Journey To The Center Of The Earth (1864) - Jules Verne - Book Review

Official Score = 3 Devils

Alright guys, I will be honest here and say this... When I was a kid... I was a little bit of a geek... Well not entirely, but sort of, I mean I did a lot of the same things that the cool people did, such as playing sports, playing video games, hanging out with friends... You know a lot of the stuff that the cool kids did... But the one thing that I did a lot that set me apart from the cool people... And I reckon the geeks as well, is the fact that I was a jock that loved to read and write stories!

And long before I reckon I was supposed to, I got in to reading a lot of the classic! And one of them that I found to be rather engrossing, and a lot of fun was the novel, 'Journey To The Center Of The Earth' (1864) by Jules Verne!

An awesome rocket ride!

 Now the book, which was originally published in French, and was published in English in 1871, told a fascinating tale of how A German Professor by the name of, 'Otto Lidenbrock', who believes that there are volcanic tubes that stretch all the way to the center of the Earth sets out on an expedition with his team to prove his theory correct and journey to the center of the Earth!

In the end... The best thing about this novel is not so much the science fiction aspect of this novel, but the adventure aspect... It is a fun book, and if you are in to the classics, then you might check this one out... It is more then well worth it!

A Generational Interpretation Of The Future Of Technology As Seen In Books: From The Victorian Era To The Modern Day

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="461"] 19th century author, 'Jules Verne' postulated such modern technology in his novels, such as the, 'Submarine.'[/caption]

There are several different interpretations, especially if you consider the fact that on a chronological time line, the various time lines of various novels generally seem to take place in various parts of the future, from a few years in to the future to thousands upon thousands of years in to the future...

Well there is a series of books that I have noticed have been around since at the very least, the Victorian age, and all of the way up through the modern age... These books tend to try to predict technology and what it will be like in the future... Some have done this with some accuracy associated with it... A couple of examples of course being the fact that Jules Verne has in some ways anticipated the use of the, 'Submarine' in the modern day, decades before that started to become a reality, with the novel, 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea' (1874) and another interpretation of what would become known as the (Space Program) with the novel, 'From The Earth To The Moon' (1865).

Now before I go on I should probably say this, Twenty Thousand Leagues tells the story of a couple of survivors who end up onboard one of the earliest long running submarines and end up embarking on it's voyage... As for, 'The Earth To The Moon', this novel tells of how a gentleman's club ultimately sets about figuring out how to make it to the Moon!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="217"] An amazing Victorian era Science Fiction novel that early on predicted the use of regular long running submarines.[/caption]

Now that is just a  couple of examples... The interesting truth about Nineteenth century literature is that generally speaking, they seemed to almost inadvertently try to predict where Technology would be in the future... I,e... Like I mentioned above, with trying to predict such things as, "a trip to the moon,' or a trip, 'under the sea'... And well, even though they might not have always gotten it right, there are certain surprising similarities in how they come to accomplish these tasks, that are shockingly similar to the modern technology, if only the basic design...

An example of this is the book, 'From The Earth To The Moon'... Although the basic technology that they use is different from the modern (rocket technology), that has dominated a lot of the modern space program. These people in the 19th century try to create there space program using a device that is similar to being shot out of a cannon in a bullet shaped space craft... The interesting thing here though is the design of the craft that is supposed to be taken  to the moon, looks similar to a bullet, but more so then anything, has some similarities to the early years of the Space Program!

Another example of this, 'The Nautilus' from, 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea is actually extremely similar to  modern Submarines... largely with the more regal look that was more popular in the 19th century though!

[caption id="attachment_3434" align="aligncenter" width="656"] The Nautilus, as seen in the movies, was a submarine that was used for the 19th century novel, 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea'... In a lot of ways, having that sub was Jules Verne's prediction on the modern submarine.[/caption]

Well that was cool... The truth is, is that as far as the modern day technology goes, it is extremely hard for literature to predict that.

What do I mean by that you ask? Well lets take the original, 'Star Trek' TV series, (I know that this isn't exactly a novel, but I do think  this 0ne would work fine for the example that I am about to give.)

As far as Star Trek goes, this show  was actually supposed to take place centuries from now on a technologically advanced ship, that travels the galaxy, (as the say at the beginning of the series), 'exploring strange new worlds'...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="450"] That's how technology goes... The Enterprise was obsolete centuries before it was even created![/caption]

Well since the show was released in the 196os, there have been so many technological advancements that there are some areas of the world of technology that has actually surprised most of the series (spinoffs included!)

A couple of examples of this are:

1. A few years ago I read about how Scientists were working on releasing the first real world tricorders (I recently discovered that atleast to some extent, these early models of the, 'Tricorder' are actually in use!

2. Modern day computers are drastically better then what the, 'Enterprise' is supposed to have.

3. I recently have been reading articles about the advancements in Laser Technology...

4. And last but certainly not least, I came across a documentary that DeForest Kelley did some time in the 90s that talked about how he had discovered that scientists were actually working on trying to crack the formula for, 'Teleportation'.

Now there is some stuff though, that even with technology going as fast as it has, that mankind hasn't cracked yet, but has been postulated in literature, that I do think will happen at some point... Including:

1. Long distance space travel... This one has been a common theme for decades, but I have recently discovered that scientists have been working on safe methods to travel off planet for relatively cheap (making it possible for everyone to do so!) A great example that I have discovered is the space version of the, 'Zepplin'.

2. Warp travel is another medium that I think will be figured out some day... But I suspect that it is a long way off...

In the end, rather it be the 19th century, with Submarines, and flying cars, or if it is the 20th century with Warp drive, and teleportation, or even the 21st with living ships and AI computers, literature will continue to try it's hand at predicting the next technology trend... And well the truth is is that some would be cool, 'Like food replicators', and some would be kind of down right terrifying, with such things as killer robots... In the end, let's just hope that the next true predictions to be made through literature happens to be the less violent kind, eh?

Modern Day Scientific Realities First Made Real In Jules Verne

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="238"] Jules Verne... A great author and visionary whose works were truly some might say... prophetic of things to come...[/caption]

Jules Verne... What can I say about the guy that hasn't already been said? I mean he was a master writer... And is still a legend in his own right for the work that he did in the Science Fiction genre... But one thing that could be said that he definitely contributed to, was the predictions made for technology that we take for granted today, but were not really available during his time!

A great example of this is the use of the submarine...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="350"] The Nautilus submarine... Probably one of the most famous ships from one of Jules Verne's most famous novels![/caption]

Now don't get me wrong when I say that this was entirely something that he predicted... I mean that by the time that Jules Verne wrote, '20,000 Leagues Under The Sea' in 1870, people had for just about a century been working on this technology in some capacity... But the truth is, is that there was a certain component to the, 'Nautilus' that did not really become a reality until roughly around World War 1... But did not become a fact until World War 2... That is the long term capability of subs to stay under the ocean!

Another great example of technology that was not even near to reality (as a matter of fact, until World War 2, had been a kind of pipe dream...) Is the idea of going to space! And in the case of his novel, 'From The Earth To The Moon'... A novel that he wrote in 1865, in which he was probably the closest to being right then anyone in the 19th century world, in how ultimately the space program would eventually be... (i,e... the idea behind it, is that a gun club decides to figure out a way to shoot a projectile with people in it to the moon...) And the truth is, is it looks like largely, the projectile is shapped like a bullet, (which rather your talking about the space shuttle before it reaches orbit, or the older space ships... All of the basic shapes are like that of a projectile... And the basic concept of a projectile (i,e... A pod that eventually separates from the booster rockets) was the concept behind a lot of the older rockets used...)

One could almost say that Jules Verne's, 'From The Earth To The Moon' helped the creative inspiration for some of the most famous space missions in, 'NASA' history!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="210"] A truly insightful book that either eerily predicted aspects of the space program correctly to the letter, or was a huge inspiration for the pioneers of the worlds Space Programs![/caption]

Now this one maybe a little bit loose, and it is not exactly having to do with, 'technology' per se... But I do think that this helped inspire the pioneers in aviation to make the world seem smaller with the capabilities of jumping continents in a matter of hours on planes... And that is the novel, 'Around The World In 80 Days' ... A novel which was published in 1873.

This novel could essentially be said to be the story of a man who accepts the wager of making a trip around the world in 80 days... I am convinced that at least to some extent was the inspiration in the early part of the 20th century in the race for pilots to become the first to travel between the United States, and England with out stopping!

In the end there is more that I can say about the author, as well as some of the marvels that have come from other 19th century authors that have made predictions about modern technology... But I think you get the point!

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea (1870) Jules Verne - Book Review

[caption id="attachment_385" align="alignright" width="353"] Official Score = 2 Devils[/caption]

To be honest here, I never really quite expected that the 19th century would still have very relevant Science Fiction novels when I was a kid, I mean the ones that I was able to get my hands on were all novels that had to do with antiquated concepts that finally died out when reality began to set in a little bit for those making Science Fiction movies in the 1970s!

Such notions as Aliens on Venus and the like, or in the case of the 19th century, supposedly there was novel that had something to do with the idea of using an over-sized cannon to shoot some one to the moon...

Never the less though, a lot of these antiquated notions to me always seemed to be rather quaint and quite fun! But there was one 19th century novel that I found to be quite fascinating and what was even more amazing was the concept behind it... That novel of course being, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="289"] Jules Verne was definitely ahead of his time with this one![/caption]

Now part of the reason why this concept was so fascinating is because you have to look at what this novel would deal with, (i,e... Captain Nemo and his adventures on board the, 'Nautilus', an electrically powered submarine), well back then the concepts of a submarine were almost unheard of... I mean in 1870, Submarines were still in their infancy and were hardly used at all if ever in Naval Warfare!

But you know what the best part of this novel was for me was not just the science involved, (although I was pretty impressed with the concepts behind this novel no matter where it took you, but for me being as young as I was when I first read this novel, I found this one in particular to be rather fascinating in that it really kind of gave an interesting first look for me at how amazing and precious and truly awesome and scary the ocean can really be!

In the end, this novel was a lot of fun with both points of, 'awe' and points of fear, but in the end, it is a fun one and definitely worth reading this historically classic novel if you get a chance!