"The Tragedy of the Korosko" is a novel written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the famous author best known for creating the character Sherlock
Holmes. Peradventure, he wanted to write something different.
The novel was first published in 1898. Hence, you could be fooled into thinking that this book was written last year.
The story is set in the late 19th century and follows a group of British and American tourists who embark on a cruise aboard the steamship
"Korosko" for a journey up the Nile River in Egypt. The tourists are seeking adventure, but their trip takes a
dramatic and dangerous turn when they are kidnapped by a group of desert-dwelling Islamic fundamentalists terrorists.
The tourists, along with their Egyptian guides and crew, are taken captive and held in a remote desert oasis.
The Dervishes have a political agenda and are seeking to make a statement by targeting foreign tourists. They try to convert the
tourists into Islam or face death. This still happens today. There is a sense of cultural clashes.
I've always loved the European spirit even in the face of the adversity.
"The Tragedy of the Korosko" is considered one of Conan Doyle's lesser-known works.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The description of the desert was exquisite. The settling was lush and beautiful.

Progress is too slow.
I hoped this would have been relevant for uni but it turns out it's not.

An exceedingly Victorian book, in which the reader is subjected a Frenchman who starts out hating the British and their imperialism and ends up loving them by the end, derision towards Islam coupled with prayers and Bible quotes, Victorian-era racism, constant reminders about "Anglo-Saxon reserve" and all other manners of heroic bluster, and a turgid ending. This is the exact sort of thing that George MacDonald Fraser mocks in his "Flashman" books, and rightly so.

Great story, can't believe I never heard of it. Mark Steyn mentioned it in his book America Alone.

So he wrote more than Sherlock Holmes!! This book is a good antidote for people who think change is possible in the middle east. Um hm. Been like that for a long time.

A real page turner.

Abduction and murder in the desert used as catharsis for the Christian faith of the survivors.

I love the language in this book regardless of what some may see as the imperial prejudices in the plot. A party of European tourists is kidnapped by malevolent Dervishes who will kill them unless they convert to Islam. What stands out for me is the skill with which Conan Doyle sketches the tourists so that each is distinctive and memorable. The descriptions of the camels trekking across the desert are also beautifully done and raise the novel above the level of a simply thrilling adventure story, which it also is.

Am astonishing book, as timely today as when it was published in 1898; shot through with wisdom and insights. As relevant to us today as it was to the Victorians

Free download available at eBooks@Adelaide.

A well written short story that reminds current day readers that the friction between western cultures and Islam has existed for centuries.

On the plus side it has an almost fairytale happy ending.
Perhaps I'm becoming too cynical. I felt it was a little too much like a fairytale happy ending. Current events and real life do not seem to support endings like this.

Definitely a product of its time and a bit tedious. I found the frenchman to be charming though!