1828 - 1905 ... Halfway between fantasy and science of the moment, Julio Verne emerged as one of the forerunners of the science fiction genre. Beyond his poems and his forays into dramaturgy, his figure made his way and transcended until today in that narrator's side towards the limits of the known world and the limits of the human being. Literature as adventure and thirst for knowledge.
In the nineteenth-century living environment of this author, the world moved in a stimulating sense of modernity achieved thanks to the Industrial Revolution. Machines and more machines, mechanized inventions capable of reducing work and moving quickly from one place to another, but at the same time the world still had its dark side, not entirely known to science. In that no-man's-land there was a great space for Jules Verne literary creation. A traveling spirit and restless soul, Jules Verne was a reference on how much there was still to know.
We have all read something of Jules Verne, from a very young age or already in years. This author always has a suggestive point for any age and themes for all tastes. In my case, those three essential books by Jules Verne, were:
Top 3 Recommended Jules Verne Novels
Robinsones School
The best thing about this work is the final twist. Perhaps it is not a surprise proposed to the reader but rather towards the protagonist. Knowing the truth that surrounds a character, without him being aware, is an interesting literary tool, a kind of omniscient narrator makes you an accomplice in what is happening and what may happen.
A young man named Godfrey, the nephew of a wealthy American merchant, decides to travel in search of thrills. What is his surprise when he finds himself shipwrecked on an apparently virgin island where he will live a multitude of adventures with his dance teacher and friend Tartelett.
After more than 6 months on the island, their existence becomes unbearable: the island, initially without predators, fills up with them; the fire of the storms destroys his little cabin in the trunk of a tree; food is scarce ...
When they were already resigned to their terrible end, Godfrey's uncle appears triumphant on the island, explaining that everything that had happened there had been organized by him to satisfy his nephew's wishes without really being in danger. A work halfway between the movie The Truman Show and the Big Brother book. Some older works may even inspire more recent ones ...
From the Earth to the moon
For all that it represents, this is my second favorite novel. You have to place yourself on the real stage of history. The moon is still an unknown satellite that modern man of the nineteenth century watched with longing. His Meccans were still unable to leave our planet ...
And suddenly Jules Verne invites all his contemporaries to take a ship and fly there. Without a doubt a story that the readers of the moment would devour.
We are in 1865. On the first of December, at eleven minutes to thirteen minutes, not a second before or after, that immense projectile must be launched ... Three original and colorful characters will travel inside it, the first three men heading to the Moon. .
It is a fabulous project that has aroused the interest of the whole world. But it is not an easy task to have everything ready by that date ... However, if this is not achieved, we will have to wait eighteen years and eleven days for the Moon to be in the same conditions of proximity to the Earth. Jules Verne engages the reader vividly in all the preparations for this truly exciting adventure.
20.000 leagues of underwater travel
The seas and oceans still hold secrets from our civilization. Beyond limited surveys and technological approaches, the mapping of the seabed and its possible marine inhabitants could still hold surprises for us ...
A narrative still in force, then, and very entertaining. A sea monster has set off all the alarms, and finally an expedition is organized to capture it, which includes the famous professor of Natural History Pierre aronnax, his helper Consulting and the Canadian harpooner expert Ned land, aboard the American frigate Abraham Lincoln.
The monster turns out to be an amazing submarine under the command of the captain nemo, and the fact that he must keep a secret poses a serious problem for the captain regarding the release of the three main characters.
El captain nemo, the tormented and disillusioned sage of the human race, in which libertarian individualism and an exacerbated sense of justice converge, has undoubtedly become one of the paradigms of the adventure novel and his presence would already be enough to justify the place of honor that occupies Twenty thousand leagues of submarine travel in the genre.
And yet it contains many other incentives: emotion, knowledge, suspense, unforgettable characters, unexpected events ... One of the milestones of the adventure novel and an inexhaustible source for the subsequent anticipatory narrative.
