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Title: From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne, Lowell Bair ISBN: 0553214209 Publisher: Bantam Classics Pub. Date: 01 June, 1993 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.29
Rating: 5
Summary: Preparations for a cannon shot to the moon.
Comment: This is a prophetic, both scientifically and socially, novel by Jules Verne that was first published in 1865. Verne was a satiric critic whose novel strongly hints at the future military industrial complex. This story depicts a club of artillery experts, the Baltimore Gun Club, bemoaning the end of the U. S. Civil War. The President of the Club, Impey Barbicane, comes up with a new project: a cannon shot to the moon. The idea for having passengers comes from a Frenchman. Most of the novel is concerned with the preparations for the launch which occurs at the end of the book. The story continues in Verne's sequel, "Round the Moon" (1870). It's amazing how many things Verne correctly predicted. Verne was perhaps the first author who attempts to make his novels agree with the science known at his time, although there are still mistakes. Verne is also making a number of political points as well in comparing the freedom observed in the U. S. and the real lack of such freedom in France of the 1860s. Readers should also note that Walter James Miller has provided an annotated edition of this novel in 1978 that is excellent.
Rating: 5
Summary: A wildly entertaining story
Comment: While I naturally have long admired Jules Verne for his outstanding scientific vision and prodigious talent as a writer, I really had no idea that he could also write in such an entertaining and humorous fashion as revealed in this short novel. My memories of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea consist to a large degree of stretches of pages devoted to pure scientific language that could be hard to get through, but this book is an easy read full of action and laugh-out-loud commentary. Don't get me wrong, though--the science is here, and Verne goes into a lot of details concerning the project from conception to reality, walking us through all of the steps involved in constructing the cannon and its projectile. Surely, though, Verne knew that the very idea of launching men to the moon via a superhuge cannon was not really an idea that could work; as such, he lets the story and especially his characterizations of the main players in the drama, take center stage over the science. What we end up with is a study of sorts of the American character, a tribute to the power of imagination and dreaming, the glorification of science, and a very funny story about some really amazing characters.
I can not begin to relate the number of truly humorous anecdotes and observations filling the pages of this story. Barbicane, J. T. Maston, and Michel Ardan are quite memorable characters, and their acts and exploits will entertain you to no end. Verne introduces subtle but hilarious remarks and observations throughout the entire book that will make you laugh out loud. If the idea of hard scientific theorizing has scared you away from Verne, pick this book up and be wholly entertained. I would recommend, though, that you pick up a copy that also contains the sequel, Round the Moon. This first book essentially culminates in the firing of the men into space inside the projectile, and you will certainly want to read the story of what happens to the men afterward. I now have to find a copy of the second book, so I urge others to save yourselves time and buy both stories in one package.
Rating: 2
Summary: Verne Has Done Much Better
Comment: "From the Earth to the Moon" is Jules Verne's least appealing work that I have read so far. It is the story of the Baltimore Gun Club and their attempt to build a cannon big enough to shoot a bullet to the moon. The gun club dreams up the idea as a way of filling time after the end of the Civil War.
The leader of the club, Impey Barbicane, is wagered that he can't pull it off. Also, a Frenchman has volunteered to ride along on the bullet.
It has been about four years since I read "From the Earth to the Moon", so I don't remember many of the details very well. I do remember my feeling after having finished it that, not only was it inferior to other works of Verne, but that it was an inferior novel by itself. The characters are more like caricatures than real people, the dialogue is unusually bombastic for a Verne hero (perhaps this was Verne's take on Americans), and the action was undramatic.
I would suggest reading other works by Verne like "Around the World in Eighty Days" and "A Journey to the Center of the Earth" before this one so that you don't develop an initial dislike for his work. Verne is an excellent author not indicative of this work.
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Title: The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne, Isaac Asimov ISBN: 0451524918 Publisher: New American Library Pub. Date: 1986 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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Title: Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne ISBN: 0140022651 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 1965 List Price(USD): $4.95 |
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Title: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne ISBN: 0812550927 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 1995 List Price(USD): $3.99 |
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Title: Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne ISBN: 059043053X Publisher: Scholastic Pub. Date: 1996 List Price(USD): $4.50 |
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Title: The Time Machine by H. G. Wells ISBN: 0812505042 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 1995 List Price(USD): $3.99 |
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