I know there are quite a few Verne fans here. A recent thread reminded me of “The Begum’s Fortune” ( The Begum's Fortune - Wikipedia ), which, while it contains a lot of anti-German bias, remains my favorite Verne story. Mostly because I enjoy simple but profound concepts (two cities in competition, each a mirror of its designer’s pesonality and beliefs), and because it is rather short, and I like lean stories. It isnt the most famous of his works, by far, which made me wonder about other stories he’d have written that I wouldnt be aware of, but that could mean a lot to other Dopers.
So, what’s your favorite Verne story (whatever form, regular book, novella or short story) and why?
I’m more interested in the little known stories, but you can totally put one of the big names, if you feel like it, just tell why it’s your favorite one (which can be different from being his “best”).
So, shoot (or fire a giant steam-powered cannon at it).
Agreed. I read somewhere that the quickest way to teach an English boy French was to give him a copy of Around the World with only the first half translated. He’d learn French eagerly, rather than be left hanging. I’ve a natural inclination towards science fiction, rather than towards mystery or thrillers or whatever it is you’d call Around the World, but it’s just such an excellent example of its genre.
I read it for the first time on my Kobo last month. Loved it! It prompted me to start reading “the mysterious island,” which I’m going through very, very slowly. No spoilers, SVP! I’m only about a quarter of the way through–I don’t read quickly…
In high school French class back in the 60s, as an antidote to reading Les Miserables, I went to the library and read all the Verne I could find.
It’s hard for me to pick out a favorite, but I think Journey just edges by 20000 for me. Although I thought the mechanical elephant in The Demon of Cawnpore was nifty.
I’ve read quite a bit of Verne, and have a case devoted to his stuff, but I still haven’t read it all. Amazingly, new stuff keeps getting found – in the past 15 years they’ve translated several works that have never been translated into English before, and released new editions of his older stuff shorn of the additions his son Michael made.
Although I like bits out of many of his books, I have to admit that I probably have read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea more often than any of his other books, and in more different translations. There’s really no excuse to read the corrupt, outdated, and abridged Mercier Lewis translation that has become the “standard”. Since the 1960s there has been an avalanche of new translations. I have at least four of them on my shelf. I recommend Walter James Miller’s Annotated 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, even though it is Mercier’s, because Miller fills in the missing portions and corrects the mistakes,and because this edition has the longest and fullest footnotes of any edition (including Miller’s own later translation).
for nontraditional and unfamiliar Verne, have a look at The Child of the Caverns/Black Diamonds/The Black Indies/The Underground City for something weird. it features a young man falling for a mysterious young woman who has a protector that dresses in dark clothes and a cape and a mask, who sneaks in and out of trapdoors and kills people to protect her. Gee, where have we heard about a story like that by a French author? This predates The Phantom of the Opera by 32 years. And it’s set in an underground mine.
Yeah, I put “Paris In The 20th Century” in the same bin as “The Begum’s fortune”. Not very well known Verne works but if you ever read them, you’re going to remember them for a long time.
Eh, I was very disappointed with Paris in the 20th Century. It seemed almost like the main character was supposed to be a Rip Van Winkle-type: Everything that was new to Verne’s readers was also new to him. Hasn’t he been living his whole life in this society? And then there are the absurdities like the piano that also transforms into every other piece of furniture-- Even if you could make something like that, would you want to use the same appliance for your stove and your toilet? And why is it called a piano specifically, instead of one of the many other things it is?
