King Somomon's Minesby H. Rider Haggard
Treasure Island
by Robert Louis Stevenson
googling the most read books of all time, i was surprised
(and ashamed) that i had never heard of "She" or H. Rider
Haggard. almost impatiently, i read
through his two most famous books in next couple of days: first the Queen, then the King. it was certainly
enjoyable, but i could easily imagine a much younger me to be mesmerized by
such stories while observing this older, if not wiser, me criticizing the writing with
detachment. like those stereotypical "good bad books", the plots are
intriguing but the narrative plain, with the characters poorly depicted and of little development. It also reminds one how time has changed. one of the main attractions of such stories is the description of vanishing worlds of past and lands far far away. now with globalization, with internet, and with all sorts of blending and mingling, even moon has been touched upon and Mars bare for all to see, the only lost land seems these old generations of fantasy.
it was mentioned in the wiki entry that Haggard was prompted to write the books by the huge success of Stevenson's "Treasure Island". he even placed a bet that his stories would be far better. i did buy a copy of "Treasure Island" many years ago for the boys. neither was interested in reading so i didn't bother either. now i wasted no time to read Stevenson's classic.
well, almost from page one, it was a "hands down" in my mind whose books are better. far better: the writing and characterization, assuming the plotting is at par. by this time, i was also reminded of Stevenson's Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. so intellectually, Stevenson was also superior. i could only say i wish i had read Mr. Haggard at a much younger age. Stevenson is probably timeless, however.
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