Hector Servadac: Travels and Adventures Through the Solar System

Hector Servadac #2

by Jules Verne

"Off on a Comet (French: Hector Servadac) is an 1877 science fiction novel by Jules Verne.

The story starts with a comet that touches the Earth in its flight and collects a few small chunks of it. Some forty people of various nations and ages are condemned to a two-year-long journey on the comet. They form a mini-society and coping with the hostile environment of the comet (mostly the cold). The size of the 'comet' is about 2300 kilometers in diameter - far larger than any comet or asteroid that actually exists." (Quote from wikipedia.org)

About the Author

"Jules Gabriel Verne (February 8, 1828 - March 24, 1905) was a French author who pioneered the science-fiction genre. He is best known for novels such as Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea (1870), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873). Verne wrote about space, air, and underwater travel before air travel and practical submarines were invented, and before practical means of space travel had been devised. He is the third most translated author in the world, according to Index Translationum. Some of his books have been made into films. Verne, along with H. G. Wells, is often popularly referred to as the "Father of Science Fiction"." (Quote from wikipedia.org)

Table of Contents

Publisher's Preface; Introduction; Book I.; A Challenge; Captain Servadac And His Orderly; Interrupted Effusions; A Convulsion Of Nature; A Mysterious Sea; The Captain Makes An Exploration; Ben Zoof Watches In Vain; Venus In Perilous Proximity; Inquiries Unsatisfied; A Search For Algeria; An Island Tomb; At The Mercy Of The Winds; A Royal Salute; Sensitive Nationality; An Enigma From The Sea; The Residuum Of A Continent; A Second Enigma; An Unexpected Population; Gallia's Governor General; A Light On Th

Genres: Science Fiction, Classics, Fiction, Adventure, French Literature, Fantasy, Speculative Fiction

270 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1877

About the author

Novels of French writer Jules Gabriel Verne, considered the founder of modern science fiction, include Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864) and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873).

This author who pioneered the genre. People best know him for Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870).

Verne wrote about space, air, and underwater travel before people invented navigable aircraft and practical submarines and devised any means of spacecraft. He ranks behind Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie as the second most translated author of all time. People made his prominent films. People often refer to Verne alongside Herbert George Wells as the "father of science fiction."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_V...

Reviews

[Henry Avila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captain Hector Servadac of the French Army has an appointment the next day a duel, but he's not going to meet the Russian Count Wassili Timascheff his opponent, don't disparage Servadac; he's a brave man maybe a little too sensitive ... The dispute? A charming woman of course , the Captain is French . In 1877 in colonial North Africa, Algeria to be precise, men get bored easily they need their exorcising (correct spelling). Nevertheless Comet "Gallia" hits the Earth hard, taking chunks of land with it (probably water also). Just before these honorable men can honorably shoot each other. Thirty-six people, 3 French , 10 Spanish, 8 Russians, 13 British, 1 German and 1 Italian , (a little girl and only female) strangely no natives. Who somehow quite miraculously survived this great upheaval... they are taken on the wildest ride in history, from near the Sun...almost striking the cloudy, mysterious planet Venus to passing the orbit of the red giant Jupiter and beyond. Boiling and freezing in the long, two year billions of miles bizarre journey , through the fascinating unknown Solar System. Hector is one of the very reluctant passengers, along too his army buddy and orderly with the unlikely nickname of Ben Zoof. So is Count Timascheff (the feud, what feud?). With his yacht Dobryna and devoted crew, yes the comet has a sea naturally. The intrepid Count cruises around that exotic ocean exploring this unlikely liquid surface , he finds an unusual object...Astronomer Palmyrin Rosett, Servadac's old perpetually bad tempered teacher he had at school, rescued from a frozen bleak, lonely island. The cantankerous yet intelligent scientist gives them bad news, still valuable information Gallia will collide with Earth again (they need a plan desperately and have twenty- four months, to get one). On this Golden Comet yes it has vast gold deposits, Old Sol rises in the west and sinks in the east, the day is twelve hours long and Gallia, has a small unimpressive moon too. Gravity is one seventh of Terra's, the atmosphere even has clouds, an active volatile volcano luckily is found. Keeping the inhabitants warm in the frigid winter they live comfortably. Plenty of food under the volcano, while outside temperatures are minus -70 Fahrenheit , that's right below zero, ouch...A frozen wasteland indeed, time slowly creeps by and the Earth grows larger, every day in the black sky....At last a crazy idea, build a balloon and float back home...Jules Verne's fans will like this unique voyage, forget science just enjoy the spectacular ride...

[Mahdi Lotfi · Rating 2 out of 5]

داستان تخیلی از ژول ورن

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

What kid of my generation didn't want to be an astronaut when he or she grew up?

Seriously, this was a wild thrill ride of a book, as well as a fun fantasy. Jules Verne was a master of his time, and writings like this prove it.

[Gary Inbinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
The premise, that a comet could collide with earth and carry off a little chunk of it along with its atmosphere, a bit of land and ocean, a couple of small vessels and 36 individuals, is absurd. However, Verne did incorporate some interesting science facts regarding physics, astronomy, geology and vulcanism, at least as they were known in 1877. Sadly, he also incorporated ethnic stereotypes that, while common in the literature of the time, mar the story. However, the stereotyping and the interaction among the continental European characters in their subterranean volcanic comet colony and a separate British garrison on a tiny remnant of Gibraltar (a Nostradamus-like prediction of Brexit?) might have been Verne's way of commenting on the national and international relations and politics of the time. In that regard, he provides insight into the culture and history of the period that has relevance to the world of today. To quote Shakespeare: “What’s past is prologue.”

[Tanabrus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una bella storia di fantascienza ottocentesca, chiaramente a leggerla ora balzano agli occhi diverse cose impossibili anche solo da concepire e parecchie semplificazioni eccessive, ma il secolo e mezzo trascorso dalla scrittura di questo libro spiega abbondantemente queste cose.

L'inizio sembra un libro postapocalittico, con il protagonista che si ritrova all'improvviso isolato da tutto e tutti, senza più contatti con il resto del continente africano e della colonia francese.
Il resto del mondo pare essere scomparso, sommerso dalle acque, e stranissimi fenomeni fisici stanno accadendo: la durata del giorno è cambiata, il sole sorge a ovest, si possono compiere balzi enormi.

Assieme a lui e al suo aiutante, sono sopravvissuti un conte russo e l'equipaggio della sua nave, un gruppo di spagnoli sfaticati e una guarnigione inglese di stanza a Gibilterra (e che si rifiuta di credere che l'Inghilterra non sia più al suo posto). Oltre a un usuraio ebreo incredibilmente stereotipato, a un professore astronomo e a una ragazzina sarda.

Il libro è piacevole, e anche quando si scopre la verità (anticipata in maniera becera dal titolo inglese del libro) e perdiamo l'elemento apocalittico rimane estremamente gradevole.
Preferisco parecchio il Verne fantascientifico a quello meramente avventuroso, che giocoforza tende a ripetersi.


Comunque da notare come, rispetto a centocinquant'anni fa, adesso una riscrittura del libro richiederebbe di includere diversi personaggi femminili, svariati intrecci amorosi e probabilmente un paio di delitti... altri tempi, più lineari e ingenui.

[Owlseyes]

Yesterday, I guess I told my friend Gary I had many of Verne's books. But not this one.
-Gary, soon a co-reading?

[Gavin Stephenson-Jackman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of lesser known books by Jules Verne and again shows the wonderful imagination of this classic author. During the night there is an earthquake near the entrance to the Mediterranean and when the inhabitants of the area wake up the world had changed. Unknown to them at the time the earth has come in contact with a comet and they and small portions of the earth have been swept up by the comment and carried away.

An English garrison on Gibraltar, a part of Algeria and some other chunks of the earth, water and atmosphere, and inhabitants are now on a two year journey through the solar system. Captain Servadac and his adjutant Ben Zoof find themselves alone on the Algerian shore when the disaster strikes. After exploring their new island they encounter Count Timascheff and his Russian crew who were swept up on the Count’s yacht. Together the Count and Servadac explore their new world which they name Galia. They eventually gather together a ragtag group of 36 individuals who inhabit this new globe, though the English refuse to abandon their post.

One of the inhabitants, French astronomer Palmyrin Rosette establishes many of the facts about the comet including the day and time of its return to earth. The real questions are how are they to survive the cold of space and each other during their two year orbit? How are they going to get off the comet and back home?

Verne’s imagination never ceases to amaze me as any thought of space travel would be unthinkable to most in 1877 when the book was published. It is also amazing the level of detail and believable accuracy that is in the account with respect to the journey through space.

[Rex Libris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A comet grazes the earth, and a group of people get swept up onto the comet and live on it as it speeds its way through the solar system.

One of Verne's lesser novels, and it is easy to see why it is so. There is just not a lot of action in it like one gets in 20,000 Leagues, Mysterious Island, or Journey to the Center of the Earth.

[Farseer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 15th novel of the Voyages Extraordinaries is a return to the science fiction genre, with a premise that is more outlandish than anything Verne had written before.


What is it about?: French officer Hector Servadac and a group of characters of different nationalities must face the consequences of a catastrophe that forces them to travel through the vast spaces of the solar system. The action takes place in the Mediterranean, part of which is torn from the Earth into space by the glancing collision of a comet.


Verne, of course, had written science fiction before. Sometimes it was something low-key like a vehicle that did not yet exist in his time. Sometimes it's something more fantastic, like a trip to the Moon inside a projectile shot by a cannon or a journey through vast cave systems kilometres under the surface of the Earth. But even in those cases I had found it easy to suspend disbelief because Verne always made it sound plausible, not too far removed from reality, at least with the science that was known at the time. He wrote stories that were fantastic but somewhat grounded. In his old age Verne commented that H. G. Wells, another pioneer of scientific fiction who was born 38 years after Verne, used more fantastic premises, like a time machine, but he (Verne) preferred to ground his stories in current understanding of what's scientifically possible. Kind of a familiar debate in modern science fiction, too.

In the case of this novel, however, I had a hard time suspending disbelief, and it bothered me. The premise is completely out-there: a comet tearing off a piece of Earth's surface, which is somehow transplanted to the comet without destroying the structures on it, without killing the people on it and with enough air to breathe...

Verne and his editor Hetzel, who were not idiots, were perfectly aware of how far they had gone this time from any semblance of scientific verisimilitude. This is from the preface that Hetzel wrote for this story:

In one way "Off on a Comet" shows a marked contrast to Verne's earlier books. Not only does it invade a region of remotest space, but the author here abandons his usual scrupulously scientific attitude and gives his fancy freer rein. In order that he may escort us through the depths of immeasurable space, to show us what astronomy really knows of conditions there and upon the other planets, Verne asks us to accept a situation which is in a sense self-contradictory. The earth and a comet are brought twice into collision without mankind in general, or even our astronomers, becoming conscious of the fact. Moreover several people from widely scattered places are carried off by the comet and returned uninjured. Yet further, the comet snatches and carries away with it for the convenience of its travelers, both air and water. Little, useful tracts of earth are picked up and, as it were, turned over and clapped down right side up again upon the comet's surface. Even ships pass uninjured through, this remarkable somersault. These events all belong to the realm of fairyland.

If the situation were reproduced in actuality, if ever a comet should come into collision with the earth, we can conceive two scientifically possible results. If the comet were of such attenuation, such almost infinitesimal mass as some of these celestial wanderers seem to be, we can imagine our earth self-protective and possibly unharmed. If, on the other hand, the comet had even a hundredth part of the size and solidity and weight which Verne confers upon his monster so as to give his travelers a home―in that case the collision would be unspeakably disastrous—especially to the unlucky individuals who occupied the exact point of contact.

But once granted the initial and the closing extravagance, the departure and return of his diameters, the alpha and omega of his tale, how closely the author clings to facts between! How closely he follows, and imparts to his readers, the scientific probabilities of the universe beyond our earth, the actual knowledge so hard won by our astronomers! Other authors who, since Verne, have told of trips through the planetary and stellar universe have given free rein to fancy, to dreams of what might be found. Verne has endeavored to impart only what is known to exist.

I think that mentioning fairyland is a honest assessment. The beginning of the novel has a distinct fairy-tale atmosphere. Verne has fun having the characters, still without knowledge of what has happened, explore the bizarre changes in gravity, in the length of the day and so on.

After having exhausted that topic, the novel becomes a more normal adventure story as the characters (all of them male except for a little girl) explore their new surroundings and attempt to ensure their immediate survival. Afterwards we get to a more speculative part, where the characters get to witness close-hand some of the planets of the solar system.

In fact, in the second volume of the novel, we get some of those popular science info-dumps that were present in Verne's first novels. These info-dumps had mostly disappear in Verne's adventure stories, but here they come back and, for example, a whole chapter is devoted to describing science's current knowledge of comets. Current for 1877, of course: a fair amount of this novel's science is wrong with today's understanding. For example, Verne believed the theory that the lowest temperature that could be reached in space was around -60 degrees Celcius (we now know that absolute zero is around -273 Celsius). Nevertheless, these passages have a certain charm for me. Others may differ, but they can always skip them if needed.

Despite the outdated science, it is fair to say that once we get pass the fantastic premise, we are back to Verne's rational way of thinking. After the fairy-tale beginning the novel gets closer to Verne's normal way of mixing adventure and speculative content.

It is often said that Verne was an optimistic believer in progress and science, but that in the latest part of his life he got more disenchanted and had a more pessimistic view of human progress. This view is partly true, of course, but I wonder how much of it was due to Hetzel's influence. The editor had a lot of power over Verne's work. He had rejected the novel Paris in the Twentieth Century, which Verne wrote before any of the Extraordinary Voyages and was only published almost a century after his death. In that novel, Verne painted a grim, dystopian view of a technological future civilization which, in Hetzel's opinion, had limited commercial appeal. Hetzel, instead, accepted Five Weeks in a Balloon, and encouraged Verne to write more novels in that style. Hetzel encouraged Verne to write more adventure and less speculative fiction, so I imagine he was less than pleased with this novel's premise. Maybe Hetzel's commercial instinct was right, because Off in a Comet was less successful than previous Verne novels in terms of sales. After Hetzel died, he would be succeeded by his son, who gave Verne more freedom, which may in part explain why his latest works are less optimistic.

Coming back to this novel, Verne's correspondence with Hetzel tells us that his original intention was to kill all the characters, which may be why he named his hero Hector Servadac (Servadac, read backwards, is "cadavres", the French word for "corpses"). Hetzel, however, demanded a less tragic ending, which resulted in more outlandishness in the final part of the novel, but also in a scene with a lot of visual impact.

I should probably mention that there is a character in the novel who is a Jewish merchant depicted as extremely greedy and miserly. He is used as comic relief. Obviously Verne, born two centuries ago, did not have a modern sensitivity about racial stereotyping. We have seen that in his depiction of indigenous cultures in some of his novels. I think the lack of modern sensitivities is to be expected in a novel written in this period. In this case, however, even at that time it caused a letter of complaint from the chief rabbi of Paris to Hetzel and Verne. The editor and the author co-signed a reply indicating they had had no intention of offending anyone, and promising to make corrections in the next edition. Hetzel took care of making those corrections, which amounted to removing mentions of the character being Jewish, which was not much of an improvement since it was still obvious (and many translations were from the first edition before that change was made). In the rest of Verne's work, at least, there was not another case of stereotyped portrayal of a Jewish character.


Enjoyment factor: Not among my favorite Verne novels. The premise is too outlandish for my taste. I don't think that it fits well with Verne's rational way of developing his plots. On the other hand, it does have interesting elements once you get pass that, and it's still entertaining to read. Modern readers have to make allowances for the limitations in the knowledge of cosmology at the time. But it's a very early example of a novel about the exploration of the solar system, at a time when the only precedents made no attempt to look at it from a scientific point of view.


Next up: The Child of the Cavern, aka The Underground City


See all my Verne reviews here: https://www.sffworld.com/forum/thread...

[Sotiris Karaiskos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely one of the most imaginative books of the author, where he goes beyond the limits of science and wanders more in the realm of fantasy. The cosmic conflict with which our story begins could not, of course, leave survivors of space, but that did not stop the author from creating a story about how people of different nationalities would deal with such a situation. These reactions range from practical solutions that scientists still think of today to funny actions stemming from the national prejudices of the time. The truth is, however, that neither in the field of science nor in the field of satire are we in the best moment of the author, although this is certainly a testimony of his unbridled imagination.

Σίγουρα ένα από τα πιο ευφάνταστα βιβλία του συγγραφέα, όπου ξεπερνάει τα όρια της επιστήμης και περισσότερο περιπλανιέται στο βασίλειο της φαντασίας. Η κοσμική σύγκρουση με την οποία ξεκινάει η ιστορία μας φυσικά δεν θα μπορούσε να αφήσει επιζώντες ναυαγούς του διαστήματος αλλά αυτό δεν εμπόδισε τον συγγραφέα από το να δημιουργήσει μία ιστορία για το πώς θα αντιμετώπιζαν μία τέτοια κατάσταση άνθρωποι από διαφορετικές εθνικότητες. Αυτές οι αντιδράσεις ποικίλουν από πρακτικές λύσεις που σκέφτονται οι επιστήμονες ακόμα και σήμερα μέχρι αστείες ενέργειες που πηγάζουν από τις εθνικές προκαταλήψεις της εποχής. Η αλήθεια είναι όμως ότι ούτε στο πεδίο της επιστήμης, ούτε στο πεδίο της σάτιρας βρισκόμαστε στην καλύτερη στιγμή του συγγραφέα, αν και πρόκειται σίγουρα για μία μαρτυρία της αχαλίνωτης φαντασίας του.

[Kuszma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Servadac kapitány, a francia hadsereg éke pödörnivaló bajuszával együtt Algériában üldögél, és szerelmes verset ír szíve hölgyének. De hirtelen – ó, sacrebleu! – beüt a kataklizma, és a világ összedőlni látszik. (Ennek legnagyobb nyertese az említett hölgy, mert így nem kell elolvasnia a kapitány úr firkálmányát, ami még az Előretolt Helyőrség kulturális magazinjába is csak figyelmetlenségből kerülhetne be.) Mikor aztán Servadac és legénye feleszmél, és kidörgöli a csipát szeméből, látja ám, hogy már semmi sem ugyanolyan, mint régen. Viszont – hogy valami jót is mondjak – legalább másmilyen. A gravitáció hetedére csökkent (következésképpen hőseink akkorákat ugranak, mint a Pókember), algériai állomáshelyükből sziget lett, a Nap máshol kel fel, és kétszer olyan gyorsan halad az égen, de ami a lényeg: úgy néz ki, csak ők maradtak eleven lények széles e világon. Jártukban-keltükben azért találkoznak még más túlélőkkel is, oroszokkal, angolokkal, spanyolokkal, satöbbikkel, akiket Verne fel is használ arra, hogy nemzetkarakterológiai töltetű vicceket sütögethessen el kárukra. (Hozzáteszem: nem, az oroszok nem vodkáznak. Ami azt illeti, az oroszok elég jellegtelenek, valószínűleg Verne nem tudott róluk sokat, csak éppen annyit, hogy szimpatizálni kell velük.) Ők aztán úgy nagyjából kéttucatnyian nekiveselkednek a túlélésnek, és korai Survivor-szereplőket megszégyenítő módon igájukba hajtják a megváltozott körülményeket, mielőtt azok hajtanák igába őket.

Hogy is mondjam. Szórakoztató, az igaz. Ezzel együtt nekem már nemegyszer sok volt, ahogy Verne botcsinálta wannabe-asztrofizikusként összehord hetet-havat bolygópályákról, tektonikáról, geográfiáról, és szinte erotikus élvezettel hempereg bennük. A hollywoodi katasztrófafilmek forgatókönyvíróinak arcán pedig a szégyen lázrózsái kigyúlnak, mert így, ilyen ártatlan lelkesültséggel semmibe venni a tudomány tényeit, hát azt még ők se merték eddig. Lássuk, mi történik ebben a könyvben, röviden összefoglalva: egy hatalmas tellúr üstökös rácuppan a Földre, de csak súrolja, és magával ragadja – mint kutya a bogáncsot – a bolygó egy darabját, szereplőstül, légköröstül együtt. Aztán tesz egy kört a nap körül, és visszaviszi őket. Slusszpoén: akik a Földön maradtak, azok ezt észre sem vették. Fel is vetődik Servadacban az utolsó lapokon, hogy hátha csak álmodták az egészet. Nem kell ehhez álmodni, Hector. Elég, ha odaadod a gyeplőt möszijő Verne kezébe. Tudom, tudom, ha valaki élvezni akarja Verne-t, akkor ezeket a dolgokat egyszerűen el kell engednie – de mit tegyek, most valahogy nem éreztem magamban erőt, hogy ennyi tudományos tényként leszögezett nyavalyás böszmeséget beszürcsöljek, bármilyen dekoratív pohárkában tálalták elém. És nem hallgatnám el azt sem, hogy enyhén irritált a regény fiúkollégium-szaga is – szerzőnk ugyanis mindösszesen egyetlen egy nőnemű személyt képes elhelyezni a szövegben, ráadásul az is egy kiskorú, gondolom, a cukiságfaktor végett.

Szóval ez is egy olyan könyv lett, amit 20-25 évvel később olvastam el, mint kellett volna.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by this book, I actually enjoyed it more that I thought I would. I started reading it a little skeptical but I admit I should have had faith in Jules Verne and his ability to bring even the most far reaching of stories to life. The basic premise of this book is that a comet side swipes Earth and in doing so steals away a small part of the planet, complete with people, animals and plants. We then follow these survivors as they endeavour to go about their daily lives and figure out what has happened and why. A bit like an extreme version of being stranded we see the interplay between the different characters and how each copes with their new reality in their own way. Verne has a way of making his characters feel very real and believable, keeping their humanity at the forefront of the story, while still progressing with the tale itself. A thoroughly good read and one I would certainly recommend.

[for-much-deliberation ... · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Jules Verne fan, I'll admit that this isn't one of his best novels, however I'd still give it 4 stars for that element of adventure therein that Mr. Verne was definitely a master of...

Vague summary: ...imagine a chunk of Earth being stolen away by a comet complete with a store of breathable air and water, strangely no humans, animals, or other terrestrial objects, are injured by this collision, and proceed to exist on this 'flaming' rock for about 2 years! The other strange thing is that just the right people have been captured, like an astronomer, a trader with necessary cargo, soldiers, ...

As I said its not the best tale but the adventure and dream of such really happening, makes for an exciting story... I think any Jules Verne fan would still enjoy this!!!

[Deity World · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good scientific book read

[Giulio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simpatico

[~Calyre~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Soyez tranquille, mon capitaine, dit Ben-Zouf. Il vivra, j’en réponds. Ces petits hommes-là, c’est tout nerfs ! J’en ai vu de plus secs que lui, et qui étaient revenus de plus loin !
– Et d’où étaient-ils revenus, Ben-Zouf ?
– D’Égypte, mon capitaine, dans une belle boîte peinturlurée !
– C’étaient des momies, imbécile !
– Comme vous dites, mon capitaine !"

"En finirons-nous ? demanda le professeur. Le volume d’une sphère…
– Est égal au produit de la surface… répondit Hector Servadac en tâtonnant, multiplié…
�� Par le tiers du rayon, monsieur ! s’écria Palmyrin Rosette. Par le tiers du rayon ! Est-ce fini ?
– À peu près ! Le tiers du rayon de Gallia étant de cent vingt-trois, trois, trois, trois, trois, trois…
– Trois, trois, trois, trois… répéta Ben-Zouf, en parcourant la gamme des sons.
– Silence ! cria le professeur, sérieusement irrité. Contentez-vous des deux premières décimales, et négligez les autres.
– Je néglige, répondit Hector Servadac.

Un jour, le 12 octobre, Ben-Zouf, qui rôdait autour de la grande salle de Nina-Ruche, dans laquelle le professeur se trouvait en ce moment, l’entendit pousser un cri retentissant.
Ben-Zouf courut à lui.
"Vous vous êtes fait mal, sans doute ? lui demanda-t-il du ton dont il aurait dit : Comment vous portez-vous ?
– Eurêka ! te dis-je, eurêka !" répondit Palmyrin Rosette, qui trépignait comme un fou. Il y avait dans son transport à la fois du contentement et de la rage.
"Eurêka ? redit Ben-Zouf.
– Oui, eurêka ! Sais-tu ce que cela veut dire ?
– Non.
– Eh bien, va-t’en au diable !"
"Heureusement, pensa l’ordonnance, que lorsqu’il ne veut pas répondre, M. Rosette y met au moins des formes !"
Et il s’en alla, non au diable, mais trouver Hector Servadac.
"Mon capitaine, dit-il, il y a du nouveau.
– Qu’est-ce donc ?
– Le savant… eh bien ! il a « eurêké…".
– Il a trouvé !… s’écria le capitaine Servadac. Mais qu’a-t-il trouvé ?
– Cela, je ne le sais pas.
– Eh ! c’est ce qu’il faudrait précisément savoir ! "

[Rafael Ontivero · Rating 4 out of 5]

La edición leída ha sido la de Plaza y Janés, que se corresponde con la de Editorial Molino realizada por F. Cabañas Ventura y, resumiendo, es una mierda pinchada en un palo de mierda.

Y como muestra, un botón. Edición original:

“Et cela fait, les deux jeunes époux n'en furent pas moins heureux n'avoir point été L’Adam et l'Eve d'un nouveau monde.”

Edición de P&J/Molino:

“Pablo y Nina vivieron felices, como deben serlo y lo son sin duda los que, amándose con toda el alma, ven sacrificado su amor por el matrimonio.”

Edición de Sáenz de Jubera (traductor desconocido por mi):

“Los dos jóvenes esposos, no fueron menos felices que si hubieran sido el Adán y la Eva de un nuevo mundo”.

Edición de Aguilar (traducción de Antonio Álvarez Práxedes):

“Realizado tal acto, los dos jóvenes esposos no fueron menos felices por no haber podido ser el Adán y la Eva de un nuevo mundo.”

No hay más preguntas, señoría.

Por lo demás, una obra un tanto atípica del autor, en la que expresa un increíble odio hacia el judaísmo y en la que, debido a los pocos conocimientos de la época, no describe con mucho detalle los planetas del sistema solar.

[Lorelei · Rating 3 out of 5]

I LOVED this! I read it so long ago I can barely remember many of the details, but I remember the feeling of delight I had in reading it, that still brings a smile to my face just reading the title. Now I have to go find it again so I can enjoy it in real life, not just as a vague memory.

***

I can only conclude (adding to my previous review) that the edition of this book I read as I child must have been either abridged, or I completely missed the sad stereotypes, carried sadly to a point of caricature, that inhabit this book. The story of the comet ride is still marvelous as are so many of Verne's tales, but I would be hard put to recommend this book to anyone, unless with a large warning. Whether the characters are sympathetic (the French and Russians) or not (including but not limited to the English and the Jew), they are really quite offensive.

[Juan Carlos Santillán · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sólo Verne es capaz de contarnos algo absolutamente inverosímil y hacernos dejar la lógica de lado para disfrutar su escritura. En esta caso en particular, nos encontramos casi ante un caso de apología a la xenofobia, pero cada personaje es tan simpático en su exagerado estereotipo que no podemos hacer menos que sonreír y rendirnos ante el genio francés.

[Tomislav · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was originally published in 1877 in France, with the title “Hector Servadac.” As happened with many of Jules Verne’s works, there was a very rapid translation to English containing numerous alterations, paraphrasings, and rearrangements. In 1911, that translation was further shortened and published using the title “Off On A Comet.” I read a free kindle edition of that 1911 translation, that was made available from the public domain.

I have two issues to take with this novel. First, Jules Verne is known for his scientific accuracy, at least to the state of knowledge of his time, and for the foresight of his speculative projections. However, in this novel, the transfer of a small group of survivors from the west Mediterranean region of Earth to the surface of a passing comet is completely unrealistic, even for its time. But perhaps we can give him a pass on that, as there are even today, numerous science fiction books, in which one big mysterious infeasibility occurs in order to create the setting. I’m thinking now of works by Clifford Simak and Robert Charles Wilson, for example.

Secondly, all writing is a product of the culture of its times, but this novel goes beyond ethnic stereotyping into outright antisemitism. Isaac Hakkabut is not just a heartless wily usurer, hardened miser, and skinflint who happens to be a Jew - but Jews are described as typically so. Apparently, this was in the original writing, not something introduced by the translators. After receiving objections, a cleaned up version was produced, did not sell well, and was never translated to English.

I read most of the usual Jules Verne novels when I was a boy, and have enjoyed re-reading them occasionally, as an adult. I was really happy to find and read a very typical Jules Verne adventure, in which I didn’t already know what was going to happen. Jules Verne played around with the celestial numbers of orbits and rotations, as the characters figure out where they are – and that was kind of fun too. The closing chapters in particular were exciting and unexpected. However, the antisemitism interfered with my enjoyment, and pulled my review back down from 4* to 3*.

[Teemu Öhman · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the great things about Jules Verne’s novels is that in the framework of science and technology of the mid and late 1800s, with some stretch of the imagination, the stories could have been true. Unfortunately, with Off on a Comet (which is a very poorly chosen spoiler title; the original title is the name of the main character, Hector Servadac) this is not the case. The premise of the story is complete nonsense. You could consider it a fairytale, but when almost everything else is what you’d expect from Verne, the contrast is too big and the story just doesn’t work. The beginning and the end of the book are so silly that it doesn’t really help that the majority of the book is OK.

Another problematic thing with the book is racism. Of course it’s present in several other books of his, but the continuous anti-Semitism depicted here is something I cannot recall seeing anywhere else. Numerous comments about Spanish peasants weren’t particularly nice either.

The craziness of the plot and the racism are unfortunate, because Off on a Comet presents a rare case of 19th century interplanetary scifi. Verne gets to educate the reader about various planets, and as a person highly interested in the history of planetary science, this was really fascinating to me. As usual, Verne has his science mostly correct (as it was known at the time). However, this doesn't apply to comets or their impacts, although at one point one of the characters does state correctly that in the impact the temperature would rise to millions of degrees.

Despite its shortcomings, Off on a Comet contains some excellent quotes that show Verne's love for science and what we nowadays would call basic research:
- "What a fool I was not to have learnt more astronomy!"

- "'And what, I wonder, is the use of all these big figures?', said Ben Zoof to his master, when next day they were alone together.
'That's just the charm of them, my good fellow,' was the captain's cool reply, 'that they are of no use whatever.'"

- "'One great use of learning,' said Count Timascheff with a smile, 'is to make us know our own ignorance.'"

I certainly wouldn’t recommend Off on a Comet as an introduction to Verne, but for Verne fans and for those interested in depictions of interplanetary travel in early science fiction it is of course a must.

3.25/5

[Biblioteca de evocaciones]

Un variopinto grupo de personajes viaja a lo largo del espacio, cabalgando un astro que revoluciona nuestro sistema y permitiéndonos ver de cerca satélites, meteoritos, asteroides y varios de los planetas. Algo distinto en la obra de Julio Verne, es una novela de fantasía (es tan inexacto en sus explicaciones que, a mi juicio, no es ciencia ficción). El autor realiza una sátira de la cultura europea y presenta personajes de distintos países y culturas, estereotipados hasta las nauseas (llegando muy lejos con cierto prestamista que deja muy mal parado a cierto pueblo antiguo y monoteísta). Aunque es algo crítico con la ambición colonial de franceses e ingleses, no critica del todo el imperialismo sino lo que toma como algo natural. Me gustó mucho, pero no es ni por asomo de los mejores del autor.

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I gave this book a low star rating because it was really anti-Semitic. The story was kind of charming if unrealistic. A comet comes close to earth, somehow picks up land and ocean, people and livestock, and travels the solar system, it comes back to earth a couple years later and everyone is able to escape the comet. They travel close to mercury and the weather gets hot, then far out by Jupiter and the comet gets cold enough that all the oceans freeze. The inhabitants manage to hole up in a cave in an active volcano to stay warm. There is plenty of food for them all and they spend nights skating on the frozen sea under a starry sky.

Aside from a somewhat cute plot, Verne relies on complete stereotypes for the majority of his characters. Spanish people are lazy, English are stodgy and love to eat, Jews are money hungry assholes who'd rather live miserably by themselves than share, French people are vivacious and smart. (Can you guess which nationality Jules Verne was?) I realize this was written at a different time, with different attitudes, but it really soured the book for me. Below are some examples.

French people are lively, vivacious and love to speak...their own language:

"Captain Servadac, with the uncontrolled vivacity natural to a Frenchman, was the first to speak."

"It need hardly be said that the conversation had been carried on in French, a language which is generally known both by Russians and Englishmen--a circumstance that is probably in some measure to be accounted for by the refusal of Frenchmen to learn either Russian or English"

The English Love to Colonize:

"English-like, the two officers had made themselves thoroughly at home in the station abroad in which it had been their lot to be quartered. The faculty of colonization seems to be indigenous to the native character; once let an Englishman plant his national standard on the surface of the moon, and it would not be long before a colony was established around it."

Englishmen are little piggies:

"They had no fear of starvation. Their island was mined with subterranean stores, more than ample for thirteen men--nay, for thirteen Englishmen--for the next five years at least"

"We want to know whether, as the days are only six hours long, we are to have but two meals instead of four"..."Eccentricities of nature," said the major, cannot interfere with military regulations. It is true that there will be but an interval of an hour and a half between them, but the rule stands good--four meals a day"...'Hurrah!' shouted the soldiers.

Spanish people are lazy and love castanets:

"Ah, the vagabonds! the rascals! the thieves!" suddenly exclaimed Ben Zoof, stamping his foot with rage...No, I don't mean the birds: I mean those lazy beggars that are shirking their work." ...Listening attentively, Servadac and his associates distinctly recognized a human voice, accompanied by the notes of a guitar and by the measured click of castanets. "Spaniards!" said Servadac. "No mistake about that, sir, replied Ben Zoof, "A spaniard would rattle his castanets at the cannon's mouth"

"Do you not think we ought to explain our situation to the Spaniards? [the fact that they were now on a comet and not on Earth]. No, no, your Excellency," burst in Ben Zoof, emphatically; "the fellows are chicken hearted enough already; only tell them what has happened and in sheer despondency they will not do another stroke of work. "Besides," said Lieutenant Procope, who took very much the same view as the orderly, "they are so miserably ignorant, they would be sure to misunderstand you."

Jules Verne hates Jews:

And then a voice, at once gruff and harsh was heard vociferating, "My money: my money: when will you pay me my money? ... "Pay me you shall; yes, by the God of Abraham, you shall pay me." "A Jew!" Exclaimed Servadac. "Ay, sir, a German Jew," said Ben Zoof.

"...He promptly ordered the Jew to hold his tongue at once..Servadac surveyed him leisurely. He was a man of about fifty, but from his appearance might well have been taken for at least ten years older. Small and skinny, with eyes bright and cunning, a hooked nose, a short yellow beard, unkempt hair, huge feet, and long bony hands, he presented all the typical characteristics of the German Jew, the heartless, wily usurer, the hardened miser and skinflint. As iron is attracted to the magnet, so was this Shylock attracted by the sight of god, nor would he have hesitated to draw the life-blood of his creditors, if by such means he could secure his claims."

"Ha! ha!" laughed Ben Zoof, aloud; "it will be fine sport to watch the old Jew's face, when he is made to comprehend that he is flying away millions and millions of leagues from all his debtors."

"He told him that he had everything to gain under the new system of nights and days, for, instead of living the Jew's ordinary life of a century, he would reach to the age of two centuries."

Then there are countless more episodes of the Jew trying to cheat them. He weighs down the scales so that their measurements of the comet's orbit are slightly off. He makes them buy provisions even though there are only like 20 people on the whole comet and no economies. He refuses to leave his ship full of goods and live in the volcano despite the subzero temperatures because he is so greedy.

There are also some Russians and a little Italian girl.

[Xristina Karvouni · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another well thought out science fiction novel by Verne, although the antisemitism in the original version of the story which is noticeable from the very beginning doesn't really help when it comes to fully enjoying it to say the least...

[Michael Murphy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Even dryer than journey to the center of the earth

[Lloyd Earickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had this in my head as one of my favorite Jules Verne books.  When I was in fifth grade, I went on a big kick reading Jules Verne and HG Wells books: A Journey to the Center of the Earth, Around the World in Eighty Days, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, The War in the Air, The Invisible Man, In the Year 2889, From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon , and of course this book, Off on a Comet!  Rereading it recently, I did not find it quite as compelling as I recalled, although I still enjoyed it thoroughly.

Most Jules Verne books are known for being rigorously, almost obsessively, accurate in their premises (at least based on the science of the time).  In our recent review for From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon, we discussed at length just how realistic and accurate both the concept and the math were, and how predictive that novel proved to be for the Apollo program a century later.  Off on a Comet! is a very different matter.  It starts and ends with an utterly outlandish premise, that a chunk of the Earth should be scooped up by a comet without anyone hardly noticing, and then that it should be returned, again without anyone hardly noticing.

In speculative fiction writing, we often refer to this as a “by.”  This is shorthand for some outlandish premise that we are asking the reader to accept, usually early in a book.  (Note: it is sometimes referred to as a “buy,” meaning something the readers will buy into, but I prefer the “by” in the sense of something that that readers will allow us to bypass without detailed justification.)  This can be a lot of different things, and the specifics vary be genre.  In fantasy, for instance, you get a lot of extra “bys” by virtue of the genre: readers of fantasy expect there to be magic, talking plants, and other things that are impossible in the “real” world.  If you’re writing realistic fiction, on the other hand, you’re not going to get as many bys, and the ones you do get to use will be smaller.

There’s a lot more that we could talk about on this idea, and we could probably even do a whole post on it in the future, but let’s turn out attention to science fiction.  When I read science fiction, I give authors relatively few bys.  In other words, I expect my science fiction to be pretty scientifically rigorous, or at least well-justified.  If there is going to be an exception to this, like a poorly explained way of breaking the lightspeed barrier, it needs to be established up front, near the start of the story, or I’m not going to accept it.  I bring all of this up because Off on a Comet! starts us off with a giant by: the aforementioned premise that a chunk of the Earth can be scooped off by a comet, and the inhabitants would not even realize what was happening.

This is a pretty major ask, and it only stays within readers’ suspension of disbelief because of the rigor of all of the science between those outlandish bookends.  Once the characters are “off on a comet,” their attempts to ascertain what happened, characterize the effects, and understand their new circumstances are as rigorous as in any Verne novel.  These investigations are accompanied by some really dramatic imagery, and it was that imagery that stuck in my head from my first reading of the book all those years ago.  There was one instance in which a perfectly still body of water stays liquid far below freezing until someone throws a stone into it, when it all freezes at once.

In this reread, while I still enjoyed the book, I did not find the story quite as compelling as I remembered it.  Because I already knew the answers to all of the mysteries, the investigations did not hold my attention as much, and the characters who get swept up by the comet are not among Verne’s most compelling or iconic personages.  I still enjoyed it, but it was perhaps not quite as worthy of rereading as was From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon, or some of the better-known Verne titles.  All of that being said, if you haven’t read this before, I would absolutely recommend that you give it a try soon.

[Wally Flangers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who can write a science fiction adventure novel better than Jules Verne? That’s what I want to know…. The dude was a God damn genius…. Even after reading a short synopsis and thinking the book is going to be ridiculous and potentially a waste of time, Jules Verne always manages to make the impossible seem possible (or at least in your imagination). He does this, not only by telling a great story, but by adding elements of scientific data to back up the argument.

Some of the science crap that he spits out in his books, again and again, is more often than not, over my head…. But it sounds educated enough for someone like me to swallow and that makes the story more fascinating. Combining a great cast of characters with adventure and an array of scientific knowledge is something that I haven’t seen any other author achieve (with H.G. Wells and Ray Bradbury excluded) without boring the shit out of me.

“Off on a Comet” (a.k.a. “Hector Servadac) was published in 1877 and is book #15 in “The Extraordinary Voyages” series. There have been many film adaptations and comic books / graphic novels based on the story, so it must have been well received, but I cannot vouch for any of them. But the novel, I can…. It has a very simple premise and I will give you a very brief synopsis without giving away too much information….

The story takes place sometime in the 1800’s…. A comet crosses paths with planet Earth and grabs a small piece of it, carrying with it a small group of people of Russian, French, English, and Spanish nationalities. Upon impact, all of the castaways believe they have just experienced an earthquake or some sort of natural disaster but are not fully aware of what has happened (or what’s to come). Hector Servadac, the main character in the story, starts to take note of some changes in atmospheric pressure and gravity and devises a plan with his companion to go on a voyage to search for the answers….

Overall, I really enjoyed “Off on a Comet”…. The main characters personality traits and tendencies seemed familiar with others in the Extraordinary Voyages series. Jules Verne almost seems to add somewhat of a Sherlock Holmes-type of personality to his lead roles. It’s always a dude who can handle strange occurrences while still keeping his cool and using his brain to get out of whatever jam the occurrence has put him and his gang in. It’s hard to explain, but it’s like a dude who welcomes problems so it gives him something to solve. And while everyone else is freaking out, he remains cool, calm and collected.

I spent most of the story wondering how it was going to end and all the possibilities of things that are bound to go wrong (such as running out of food) along the way. But, with each turn of the page came an unexpected surprise. My favorite part was probably the incorporation of the balloon, which Verne always seemed to want to throw into his novels in passing or otherwise.

I suppose what kept this book from reaching a 4 star rating from me was, in fact, the ending. It came too abrupt in my opinion and felt rushed. I would have rather gotten used to the idea of using a balloon and then focus on time leading up to departure and a longer journey, once aboard. I had too many questions at the end.

Interestingly enough, after doing a little research I learned that Verne originally had a different ending to this book. One, which I actually would have liked A LOT better…. Call me a realist (or a sadist), but I prefer sad endings or ones where the bad guys “win” an opposed to the fairy-tale. Anyway, Verne’s publisher had a big problem with the type of dramatic idea that Verne was planning to wrap up the novel with and forced him to change it to a happier ending to appease the masses and not terrify his young audiences.

FINAL VERDICT: I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. “Off on a Comet” was a terrific story…. Although the events that take place would never happen, it certainly is an interesting piece of fiction. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of adventure novels and the works of Jules Verne. It’s not his best novel, but it’s among my favorites.

[Pinko Palest]

one of the best Verne novels in most respects, but the overt racism spoils it. There is an appalling portrait of a jew, as well as a lot of stereotyping about russians and spaniards. Without the racism, it would have been five stars

[Rodrigo Sanchez Fernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buenísimo, excelentes reflexiones del egoísmo y la codicia !!!😎

[Bonnie Toenniessen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Outdated ethnic stereotypes made it difficult to read, and the ambiguous ending was unsatisfying. Otherwise a well-developed and fun adventure.