Reading Verne's Voyages Extraordinaires

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(30) Nord contre Sud (North Against South, aka Texar's Revenge, 1887) (2 volumes) 115K words


The 30th Extraordinary Voyage takes us to the United States. It's not the first Voyage that takes place exclusively there, but this one is more grounded in American history than the previous ones, which included an optimistic science fiction tale ("From the Earth to the Moon") and a cautionary tale about evil scientists and politics involving two fictitious cities ("The Begum's Millions"). In this case, Verne tells a story about the American Civil War. This is the second of the four historical novels that Verne wrote at this stage of his career, within the span of five years. The first of those is "The Archipelago on Fire", and the other two would be "The Flight to France" and "Family Without a Name". Many American Verne readers will probably be unaware that the author wrote about their Civil War, and I can't blame them, because at this point Verne's huge success with his early novels was a thing of the past. He kept writing and publishing new novels every year, but one has to admit that "North Against South" is among his lesser-known works.


First read or reread?: First read for me.


What is it about?: In Florida, two men, Texar and Burbank, are bitter enemies. Burbank's northern views against slavery is an unpopular stance with Texar and the rest of the community, deep in the Confederate States of America. On top of this disagreement, though, Texar is angry for past legal troubles Burbank has brought upon him. Despite Texar having a seemingly perfect alibi that allows him to escape conviction, he feels the need for vengeance and eventually becomes a prominent and powerful member of the Jacksonville community, taking advantage of the chaoss caused by the war. Using this newfound power, Texar turns the townsfolk against Burbank and leads a mob that destroys the Burbank plantation, known as Camdless Bay. Burbank's little daughter Dy and her caretaker Zermah are both kidnapped and are purportedly taken to a place in the Everglades called Carneral Island.


Verne has been accused of taking many historical liberties with this novel. I'm not enough of an expert to judge by myself, but I have no doubt that the accusations are true. Verne has clearly documented himself by reading a couple of books about the Civil War (which was a relatively recent event at that time, having ended little more than twenty years before the publication of this novel), and no doubt he has the military events and dates right but, beyond that, the details about what was going on with the society of Jacksonville and Florida in general are probably made up, as fictional as the characters.

I suspect, although again I'm no expert, that the same could be said about the other Verne historical novels. For example, I'm sure that in "The Archipelago on Fire" he takes many liberties with the historical details. He just gets more flak about "North Against South" because there are many more people knowledgeable about the American Civil War than about the Greek War of Independence. The impression I get is that the author documented himself but did not study the subject deeply enough to become an expert.

Leaving the matter of historical accuracy aside, what interests me more is how good "North Against South" is as a story. The answer is that it is a very decent adventure story, with plenty of drama and action, although it's not one of Verne's most inspired works. It's still quite readable, though. My main criticism is that the novel is a bit on the slow side, although it speeds up in the second volume, particularly when we move to the Everglades. I also thought that the twist about how the villain Texar managed to always escape justice was easy to guess. Nevertheless, there's plenty of adventure to satisfy Verne's fans once the story starts going.

It is worth pointing out that this was a difficult period in Verne's life. Both his mother and his lifetime editor Hetzel had died the previous year, and he had been shot in the leg by a mentally unstable nephew, leaving him with physical aftereffects. It's difficult to know how these events affected this novel. Around this time the themes in Verne's work are supposed to turn a bit darker, as we saw in the previous novel "Robur the Conqueror". However, this is a tendency, far from a fixed rule, and this novel is not particularly cautionary or pessimistic. It's just a historical adventure.

An important theme here, of course, is slavery. Verne's strong anti-slavery beliefs are well-known. When it comes to race matters, as I have commented in other reviews, Verne was a person of his time. In other works, he does not shy away from sensational portrayals of indigenous cultures as savage and prone to cannibalism, for example. However, the criticism he gets for his portrayal of a black comic-relief character in Robur the Conqueror is a bit unfair. Sure, depicting a black character as a cowardly idiot is against modern standards, but he also has white characters who are idiots and cowards. And in other cases he has black characters who are brave and noble, for example in "Dick Sand, A Captain at Fifteen".

Here, too, black characters like Zermah or her husband, Mars, are portrayed as brave, noble, resourceful and smart. I certainly won't pretend Verne was enlightened from a 21st century perspective. One can still notice this is not a modern novel in details like, for example, the gratitude and loyalty that the liberated former slaves have towards their former master, or how some of Texar's slaves had been reduced to a brutish state. Verne was well-meaning, but his liberalism was convential and bourgeoisie. However, I do think this novel is enlightened for a 19th century European writer.

I enjoyed exploring Florida, the relatively civilized St. Johns River in the north and the wilderness of the Everglades in the south. I also found the villain interesting because, although he was evil and despicable, he did have one redeeming quality. Well, redeeming is going too far, let's same one praiseworthy quality lost among his many flaws.


Enjoyment factor: I enjoyed it, although the first part took longer to hook me than other Verne stories. Perhaps this should have been a bit shorter. At this point in Verne's career, despite these novels being relatively obscure, I'm still finding them quite enjoyable. They lack some of that energy and exhuberance of Verne's early works, which I liked a lot, but they are competent works by a great storyteller.


Next up: The Flight to France

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(31) Le Chemin de France (The Flight to France, 1887) (1 volume) 57K words


With the 31st novel we reach the middle of the Extraordinary Voyages (there are sixty-two novels in the series, counting the eight posthumous ones). This is the third of the four historical novels that Verne wrote, the others being "The Archipelago on Fire", "North Against South" and "Family Without a Name". In this case, we travel to Prussia, from where the heroes will have to escape back to France.


First read or reread?: First read for me.


What is it about?: Natalis Delpierre, a Captain in the French Army, recounts his adventures in the summer of 1792 when he went to visit his sister, Irma, who was living in Prussia in the service of Madame Keller and her son Jean. The time of his visit coincides with rumors of France and Germany going to war. When war does break out, Jean Keller is forced to join the Prussian Army and serve under the man who is his rival for the attention of Mademoiselle Martha de Lauranay, a man he was scheduled to duel. Due to a decree expelling French nationals, Martha, her father, Irma and Natalis are forced to leave Prussia and go back to France. Meanwhile, Jean strikes his rival and superior officer, and becomes a fugitive.


Although the vast majority of Verne's novels are told in third person, from time to one he wrote one in first person, to good effect. As I have commented before, I enjoy Verne's characters, always kind of proper and Victorian, but I would be the first to admit that character work is not his focus or his strongest point. Therefore, a narrative resource that brings the reader closer to the main character can be helpful. "The Survivors of the Chancellor" is an example of a novel that I think is improved by being told in first person.

In this case, I enjoyed the voice of the narrator, who is quite idiosyncratic. He is a soldier of very humble origins, a patriot but not a militarist. His language is simple but sympathetic and full of common sense, using a lot of interjections and idioms.

The story takes place in 1792, during the French Revolution, at the time of the proclamation of the First Republic and the start of the French Revolutionary Wars. When Louis XVI was deposed and the constitutional monarchy ended, war broke out between France and several European powers (the First Coalition). Although these historical events in France are quite interesting, it's not really what the novel is about, and we only hear of them from what the narrator tells us.

Instead the action takes place in Prussia, where several French expatriates are left in a precarious situation when the war starts. Expelled from Prussia, they are given a short time to leave. One of them is wanted by the Prussian justice, and codemned to death in absentia.

Verne has always been patriotic in his writing. He often has one French character and speaks of French people with sympathy, but it's unusual for him to have a mostly-French cast, and this novel is more patriotic than any of his previous ones. Most of the action takes place in Prussia, but France is the objective to be reached, representing safety and freedom. I commented in my review of "The Begum's Millions" that although the heroes of an early Verne novel ("Journey to the Center of the Earth") were German, Verne became bitter about Germany after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, which had resulted in the defeat of France, the unification of Germany and the establishment of the Second Reich. We see that bitterness here, since the author gives a mostly negative image of Prussian people, although admitting some of their good qualities (as the narrator says in the novel, it was not in courage where the Prussian soldiers were lacking).

With the momentous events going on at the time the novel is set, the adventure is relatively low-key. The first half does not have much action, and it's mostly a family story about a Prussian officer who interferes with a young couple who are in love with each other. Then the flight to France we are promised in the title starts, and it becomes more eventful, culminating with the Battle of Valmy.

But, even during the slower first half, I thought the pace was fine, better in that sense than the first part of the previous novel ("North Against South"). This is a rather short novel and I found it readable and entertaining.


Enjoyment factor: I enjoyed it. This is one of those shorter Verne novels that maintain a good pace. This was less epic than the previous two Verne historical novels, in the sense that it tells a smaller story, affecting only a few characters and separate from the great scheme of things, but I did not perceive that as a negative. I appreciate these historical novels, even though the Verne stories I enjoy more are the ones that involve farway journeys and unkown lands.


Next up: Two Years' Vacation

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(32) Deux Ans de vacances (Two Years' Vacation, 1888) (2 volumes) 105K words


The 32nd Extraordinary Voyage takes us back to the South Pacific Ocean for a robinsonade, the third book by Verne in this genre (after the epic "The Mysterious Island" and the more light-hearted "Godfrey Morgan"). It is also the second out of four Verne novels with children as main characters (the others are "Dick Sand, A Captain at Fifteen", "Foundling Mick" and "Travel Scholarships").


First read or reread?: This is a reread for me. I loved it when I read it as a kid, being one of my favorites in the series.


What is it about?: Fourteen boys of three different nationalities, aged between eight and fourteen, all boarders at a New Zealand school, were about to start a six-week summer trip by sea. Unfortunately, the night before their departure, while the schooner's crew were still ashore, the moorings unfastened under unknown circumstances and the ship drifted to sea. Caught by a terrible storm, they are cast upon a deserted land, where they must try to get along together despite their internal rivalries in order to survive.


When rereading a childhood favorite there's always some concern that the magic may be lost, that it might be better not to spoil the memories by revisiting these books. On the other hand, given that I'm enjoying this project of reading all the Extraordinary Voyages, why shouldn't that be the case with this one?

I'm happy to report that the magic was still there for me. Yes, I'm no longer the same age as the characters of this novel, an ideal age to marvel at the adventures and resourcefulness of this group of kids, but this is still a genuinely good adventure novel, and it awakened many memories of different passages that I hadn't thought about for decades but that, it turns out, I still remembered well, so deep an impression they made on me at the time.

Unlike the partly satirical and light-hearted "Godfrey Morgan" this is a serious robinsonade, in the vein of "The Mysterious Island". One problem with this genre is that, after so many novels, it tends to tread familiar ground. You know how it goes: the shipwreck, getting to an unknown land, the problem of finding fresh water, food and refuge, taking stock of the resources that have been saved, exploring the surroundings, trying to find a mean of leaving or being rescued...

Verne, however, succeeds in keeping this story fresh and giving it individuality, first by having a group of boys, between 14 and 8 years old, as the castaways, without any adult to lead them. Their inexperience and the need to take care of the younger ones add a level of tension to the story, and makes their triumphs more meritorious. Because of the age of the characters, it has a certain additional young adult flavor.

Another tool that Verne uses to good effect here is the internal conflict and personality clashes within the group, exacerbated by the difference in nationalities (most of the boys are British, with a couple of French brothers and one American). The struggles of the young castaways to govern themselves and decide who among them should lead becomes an important theme. Very different, for example, from "The Mysterious Island", where the group of adult characters did not really have internal struggles and had a clear leader in the uber-competent engineer Cyrus Smith. Having these conflicts among the main group of characters who share the same objective is unusual in Verne, although he did it for example in "The Adventures of Three Englishmen and Three Russians in South Africa".

In this sense, we could compare this book, perhaps, to other two classic novels that feature a group of schoolboys shipwrecked on a desert island: "The Coral Island" (1857) by R. M. Ballantyne and "Lord of the Flies" (1954) by William Golding. The boys in "The Coral Island", although their group is much smaller, have a mostly idyllic relationship, with no infighting. In "Lord of the Flies", of course, the opposite is true, to a catastrophic extent. "Two Years' Vacation" avoids both extremes, and it feels the more real for it. The boys in this novel are never in any danger of murdering each other, and yet their disputes represent a real threat to their cooperation. Without this being in any way a deep psychological study, I think this internal conflict makes the characters seem more real and helps the readers care about them. Even the boys who are in the wrong are not villains: they may be flawed, but they have their good qualities and are admirable in some ways, which is a subtlety that I think serves the story well.

As a curiosity, there was actually a real-life situation in 1965 where a group of schoolboys were shipwrecked on a desert island for more than a year. Civilization and the human tendency to cooperate won out, and it was very different from "Lord of the Flies" (https://www.theguardian.com/books/20...-for-15-months)

Coming back to this novel, the pacing is good. Verne was playing to his strengths here, except for the fact that we have no science fiction elements and no fabulous vehicles. (Although, Verne being Verne, at one point we have the characters building a giant kite to raise one of them in the air in order to reach a higher observation point.) It feels very classic Verne, at a time when the author was writing a bunch of historical novels which are quite competent, but which probably do not capture the imagination as much as his best-known works. This one could have been written at the beginning of his career, which is why I say that any attempt to divide Verne's work in two different periods has to be seen just as a tendency and not as a fixed rule.

I could see some of the defects in this book that I was too inexperienced to notice when I first read it. For example, the unrealistic fauna, too diverse for such an isolated environment with such extreme winter weather. But then, this is a very Vernian thing. What the author did not know, he invented, and with our 21st century knowledge we sometimes notice unrealistic elements that Verne's contemporary readers probably would miss. Not that this prevented me in any way from enjoying the story, though.

This one is also interesting as an example of race issues in Verne's work. One of the characters, Moko, is a black child, a ship's boy who is the only member of the crew who was in the ship at the time it got unmoored. He is depicted in a positive manner, sensible, brave, resourceful, loyal... But at the same time, when it comes to voting for a leader there's never any question of him taking part in the process. There's a class difference here, but I have no doubt that it's because of his race that everyone (including himself) takes it for granted that he doesn't vote. I have seen Goodreads reviewers bemoaning this implicit racism, and if this were a historical novel written today it would go differently, but, you know, it's how things were, and if we rewrite history to make it seem that this was not the case, we are only fooling ourselves.

According to Verne scholars, the writer based the character of Briant, a French boy who is one of the leaders of the shipwrecked boys, on Aristide Briand, a charismatic school friend of his son Michel who would much later go on to serve eleven terms as Prime Minister of France during the French Third Republic and receive the 1926 Nobel Peace Prize. Michel Verne, meanwhile, would serve as the inspiration for Gordon, the American boy who is less brilliant than the rivals Briant and Doniphan but who is quite sensible and practical, trying to maintain peace between the two factions (I guess by this point the relationship between Jules Verne and his son had already improved).


Enjoyment factor: Very high. Still one of my favorite Vernes. I think this story deserves to be better known, and it would be if it were written by a different author, but Verne has so many famous novels that some good ones get lost in the group. Being a straightforward adventure story with no science fiction elements probably does not help it get noticed. Funnily enough, this one is very popular in Japan, of all places, and, to be fair, it is one of the most popular among Verne's lesser-known novels.


Next up: Family Without a Name

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(33) Famille-sans-nom (Family Without a Name, 1889) (2 volumes) 107K words


The 33rd Extraordinary Voyage is the second to take place in Canada (after "The Fur Country"). Unlike that previous novel, however, "Family Without a Name" is not an adventure story in the frozen wilderness of the Arctic regions, but a historical tale about the struggle of the French Canadians along the St. Lawrence River to gain their freedom from British domination. This is the fourth and last of the historical novels that Verne wrote around this time, the previous ones being "The Archipelago on Fire", "North Against South" and "The Flight to France".


First read or reread?: First read for me.


What is it about?: Simon Morgaz is a traitor hated by all French Canadians: in exchange for money, he betrayed the leaders who were planning a rebellion against the British colonial government, leading to their execution. During the trial, his confused statements revealed his treachery to the whole of Canada. He and his family are scorned by the populace and he had to flee, taking his wife Bridget and his two sons, Jean and Joann with him, before eventually committing suicide. Years later, a new rebellion is brewing, and one of its leaders is an enigmatic young man who calls himself Jean Without a Name.


While the previous book in the series ("Two Years' Vacation") was a return to the adventurous, optimistic tales that we associate with the first part of Verne's career, this one has a darker and more tragic tone. I don't enjoy this darker side of Verne quite as much, because it doesn't capture my imagination in the same way, but in fairness I also have to say that it gives this story some dramatic depth and emotional impact that most of his novels do not have.

The suffering of a family marked by an act of villainy committed by the father, even though the rest of the family were not accomplice, is painted vividly. Verne did not particularly shy away from depicting suffering, see for example the privations the characters of a much earlier novel, "The Survivors of the Chancellor", go through. But here the tone is also less optimistic. The wife and the sons of the traitor have devoted their angst-filled lives to compensating the shameful betrayal, but despite their heroism and their lack of guilt they seem unavoidably marked. Their suffering is mirrored by the suffering of the population as the British army takes revenge against the rebels.

This darkness may be a reflection of the trouble in the author's own life, or maybe it's just a consequence of Pierre-Jules Hetzel's death. Hetzel, who was Verne's editor and publisher, had always pushed him towards more commercial fiction. After his death, Hetzel's son, who took over his father's business, did not have as much influence over Verne.

Even though Verne occasionally had British characters, and in fact many of the protagonists of "The Steam House" were British officers in India, the author had never been very sympathetic towards British imperialism. Also, he had often shown sympathy in his novels for nations struggling against foreign domination. Here, he sides unequivocally with the oppressed French Canadians. As I read this novel, I had mixed feelings about that because nationalism, while it can be a noble sentiment under certain conditions, also leads to much fanaticism and suffering. For the purposes of this story, however, the British were oppressors and the people of the Lower Canada were only right in rising in arms against them.

The pace of the story was perhaps a bit too slow in the first half of the novel, but as is usually the case with Verne, it improves later. His stories are never uneventful, even when they start slow. In this sense, it reminded me of Verne's other two-volume historical novel ("North Against South"), which also had a slow beginning, while the other two historical novels, being only one volume each, do not really have this problem.

Given how serious and dark the novel is, some comic relief is in order. It is provided by Mr. Nick, the placid and conciliatory notary who also happens to be descendant of the Native American Sagamores and is, very much against his will, elected chief of his tribe. In spite of his desire to resume his profession, he has to accept this responsibility and join the tribe of his ancestors to avoid being arrested by the British, due to a misunderstanding. This leads to some funny situations, but the whole thing is so absurd that it belongs to a farce, and doesn't really suit this otherwise somber story.

Like in "Mathias Sandorf", the main characters here are political leaders in a revolution, which is something that was not the case in other Verne novels, except perhaps, to a lesser extent, in "The Archipelago on Fire". The plot is still action-oriented, though, with a romantic subplot also.

The bond between brothers, like Jean and Joann Morgaz in this novel, is a theme here and would also appear in some of Verne's latest works, particularly "The Kip Brothers" and "The Secret of Wilhelm Storitz". This may be a reflection of Jules Verne's close bond with his younger brother Paul. In fact, "The Kip Brothers", published shortly before Jules' own death, was dedicated to the memory of his brother Paul, who had just died.


Enjoyment factor: The darkness of this one took me by surprise, but I did enjoy it, although I have already commented that I prefer the optimistic, adventure-oriented side of Verne. Despite enjoying them, I'm not sorry that we are done with this mini-series of historical novels. Let's see where Verne takes us next.


Next up: The Purchase of the North Pole, aka Topsy-Turvy

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(34) Sans dessus dessous (The Purchase of the North Pole, aka Topsy-Turvy, 1889) (1 volume) 48K words


The 34th Extraordinary Voyage brings us another science fiction tale. The members of the Baltimore Gun Club (who previously appeared in "From the Earth to the Moon" and "Around The Moon") make their third and last appearance. This time, twenty years after their famous trip to the Moon, they are back with an even more ambitious scheme.


First read or reread?: First read for me.


What is it about?: Through a public auction that captures the attention of the world, the North Polar Practical Association intends to purchases all the territory north of the 84th parallel. It turns out that the members of the Baltimore Gun Club are the ones behind this enigmatic society, including Secretary J.T. Maston, President Impy Barbicane and Captain Nicholl. Thanks to the generosity of Mrs. Angelina Scorbitt, the association is successful in its bid for this region of the globe. The world wonders why they have paid so much for this inhospitable region, given that no human being has ever succeeded in reaching that far north. With the property secure, the association makes their plans known: they intend on altering the axis of the earth, so that this Artic region will obtain a more temperate climate, allowing them access to the large coal deposits they expect to find there.


Even though many of the characters are the same, this novel tells a standalone story and can be read independently. However, there are many references to the trip to the Moon, so it would make sense to read "From the Earth to the Moon" and "Around the Moon" before this one. A couple of other Verne novels are also mentioned (the auction in "Godfrey Morgan" and Hector Servadac's journey in "Off on a Comet").

This book resembles "From the Earth to the Moon" in many ways. It is written with irony and humor. Verne clearly was having a good time in both cases. Both the artillery-obsessed members of the club and the reactions from the different countries of the world are satirized. Besides, there's not a lot of action. Like in "From the Earth to the Moon", most of this novel is in the build-up to the big moment, the scientific calculations, the interaction of the characters, the changes in the public opinion... The moment when the plans are carried out comes right at the end.

However, there are also important differences. The members of the Gun Club have always been eccentric, but in "From the Earth to the Moon" they were eccentric in a heroic way, the recipients of public admiration. Here, the novel starts in the same way. However, as the world gradually becomes aware of the likely catastrophic consequences of the scheme, they become something like supervillains, their scientific obsession bordering the criminally insane, to the point that they have to escape and go into hiding so as not to be stopped by the authorities and the enraged masses.

This is representative of a certain change in tone in the second half of Verne's career. The interest in science persists, but it's often accompanied by an awareness of its potential abuse and the dangers of unchecked technological progress.

The Gun Club's plot is quite outlandish, but Verne keeps it relatively grounded in science, despite taking some liberties like the invention of a fictitious explosive more powerful than the ones known at the time. This realism is also shown in the novel's final twist. This is a lightweight story, but the themes feel relevant from the point of view of the 21st century: an attempt to modify the climate of the Earth, and all of it motivated by the demand for coal.

Another prescient technological element in the novel is the use of the recently-invented telephone for trivial everyday purposes, like the mostly one-sided flirting between Mrs. Angelina Scorbitt and J.T. Maston.

The novel is quite short, and if the author didn't dwell so much on the buildup it might have been a short story, but it's precisely the building up that makes it fun to read.


Enjoyment factor: I enjoyed it. A nice chance of pace after the gloomy "Family Without a Name". One of the reasons "From the Earth to the Moon" is so successful is that it sounds plausible enough to suspend disbelief and go along for the amazing ride. Compared to that, this novel suffers because the plot is more outlandish, although Verne still tries to keep it somewhat scientifically grounded, as opposed to the more fantastic "Off on a Comet".


Next up: César Cascabel

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(35) César Cascabel (César Cascabel, 1890) (2 volumes) 107K words


The 35th Extraordinary Voyage takes us on an epic trip from California to France... only, the long way around, along the west coast of North America, Alaska, the Behring Strait and Siberia. It's the second time we cross Siberia in this series, although in "Michael Strogoff: The Courier of the Czar" it was from west to east and here it's in the opposite direction, and farther north.


First read or reread?: First read for me.


What is it about?: The Cascabels are a French family of circus artists who plan to return home after many years touring the United States. Unfortunately their trip east is cut short when their money, all their lifetime savings, is stolen. With no money to pay for their passage across the Atlantic, they decide to return to France traveling west, via Alaska, the Behring Strait and Siberia. It's a longer, harsher, more uncertain journey, but cheaper, because they intend to travel on their horse-drawn carriage all the way. Even the Behring Strait can be crossed without the help of a ship, since it's frozen during the winter. Along the way, they encounter a Mr. Sergius (a Russian) with his companion Kayette (an Alaskan native) both of whom join the band on their trip west. However, Mr. Sergius has a secret which may jeopardize the safety of the family when they reach Russian lands.


We are in the second half of Verne's career (the author was 62 years old when he published this) but this is another book which is completely in the style of his early novels. All of it is a travelogue (after several historical novels, interspersed with some science fiction and robinsonades, we hadn't really had a travelogue since "Kéraban the Inflexible"). There are no flashy vehicles and no science fiction here. Just a large horse-drawn carriage which serves as the family's home, good humor, optimism and grit.

Part of the charm of this novel is sharing the journey with the Cascabel family, who are humble but salt-of-the-earth type of characters, almost always in high spirits and always caring for each other. We have Cesar, the father and supposed head of the family, Anglophobe but a good-natured dreamer and strongman who can be counted upon to get a bright idea when the family is in difficulties. His wife Cornelia, strong both physically (she is a prize fighter) and in character, whose practical common sense complements her husband's impetuosity. The children, starting with 19-year-old Jean, a juggler, who aspires to a better education and whose love story with Kayette, the Indian orphan who joins them, provides the romance. Then we have the young ones, 12-year-old contortionist Sander, often planning some childish mischief, and 8-year-old Napoléone, a tightrope dancer, the daughter and baby of the family.

The first volume of the story, narrating the American part of the journey, is quite cosy and relaxed, with the family having some adventures as they travel but no deadlines and no particular hurry (after all, they won't be able to cross the Behring Strait till the winter when it's frozen). This part may seem lacking in tension to some readers, since there's no overarching storyline apart from the incidents of the trip, but I enjoyed it. I always like these travelling stories where you can follow the character's progress on the map. As a curiosity, the purchase of Alaska from Russia by the united States plays a part in the story, as it directly affects the trip.

The second volume begins with the party attempting to cross the Behring Strait, and right away the stakes become much higher, with epic natural dangers and some intrigue involving one of their travelling companions, the Russian authorities and a band of bandits.

For such a long journey, the author can't describe every part of it in detail, but I think Verne finds a good balance, describing some parts more in passing and others in more detail when the adventure requires it. It's the kind of book that we could call geographical adventures, since the description of regions which were not unexplored but certainly little-known at the time plays a large role.

On the minus side, we have some of the traditional Verne implausibilities, like native tribes who are gullible to the point of stupidity or wild animals who behave in a too aggressive and coordinated way to be believable. This doesn't really ring true now, although probably it did at the time it was written.

Perhaps this novel has little to surprise a reader familiar with Verne's style. There are elements of "The Fur Country" and other Verne novels here, but those who are fans of the author will find a lot to enjoy.


Enjoyment factor: I enjoyed it. It's another very little-known Verne novel, but I found it funny and a well-paced adventure. It's not free from some of Verne's usual flaws but, despite the privations the heroes suffer in some parts of the journey, it has that optimistic charm that I always appreciate in this author.


Next up: Mistress Branican

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(36) Mistress Branican (Mistress Branican, 1891) (2 volumes) 114K words


The 36th Extraordinary Voyage takes us to several parts of Oceania, particularly to Australia. We had been in Australia in the second volume of "In Search of the Castaways", but here we explore it more deeply, penetrating into the scorching deserts of western Australia. Although most of Verne's characters are male, we have had strong female characters before, like Paulina Barnett from "The Fur Country" and Lady Glenarvan from "In Search of the Castaways", but this is the only Extraordinary Voyage where a woman is the undisputed main character. The theme of searching for the survivors of a lost ship was also the basis of "In Search of the Castaways".


First read or reread?: First read for me.


What is it about?: The story begins in San Diego, California, where the heroine, Mistress Branican, suffers a mental breakdown after the death by drowning of her young son while her husband, a sea captain, is absent. On recovering, she learns that her husband's ship, the Franklin, never returned and is considered lost at sea. Having inherited a large sum of money during her illness, she decides to search for her husband, since she is firmly convinced that he still lives. Years later, a clue to the fate of the Franklin is discovered in Australia.


At this point in his career, 28 years after publishing "Five Weeks in a Balloon", Verne is still publishing novels with a classic adventure feel. If there is a complete break with his early style in the second half of his career, we have not really reached it yet. Although these are less well-known than his earlier works, novels like "Mistress Branican" or "Cesar Cascabel" could have been written in the first part of his career.

Nevertheless, this adventure has a different, grittier feel than "Cesar Cascabel". "Cesar Cascabel" was a happy, upbeat story, due to the personalities of the characters. The first part of "Mistress Branican", on the other hand, is rather bleak. We have a slow start with a chapter about the history of San Diego and another about Mistress Branican's family, but soon misfortunes pile up on the main character, taking her to the breaking point until she goes mad. This part, rather than an adventure novel, is a psychological story, with family intrigues and tragedies. The subject of madness has been treated in other Verne novels, but never in so much detail as it is here.

This part was interesting and unusual for the author, but I want a Verne novel to be optimistic, so I was happy when Mistress Branican recovered and his heartless relative Len Burker (one of Verne's most despicable villains) was temporarily pushed out of the picture.

Then the adventure starts, when Mistress Branican, against all evidence, is convinced that her husband is alive and, having the means to look for him, proceeds to do so. The first expeditions she organizes are enjoyable to follow, but they suffer for her absence (Mistress Branican is just the funder and organizer but remains at home in this part). Because of that, they are narrated more in passing, and for someone who is less of a fan of Verne's style this part may seem drier. Things get heated up when clues to the fate of the Franklin and its crew start to be found, culminating with the final clue that leads Mistress Branican to travel to Australia to personally lead the search.

The character of Mistress Branican, by the way, was inspired by Lady Franklin, whose search for her husband Sir John Franklin, lost with his expedition to the Northwest Passage, gained the admiration and sympathy of the world. In a certain way, this novel is Verne's homage to that woman. Lady Franklin never found her husband, but perhaps Mistress Branican can be luckier. You can feel how people respect Mistress Branican, half sorry for her and half admiring.

The second half of the novel, in Australia, is a good adventure story, and Verne's most vivid description so far of a subtropical desert (we were in the Sahara in "Five Weeks in a Balloon", but only for a short period).

Verne is quite critical here of British treatment of aboriginal Australians, which appear to be leading to their extermination, but at the same time modern readers may be shocked at how he describes some of those aboriginal tribes, with savage and uncivilized customs.

Another example of psychological themes here is the way Jane Burker, a cousin and friend of Mistress Branican and wife of the villain Len Burke, is psychologically suppressed by her husband. Other characters include the comic relief pair formed by the eccentric British explorer Jos Meritt and his Chinese servant, who have a Don Quixote and Sancho Panza dynamic; Godfrey, the teenage boy who reminds Mistress Branican of her drowned son; the loyal Zach Fren, who is the only one apart from Mistress Branican who truly shares her faith that her husband is alive; Mr. William Andrew, Captain Branican's employer, who doesn't believe but is nevertheless a true and supporting friend...

Of course, as in many Verne adventures, geography is a main protagonist here, accompanied by maps to follow the voyage. The author takes us to a region that was little-known at the time, inspired by Colonel Peter Egerton-Warburton's and Ernest Giles' accounts of their journeys across the deserts of Western Australia.


Enjoyment factor: I found it very enjoyable. There was plenty of variety in this story. Verne's lesser-known novels have a lot to offer to those who enjoy his style. The first two chapters were a bit boring, but we soon got started first with a bleak psychological story and then with a far-ranging adventure.


Next up: The Carpathian Castle

[gmw]

Originally Posted by db105

(36) Mistress Branican (Mistress Branican, 1891) (2 volumes) 114K words


The 36th Extraordinary Voyage takes us to several parts of Oceania, particularly to Australia. We had been in Australia in the second volume of "In Search of the Castaways", but here we explore it more deeply, penetrating into the scorching deserts of western Australia. [...]

I didn't know about this. Why wasn't I told?

More seriously, thanks! I definitely need to add this one to my reading list.

[db105]

Originally Posted by gmw

I didn't know about this. Why wasn't I told?

If I'm not mistaken, there are no more Verne novels set in Australia after this one so, curiously, the two Extraordinary Voyages that spend time there are the ones involving the search for shipwreck survivors.

[db105]

(37) Le Château des Carpathes (The Carpathian Castle, 1892) (1 volume) 52K words


For the 37th Extraordinary Voyage, Verne changes tack and gives us a Gothic novel. The story takes place in Transylvania, at a little town and its neighbouring abandoned castle in the Carpathian Mountains. Dracula was published five years after this novel, and some say that Verne's novel probably was one of Bram Stoker's influences. There are some coincidences in setting and premise, but they are otherwise different. Of course, Verne did not invent the genre nor the stories about Vlad Tepes that inspired Stoker.


First read or reread?: First read for me.


What is it about?: Mysterious things are occurring in an abandoned castle located near the village of Werst in the Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania, Romania. The villagers are convinced that the Chort (devil) occupies the castle, particularly after a pair of them venture near the fortification and return injured and terrified. Count Franz de Télek, a traveller visiting the region, decides to investigate the disturbances for himself when he is informed that the owner of the castle is Baron Rodolphe de Gortz. Years earlier the Baron was the Count's rival for the affections of the celebrated Italian prima donna La Stilla.


This is a rather atypical novel within the Extraordinary Voyages. I would call it a Gothic novel, rather than terror, but with a Vernian touch. When this author tried a romantic story ("The Green Ray") I felt that he was not playing to his strengths and, to a lesser extent, that's the case here too.

I thought the first part of the novel, concentrating on the villagers and their fears and investigations, was well-done. He depicts the characters with their foibles and small-mindedness, but sympathetically. The character of Patak, the self-styled "doctor" of the village, provides the comic relief, with his big mouth and his lack of bravery. Perhaps these villagers are a bit more rational than the story demanded, but I guess Verne can't help being rational.

The backstory involving Count Franz de Télek, Baron Rodolphe de Gortz, and their romantic rivalry is also intriguing, and suitably melodramatic.

The resolution, as I said, is very Vernian in style, although closer to the rational Gothic style of Ann Radcliffe than to the violently horrifying Matthew Lewis.

Where the novel is not so successful is when it comes to the action part, which is a bit underwhelming. Also, Verne is not as skilled as some of the writers specialized in the Gothic genre at creating a feeling of oppression with their language and descriptions. I felt that, despite the psychological suffering of one of the main characters, Verne did not depict that as vividly as he did in some of his novels.

Despite these flaws, the novel, which is quite short, is also quite readable, and Verne's style and flair for entertaining the reader is very much present.


Enjoyment factor: I enjoyed it, although I was a slightly disappointed because this is among the most popular novels in the second half of Verne's career (although not among his most popular overall), and I felt it's a pleasant but minor work. One thing going for it is its originality within Verne's body of work. I'm glad he tried this so that we could see a different side of his storytelling abilities.


Next up: Claudius Bombarnac, aka The Adventures of a Special Correspondent

[db105]

(38) Claudius Bombarnac (Claudius Bombarnac, aka The Adventures of a Special Correspondent, 1892) (1 volume) 70K words


The 38th Extraordinary Voyage takes us back to Asia, crossing the whole length of it like we had done in "Michael Strogoff: The Courier of the Czar", although that was more to the north through Siberia, and also in "Cesar Cascabel", which took place even further north near the arctic circle. This time we go through the Russian Turkestan and China. The complete trip is done by train, which is a first, although that means of transportation had been used extensively in "Around the World in Eighty Days".


First read or reread?: First read for me.


What is it about?: Claudius Bombarnac, a reporter, is assigned by a French newspaper to cover the travels of the recently inaugurated Grand Transasiatic Railway which runs between Uzun Ada, by the coast of the Caspian Sea, to Peking, China, by the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Accompanying him on this journey is an interesting collection of characters, including one who is trying to beat the round the world record and another who is a stowaway hidden within the luggage. Claudius hopes one of them will become the hero of his piece, so his story won't be just a boring travelogue. He is not disappointed when a special car guarded by troops is added to the train, said to be carrying the remains of a great Mandarin. Before the journey is over, Claudius will find his hero.


So this is another travel story. As always with Verne's books, I enjoy following the characters' progress on the map provided.

During Verne's live, the world was getting smaller. The unexplored regions were shrinking and public transportation was improving. This was reflected in "Around the World in Eighty Days", where a trip that until then would have been much longer and difficult is done using public transportation, placing it within the reach of tourists rather than explorers or adventurers. From that book, progress continued, and here Verne's characters travel using a newly inaugurated railroad line that had not existed at the time of Phileas Fogg's travel around the world. In fact, in real life, several travelers inspired by Verne's story had comfortably bested the eighty days deadline. Here, one of Claudius Bombarnac's travel mates is a caricature of Phileas Fogg, a bad-tempered German baron who is attempting to break the record for a trip around the world.

The trouble with having the whole journey done by train is that this fits better a travelogue than an adventure story. And in fact, between the first half and the first two thirds of the novel feel like a travelogue. The story is told in the first person by the titular character, a reporter. He addresses the reader in a very colloquial manner, reminding me in that sense of "The Flight to France". We are given the character's impressions about his travel mates and the incidents of the trip, along with descriptions of the landscape and the cities where they make stops. The saving grace here is that the first person narrative is quite readable and Claudius' travel mates are a colorful bunch, but some readers will be bored by these descriptions.

Since this is still a Verne novel, things do speed up eventually and, by the time the trip finishes, the characters have gone through an adventure and Claudius Bombarnac has found the hero for his story.

The novel will work better for readers who appreciate a travelogue and who are entertained by the social satire and the contrasting characters of the travelers. I was amused by how Verne's national prejudices are reflected in the way the characters are depicted. Verne liked the Russians, and Major Noltitz, an experienced Russian army doctor, is an agreeable companion. The same can't be said of Sir Francis Trevellyan, one of the British representatives, who is a superscilious snob who barely deigns to exchange a word with his companions. Or about Baron Weissschnitzerdörfer, the irascible German whose list of travels is longer than his name and who is used as the comic relief of the story. We have Fulk Ephrinell, the American sales broker who has a rather unromantic romance with Mrs. Horacia Bluett, a British businesswoman with a similarly practical way of thinking; Kinko, the young Romanian stowaway who travels hidden within a luggage box because he has no money but hopes to reunite with his girlfriend who works as a milliner in Peking; Adolphe and Caroline Caterna, a happily married couple of French actors who reminded me of Mr. and Mrs. Cascabel from "Cesar Cascabel"; Pan-Chao, the young and fun-loving Chinese student who is returning home accompanied by his sedate and elderly chaperone; Popof, the Russian train conductor who is the only member of the staff who will make the whole trip with the travelers; Faruskiar, a proud and enigmatic Mongol lord...


Enjoyment factor: I enjoyed it, but I found the first part a bit uneventful, particularly when it came to describing the cities where they stop. Because of that, it's not the Verne book I would recommend to someone who is not already a fan of the writer. However, Verne can be relied on to include a good adventure story, even when it takes it a while to get moving. Even during the slow part, I just like the way he tells a story, and the idiosyncratic characters worked for me. It was interesting traveling through this part of the world, seeing it from the eyes of a 19th century writer.


Next up: Foundling Mick

[db105]

(39) P’tit-Bonhomme (Foundling Mick, 1893) (2 volumes) 110K words


The 39th Extraordinary Voyage takes us to Ireland. It's the only book in the series taking place there, although the plight of Irish people will also be a theme in "The Kip Brothers". "Foundling Mick" is the third out of four Verne novels with children as the main characters, the others being "Dick Sand, A Captain at Fifteen", "Two Years' Vacation" and "Travel Scholarships". This one is inspired by British social novels like Dickens' "Oliver Twist". Verne did homages like that in several of his novels: "Godfrey Morgan" is a parody of Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe", "Mathias Sandorf" is inspired by Alexandre Dumas' "The Count of Monte Cristo", and two later Verne novels, "An Antarctic Mystery" and "The Castaways of the Flag" are sequels, respectively, to Edgar Allan Poe's "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket" and Johann David Wyss' "The Swiss Family Robinson".


First read or reread?: First read for me.


What is it about?: Foundling Mick is an orphan growing up in Ireland. Overcoming misery, hunger and a number of obstacles, Foundling Mick and another orphan whose life he had saved, start a small business that proves profitable. Seeking larger opportunities, they move to Dublin, where Foundling Mick hopes to make his fortune and use it to help the good people who helped him along the way.


This is another atypical novel within Verne's body of work. Instead of being a story of travel and adventure, or a science fiction tale, this is about the life of a young orphan growing up in impoverished Ireland.

The story is inspired by the tradition of British social novels, particularly Charles Dickens, whose work Verne admired (he once said that he had read all of Dickens’ work 10-times over). Another possible influence is the "rags to riches" stories of Horatio Alger Jr.

The depiction of the poverty, misery and privations that the main character and many other people in Ireland went through is quite vivid. Young orphans were mistreated and exploited, or cared for in "ragged schools" which often were not much better. We also witness the plight of the farmers, who didn't own the land and had to pay a rent to their British landlords, subject to eviction whenever they could not pay because of a bad harvest, and also the harsh conditions for those who worked in factories.

The main character, whose birth name, if he ever had it, is unknown, is called throughout the novel by his nickname. In the original French he is called P’tit-Bonhomme, which would translate literally to "Little Lad" or "Little Fellow", but in the Spanish translation I read he is called Hormiguita ("Little Ant").

Even though this is not a travel novel, the circumstances of the titular character's life take him to different parts of Ireland, which allows Verne to give a complete depiction of the island and some of its inhabitants. Verne is sympathetic towards the Irish people's desire for independence, depicting how foreign landlords who rarely set foot in Ireland took the fruits of the work of Irish farmers.

Some parts of the novel are quite bleak, but there also better, more hopeful moments, particularly in the later part of the novel, when the orphan's good head for business starts to pay off.

I felt that at the beginning of the novel, the main character was too precocious for his tender age. Granted that under those circumstances children are forced to grow up fast, but I felt it was a bit too much to be realistic. Fortunately, that annoyance disappeared soon once the main character got a little older. He was still a precocious child, but to a more believable extent.

One thing that caught my attention reading this novel, and other novels of this kind like "Oliver Twist", is how attitudes towards poverty and crime have changed. The main characters of these 19th century novels, although they live in poverty and suffer hunger, are depicted as having an innate moral instinct that keeps them from stealing or other forms of dishonesty, which separates them from most of the people around them. Possibly if the character stole, he would not be considered worth cheering for, while in modern novels we tend to be much more understanding of how poverty may push good people towards petty crime.


Enjoyment factor: I was dubious at the beginning of the story, because I felt the main character was not believable, as he spoke and acted much older than his age. However that soon stopped being an issue once the character got slightly older, and I found myself enjoying the story. I liked the variety in the hero's adventures and misadventures, which kept the story dynamic and entertaining. When things started to get better, it was satisfactory because of how hard the path had been to get there.


Next up: Captain Antifer

[db105]

(40) Mirifiques Aventures de Maître Antifer (Captain Antifer, 1894) (2 volumes) 99K words


The 40th Extraordinary Voyage takes us on a treasure hunt around the Middle East, Africa and Europe. The use of coordinates and other geographical clues that the characters are trying to follow is reminiscent of "In Search of the Castaways", although in that case the objective was finding people whose ship had been lost.


First read or reread?: First read for me.


What is it about?: Because of a noble deed committed by his father, Captain Antifer expects to someday receive the legacy of wealthy Egyptian, Kamylk Pasha, who his father helped many years before. To receive this legacy, first Antifer must await receiving the longitude that accompanies the latitude that he already possesses. It arrives in the form of Egyptian notary, Ben Omar (who must be present when the legacy is uncovered) and his "assistant" Nazim. Nazim is actually Saouk, son of Kamylk's treacherous cousin. He feels the legacy is rightly his and he only waits for the right time to steal it all. The Egyptians, along with Antifer, his nephew Juhel (who only desires to marry Antifer's niece Enogate) and family friend Tregomain journey to the Gulf of Oman to uncover the legacy. Unfortunately, the quest turns out to be longer and much more complicated than they had anticipated.


People do not generally think of Verne as a funny writer, but some of his novels have a comical streak or a touch of irony, while still being interesting as adventure stories. Novels like "From the Earth to the Moon", "Tribulations of a Chinaman in China" or "Godfrey Morgan" have that comedy element.

The humor in "Captain Antifer", however, reminded me of "Kéraban the Inflexible", because it's based on the explosive personality of a stubborn, irate, energetic, unreasonable main character. I found Antifer funnier than Kéraban, though, because the supporting cast here plays off against his personality to better effect. We do get the same kind of family members and friends who try to appease the stubborn hero, but we also get a bunch of villains and collaborators/rivals who are the perfect target for Antifer's wrath and biting remarks.

On the adventure side, this novel is less inspired. We get the typical Vernian travels and description of places, and the locations are exotic enough, but it feels as if we never get too far away from civilization, which makes it feel less adventurous. There are two reasons for that: one is that Western-style civilization had indeed grown during Verne's lifetime (he was 66 when he published this), and the other is that the locations visited are always by the sea, which makes them more reachable.

Don't get the idea that there's no adventure, though. There is, including both human obstacles and some typically Vernian unlikely behavior of wild animals. But this one is not among the most inspired Extraordinary Voyages in this sense. Of course, the fact that there is a lot of discussions and interaction between the characters doesn't help make it move faster, although it does make it funnier. I even laughed out loud (which is unusual for me when reading Verne) at the surrealistic meeting between the treasure hunters and the radical anti-wealth priest whose help they needed. Verne, of course, makes fun of both the extremist priest and the greedy treasure seekers.

The novel does feature some interesting twists at the end, including a weird final location which, to my surprise, turns out to be a real place, depicted accurately. Many of Verne's early novels have very nice twist endings, but you don't find them so often his later novels.


Enjoyment factor: I had fun reading this, but possibly it's one I would recommend to people who are already Verne fans, because some readers might get bored at the description of places when it's not accompanied by a fast-moving adventure. Or, at least, not as fast-moving as other Verne novels, which are never very long. I found the treasure hunt aspect rather interesting, though, and was eager to find out how it would all end.


Next up: Propeller Island, aka The Floating Island

[db105]

(41) L'Île à hélice (Propeller Island, aka The Floating Island, 1895) (2 volumes) 109K words


The 41st Extraordinary Voyage takes us to Oceania on board a huge artificial, self-propelled island designed to travel the waters of the Pacific Ocean. We had been in Oceania in the last two volumes of "In Search of the Castaways" and in "Mistress Branican", but here we explore a new region: the multiple archipelagos of Melanesia and Polynesia. The theme of a sea voyage on a great ship had been treated in "A Floating City", but here Verne takes the concept further by introducing one of his marvellous vehicles. We also saw a community sharing a floating surface, in that case on a river journey, in "Eight Hundred Leagues on the Amazon".


First read or reread?: First read for me.


What is it about?: A French string quartet (Sébastien Zorn, Frascolin, Yvernes and Pinchinat), traveling from San Francisco to their next engagement in San Diego, is diverted to Standard Island. Standard Island is an immense man-made island designed to travel the waters of the Pacific Ocean. On the island there is a luxurious, futuristic city inhabited by millionaires. The quartet is hired to play a number of concerts for the residents during their tour of the islands (Sandwich, Cook, Society, etc.) of the South Pacific. Standard Island seems an idyllic paradise; however, it is a society divided in two. The left half's population is led by Jem Tankerdon and is known as the Larboardites. The right half's population is led by Nat Coverley and is known as the Starboardites. Despite the several obstacles and shared dangers encountered on their journey, the two parties maintain a disagreement that threatens the future of the island itself.


This novel has several interesting things to offer the reader. The first is another of those Verne science-fictional vehicles, which is something we had not had for a while in the Extraordinary Voyages. The last one was the flying machine in "Robur the Conqueror". In this case, we get the largest of these vehicles: an artificial island thrust by giant propellers. On the island there is a city that functions as an utopia, with some futuristic technology (futuristic for the time it was written, anyway), and able to do some long-range communications to rendezvous with supply ships. The residents, apart from the necessary workers, are millionaires who pay a large rent to the company that owns the island in exchange for a luxurious place to live with their families.

Verne had already explored the concept of an utopian city in "The Begum's Millions", but here the utopia is threatened not just by external enemies, but also by internal dissension. We see the slightly more pessimistic outlook that Verne had in the second half of his career, because this community of wealthy citizens, ideal on paper, is somewhat bored and aimless, divided by petty rivalries.

There's material here for an interesting story, but unfortunately Verne does not make very good use of it, at least initially. There is just too much exposition and too little action for large parts of the novel.

Our main characters are four outsiders, a group of French musicians who are initially touring the US as a string quartet. The four of them are good friends but have different personalities: we have the curmudgeon leader, the practical one, the poetic one and the jokester. They are taken onto the island (initially one could almost say kidnapped, although they are compensated generously) and that way the readers discover this technological marvel along with the characters. This leads to a lengthy description that we can forgive because the island is interesting, but maybe it goes on for too long. Then the story turns into a travelogue describing the different Pacific islands were our moving island makes stops in its journey. Our four heroes are always among the most interested in doing some tourism, and that way we get descriptions of the different locations and natives.

I have never been a fanatical adherent of the "show, don't tell" golden rule. In general it's reasonable advice, but there is a place for "telling" in a narration. Verne is famous for using his stories not just to entertain, but also to inform the reader, and that means telling. However, for a good part of this novel, I feel he forgets the "entertain" part. Even in a novel with a lot of informative asides, like "Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas", this is tempered by an interesting story. Here, not so much, at least during the first half of the novel, some parts of which I found dull.

This improves in the second half, where we have a lot of things going on, from an invasion of dangerous wild animals due to sabotage, to an attack by native pirates, from the kidnapping of one of the characters when exploring one of the islands to dangerous internal strife. Still, the first half may have been the dullest part of the Extraordinary Voyages so far.

Apparently, the public domain English translations are kind of infamous. The W. J. Gordon translation published as The Floating Island censored multiple passages that were critical of the Americans and, mainly, of the English. That's a pity, because some of that is integral to the novel, and some of Verne's zings are rather funny. He really did not like the English at this point of his career. Another translation published as Propeller Island is abridged, and we have to go to the modern 2015 translation by Marie-Thérèse Noiset to find one more faithful to the original text.


Enjoyment factor: This has some good things going on for it, a wondrous vehicle, social satire, paradisiacal locations... It also has nice little moments, like the private concert our heroes give for the king and queen of Malecarlia, where their passion for music really shines through. Unfortunately, despite having things to offer, I probably wouldn't recommend this one except to committed Verne readers. Verne has his occasional tics and his tendency to supply the reader with information, but I like his style and I always find him entertaining. However, some parts of this novel were dull. It does improves in the second part, but Verne has better stories to offer.


Next up: Facing the Flag

[JSWolf]

Nicely written reviews. Thank you.