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Re: Journey 2 - Vernian reality checks

From: Raymond Macon <maconr~at~speakeasy.net>
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:01:44 -0700
To: "'Jules Verne Forum'" <jvf~at~gilead.org.il>

Friends,

 

I have been thoroughly enjoying this discussion and I have learned a lot. Let me make a confession here. I actually liked the newest Journey to the Center of the Earth film. I saw the 3-D version in the theater and purchased the DVD both in its 3-D and Blu-Ray manifestations. I thought it was far from schlock and more like a modern retelling of the story that Verne would have approved. I’ve yet to see Journey 2 but will probably do so in the near future.

 

Raymond

 

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-jvf~at~Gilead.org.il [mailto:owner-jvf~at~Gilead.org.il] On Behalf Of Garmt de Vries-Uiterweerd
Sent: Tuesday, 21 February, 2012 07:37
To: Jules Verne Forum
Subject: Re: Journey 2 - Vernian reality checks

 

On 21 February 2012 15:13, Rick Walter < <mailto:rick1walter~at~comcast.net> rick1walter~at~comcast.net> wrote:

>> in _Le Sphinx des glaces_ (The Ice Sphinx) … 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.

>

> Art started off this whole thread with a posting that ended on the

> above comment. Back then I should have commented that, in the same

> novel, Verne packaged one of his OWN characters as a “real person” who

> participated in “real happenings.”

 

Another interesting touch is the use of Corporal Glass, a real person who had already appeared in Poe's novel, and who discusses Poe's character Pym with Verne's character Guy.

 

Verne cleverly (and hardly noticeably) entangles various levels of reality. This even includes the meta-level, with the dedication "to the memory of Edgar Allan Poe".

 

I'm trying to think of earlier examples in literature where fictional stories are presented as reality, but their former status as a work of fiction is acknowledged and their author is mentioned by name. Of course, Verne cites his own "20.000 lieues" within the fictional context of "île mystérieuse", title and all, but it is described as a true account of true happenings. Smith and his friends aren't surprised by the fact that Nemo turns out to be a real person instead of a character in a novel.

 

What would be the first example of fiction/reality mixing, as is done in the Journey films, in "Sphinx", and in Craig's "Nautilus", to name but a few examples?

 

Cheers,

Garmt.

 
Received on Wed 22 Feb 2012 - 00:01:56 IST

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