# How Widely Read is Jules Verne Today? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 3, 2003, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widely-read-is-jules-verne-today/199366 "2003-09-03T17:59:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widely-read-is-jules-verne-today/199366/1 "2003-09-03T17:59:45Z")
I ask because I just picked up an older edition of “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea”-it appears to be from the 1920’s. I loved JV as a kid, and I managed to read most of his novels…including some of the obscure ones, like “Michael Strogoff”. At any rate, here we have an author from the 1870’s who is still fairly well known…is this becuase JV was the father of modern sci-fi? I always enjoyed the slightly victorian-modern blend that is JV-wish I could read it in the original french! I belive that some of the movies made , based on his novels are classics-like the Disney version of “20,000 Leagues” Anybody still write theses on Verne? Or is this literry mine mostly mined out? ---
**Author:** ![dinoboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/65b543/32.png) [@dinoboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dinoboy)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widely-read-is-jules-verne-today/199366/2 "2003-09-03T18:47:49Z")
Love Jules Verne, and that is a command! 🙂 I happen to have here on my desk (amid about thirty or so books) a copy of “Paris in the Twentieth Century”, an early work that still amazes me with its insight on the future. Don’t have the stats on if he is still that widely read but with some 70 books, I’ll wager he is. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widely-read-is-jules-verne-today/199366/3 "2003-09-03T18:50:28Z")
I’m a big fan of Jules Verne, and have an entire shelf devoted to him. There are other JV aficionados on this Board, too. And “Michael Strogoff” isn’t even _close_ to obscure – how about **The Blockade Runners** or **Tribulations of a Chinaman**? Classics Illustrated never did adaptaions of _them_, nor are there movie versions (there are several versions of MS, and a CI comic book). Don’t be satisfied with a 1920’s translation of JV, by the way. Most pre-1960s translations are horrible, and horribly butchered. If you don’t believe me, try and get hold of a copy of Walter James Miller’s **The Annotated 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea**. He shows how up to 1/3 of the novel has been cut by “translator” Louis Mercier/Merceis Lewis. Miller also annotated **From the Earth to the Moon** (which was similarly butchered), and published his own, restored translation of 20,000 Leagues. A new translation – the only complete one into English – of **The Mysterious Island** was just published less than a year ago. So there’s clealy plenty of new scholarship on Verne, and plenty of work to be done. Hugo Gernsback published a lot of Verne in the 1920s, to help fill out his science fiction pulps. Ace books published a lot of Verne in paperback in the late 1950s through the 1960s. Sadly, I don’t see an awful lot being published right now (outside of large, pricey editions, like MI). If you go into a bookstore you’ll be lucky to find the “basic” ouevre – \*\* 20,000 Leagues, Mysterious Island, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Around the World in 80 Days\*\*. Yet Verne wrote over 60 novels. If you scrounge through used bookstores and websites and libraries you ought to be able to find most of them. Lastly, Verne is still relevant. There are a lot of Verne websites. In **Robur the Conqueror** the heabier-than-air flying machine is made, not of steel, but of non-metallic composites. In **Tribulations of a Chinaman** , Verne has his heros wearing rubber survival suits after a shipwreck. He describes the actual state of science at his time and extrapolates to a reasonable future. His **The Hunt for the Meteor** has what I think is the first use in SF of a “tractor beam”. ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widely-read-is-jules-verne-today/199366/4 "2003-09-03T19:24:43Z")
Oh, yeah, what about Village in the Treetops? Is that obscure enough for you, **Cal**??? just kidding. (i hope that was really Verne and not some other guy) I don’t think Verne is as well read today, simply because there are sooo many others. of the big three, Journey and 20,000 Leagues i’ve read, but not Around the World. I know several sci-fi fans who’ve not read any of his stuff. but i speak for the younger generation of kids these days, maybe they’ll get around to him as they age. I will say myself he has never been high priority to read, but i do pick up stuff of his if i see them in the bargin bin while i grab like 30 random books. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widely-read-is-jules-verne-today/199366/5 "2003-09-03T22:45:24Z")
_War Of The Worlds_ is one of the best books I have ever read, & the time spent reading it is always rewarding. And, I just bought this handsome, brilliantly illustrated hardcover edition. [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0688131379//qid=1062629416/sr=1-4/ref=sr\_1\_4/102-2391715-2249762?v=glance&s=books&vi=pictures](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0688131379//qid=1062629416/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/102-2391715-2249762?v=glance&s=books&vi=pictures) Check out the illos. ---
**Author:** ![captainQwark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@captainQwark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/captainQwark)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widely-read-is-jules-verne-today/199366/6 "2003-09-03T23:38:36Z")
_War of the worlds_ was actually written by H.G. Wells ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widely-read-is-jules-verne-today/199366/7 "2003-09-04T00:13:18Z")
**dinoboy** , you actually liked _Paris in the 20th Century_? Personally, I thought there were very good reasons that it was rejected to the point of being lost for a century. But I will grant that despite its failings as a literary work, it does hold great historical interest. **Tars** , go get a copy of _Around the World in 80 Days_ and read the first chapter. I won’t command you to read any further than that, because I don’t need to. It’s been said that the quickest way to teach an English boy French is to give him a copy of that book with only the first half translated. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widely-read-is-jules-verne-today/199366/8 "2003-09-04T01:42:34Z")
> [@](#): > > Oh, yeah, what about Village in the Treetops? Is that obscure enough for you, Cal??? > just kidding. (i hope that was really Verne and not some other guy) Yeah, it’s Verne and it’s obscure. It’s about the only one f the Ace “Fitzroy” editions I don’t have. (What the hell does “Fitzroy” edition mean, anyway? It’s on the cover as if I should know this, but I don’t.) ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widely-read-is-jules-verne-today/199366/9 "2003-09-04T08:26:11Z")
it’s my mom’s from olden days, and claims to be the first translated edition. But it resides in Illinois currently with the rest of my books (and some other Verne book… Curse of Dr Calgari or something similar) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widely-read-is-jules-verne-today/199366/10 "2003-09-04T14:45:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by captainQwark \* > \*\*_War of the worlds_ was actually written by H.G. Wells \*\* i posted at the end of a _very long_ workday. Please forgive me, & chalk it up to being tired. :o :o :o ---
**Author:** ![captainQwark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@captainQwark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/captainQwark)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widely-read-is-jules-verne-today/199366/11 "2003-09-05T04:22:28Z")
> [@](#): > > please forgive me its okay. I didn’t think you were stupid or anything. ---
**Author:** ![Calliope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Calliope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calliope)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widely-read-is-jules-verne-today/199366/12 "2003-09-05T07:04:48Z")
My 12-year-old daughter has read _20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Around The World In 80 Days,_ and _Journey To The Centre of The Earth._ She loved all 3 and has re-read them aloud to my 9-year-old. I think Mr. Verne’s works will continue to endure. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widely-read-is-jules-verne-today/199366/13 "2003-09-05T11:42:05Z")
One thing I really have to give Verne credit for, and which probably contributes to his international popularity today – he had heroes of all nationalities, not just the French. He had Americans (**From the Earth to the Moon \*\* and its sequels, The Mysterious Island), British (Around the World in 80 Days), Russian (** Michael Strogoff\*\*), Canadian ( **The Fur Country** , Ned Land in **20,000 Leagues** ), German ( **A Journey to the Center of the Earth** ), Indian (\*\* 20,000 Leagues\*\*), Chinese ( **Tribulations of a Chinaman** ), and others. I don’t know of any other major author that has used heroes with such a variety of backgrounds. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widely-read-is-jules-verne-today/199366/14 "2003-09-05T14:01:51Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by CalMeacham \* > **One thing I really have to give Verne credit for, and which probably contributes to his international popularity today – he had heroes of all nationalities, not just the French. He had Americans (From the Earth to the Moon \*\* and its sequels, The Mysterious Island), British (Around the World in 80 Days), Russian ( Michael Strogoff**), Canadian ( **The Fur Country** , Ned Land in **20,000 Leagues** ), German ( **A Journey to the Center of the Earth** ), Indian (_\* 20,000 Leagues\*\*), Chinese ( **Tribulations of a Chinaman** ), and others. I don’t know of any other major author that has used heroes with such a variety of backgrounds. \*\* Except germans…, sometimes i wonder why… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widely-read-is-jules-verne-today/199366/15 "2003-09-05T14:43:42Z")
\*First off wonderful thread. Very nice to see such educated JV fans. Those book collector’s out there please try not to drool too hard on this post when you see what I found at a collectors convention in Seattle a few years ago. [This](http://julesverne.ca/images/book/full/20k_1873_sampsonlow_london.jpg) is a first edition 1872-3 Sampson Low, Marston, Low and Searle, London, Pictoral Green Cloth 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I also have "The Floating City (A), and the Blockade Runners second American edition. 1874. My wife and I are huge bibliophiles and avid first edition collectors. We have a Humidor and dry room for out antiquated books. I can not describe in the written word how good those old antiquated books smell when you open them. Deep musky inky, leathery smell…Fantastic. I am of the opinion that Verne not only transformed an entire societal viewpoint about the earth and space, from an ecclesiastical point to a scientific point. Expanding visually on peoples deepest imaginations. I have a framed pulp magazine short story "_A trip to the center of the earth"_ published in 1926 in Amazing Stories. People loved JV. and still do. If you have old texts of his **AT ALL COSTS HANG ON TO THEM** Pass them down, and never get rid of them… ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widely-read-is-jules-verne-today/199366/16 "2003-09-05T14:50:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Except germans…, sometimes i wonder why… Read the section of my post you quoted – I mentioned Germans (Prof. Leindenbrock and his nephew Axel) in **A Journey to the Center of the Earth**. (Unless I’m misremembering and they’re Swiss or something). Verne had plenty of reasons to be wary of the Germans, and they’re definitely the “heavies” in **The Begum’s Fortune** (where the French are the Good Guys), but Verne could have quarrels with a nationality and still cast them in starring roles. He disliked British imperialism, especially as related to Gibraltar, and poked fun at it in **Gil Braltar** (in the collection **Yesterday and Tomorrow** ) and in **Hector Servadac/Off on a Comet**. Yet he still has a British hero in **Around the World in 80 Days** and in other works. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widely-read-is-jules-verne-today/199366/17 "2003-09-05T15:06:20Z")
i dont think the heroes in **Journey** where Germans i think they where from Sweden or some other Scandinavian country, Verne hated Germans due to the eternal French-German rivalry and the events of the Franco-Prussian war. So he never used any german “good guy” and mostly used them as villains. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widely-read-is-jules-verne-today/199366/18 "2003-09-05T15:14:23Z")
i dont think the heroes in **Journey** where Germans i think they where from Sweden or some other Scandinavian country, Verne _hated_ Germans due to the eternal French-German rivalry and the events of the Franco-Prussian war. So he never used any german “good guy” and mostly used them as villains. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widely-read-is-jules-verne-today/199366/19 "2003-09-05T15:15:54Z")
Wow mi first double-post!, complete with the obligatory third post . ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2003, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widely-read-is-jules-verne-today/199366/20 "2003-09-05T17:44:14Z")
**Frodo** writes: > [@](#): > > i dont think the heroes in Journey where Germans i think they where from Sweden or some other Scandinavian country The opening lines of **A Journey to the Center of the Earth** : > [@](#): > > LOOKING back to all that has occurred to me since that eventful day, I am scarcely able to believe in the reality of my adventures. They were truly so wonderful that even now I am bewildered when I think of them. > > My uncle was a German, having married my mother’s sister, an Englishwoman… (from an on-line copy) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-widely-read-is-jules-verne-today/199366.md?page=2)