В „Ловци на растения“ четирима смелчаци и добри приятели – братята Карл и Гаспар Линден, дългоухото им куче Фриц и индийският им водач Осаро – се впускат в изключително рисковано търсене на редки растения. Пътят им ги отвежда в непристъпните планински усои на Хималаите, в които дори самият гид на групата никога не е стъпвал.
Драматичното пътешествие на четирима смелчаци и добри приятели преминава през ледници и пропасти, строго пазени от свирепи тигри, през тъмни подземни лабиринти, от които героите сами не знаят дали ще излязат живи.
Пътешествието им е изпълнено с невероятни открития, трудни изпитания и смъртоносни опасности, които ще ви потопят в изпълнен с неочаквани случки сюжет и ще ви накарат съвсем реално да си представите живота и обичаите от една отдавна отминала епоха.
Английският писател Томас Майн Рид (1818–1883) е известен със своите завладяващи приключенски романи, а героите му са смели и безстрашни любители на опасните приключения.
"Captain" Reid wrote many adventure novels akin to those written by Frederick Marryat and Robert Louis Stevenson. He was a great admirer of Lord Byron. These novels contain action that takes place primarily in untamed settings: the American West, Mexico, South Africa, the Himalayas, and Jamaica.
This is a story about the pair of brothers who travel to the Himalayas to search for plants, aided by a knowledgeable local guide. It is one adventurous situation after another with their eventually being trapped in a hanging valley but finding an exist through a cave. All problems are dealt with through the resourcefulness of the three men. Reid obviously has a good knowledge of natural history, including that of the Himalayas, allowing him to insert specific plants and animals into the narrative.
I imagine this was a very enjoyable novel for the people back in the 19th century. Let's not forget that their world was completely different to ours, and very few of them had the possibility to leave their homes and travel around the globe. Therefore, a book about all the unusual plants and animals in the Himalayan mountains must have sparkled the interest and engaged the readers. Actually, I consider it a decent novel as well, although parts of it (like the hunting episodes) were a bit too regular and detailed for my liking. Nevertheless, Mayne Reid has always been one of my favorite authors. And I do believe it will stay this way...
Ch2 P63 Even after that your hearts were hardened and became Stony, and even harder yet, for there are some stones which reverse gush out of and there are others which water comes forth from when they split open, and there are still others which collapse out of awe for God. God is not oblivious of what you are doing!
This is a book that would be interesting to a child but not an adult. Or maybe as someone else in the review mentioned it - not an adult from the 21st century.