By Kendra Hibbert
August 8, 2003
This third week of the Summer of Sci-fi, I’ve decided to take a look at one of the most influential writers of the genre who began writing in the 1800s, when modern science was still debating over the validity of Darwin’s ORIGIN OF SPECIES. I’m talking about that prolific penner of popular prose Jules Verne.
 |
Born February 8, 1828, Verne was drawn to a life of adventure, despite his father’s wishes he stick to his studies and follow him into the world of Law. At the age of twelve, young Jules even bribed a cabin boy to get aboard a ship headed for the West Indies. If his father hadn’t caught the ship in time, the world may never have known the works of Jules Verne and science fiction would never have evolved to the genre it is today.
Thwarted by his father, Verne decided if he couldn’t experience his adventures he would have to write them down instead. When his Father sent him away to Paris to study Law, Verne neglected his studies and concentrated on his writing. Making friends with influential author Alexander Dumas (THE THREE MUSKETEERS) and several wealthy patrons of the café’s and shops of Paris, Verne was able to support himself on his writing even when dear old dad stopped sending him money. During this time, Verne was spending hours in libraries (mostly because it was warm and free) pouring over books on astronomy, science, geography and pretty much anything else he could get his hands on. Though he wrote many plays during this period it still wasn’t until 1863 when his first book came out entitled FIVE WEEKS IN A BALLOON.
Late in his career fifty-four of Jules Verne’s most influential adventure novels (many of them science fiction) were collected in one large volume entitled “Extraordinary Journeys” which his editor Jules Hetzel wrote was “to outline all the geographical, geological, physical, and astronomical knowledge amassed by modern science and to recount, in an entertaining and picturesque format...the history of the universe”. This is, in a nut shell, the best way to describe Verne’s style of writing. He was not just an influential writer in science fiction, he also wrote many historical novels and fictional travel adventures such as AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS. Though he occasionally wrote political or social satire into his books, for the most part his stories are pure adventure. Verne doesn’t mess around establishing character and place - he just jumps right into the story letting his characters define themselves with their actions rather than his words. It’s a similar writing style as his contemporary and Sci-fi peer H.G. Wells (THE INVISIBLE MAN, THE TIME MACHINE etc.) – a style that these stories fast-paced and very hard to put down.
 |
Unlike Wells, however, Verne was very particular about the accuracy of the facts in his novels. FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON (and its sequel A TRIP AROUND IT) contains detailed equations about the speed, velocity and direction of his rocket. Though the idea of taking a rocket to the moon was not originated by Verne (the idea first appeared in Cyrano de Bergerac’s JOURNEY’S IN THE MOON which Verne himself makes mention of in this novel) it was the first appearance of a feasibly workable ship (Bergerac just stuck firecrackers to his character’s feet) albeit based on the physics of 1865. Unlike modern sci-fi greats like Asimov and Bradbury who wrote about interplanetary travel, Verne didn’t have the benefit of actual examples of working rocket ships to draw on when he wrote his books - his ships are based on pure theoretical science. The idea of a rocket taking men to the moon was still in the realm of science fiction – and even the realm of science fiction still had to be established.
Verne’s rocket in FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON is essentially just a big bullet, launched from a cannon toward the moon (immortalized in the 1904 movie A TRIP TO THE MOON with the infamous shot of the rocket poking the eye of the Moon) being designed and manufactured by an American Gun Club full of clever and eccentric gun builders bored and restless after the end of the Civil War. There is always a steady flow of humor and memorable characters in Verne’s works, coupled with an old fashioned sense of adventure. It’s these factors that make his work so unforgettable and utterly readable.
Like Shakespeare is to drama so Verne is to sci-fi – the forefather and the inventor of many popular stories that are still being copied and translated today. From 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA to JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH to lesser known novels such as THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND and THE UNDERGROUND CITY. It’s no fluke that many of Verne’s works have been adapted for the stage, screen and those funny little picture books called comics (Captain Nemo of 20,000 LEAGUES appearing most recently in Alan Moore’s LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN). His stories have captured the imagination of readers around the world for over a century and are still as thrilling as they were when they were first written despite time and cultural differences. Unfortunately like Jonathan Swift’s GULLIVER’S TRAVELS and Lewis Carroll’s ALICE IN WONDERLAND his works now have been more or less segregated to a young adult audience but to dismiss these works as strictly for kids is to write off some of the most memorable stories ever told.
Fortunately it’s fairly easy to get your hands on a copy of Verne’s work. His more popular works are available in many versions in most bookstores or you can get them completely free either through your local library or from the Gutenberg Library here. I highly suggest reading at least one of his novels if for nothing else than to see a master Sci-fi storyteller at work. In fact I would go so far as guarantee that if you to read just one chapter of any one of Verne’s novels you’ll be uncontrollably compelled to read his entire body of work
(Note: The above stated guarantee is for entertainment purposes only. Please don’t call me on it.)
Next Column: The final week of this year’s Summer Retro Sci-Fi Boogie with a look at William Gibson and the cyberpunk movement. Be here in two weeks, ready to get your freak – and your geek - on.
E-MAIL THE AUTHOR |
ARCHIVES
