Audiobook · read by volunteers
Heart of the World
H. Rider Haggard (1856–1925)
Read by Paul Hansen · 27 chapters · 14 h 11
About the book
Rumors of a lost Mayan civilization, still living in a hidden city full of gold and jewels, set a determined expedition in motion. H. Rider Haggard's adventure of 1895 sends its hero in search of that city, while a love story shapes his path and tests how much he is willing to give up for the woman he loves. The pace is quick, the dangers are fierce and the setting is exotic, with plots and betrayals along the way. In twenty-seven chapters and over fourteen hours, read by LibriVox volunteers, this tale of lost worlds and romantic risk will please every lover of classic adventure. Part love story and part quest, it is a lively and old-fashioned adventure for long journeys, with plenty of suspense and a touch of the marvelous. The story rewards close attention.
Introduction
H. Rider Haggard (1856 to 1925) was an English author who spent several years in southern Africa as a young man, and who used that experience in the adventure novels that made him famous, notably King Solomon's Mines and She. He became one of the leading writers of the lost-world romance, a genre that enjoyed great popularity in the late Victorian years.
Heart of the World, published in 1895, takes its readers to a different setting, the jungles and mountains of Mexico, where the story imagines a hidden Mayan city that has survived into modern times. The plot involves a search for treasure, a love story and a series of dangers, and the author draws on the imagery of ancient civilizations that interested the public of his day. As in his other books, the story contains an element of fate and of supernatural destiny.
Haggard writes with conviction and with a taste for large, dramatic scenes. His heroes are brave and his heroines are determined, and he is not afraid to make them risk everything. Readers today may notice the assumptions of his era in the way he portrays other cultures, but the energy of his storytelling remains impressive.
The recording has twenty-seven chapters, beginning with a prologue, and lasts about fourteen hours. It is read by volunteers of LibriVox. It makes a good companion for anyone who enjoys adventure, romance and the thrill of discovery, and for those curious about the origins of the genre that later inspired many film adventures. Because this is a long novel with many chapters, it is a good companion for a long drive or a week of evenings, and its short chapters allow you to stop and resume without losing the thread.
Public domain
H. Rider Haggard died in 1925: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text