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JulesVerne

JulesVerne.PhotobyFélixNadar.

JulesGabrielVerne(February81828–March241905)wasaFrenchauthorandapioneerofthescience-fictiongenre(sometimesevencalledthe"fatherofsciencefiction").Vernewasnotedforwritingaboutcosmic,atmospheric,andunderwatertravelbeforeairtravelandsubmarineswerecommonplaceandbeforepracticalmeansofspacetravelhadbeendevised.Heisthethirdmosttranslatedauthorintheworld,accordingtotheIndexTranslationumstatistics.Someofhisbookshavebeenmadeintofilms.

Biography

Earlyyears

JulesG.VernewasborninNantes,France,toPierreVerne,anattorney,andhiswife,Sophie.Theoldestofthefamily'sfivechildren,Julesspenthisearlyyearsathomewithhisparents,inthebustlingharborcityofNantes.Insummer,thefamilylivedinacountryhousejustoutsidethecity,onthebanksoftheLoireRiver.ThesightofthemanyshipsnavigatingtheriversparkedJules'imagination,ashedescribesintheautobiographicalshortstory"Souvenirsd'EnfanceetdeJeunesse".Attheageofnine,JulesandhisbrotherPaul,ofwhomhewasveryfond,weresenttoboardingschoolattheSaintDonatienCollege(PetitséminairedeSaint-Donatien)inNantes.

ThereVernestudiedLatin,whichhelaterusedinhisshortstory"LeMariagedeMonsieurAnselmedesTilleuls"(mid1850s).OneofhisteachersmayalsohavebeentheFrenchinventorBrutusdeVilleroi,whowasprofessorofdrawingandmathematicsatthecollegein1842,andwholaterbecamefamousforcreatingtheUSNavy'sfirstsubmarine,theUSSAlligator.DeVilleroimaynaturallyhavebeenaninspirationforJulesVerne'sconceptualdesignfortheNautilusinTwentyThousandLeaguesUndertheSea,althoughnodirectexchangesbetweenthetwomenhavebeenrecorded.

Verne'ssecondFrenchbiographer,MargueriteAllottedelaFuye,formulatedtherumorthatVerne'sfascinationwithadventureasserteditselfatanearlyagetosuchadegreethatitinspiredhimtostowawayonashipboundforAsia,butthatJules'svoyagewascutshortwhenhefoundhisfatherwaitingforhimatthenextport.

Literarydebut

Aftercompletinghisstudiesatthelycée,VernewenttoParistostudyforthebar.About1848,inconjunctionwithMichelCarré,hebeganwritinglibrettosforoperettas.Forsomeyearshisattentionsweredividedbetweenthetheatreandwork,butsometravellers'storieswhichhewrotefortheMuséedesFamillesseemtohaverevealedtohimthetruedirectionofhistalent:thetellingofdelightfullyextravagantvoyagesandadventurestowhichcleverlypreparedscientificandgeographicaldetailslentanairofverisimilitude.

WhenVerne'sfatherdiscoveredthathissonwaswritingratherthanstudyinglaw,hepromptlywithdrewhisfinancialsupport.Consequently,hewasforcedtosupporthimselfasastockbroker,whichhehated,althoughhewassomewhatsuccessfulatit.Duringthisperiod,hemettheauthorsAlexandreDumasandVictorHugo,whoofferedhimsomeadviceonhiswriting.

AlsoduringthisperiodhemetHonorinedeVianeMorel,awidowwithtwodaughters.TheygotmarriedonJanuary101857.Withherencouragement,hecontinuedtowriteandactivelytrytofindapublisher.OnAugust31861,theirson,MichelJulesVerne,wasborn.Aclassicenfantterrible,hemarriedanactressoverVerne'sobjections,hadtwochildrenbyhisunderagemistress,andburiedhimselfindebts.TherelationshipbetweenfatherandsonimprovedasMichelgrewolder.

AtypicalHetzelfrontcoverforaJulesVernebook.TheeditionisLesAventuresduCapitaineHatterasauPôleNord,type"Auxdeuxéléphants".

Verne'ssituationimprovedwhenhemetPierre-JulesHetzel,oneofthemostimportantFrenchpublishersofthe19thcentury,whoalsopublishedVictorHugo,GeorgeSand,andErckmann-Chatrian,amongothers.Whentheymet,Vernewas35andHetzel50,andfromthen,untilHetzel'sdeath,theyformedanexcellentwriter-publisherteam.Hetzel'sadviceimprovedVerne'swritings,whichuntilthenhadbeenrejectedandrejectedagainbyotherpublishers.HetzelreadadraftofVerne'sstoryabouttheballoonexplorationofAfrica,whichhadbeenrejectedbyotherpublishersonthegroundthatitwas"tooscientific".WithHetzel'shelp,Vernerewrotethestoryandin1863itwaspublishedinbookformasCinqsemainesenballon(FiveWeeksinaBalloon).ActingonHetzel'sadvice,Verneaddedcomicalaccentstohisnovels,changedsadendingsintohappyones,andtoneddownvariouspoliticalmessages.

Fromthatpointon,anduptoyearsafterVerne'sdeath,Hetzelpublishedtwoormorevolumesayear.Themostsuccessfuloftheseinclude:Voyageaucentredelaterre(JourneytotheCenteroftheEarth,1864);Delaterreàlalune(FromtheEarthtotheMoon,1865);Vingtmillelieuessouslesmers(TwentyThousandLeaguesUndertheSea,1869);andLetourdumondeenquatre-vingtsjours(AroundtheWorldinEightyDays),whichfirstappearedinLeTempsin1872.Theseriesiscollectivelyknownas"Lesvoyagesextraordinaires"("extraordinaryvoyages").Vernecouldnowmakealivingbywriting.ButmostofhiswealthcamefromthestageadaptationsofLetourdumondeenquatre-vingtsjours(1874)andMichelStrogoff(1876),whichhewrotetogetherwithAdolphed'Ennery.In1867heboughtasmallship,theSaint-Michel,whichhesuccessivelyreplacedwiththeSaint-MichelIIandtheSaint-MichelIIIashisfinancialsituationimproved.OnboardtheSaint-MichelIII,hesailedaroundEurope.In1870,hewasappointedas"Chevalier"(Knight)oftheLégiond'honneur.Afterhisfirstnovel,mostofhisstorieswerefirstserialisedintheMagazined'ÉducationetdeRécréation,aHetzelbiweeklypublication,beforebeingpublishedintheformofbooks.Hisbrother,PaulVerne,contributedtothe40thFrenchclimbingoftheMont-Blanc,addedtohisbrother'scollectionofshortstoriesDoctorOxin1874.Vernebecamewealthyandfamous.Heremainsoneofthemosttranslatednovelistsintheworld,secondonlytoAgathaChristie,accordingtoUNESCOstatistics.

Thelastyears

OnMarch91886,asVernewascominghome,histwentyfiveyearoldnephew,Gaston,withwhomhehadentertainedlengthyandaffectionaterelations,shotathimwithagun.Onebulletmissed,butthesecondbulletenteredVerne'sleftleg,givinghimalimpthatwouldneverbecured.Gastonspenttherestofhislifeinanasylum.Theincidentwashushedupbythemedia.

AfterthedeathsofHetzelandhisbelovedmotherin1887,Julesbeganwritingworksthatweredarkerintone.Thismaypartlybeduetochangesinhispersonality,butanimportantfactoristhefactthatHetzel'sson,whotookoverhisfather'sbusiness,wasnotasrigorousinhiscorrectionsasHetzelSr.hadbeen.In1888,JulesVerneenteredpoliticsandwaselectedtowncouncillorofAmienswherehechampionedseveralimprovementsandservedforfifteenyears.In1905,whileillwithdiabetes,Vernediedathishome,44BoulevardLongueville,(nowBoulevardJules-Verne).MicheloversawpublicationofhislastnovelsInvasionoftheSeaandTheLighthouseattheEndoftheWorld.AfterVerne'sdeath,theseriesofthe"Voyagesextraordinaires"continuedforseveralyears,inthesamerhythmoftwovolumesayear.IthaslaterbeendiscoveredthatMichelVernemadeextensivechangesinthesestories,andtheoriginalversionswerepublishedattheendofthe20thcentury.

In1863,JulesVernewroteanovelcalledParisinthe20thCenturyaboutayoungmanwholivesinaworldofglassskyscrapers,high-speedtrains,gas-poweredautomobiles,calculators,andaworldwidecommunicationsnetwork,yetcannotfindhappiness,andcomestoatragicend.Hetzelthoughtthenovel'spessimismwoulddamageVerne'sthenboomingcareer,andsuggestedhewait20yearstopublishit.Verneputthemanuscriptinasafe,whereitwasdiscoveredbyhisgreat-grandsonin1989.Itwaspublishedin1994.

ReputationinEnglish-speakingcountries

WhileinFranceandmanyothercountriesVerneisconsideredanauthorofqualitybooksforyoungpeoplewithagoodcommandofhissubjects–especiallytechnological,butalsopolitical–hisreputationinEnglish-speakingcountrieshasforalongtimesufferedfrompoortranslation.

Characteristicallyformuchoflate19th-centurywriting,Verne'sbooksoftentakeaquitechauvinisticpointofview.TheBritishEmpireinparticularwasfrequentlyportrayedinabadlight,andsothefirstEnglishtranslator,ReverendLewisPageMercierwritingunderapseudonym,cutoutmanysuchpassages,forexamplethosedescribingthepoliticalactionsofCaptainNemoinhisincarnationasanIndiannobleman.Suchnegativedepictionswerenot,however,invariableinVerne'sworks;forexample,"FacingtheFlag"featuresLieutenantDevon-aheroic,self-sacrificingRoyalNavyofficerfullytheequalofnavalheroeswrittenaboutbyBritishauthors.

MercierandsubsequentBritishtranslatorsalsohadtroublewiththemetricsystemthatVerneused,sometimessimplydroppingsignificantfigures,atothertimeskeepingthenominalvalueandonlychangingtheunittoanImperialmeasure.ThusVerne'scalculations,whichingeneralwereremarkablyexact,wereconvertedintomathematicalgibberish.Also,artisticpassagesandwholechapterswerecutbecauseoftheneedtofittheworkinaconstrainedspaceforpublication,regardlessoftheeffectontheplot.(TheLondonauthor,CranstounMetcalfe(1866–1938),translatedmostofVerne'sworkintoEnglishduringthefirsthalfofthe20thcentury.)

Forthosereasons,Verne'sworkinitiallyacquiredareputationinEnglish-speakingcountriesfornotbeingfitforadultreaders.Thisinturnpreventedhimfrombeingtakenseriouslyenoughtomeritnewtranslations,leadingtothoseofMercierandothersbeingreprinteddecadeafterdecade.Onlyfrom1965onweresomeofhisnovelsre-translatedmoreaccurately,buteventodayVerne'sworkhasstillnotbeenfullyrehabilitatedintheEnglish-speakingworld.

Verne'sworksalsoreflectthebitternessfeltinFranceinthewakeofdefeatintheFranco-PrussianWarof1870to1871,andthelossofAlsaceandLorraine.TheBegum'sMillions(LesCinqcentsmillionsdelaBegum)of1879givesahighlystereotypicaldepictionofGermansasmonstrouscruelmilitarists—inmarkedcontrasttopre-1871workssuchasJourneytotheCentreoftheEarth,inwhichalmostalltheprotagonists,includingthesympatheticfirst-personnarrator,areGerman.

Hetzel'sinfluence

Hetzel'sinfluenceonVerne'swritingswassubstantial,andVerne,happytoatlastfindsomebodywillingtopublishhisworks,agreedonalmostallchangesthatHetzelsuggested.NotonlydidHetzelrejectatleastonenovel(Parisinthe20thCe