Around the Moon
by Jules Verne
Reviewed by Ted Gioia
At the conclusion of his book From the Earth to the Moon (1865),
Jules Verne left his readers—and his astronauts—hanging in the
starry ether. The readers had it the worst, since Verne forced them
to wait five years before he resolved the plot complications in his
sequel Around the Moon.
But here’s a surprise . . . none of Verne’s space travelers seem at all
put out by the danger. Their commitment to science trumps
concerns for personal safety, and while the rest of us would be
scheming how to get back to terra firma, they are studying lunar
geography, debating hypotheses and taking notes. This undercuts
much of the natural drama of Verne’s tale, and makes the book seem
far more dated these days than would have been the case if the
author had published a more conventional narrative. Around the
Moon has the makings of a fine adventure story, but the author too
often forgets the pacing and prefers to show off his grasp of
scientific concepts.
Of course, drawing on the best ideas of the Ulysses S. Grant
administration, Verne makes a few blunders. Although he spends a
lot of time explaining how the reduction in gravity impacts the travel
of his projectile, he doesn’t have a good grasp
of how weightlessness might disrupt the
journey of his astronauts. They are pouring
glasses of wine, and cooking up meals as
though they were back on Mother Earth and
aiming for three stars in the Michelin Guide.
Verne brings back the same cast of characters
from his earlier book, and populates his
spaceship—really more a giant projectile
with room inside for a small crew—with
President Barbicane, Captain Nicholl ,
Michel Ardan, two dogs and some other
small farm animals. It is not quite Noah’s Ark—although Nicholl
laments the absence of more creatures. “The fact is," he notes, "that
cows, bulls, and horses, and all ruminants, would have been very
useful on the lunar continent.” Clearly these ambitious travelers
have big dreams for their new home.
But as their trip goes off course, the passengers temper their zeal for
colonization and devote more energy to . . . trying to get back home?
Guess again! They now become absorbed in studying the
topography of the moon from afar. The only thing Verne liked
better than writing about science, it seems, was writing about travel.
His most famous works were invariably about journeys—to the
center of the earth or the bottom of the sea or around the world. So
he comfortably switches gears from adventure story to travelogue,
and lets us look over the shoulders of his protagonists as they
observe mountains and craters and other geological formations.
This guide to lunar landmarks comprises a substantial portion of
Around the Moon, and is the slowest-moving part in a book that is
more lethargy-provoking than is necessary—a surprising state of
affairs given the life-or-death situation of his three heroes.
Fortunately for the reader, Verne recovers his sense of pacing and
narrative development in the closing pages, when he recounts the
final stages of his intrepid passengers’ adventure. He pulls out a few
surprises, and even adds an undersea exploration angle—perhaps
due to his work concurrently on Twenty Thousand Leagues Under
the Sea.
This book is not what readers call a “page-turner.” Yet Verne does
an impressive job of mustering the technological know-how of his
day in crafting his tale. By comparison, H.G. Wells’ The First Men in
the Moon (1901) is far less plausible (if more artfully written)
despite the advantage of having thirty more years of progress at the
author’s disposal when it was written. For this reason, Verne’s work,
for all its limitations, remains a milestone in the genre.
This article originally appeared on Blogcritics.
by Jules Verne
Reviewed by Ted Gioia
At the conclusion of his book From the Earth to the Moon (1865),
Jules Verne left his readers—and his astronauts—hanging in the
starry ether. The readers had it the worst, since Verne forced them
to wait five years before he resolved the plot complications in his
sequel Around the Moon.
But here’s a surprise . . . none of Verne’s space travelers seem at all
put out by the danger. Their commitment to science trumps
concerns for personal safety, and while the rest of us would be
scheming how to get back to terra firma, they are studying lunar
geography, debating hypotheses and taking notes. This undercuts
much of the natural drama of Verne’s tale, and makes the book seem
far more dated these days than would have been the case if the
author had published a more conventional narrative. Around the
Moon has the makings of a fine adventure story, but the author too
often forgets the pacing and prefers to show off his grasp of
scientific concepts.
Of course, drawing on the best ideas of the Ulysses S. Grant
administration, Verne makes a few blunders. Although he spends a
lot of time explaining how the reduction in gravity impacts the travel
of his projectile, he doesn’t have a good grasp
of how weightlessness might disrupt the
journey of his astronauts. They are pouring
glasses of wine, and cooking up meals as
though they were back on Mother Earth and
aiming for three stars in the Michelin Guide.
Verne brings back the same cast of characters
from his earlier book, and populates his
spaceship—really more a giant projectile
with room inside for a small crew—with
President Barbicane, Captain Nicholl ,
Michel Ardan, two dogs and some other
small farm animals. It is not quite Noah’s Ark—although Nicholl
laments the absence of more creatures. “The fact is," he notes, "that
cows, bulls, and horses, and all ruminants, would have been very
useful on the lunar continent.” Clearly these ambitious travelers
have big dreams for their new home.
But as their trip goes off course, the passengers temper their zeal for
colonization and devote more energy to . . . trying to get back home?
Guess again! They now become absorbed in studying the
topography of the moon from afar. The only thing Verne liked
better than writing about science, it seems, was writing about travel.
His most famous works were invariably about journeys—to the
center of the earth or the bottom of the sea or around the world. So
he comfortably switches gears from adventure story to travelogue,
and lets us look over the shoulders of his protagonists as they
observe mountains and craters and other geological formations.
This guide to lunar landmarks comprises a substantial portion of
Around the Moon, and is the slowest-moving part in a book that is
more lethargy-provoking than is necessary—a surprising state of
affairs given the life-or-death situation of his three heroes.
Fortunately for the reader, Verne recovers his sense of pacing and
narrative development in the closing pages, when he recounts the
final stages of his intrepid passengers’ adventure. He pulls out a few
surprises, and even adds an undersea exploration angle—perhaps
due to his work concurrently on Twenty Thousand Leagues Under
the Sea.
This book is not what readers call a “page-turner.” Yet Verne does
an impressive job of mustering the technological know-how of his
day in crafting his tale. By comparison, H.G. Wells’ The First Men in
the Moon (1901) is far less plausible (if more artfully written)
despite the advantage of having thirty more years of progress at the
author’s disposal when it was written. For this reason, Verne’s work,
for all its limitations, remains a milestone in the genre.
This article originally appeared on Blogcritics.
| conceptual fiction |
If the first book was Verne’s
equivalent of the Apollo 11 mission,
then his follow-up effort was the
predecessor of Apollo 13. The lunar
expedition goes wrong soon after
launch, and the three astronauts not
only face the prospect of failing in
their original plan of landing on the
moon, but are unlikely to survive
the trip. No one actually says:
“Houston, we have a problem,” but
otherwise this story is ready for
Tom Hanks treatment on the big
screen.
equivalent of the Apollo 11 mission,
then his follow-up effort was the
predecessor of Apollo 13. The lunar
expedition goes wrong soon after
launch, and the three astronauts not
only face the prospect of failing in
their original plan of landing on the
moon, but are unlikely to survive
the trip. No one actually says:
“Houston, we have a problem,” but
otherwise this story is ready for
Tom Hanks treatment on the big
screen.
Jules Verne
Conceptual Fiction:
A Reading List
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Home Page
Abbott, Edwin A.
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I, Robot
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Ballard, J.G.
Crash
Ballard, J.G.
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Fahrenheit 451
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The Illustrated Man
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The Martian Chronicles
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Something Wicked This Way
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A Clockwork Orange
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Childhood's End
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2001: A Space Odyssey
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Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
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The Man in the High Castle
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American Gods
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Burning Chrome
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The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Heinlein, Robert:
Stranger in a Strange Land
Heinlein, Robert
Time Enough for Love
Herbert, Frank
Dune
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Lathe of Heaven
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Leiber, Fritz
Conjure Wife
Lem, Stanislaw
His Master's Voice
Lem, Stanislaw
Solaris
Lethem, Jonathan
The Fortress of Solitude
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Márquez, Gabriel García
100 Years of Solitude
McCarthy, Cormac
The Road
Miller, Jr., Walter M.
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Mitchell, David
Cloud Atlas
Niffenegger, Audrey
The Time Traveler's Wife
Niven, Larry
Ringworld
Noon, Jeff
Vurt
Okri, Ben
The Famished Road
Pohl, Frederik
Gateway
Rowling, J.K.
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's
Stone
Saramago, José
Blindness
Silverberg, Robert
Dying Inside
Silverberg, Robert
Nightwings
Simak, Clifford
City
Simak, Clifford
The Trouble with Tycho
Sturgeon, Theodore
More Than Human
Sturgeon, Theodore
Some of Your Blood
Verne, Jules:
Around the Moon
Verne, Jules:
From the Earth to the Moon
Verne, Jules:
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Wallace, David Foster
Infinite Jest
Wells, H.G.
The First Men in the Moon
Wells, H.G.
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Wells, H.G.
The Time Machine
Zelazny, Roger
Lord of Light
Special Features
Notes on Conceptual Fiction
Curse You, Neil Armstrong!
Links to related sites
The New Canon
Great Books Guide
Ted Gioia's personal web site
SF Site
Jospeh Peschel
The Misread City
Disclosure: Conceptual Fiction and
its sister sites may receive review
copies and promotional materials
from publishers, authors,
publicists or other parties.
A Reading List
(with links to reviews)
Home Page
Abbott, Edwin A.
Flatland
Asimov, Isaac
The Foundation Trilogy
Asimov, Isaac
I, Robot
Atwood, Margaret
The Handmaid's Tale
Banks, Iain M.
The State of the Art
Ballard, J.G.
Crash
Ballard, J.G.
The Crystal World
Bradbury, Ray
Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury, Ray
The Illustrated Man
Bradbury, Ray
The Martian Chronicles
Bradbury, Ray
Something Wicked This Way
Comes
Burgess, Anthony
A Clockwork Orange
Chabon, Michael
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Clarke, Arthur C.
Childhood's End
Clarke, Arthur C.
A Fall of Moondust
Clarke, Arthur C.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Danielewski, Mark Z.
House of Leaves
Dick, Philip K.
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
Dick, Philip K.
The Man in the High Castle
Dick, Philip K.
Ubik
Gaiman, Neil
American Gods
Gibson, William
Burning Chrome
Gibson, William
Neuromancer
Haldeman, Joe
The Forever War
Hall, Steven
The Raw Shark Texts
Heinlein, Robert
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Heinlein, Robert:
Stranger in a Strange Land
Heinlein, Robert
Time Enough for Love
Herbert, Frank
Dune
Huxley, Aldous
Brave New World
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Lathe of Heaven
Le Guin, Ursula K.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Leiber, Fritz
Conjure Wife
Lem, Stanislaw
His Master's Voice
Lem, Stanislaw
Solaris
Lethem, Jonathan
The Fortress of Solitude
Lewis, C. S.
The Chronicles of Narnia
Márquez, Gabriel García
100 Years of Solitude
McCarthy, Cormac
The Road
Miller, Jr., Walter M.
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Mitchell, David
Cloud Atlas
Niffenegger, Audrey
The Time Traveler's Wife
Niven, Larry
Ringworld
Noon, Jeff
Vurt
Okri, Ben
The Famished Road
Pohl, Frederik
Gateway
Rowling, J.K.
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's
Stone
Saramago, José
Blindness
Silverberg, Robert
Dying Inside
Silverberg, Robert
Nightwings
Simak, Clifford
City
Simak, Clifford
The Trouble with Tycho
Sturgeon, Theodore
More Than Human
Sturgeon, Theodore
Some of Your Blood
Verne, Jules:
Around the Moon
Verne, Jules:
From the Earth to the Moon
Verne, Jules:
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Wallace, David Foster
Infinite Jest
Wells, H.G.
The First Men in the Moon
Wells, H.G.
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Wells, H.G.
The Time Machine
Zelazny, Roger
Lord of Light
Special Features
Notes on Conceptual Fiction
Curse You, Neil Armstrong!
Links to related sites
The New Canon
Great Books Guide
Ted Gioia's personal web site
SF Site
Jospeh Peschel
The Misread City
Disclosure: Conceptual Fiction and
its sister sites may receive review
copies and promotional materials
from publishers, authors,
publicists or other parties.