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Costello's book

From: Arthur B. Evans <aevans2~at~mail.tds.net>
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 18:47:28 -0500
To: "Jules Verne Forum" <jvf~at~math.technion.ac.il>

Tim,

Yes, Costello's book is quite informative and (for its time, 1978) pretty
solid in terms of its scholarship
There are a few errors here and there--ex. JV's age when he died (78, not
87)--but these are just quibbles. Overall, I think it's a very good intro to
JV's life and works.

However, as you point out--except for a general critical bibliography at the
end--Costello does not cite specific sources for what he presents in his
text. Its documentational apparatus is pretty weak. Footnotes or endnotes
would've helped. But, then again, it was probably not intended to be a
scholarly work but, rather, to target the general reading public.

I would recommend it. It's much better, for example, than the recent
Lottman biography which almost never talks about Verne's writing! See Brian
Taves's review of this book in _Science Fiction Studies_ online at:
http://www.uiowa.edu/~sfs/taves73.htm

Best,
Art
Received on Fri 04 Feb 2000 - 02:46:05 IST

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