# The Jules Verne thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 24, 2011, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jules-verne-thread/579595 "2011-04-24T22:59:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jules-verne-thread/579595/1 "2011-04-24T22:59:51Z")
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](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Begum's_Fortune) ), 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). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jules-verne-thread/579595/2 "2011-04-24T23:57:07Z")
Obviously not an obscure work, but my favorite Verne work is _Around the World in Eighty Days_. ---
**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:** [April 25, 2011, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jules-verne-thread/579595/3 "2011-04-25T00:36:30Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jules-verne-thread/579595/4 "2011-04-25T00:52:25Z")
I loved JV as a kid. He was my entre to SF. Alas, all my reading was done in Junior High or earlier, so my tastes might be on the juvenile side. I nominate _Journey to the Center of the Earth_. I was convinced it was partly true, and was ready to go! ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jules-verne-thread/579595/5 "2011-04-25T01:08:28Z")
[http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search.html/?default\_prefix=author\_id&sort\_order=downloads&query=60](http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search.html/?default_prefix=author_id&sort_order=downloads&query=60) ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jules-verne-thread/579595/6 "2011-04-25T01:43:59Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Obviously not an obscure work, but my favorite Verne work is _Around the World in Eighty Days_. 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…☹ ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jules-verne-thread/579595/7 "2011-04-25T01:48:29Z")
> [@antonio107](#): > > 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…☹ I know you do not want spoilers, but to fully enjoy “The mysterious island” you need to read first “Twenty thousand leagues under the sea” ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jules-verne-thread/579595/8 "2011-04-25T01:55:07Z")
My favorite was always Journey to the Center of the Earth. Has anyone read any in French? ---
**Author:** ![UncaStuart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncastuart/32/404_2.png) [@UncaStuart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaStuart)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jules-verne-thread/579595/9 "2011-04-25T02:24:08Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > My favorite was always Journey to the Center of the Earth. > > Has anyone read any in French? 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. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jules-verne-thread/579595/10 "2011-04-25T02:30:28Z")
_20,000_ for sure. I read it when I moved to a new town and didn’t have any friends yet, and it made for awesome escapism. ---
**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:** [April 25, 2011, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jules-verne-thread/579595/11 "2011-04-25T11:44:02Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jules-verne-thread/579595/12 "2011-04-25T13:22:42Z")
I love _ **Paris In The 20th Century** _, despite the downer ending, a fascinating work! ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jules-verne-thread/579595/13 "2011-04-25T13:25:03Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > I love _ **Paris In The 20th Century** _, despite the downer ending, a fascinating work! 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. ---
**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:** [April 25, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jules-verne-thread/579595/14 "2011-04-25T19:05:13Z")
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?