Un drame dans les airs (Jules VERNE)

by Jules Verne

Pioneering science-fiction writer Jules Verne is the second most translated author of all time (after Agatha Christie.) This translation of his short story A Voyage in a Balloon first appeared in Sartain's Union Magazine of Literature and Art in a May 1852 edition, making it the first of the French writer's stories to be published in English. As Verne writes in this story: "May this terrific recital, while it instructs those who read it, not discourage the explorers of the routes of air."

Genres: Classics, Short Stories, Adventure, Science Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, France

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1851

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

[Mimi · Rating 1 out of 5]

The premisse of this story is a bit of a personal nightmare to me, being trapped in the basket of a balloon with a stranger who's clearly a basket case (silly pun intended).

The rambling of the character makes this a strenuous read, and the reciting of early day balloonists failed to engage me. Even the dangerous and arduous trip in the balloon failed to grab my attention.

It seems my memory of the few Jules Verne books I read as a kid serves me right: they're hit or miss. I either love them (like Around the World in 80 Days), or not like them at all (like this one).

[Noor · Rating 3 out of 5]

شخص يحل ضيفا غير متوقع على رياضي قبل رحلته على متن منطاد كان على وشك الإقلاع... لكن المشكلة الفعلية تظهر عند اقتراب نهاية الرحلة فالضيف اختار المنطاد كوسيلة للموت ...
و هنا يتجلى إمام ذلك الرياضي حقيقة الأمر فالكثير من المواقف تتطلب منا خلق اللحظة المناسبة للتحرك لا إنتظارها !

[teatunesandtales · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was quite intense! Nice, short steampunk adventure.

[Alfredo Sirica · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stelle

Un divertente ed istruttivo racconto su un uomo che vuole seguire le orme dei suoi eroi... Peccato che questi siano tutti martiri della scienza, morti in viaggi aerostatici accidentati!

[Beatriz Rosales · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aterrador, al iniciar un viaje en globo ningún pasajero quisiera que los acompañara un suicida, pues en este drama sucede, y las descripción de como un pasajero busca el momento más peligroso, la ruta mas tormentosa; el otro intenta por todos los medios y apelando a la suerte poder salvarse. Un viaje en el que el tercer pasajero es el lector.

[Khaled Al-Bahnsawy · Rating 2 out of 5]

عودة لإنتاجات مؤسسة هنداوي للطباعة والنشر و ترجمات الصديق زياد إبراهيم
هذه المرة مع كتابات أبو الخيال العلمي الحقيقي الفرنسي جول فيرن.
الحقيقة هذه القصة القصيرة غريبه جدا فهي اقل ما قرات لجول فيرن غرابة القصة تنبع من انها اشبه بوصف مطول فكرة السفر بالمنطاد
تقريبا جول فيرن أراد ان يضع رؤيته حول هذه الصرعة الحديثة في وقته والحديث عن إيجابيها وسلبيتها و تاريخها ومخاطرها فبدلا من ان يضع ذلك في مقال وضعه في قالب قصة قصيره.
برغم من أن الترجمة لا تشوبها شائبه إلا العنوان حيث أنني كنت أفضل العنوان "دراما في الهواء" خصوصا انه العنوان المعتمد لاحقا للقصة لكن يبدو أنهم قرروا الالتزام بالعنوان الأول القديم الأصلي "رحلة على متن منطاد" لكن القصة نفسها لم تروقني صراحه لذا سأكتفي لها بنجمتين.

[Everythingat1once · Rating 2 out of 5]

*Had to read this for English class*

[Juan Carlos López Domínguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Novela muy corta de Verne. Pero sobre todo, muy peculiar. Diferente al grueso de sus novelas. Y como lector de las obras de Verne, agradezco una narración diferente y novedosa, un estilo adicional a la tendencia general.

En esta novela, la historia que está sucediendo, solo sirve como esqueleto principal para soportar una serie de breves relatos que explicarán el desenlace de la trama principal.

Un aeronauta, inicia un vuelo en globo, momento en que un demente salta a la canastilla para acompañarlo de manera forzada. El loco va imponiendo las condiciones de vuelo, soltando los lastres para determinar la altura y hasta soltar la canastilla para suicidarse. Gradualmente, mientras toma el control del vuelo, va narrando diferentes pasajes de viajes realizados en globo, mismos que terminan letalmente. Los relatos, pretenden justificar su decisión de suicidarse. Afortunadamente, el aeronauta principal logra salvarse.

Lo que me pareció poco creíble en la historia, es el hecho de que el aeronauta se resigna a que el loco tome el control del globo. Lo deja hacer a su capricho. De por medio no hay agresiones o amenzas con algún tipo de arma. No alcanzo a entender por qué Verne lo estableció de esta manera.

Un detalle que me llamó la atención es que el viajero demente, es un hombre culto, es un experto teórico en el tema de viajes en globo (no queda claro si cuenta con experiencia práctica previa). Lo que esta refiriendo aquí Verne, como posibilidad, es que contar con conocimientos bastos, puede orillar a tomar decisiones irracionales... Interesante punto.

[Gail Sacharski · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read Jules Verne books before & liked them so I wasn't prepared for this one which was more of an article than a book. There really wasn't much of a story to it either--a balloonist is going to launch from Frankfurt during a festival & has selected three volunteers to join him. When it comes time to take off, none of the men show up, too scared to follow through, so the balloonist prepares to launch alone. At the last second, a young man from the crowd jumps aboard to join him. The passenger takes over the journey, tossing out ballast left & right to push the balloon higher, meanwhile spouting all kinds of historical data about previous balloonists & their adventures, accidents & deaths. The balloonist fears they will die as they rise higher into colder temperatures, less oxygen, & a thunderstorm & tries to regain control to keep them safe. The strange man cuts the basket loose to keep them going, but they eventually crash. The balloonist is rescued by a local farmer & that's it. Lots of technical information & history which really isn't that interesting. I was disappointed.

[Gerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

"A Drama in the Air" is shorter than "Zacarias," but in a way, it's more digestible for me. I was able to read it in a single day more easily than the previous short story. This time, I was able to maintain my focus. As I mentioned before, there’s something about Jules Verne's books and short stories that reminds me of my time in school. I mean... It's obvious if I think about it because my teacher assigned us to read an author, and I chose Jules Verne back then.

[Lulo GB · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un intento de Verne por hacer picaresca.

Otro de sus cuentos que casi nadie conoce, pero que resume perfectamente el estilo de este escritor: historia sencilla, sin mucha complicación, que te alecciona de todo (en este caso, la historia de la aeronáutica), con sus toques de chistes, ya crueles, ya niveles humor inglés.

Pero bueno... al final se calló Eróstrato o Empédocles y se mató.

[Agnaldo Cunha · Rating 3 out of 5]

É interessante para aprender sobre a história do balonismo e a fixação em voar da aristocracia do século XIX.
Me lembrou Santos Dumont, que saiu de uma fazenda em Minas Gerais para a Exposição Universal em Paris e se instalou por lá por muitos anos, fazendo parte dessa fixação também.
A história em si é intensa e maluca. Mas vale a pena ler se houver interesse pelo contexto

[Aitor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Si no te interesa muchísimo los viajes en globo carece de interés. La historia es casi inexistente, los personajes solo son una excusa para dar una infinidad de datos históricos y técnicos sobre el tema.

[Muntasir Al Anam · Rating 3 out of 5]

গল্পটায় ভালো কিছু উপাদান ছিল,তবে তাদেরকে প্রস্ফুটিত হওয়ার জায়গা দেওয়া হয়নি।
এই ছোটগল্পটি জুল ভার্নের প্রথম দিকের কাজ।তাই তাঁর পরের দিকের কাজগুলোর সাথে এর তুলনা করাটা বোধহয় বোকামী হবে।জুল ভার্নের ফ্যানদের জন্য 'ওয়ান টাইম রিড' হিসেবে ঠিকঠাক।

[Tomi Alger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just as a man is taking his hot air balloon up for a ride, an unexpected man jumps in. The intruder wants to take the balloon us as high as it can go. Thus begins a battle in the balloon. I won't reveal how it ends, but the story does not disappoint.

[Ana Bugalho · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite being well-researched, this story falls short of the author's later works. The plot feels lacking, with too much focus on the history of ballooning rather than developing the character's story. I expected more depth and engagement from the narrative.

[Ziggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Histoire courte d'une trentaine de pages qui semble surtout être l'occasion pour Jules Verne de mettre en lumière les recherches qu'il n'a pas manqué d'entreprendre sur l'évolution des aéronefs pour son roman précédent "Cinq semaines en ballon". Rien ne se perd, tout se recycle !

[Ibook · Rating 5 out of 5]

رِحْلةٍ في مُنْطادِ مِن مَدِينةِ فرانكفورت الأَلْمانيةِ مُتَّجهًا نَحوَ فرنسا، لَكنَّه يُفاجَأُ بغَرِيبٍ يَقفِزُ داخِلَ المُنطادِ أثناءَ صُعودِهِ ولا يَقدِرُ عَلى التَّخلُّصِ مِنْه. يَنوِي المُرافِقُ الغَرِيبُ اصْطِحابَ المُنطادِ لأَعْلى مَسافةٍ مُمكِنةٍ في الهَواء، ولَوْ على حِسابِ حَياتِه

[Matt Kelland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much of a story: it's more a lecture on the history of ballooning. Interesting, if only because it's an insight into early science fiction. Verne was trying to find ways of educating people about science through stories. It's not very good, but it was, in its way, ground-breaking.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting.

[Jose Sanz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice short story.

[نور · Rating 3 out of 5]

كان لازم تتسمى قصة مجنون على متن منطاد :)

[Sarah Thornton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not his best work or a poor translation. Still filled with tension and innovation.

[Coleman Wigger · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a classic it's a great one time read. A little bit drawn out with the main story.

[Forked Radish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just a typical balloon trip.

[Timo · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,23

[Isabela · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 🌟

[Raphaela · Rating 2 out of 5]

In a balloon with a crazy person.

At least thats the even shorter version of A voyage in a baloon by Jules Verne from 1852.

A balloonist wants to show of his balloon at a festivity and wants to travel from Frankfurt with three volunteers. None of them show up. Instead, a stranger hops on board in the last minute and hijacks the hot-air balloon and tries to float up as high as possible and fly further out over the ocean. While the balloonist fears for his life due to thunderstorms, less oxygen and air pressure, the captor lists stories of several other historical balloonists.

To be honest. I'm not sure if I just haven't grasped the entirety of the story or it's just not that deep. Don't get me wrong the story line is good and the concept of being traped in a balloon with someone who is keen on flying you both into your death is uncomfortable to think of, however, at least for me not really relatable and not really thought provoking. It was an enjoyable quick read, not more, but also no less.

[Lisa Fernández · Rating 5 out of 5]

Como es tan corto, llega a la acción en la primera página.
No importa cuántas veces haya leído a Verne y conocer su 'fórmula', siempre me hace temer por el protagonista y tengo que forzarme a recordar que Verne hace finales felices; aunque este no es precisamente un final feliz, sí nos libramos del desconocido y salimos vivos.
Ese desconocido es fantástico, constantemente me sorprendía su actitud y me hacía sentir peligro y preocupación, por un momento, pensé que lograría su cometido.

[Rashidul · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story quite weird. I was expecting more from the main character instead of the history lesson of the uninvited guest. There should have more to the plot (different). It just didnt make sense at all.

*perhaps the worst book of Jules Verne so far*