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(24) Kéraban-le-têtu (Kéraban the Inflexible, 1883) (2 volumes) 100K words


The 24th Extraordinary Voyage takes us on a trip around the Black Sea, through Turkey, Russia and other countries, motivated by the eccentricity of the title character.


First read or reread?: First read for me.


What is it about?: Jan Van Mitten and his valet Bruno (both of Rotterdam, Holland) are in Constantinople, Turkey. The pair are going to meet with Van Mitten’s wealthy business associate, a famously stubborn man named Kéraban. Kéraban decides to take them to dinner at his home in Scutari, on the other side of the Bosphorus Strait. Just before getting into a boat, they find out a new tax has been imposed on all crossings of the strait. Enraged, Kéraban decides to take his associates to Scutari the other way around, by traveling seven hundred leagues around the perimeter of the Black Sea so that he won’t have to pay the paltry 10 paras tax. Kéraban, this man of principle, and his reluctant traveling companions, who cannot afford to offend him, begin the journey. The only deadline for Kéraban is that he must be back in 6 weeks time so that he may arrange for his nephew’s wedding to a young woman who must be married before she turns seventeen. If she doesn’t meet that deadline, she won’t inherit 100,000 Turkish pounds. Unfortunately for Kéraban and friends, the villain Seigneur Saffar and his henchmen have plans to kidnap the young woman and force her to marry Saffar instead.


Like Godfrey Morgan, this is one of Verne's funniest novels. The humor in this case comes from Kéraban's stubborness and the bewildered dismay of his companions. I think Verne was skillful in making the Turk merchant mostly likable and kind, in all matters not related to his boundless obstinacy. He can be infuriating, but also resourceful and brave. That way, the reader can look at his follies with certain sympathy, and be amused by his companions' efforts to avoid disagreeing with him openly, so as not to provoke him into further fits of stubborness.

The novel has been compared, disfavorably, to Around the World in Eighty Days. In both novels we have an eccentric millionaire going on a long trip with a few associates, while racing against a deadline. While the similarity exists, I thought that this story was original enough.

I will agree that, in terms of pace, this novel is not as perfect as Around the World in Eighty Days. I think that at this point of his career Verne had found a comfortable formula that many of his novels follow. We have the epic trip, which Verne uses to introduce his readers to some remote region of the world, we have some characters with interesting personalities and we have an adventure plot mixed with the travel. The speculative element that is present in some of his novels is usually not to be found in the ones following this formula.

Also, I cannot claim that this is a very deep depiction of the different countries and cultures they go through. Because of that, some modern readers have accused it of orientalism. This is a light adventure, however, and I think that such a deep analysis is beyond the author's goals.

Even though Verne followed this formula skilfully, a formula is still a formula, and perhaps because of that it does not feel as fresh here as in Around the World in Eighty Days. Let's not forget that Around the World was a short novel, in one volume, while this one is two volumes. In Around the World, Verne didn't have a problem going from one interesting episode to the next, while here he is more methodical in following the travellers' progress, and because of that at a couple of points it feels like Verne is just enumerating the towns they go through. I have to admit that I have fun following the progress in the map included with the novel, but not all readers will feel the same.

Having said that, I think critics who dismiss this novel are being overly harsh. It may not be as good as Around the World, but the characters are a lot of fun (not just Kéraban), it has moments of danger and the overall adventure plot is quite good.

I have said in other reviews that when Verne sets his novel in civilized countries it tends to feel less adventurous than when he takes his characters to unexplored lands, but he does compensate by creating other types of obstacles, normally villains conspiring against the heoes.

It is worth mentioning that the conjugal problems that Van Mitten is running away from are a reflection of the problems of Verne's matrimony at the time. Speaking of Van Mitten and his romantic problems, we go back to the tradition of Verne's novels having final twists, in this case humorous, with the misunderstanding that almost causes him to be married to the noble Kurd widow Sarabul.


Enjoyment factor: I enjoyed it. Perhaps not in the top ten of Verne's best novels but a rather likable and funny adventure story all the same.


Next up: The Vanished Diamond, aka The Southern Star