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Re: From the Earth to the Moon--Does it require a sequel?

From: Walter J Miller <wjm2~at~nyu.edu>
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2006 14:37:48 -0500
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>

The 1995 updated version of my Annotated Jules Verne: From the Earth to theMoon (Gramercy/Random House) has a lot to say about all of this.  Cheers!  Walter James Miller----- Original Message -----

From: thomas mccormick <tom_amity~at~hotmail.com>

Date: Tuesday, February 7, 2006 1:46 pm

Subject: Re: From the Earth to the Moon--Does it require a sequel?

> Brian is right, of course - Verne's knew perfectly well that it
> was
> physically impossible for a cannon to launch Barbicane & Co. on
> their moon
> voyage. On the other hand, he was probably aware that bunsen cells
> couldn't
> have powered the Nautilus. In neither case, methinks, should we
> attach too
> much importance to the impossibilities. The important thing for
> Verne was
> that he knew perfectly well that someday humanity would discover a
> source of
> power that was capable of propelling us to the moon and driving
> giant
> submarines. He didn't know what kind of source it would be, but he
> knew it
> was going to happen. His description of a power source is of less
> importance
> than his description of his voyagers' adventures and their
> response thereto.
>
> Ergo, I don't think From the Earth to the Moon is a satire, and I
> think it
> incommensurable with Poe's Hans Pfall which obviously IS a satire.
>
> Tom McCormick
>
>
> >From: Garmt de Vries <G.deVries~at~phys.uu.nl>
> >Reply-To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf@Gilead.org.il>
> >To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf@Gilead.org.il>
> >Subject: Re: From the Earth to the Moon--Does it require a sequel?
> >Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2006 07:52:32 +0100 (CET)
> >
> >Brian,
> >
> >I agree with you on the change in tone between De la Terre a la
> Lune and
> >Autour de la Lune. But it seems that Verne really planned a two-
> part story
> >from the start. In a letter to Hetzel of 4 Sep, 1863, the first
> letter in
> >which De la Terre a la Lune is even mentioned, he writes: "I'm
> working on
> >the second volume, but what I'm really anxious about, is to see
> the first
> >one in print. Are you giving orders to continue it? I would
> especially like
> >to hear your opinion on the end of the first: that's the
> important point."
> >
> >Cheers,
> >Garmt.
> >
> >On Mon, 6 Feb 2006, Brian Taves wrote:
> >
> >>
> >>The cartoon image of the lightbulb appearing above a character's
> head is
> >>familiar to all of us, and is in fact to my mind a rather
> amusing but also
> >>accurate portrayal of how a fresh idea may suddenly illuminate
> our
> >>thinking.
> >>
> >>Such occurred to me, a few days ago, and I'd like to share it
> with the
> >>Forum
> >>for the reactions of others.
> >>
> >>I first read a (no doubt watered-down) Scholastic Press version
> of From
> >>the
> >>Earth to the Moon as my first Verne book, in the fifth grade,
> age ten, in
> >>the
> >>spring of 1969. I found it singularly unsatisfying; nowhere in
> the little
> >>paperback was there any mention of a sequel. Nonetheless, some
> months
> >>later, I
> >>had entered my own lifelong thrall to Verne and discovered
> Around the
> >>Moon,
> >>discovering that the story of FEM had a more satisfactory
> conclusion.>>
> >>Yet, in subsequently realizing the five year span between the
> composition>>of the two stories, something has always remained
> unsatisfactory about the
> >>relationship between the two works. And it may be linked to
> that need for
> >>closure, for "a happy ending" that AM offers. Judged purely as
> a literary
> >>achievement, FEM outweighs AM, when the two are measured as separate
> >>novels.
> >>
> >>Much has been written on this Forum about Verne's choice of a
> cannon, and
> >>whether he was indeed likely aware that his solution to the
> problem of
> >>lunar
> >>travel was ultimately no more practical than that of Poe's Hans
> Pfaal.>>
> >>That, however, seems to me a matter of secondary interest. More
> to the
> >>point, as highlighted in Walter James Miller's Annotated JV
> translation of
> >>FEM (the fabulous version I have just been rereading), is the
> fact that
> >>the whole background of artillery serves as a perfect launch pad for
> >>Verne's own ironic commentaries on militarism, nationalism,
> capitalism,>>and sectionalism. FEM may be best understood as
> satire, rather than, more
> >>conventionally, a scientific novel.
> >>
> >>And it is with that in mind that it seems to me it is quite
> possible to
> >>read FEM, not as the first part of the story of a lunar journey
> that it
> >>became, but a stand-alone volume. One which is open-ended, yet
> seems to
> >>indicate that nature has intervened and the ambition of man has been
> >>thwarted. Just as Herr Schultz sought the destruction of
> Franceville and
> >>instead launched a satellite, so too did the Gun Club fail in
> their aim,
> >>instead creating yet another satellite. The Club has failed,
> just as they
> >>will again in the ultimate volume of the trilogy, which returns
> to the
> >>tone of FEM. A later team of American astronomers hunting for a
> >>meteor--whether or not having the help of an interfering French
> >>scientist--similarly find nature overwhelming their dreams.
> Thanks to
> >>modern literary reappraisals of Verne, we can recognize in him a
> writer of
> >>much greater depth, and the seemingly sudden, "surprise ending"
> of FEM is
> >>indeed inevitable, and the implied death of all the protagonists
> (despite>>the hopes of Maston, who has been foolish throughout the
> novel), an
> >>experiment with a different type of ending. So too were such
> other early
> >>Verne novels as Hatteras and Paris au XX Siecle intended to end
> in the
> >>death of the protagonist.
> >>
> >>Vernian sequels don't always merge together easily Indeed, the
> addition of
> >>Around the Moon rather distorts FEM, losing the materialist view of
> >>American culture that formed the first volume. The futher
> adventures of
> >>the Gun Club to change the Earth's axis lacks the lightness of
> FEM, or
> >>Around the Moon. Reading FEM and AM together results in
> emphasizing the
> >>science, just as making the background of Captain Nemo concrete
> in L'Ile
> >>mysterieuse robs 20K of its ambiguity and universality of
> experience.>>Maitre du monde does not answer the questions raised
> by Robur le
> >>conquerant; instead it multiplies them, and if it ends the life
> of Robur,
> >>it leaves his true motivations and background never to be known.
> >>
> >>Perhaps, then, it is not so unfortunate that at least in
> English, FEM has
> >>often appeared separately, far more times than its sequel has,
> and indeed
> >>the two are surprisingly rarely published together.
> >>
> >>Given the above, I see that my own one-time belief that FEM
> demanded a
> >>sequel may have been a result of an incorrect reading, or only
> one way of
> >>reading of FEM. Perhaps a sequel was possible, but certainly not
> >>essential, from a literary standpoint, any more than L'Ile mys.
> had to
> >>resolve the open ends of 20K and Les Enfants du Capitaine Grant.
> My
> >>assumption has always been that Verne always planned FEM to have
> a sequel,
> >>but I open the question to our expert biographers on that more
> practical>>point. And, I would suggest the notion that FEM is
> indeed a singular
> >>volume, able to stand alone.
> >>
> >>
> >>Brian Taves
> >>Motion Picture/Broadcasting/Recorded Sound Division
> >>Library of Congress
> >>101 Independence Avenue, S.E. Washington, D.C. 20540-4692
> >>Telephone: 202-707-9930; 202-707-2371 (fax)
> >>Email: btav@loc.gov
> >>
> >>
> >>Disclaimer--All opinions expressed are my own.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
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> Received on Thu 02 Mar 2006 - 21:37:57 IST

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