From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Doctor Dolittle and the Secret Lake
Doctor Dolittle and the Secret Lake
Doctor Dolittle and the Secret Lake mously in 1948, 15 years after its predecessor. Fittingly, it
is the longest book in the series, and the tone is the dark-
est; between the books was World War II, during which
Lofting had published his anti-war poem Victory for the
Slain. The book contains passages that almost border on
being misanthropic with some very powerful passages
concerning war and Man’s inhumanity to man.
Style
The book starts with the Doctor giving up his dream of
lengthening human life with discoveries he made on the
Moon, and showing signs of despair. The tone of the pas-
sages for the first time acknowledges ’nature red in tooth
and claw’: another of the Doctor’s experiments, a house
where scavengers and parasites can live without harming
other creatures, is also doomed to failure.
The Doctor then receives an urgent call to rescue
what is literally his oldest friend: Mudface the Giant Tur-
tle, who was a passenger on Noah’s Ark. We finally hear
Mudface’s tale of the Great Flood which was missing from
Doctor Dolittle’s Post Office. Mudface’s account of the Flood
Author(s) Hugh Lofting and its aftermath takes up most of the book, and it is
by no means a jolly story. There are many references to
Illustrator Hugh Lofting
genocide and slavery; not to mention a passage where
Country United Kingdom animals gather outside a hut to devour the humans inside
(a young man and his beloved, who are the most sympa-
Language English
thetic characters next to Mudface and his mate).
Series Doctor Dolittle Comedy is reduced to a mere sprinkling, just enough
to lighten some of the more dark passages. The book
Genre(s) Fantasy, Children’s novel
stands alone in style but with, arguably, some of Hugh
Publisher Frederick A. Stokes Lofting’s most powerful writing.
Publication date 1948 Also of note is that Lofting’s depiction of African
characters is far less caricatured than in previous novels.
Media type Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
ISBN N/A
Preceded by Doctor Dolittle’s Return
Followed by Doctor Dolittle and the Green Canary
Doctor Dolittle and the Secret Lake is a Doctor Dolittle book
written by Hugh Lofting. The book was published posthu-
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/in-
dex.php?title=Doctor_Dolittle_and_the_Secret_Lake&oldid=325691690"
Categories:
• 1948 novels
• Doctor Dolittle books
• British children's novels
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Doctor Dolittle and the Secret Lake
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