Reads like a knock-off of Jules Verne's [b:Journey to the Center of the Earth|32829|Journey to the Center of the Earth|Jules Verne|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1389754903l/32829._SY75_.jpg|1924715], but it's rather tolerable. Just a generic adventure book with a brainy character who's more insufferable than Sherlock Holmes. However, reading this in the 21st century is a weird, if not funny, experience because if anything, this book just emphasizes just how... white, and entitled (not to mention rather misogynistic), Arthur Conan Doyle's perspectives are.

Let me pick a couple of examples:

There are heroisms all round us waiting to be done. It’s for men to do them, and for women to reserve their love as a reward for such men.

The natives were Cucama Indians, an amiable but degraded race, with mental powers hardly superior to the average Londoner.

Lmaooooooooo isn't those lines sublime?
I totally laugh my ass off on the floor.