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Re: Verne's health as a young man.

From: BGYKrauth <BGYKrauth~at~t-online.de>
Date: Sat, 17 Feb 2007 23:05:41 +0100
To: "Jules Verne Forum" <jvf~at~gilead.org.il>

indeed, this is a very good argumentation. I allways was wondering how a young man can allready suffer of so many things - on the other side: the living climate especially as in a town as Paris in this century with its upcoming industries was shurely not very healthy - smell of all kind, smoke of all sources, dirt of every possible and unpossible sources.. I am persuaded that the original text about cleaness and health based in "500 millions de la Bégum" was maybe even like a light flash to Jules Verne and maybe also one more reason why he agreed to settle down in Amiens and not to stay in Paris...

Bernhard
 
 

mail from:
 
Bernhard Krauth
 
have a look at:

www.jules-verne.eu

www.jules-verne-club.de
 
www.bernhard-krauth.de
 
www.bremerhavenpilot.de

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: ian.thompson~at~ges.gla.ac.uk
  To: jvf~at~Gilead.org.il
  Sent: Saturday, February 17, 2007 10:21 PM
  Subject: Verne's health as a young man.



  Most biographies of Verne mention Verne's poor health as a young man, non
  more so than William Butcher in his book Jules Verne.The Definitive
  Biography. Chapter 7 gives a graphic biological account of Verne's
  digestive disorders, together with a catalogue of other complaints ranging
  from facial paralysis to 'flu, migraines,bilious attacks,headaches etc.The
  picture of his early years in Paris is of a young man with a weak
  constitution and physically and mentally distressed by his illnesses.
  Conversely, on his 1859 visit to Scotland at the age of only 31, there are
  no signs of these maladies.By taking "Backwards to Britain" as an
  itinerary and by referring to maps, I calculate that he travelled on seven
  trains, three steamers, 6 coach journeys and walked over 30 miles
  (including the strenuous ascent of Arthur's Seat and several steep climbs
  from Princes Street to the Old Town in Edinburgh). In addition to this
  exhausting schedule in only 5 days, Verne consumed two gargantuan meals
  (at Mr B's house and at Oakley Castle), ate copiously at other times and
  had a substantial alcohol intake (many pints of beer, rum,port,sherry,
  whisky, claret and sauternes). All this exertion was in a foreign land
  whose language he could not speak, and for the most part in cold, windy,
  rainy weather. He followed this with a strenuous visit to London.
  For a young man who was subject to poor health, this was remarkable and
  tends to support Bill Butcher's thesis that much of Verne's health
  problems were related to the stress of living in Paris, struggling to make
  a succesful career and to supporting a wife and family in the early years
  of his marriage. It seems that when he got away from the capital and was
  exposed to exciting situations which stimulated his imagination (as in
  Scotland and to a lesser extent Le Crotoy) his health improved
  dramatically, suggesting that in part his illnesses were psycho-somatic at
  this stage in his life.
  Ian Thompson
Received on Sun 18 Feb 2007 - 00:07:15 IST

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