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Re: Journey and Journey 2

From: Harry Hayfield <harryhayfield~at~gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:06:46 +0000
To: "Jules Verne Forum" <jvf~at~gilead.org.il>

Which is precisely the angle I took when blogging "Journey to the
Centre of the Earth":
  
September 7th 1863: We are making absolutely rapid progress back
towards Hamburg and I think I might have solved our publication problem
at the same time. We had just left Paris station when the train
suddenly halted due to there being a tree on the line blown down by a
recent storm. Thankfully with someone like Hans on board it didn't take
long for the tree to be moved, but the suddeness of the stop had flung
me directly into the path of another passenger who was carrying several
sheets of paper with him and as a result they went all over the
carriage floor. I apolgised profusely for bumping into him and started
to pick up the papers. As I did I noted that they were all headed with
the same title "Paris in the 20th century" so I asked if he was a
writer for a history journal. He shook his head and said that he was a
novelist from Amiens in France and had been to his literary agent in
Paris to see what he thought of his latest submission. I decided to
read a page that I had picked up and said that I was very impressed
with his work and congratulated him on his progress. It turned out
however that the idea had been rejected by the publisher, but he
thanked me for my opinion. I then had an idea and asked the person to
sit down next to me at our seats. I explained that I had been on an
expedition and that having returned myself and my uncle had decided to
publish the log of the expedition as a form of story however neither
myself or my uncle were very good storytellers and I wanted to know if
once I had finished the log I could send him a copy to turn into a
story. He thanked me for the offer and wrote down his name and address
just as Hans came back. He took one look at Hans and blurted out
"Hercules!" to which Hans bowed and casually bent his arms. I have
explained what I have done to my uncle and he agreed that it was the
best course of action to take. Anyone reading it would think that it
was a work of complete fiction but that only ourselves and Hans would
know the truth. He asked me the person's name and I had to admit that I
didn't know it so had a look at the card the person had gave me and on
it was written M. Jules Verne. Not a name I am instantly familar with,
but I hope he likes this log (and I dare say that Professor Smith won't
mind either!)

  
------ Original Message ------
From: "Rick Walter" <rick1walter~at~comcast.net>
To: "Jules Verne Forum" <jvf~at~gilead.org.il>
Sent: 20/02/2012 15:32:33
Subject: Re: Journey and Journey 2
>>the events in Verne's novels *really happened*
>
>Maybe Verne studies will be moving into the arena that Sherlockians
>have staked out for the last 80 years: i.e., that Nemo, Fogg,
>Lidenbrock & Co. are actual people and Verne merely their humble
>biographer.
>
>All the best,
>
>Rick
>
>Frederick Paul Walter
>Albuquerque, New Mexico
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From:aevans2 tds.net
> To:Jules Verne Forum
> Sent: Monday, February 20, 2012 8:10 AM
> Subject: Journey and Journey 2
>
> Dear Vernian friends,
>
> This weekend I went to see the film Journey 2: The Mysterious Island with Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson and
> the young actor named Josh Hutcherson who appeared in Journey to the
> Center of the Earth in 3D with Brendan Fraser. It was mildly
> entertaining but, of course, has nothing to do with Verne (although
> the volcano spitting out gold reminded me of The Golden Volcano).
>
> One important feature shared by both films, however, is the notion
> that the events in Verne's novels *really happened* and were not just
> fiction. This is the supposed secret shared by most "Vernians"
> around the world. So the films' protagonists (ironically) follow in
> the footsteps of Lidenbrock, Axel, Cyrus Smith, Nemo et al. and,
> during the course of their many adventures, confirm the real
> existence of these original Vernian characters.
>
> In one way, this notion is a useful gimmick to avoid direct
> comparisons between the films and Verne's novels (which would be very
> unflattering to the films). But I also found it fascinating as a
> verisimilitude-building device. And I remember Verne doing exactly
> the same thing in _Le Sphinx des glaces_ (The Ice Sphinx). In this
> novel Edgar Allan Poe's Arthur Gordon Pym is treated as a *real*
> person whose adventures at the South Pole *really happened* according
> to Captain Len Guy. Yet another irony.
>
> Best,
> Art
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
Received on Mon 20 Feb 2012 - 18:06:58 IST

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