I don't know what I was expecting from this one, but having fallen so much in love with Conan Doyle's other (perhaps more famous) works, I was excited to try this. But some things are maybe best left in the past.
There were some fun moments, and some gorgeous descriptions of the deserts and landscapes that our tourists pass through, but for the rest- YIKES doesn't even come close.

Haven't read any of the Sherlock Holmes books. A good read, though few times I felt reactions to events were lacking or unrealistic; also couple times action seemed to go on hold just long enough for dialogue. Was an exploratory vehicle for Doyle's religious views/doubts...and in that sense works well and is worth the read.
"You ask me to praise God for taking me out of danger and pain, but what I want to know is why, since He has arranged all things, He ever put me into that pain and danger. You would not thank me for pulling you out of that river if it was also I who pushed you in."

Some chilling reminders of the savage ruthlessness of the Muslims of 9/11 -- written 103 years prior.

This is one of Arthur Conan Doyle's least known stories, which is strange because it's really well-written. It may be unpopular today in part because it's overshadowed by his Holmes stories, and in part because the material is uncomfortable for some readers. Doyle unequivocally supports imperialism and the English presence in Egypt: The villains of the story are Egyptian rebels who wish to free their country of this imperialism, and the heroes are the English.

If you can set this aside, however, this is a tightly woven story, and the (English) characters are well-developed and interesting. It twists and turns in fascinating ways and is suspenseful and exciting. There is fighting, bravery, romance, wittiness, and beautiful descriptions of the Egyptian desert.

Finally, Tragedy may very well be an important story for understanding how the English crown ended up meddling in Egyptian affairs and the mentality of the English people toward it.

a party of tourists... 'interesting things/people they saw in a desert, learned some new moral virtues'

A group of European tourists touring up the Nile are abducted.....

A steamer carrying a tourist party in Egypt gets ambushed by dervishes. The characters are a diverse bunch, including a Frenchman, an Irishman, English and Americans; a diplomat, a clergyman, a retired soldier, a lawyer; and so on. The author uses these as a launching pad into discussions of politics, religion, love, philosophy. This is on top of the base narrative which, aside from trying to narrate a complex web of interactions between the kidnappers and the prisoners, diverges to geographical and historical observations on Egypt.

In a book 144 pages long, such an array of topics is an incredibly ambitious undertaking, and it just doesn't work. The author is never able to establish a consistent mood, for which he compensates by telling us what we are supposed to feel or think on each point. If you ever wondered what the "show not tell" adage was supposed to censure, pick up this book.

2.5*

Why Read: For once, I did not get this book through NetGalley, I found it on my own through the amazing program called the Gutenberg Project. In case you don't know what it is, I'll give a brief overview. Gutenberg puts online editions of books that have lost their copyright, making it possible to quickly download all of Jane Austen's and Arthur Conan Doyle's works as long as you're willing to read them in EBook format (and I certainly don't mind). Having read so many of the Sherlock Holmes series, I was hard pressed in finding a reason not to read this quick short story.
Review: Quick disclaimer before the review actually begins: If you aren't a fan of writing which blatantly talks about imperialism, don't read this book. Much as I enjoyed the characters of all different archetypes and scenes of the Egyptian past - there is a lot of theoretical discussion about the place that Great Britain should be taking in the world of 1898. But despite that, The Tragedy of the Korosko is a fascinating read. When I read books from the eras past, it always reminds me how much more lyrical the dialogue and descriptions are.

Not that I don't enjoy that. But it's certainly a difference from reading The Fault In Our Stars, which I did enjoy, but couldn't have sounded any more different.

Back to the book!

In the world of Korosko, the pack of tourists sets off for Egypt, each having a different reason for their journey and different viewpoints about the people of Egypt and the place of the British Empire. It's worth noting that religion does play a rather large part in the book as it rounds up at the ending... and although I'm not particularly a fan of overly religious writing - it's covered in a way that isn't as annoying as per usual.

The characters are all representative of some type of person, whether it be the young and naive girl or the overly sarcastic and 'realist' veteran. They all play their roles to perfection, and though it can be a bit tiresome due to the fact that there's no surprises about what a character will do - I was happily surprised to see that even within 144 pages, Doyle has characters which I could somewhat emphasize with.

Looking at the plot, I will admit that although I did like it, there was some drawbacks. The different events, exciting as they were, were written about in an almost dry and uninterested tone so that I would sometimes forget that the tourists were hostages and fighting for their lives in the midst of the Arabian desert. Not to mention: it carried every stereotype of 'White Man Writing About Savages' Alert that you could think of.

Nevertheless, I would recommend this book to people who are looking for an older read and something that memorialized imperialistic thought into literature... not to sound presumptuous or anything.

Rating: 3.7/5 Stars