Classic Group Read (May 2014) - Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne

[Holly, That Geeky One]

Our Classic Group Read for May will be Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne.

Reading will commence on May 1st.

[Aitziber]

I like that we've (unwittingly?) chosen two sci-fi books and one fantasy book for May. Verne is sci-fi's grandfather, so this book matches well with Dune. :)

[Holly, That Geeky One]

I know! It's an opportunity for people to really get their Genre Challenge numbers up.

[Laura]

I am cheating a little bit: I started reading it, and so far it is very good! Y'all must offer forgiveness but I have been itching to read this and couldn't wait!

[Holly, That Geeky One]

I've done that with another one of my May to-reads!

What do you think of it so far?

[Laura]

Excellent! It makes me want to read more of his works.

[Kassandra]

I cheated a little and started reading this one on the treadmill today. I figured I'm only 5 or so hours away from it turning into May...so maybe it would't be a big cheat :)

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Librivox says of the older translations that Fredrick Amadeus Malleson has written the most faithful rendition into English in the public domain; however, ...
"While the translation is fairly literal, and Malleson (a clergyman) has taken pains with the scientific portions of the work and added the chapter headings, he has made some unfortunate emendations mainly concerning biblical references, and has added a few 'improvements' of his own"

The other translation in the public domain is from 1871, published by Griffith and Farran. It is strikingly different. Not only changing character names to Professor Von Hartwigg and Harry, but whole scenes. This, however, is the one on which many reprints were based.

I started researching the difference because I, unwittingly, had the Malleson audio but the 1871 text. Neither was marked "abridged" but they were so different that I knew something was up. (Embarrassingly, this is also when I discovered that Jules Verne was French; a fact I had not noticed when reading him as a child.) Now, I've got it sorted and am working with the Malleson. Out of curiosity, I'll have to check into some of the later translations at some point.

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

I love Axel as the narrator. His perspective adds humor to the story which might otherwise be a bit dry after the initial discovery and decision to follow in the footsteps of Arne Saknussemm. Iceland was interesting from a traveler's perspective but not when the reader is itching to get inside the volcano. :0

[Faye, The Dickens Junkie]

I love the humour in the narrative. :D

What I don't love is how much matter-of-fact exposition there is to explain scientific "facts" that we know are nowhere near the truth. I can suspend my disbelief up to a point, but... Verne tends to pass that point on a regular basis, and I end up just wanting to shake him and yell at him to get back to the good stuff. ;)

I must have one of the awful "rewrites," though. The narrator's name is Henry, not Axel, and his uncle's name is Hardwigg.

[Holly, That Geeky One]

I've just checked the version I have on my Kindle. Although it's one of the 'rewrites', I seem to have a revised version, where most of the changes and mistakes have been removed, so it's more like the original text.

I'll be starting this once I've done some revision! (why can't I just spend my whole day reading...?!)

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Axel is gonna get them all killed. The professor really should have brought Gräuben!

I read several reviews complaining about the faulty science, but I actually find the science fascinating. I love seeing the hypothesis that came before our modern understanding. I'm not sure how much Verne was just making up, as a fiction writer, and how much he was presenting scientific theories of his day. Either way, there's buckets of creativity involved.

[Faye, The Dickens Junkie]

Renee wrote: "Axel is gonna get them all killed. The professor really should have brought Gräuben!

I read several reviews complaining about the faulty science, but I actually find the science fascinating. I lov..."

It's not so much the errors in the science that bother me, it's the way Verne has of spending too much time trying to instruct the reader rather than entertain. It's not as bad in Journey, but I read Mysterious Island not that long ago, and it drove me nuts!

[Brenda (aka Grandma)]

Faye wrote: "It's not so much the errors in the science that bother me, it's the way Verne has of spending too much time trying to instruct the reader rather than entertain. It's not as bad in Journey, but I read Mysterious Island not that long ago, and it drove me nuts! "

Does he do the same thing in Mysterious Island? I didn't think he was like this at all in Around the World in 80 Days (which, surprise, had no balloon, wasn't science fiction at all, and generally seemed far more entertaining to me).

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Well, I'm probably doing the listener's equivalent to skimming and just letting the science-y chinks wash over me.

Also, it reminds me of the final paper I wrote for my geology course in college, where I created a little scifi/time travel storyline to deliver the information. I got the A, but, God knows it wasn't good storytelling. :o

[Faye, The Dickens Junkie]

Brenda wrote: "Does he do the same thing in Mysterious Island? I didn't think he was like this at all in Around the World in 80 Days (which, surprise, had no balloon, wasn't science fiction at all, and generally seemed far more entertaining to me)."

Maybe I should try Around the World, then, before I give up on Verne entirely, heh. Yeah, Mysterious Island is full of it. It started to feel more like a manual on how to survive on an island... or at least an island that is full of all the provisions (and knowledge about those provisions) that you could possibly need in order to construct your own private civilization, complete with every luxury and technology known to man at the time.

I'm starting to think I'm not going to be a Jules Verne fan...

[Faye, The Dickens Junkie]

Renee wrote: "Also, it reminds me of the final paper I wrote for my geology course in college, where I created a little scifi/time travel storyline to deliver the information. I got the A, but, God knows it wasn't good storytelling. :o"

Nice idea!

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Brenda-
Yeah. Around The World in Eighty Days was very different. I remember it as Action packed and hugely entertaining. LOL, hot air balloon. :D

[Brenda (aka Grandma)]

Renee wrote: "Axel is gonna get them all killed. The professor really should have brought Gräuben!

I read several reviews complaining about the faulty science, but I actually find the science fascinating. I lov..."

Renee, this was one where I felt like I could understand the wondrousness of the science and sense of adventure, even though it wasn't what I was looking for.

[Holly, That Geeky One]

I'm actually really enjoying it so far. I didn't think I would, but my translation flows really well, and the language is beautiful.

There are parts where the science eludes me. I never enjoyed science at school, I found it way too boring and methodical. But the occasional exploration of it outside of school has made me really love it. The science, although incorrect, makes the book even more interesting in my mind.

It is getting slightly repetitive for my liking, but I'm hoping (SPOILER) that the discovery of the ocean will conjure some interesting plot points and mix up the narrative a bit.

So far, I'm really enjoying it! Very readable.

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

A Giant??!!??

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

“If we are neither drowned, nor shattered to pieces, nor starved to death, there is still the chance that we may be burned alive and reduced to ashes.”

Axel, always the optimist. :)

[Holly, That Geeky One]

I really loved Axel as a narrator. He kept it real, while quite amusing, and helped balance the extremity of the whole situation with rational, doubting thoughts. I think if he wasn't the way he was, the novel would get rather unbelievable (or at least more so than it already is). Regardless of the science mistakes, it was a surprisingly exciting read. Where I imagined there to be no end to the scientific facts and figures, the humour and Axel's commentary (see Renee's post above), made it far more enjoyable than expected.

Did anyone else like Axel?

Oh, and I'll definitely read some more Jules Verne!

[Faye, The Dickens Junkie]

I liked Axel. Verne generally does a good narrative voice. :)