months and just decided to finish it up the other day, and even this last bit I had left has felt like crossing the desert.
I definitely would not recommend it.

[Carol Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting novel about the age of Spiritualism in late 19th/early 20th century England. What was interesting to me was that Doyle exposed his own personal beliefs in spirits, ectoplasm, seances, materialization of ghosts, etc. I had read that he was very caught up in the movement, and this book is essentially a stamp of approval from him.

[Michael Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

Doyle was a follower of spiritualism. This story combined the Challenger characters and his support of the movement. While not a bad story it was not a good one and not a balance to the characters.

[Nam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Imagine Tom Cruise making an action movie to convince everyone that scientology were not scammy and manipulative. Of course there would be a token mysterious oriental character, and saving suffering children.

[James Hold · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really awful stuff. Can't believe its from the same guy who created Sherlock Holmes.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh.