Paris in the Twentieth Century : Jules Verne, The Lost Novel

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In 1863, Jules Verne was a young writer with one publishednovel under his belt and a new multibook contract with a prominentFrench publisher in hand. The publisher, however, rejected Verne'ssecond manu*, opting to bring out his Journey to the Center ofthe Earth instead. That manu* apparently disappeared into adrawer, not to see the light of day again until it was rediscoveredand published in 1994. Now it has been rendered into English by theeminent poet and translator Richard Howard. Verne's early bookstend to feature adventure plots and a positive attitude towardstechnology. This novel, however, shows Verne in a darker, franklydystopian mood. His mid-20th century Paris is an enormously wealthysociety, a place of technological wonders, but, like Huxley's BraveNew World, it is also a society without meaningful art. Engineeringand banking are the prime industries of this civilization and, asthe book's protagonist discovers, not even the most talented poetcan find a place for himself unless he's willing to produce odes toblast furnaces or locomotives. While the narrative contains manystartling predictions?among them fax machines, electroniccalculators, automobiles and elaborate subway systems?there islittle here in the way of either plot or character development.It's clear, in fact, that in opting for Journey to the Center ofthe Earth, Verne's publisher chose the better book. Drawings notseen by PW.

Paris in the Twentieth Century : Jules Verne, The Lost Novel

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