1) Cinq semaines en ballon (Five Weeks in a Balloon, 1863) (1 volume) 81K words


The Voyages Extraordinaires, a series of about 60 novels written by Jules Verne, are one of the most remarkable bodies of work in 19th century literature. Verne wrote adventure novels, but he added his personal style by adding to many of them a speculative element, although always grounded in contemporary scientific knowledge, and an element of scientific divulgation through the fiction.

Verne's work is usually optimistic and filled with wonder for science and exploration, although it's been argued that his later novels show a more sceptic attitude towards technical progress. In his style, one needs also to mention the influence of his editor and publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel, who had a savvy business instinct and guided Verne towards the kind of work that would be more commercial. For example, Verne's novel Paris in the Twentieth Century (Paris au XXe siècle) was first published almost a century after his death, but it's actually the second novel he wrote, right after Five Weeks in a Balloon. However, Hetzel refused to publish it, because it was a dystopic story that did not fit with the style of his very successful first novel. Hetzel also tried to guide Verne towards adventure over speculative content.

Following Verne in his Voyages Extraordinaires, his readers could travel with their imagination to all the unknown parts of Earth (it was a time of exploration and discovery), and even out of it. So I have started this literary journey with Five Weeks in a Balloon (Cinq semaines en ballon), the first of this long series of novels.


First read or reread?: For me, this one is a reread. I read it as a kid and loved it.


What is it about? (from wikipedia): A scholar and explorer, Dr. Samuel Fergusson, accompanied by his manservant Joe and his friend professional hunter Richard "Dick" Kennedy, sets out to travel across the African continent — still not fully explored — with the help of a balloon filled with hydrogen. He has invented a mechanism that, by eliminating the need to release gas or throw ballast overboard to control his altitude, allows very long trips to be taken. This voyage is meant to link together the voyages of Sir Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke in East Africa with those of Heinrich Barth in the regions of the Sahara and Chad.



Reading reviews from modern readers, I get the impression that Five Weeks in a Balloon is not generally regarded as one of Verne's best books, but it was one of my favorites when I read it as a teenager, and rereading it now it still is. It captures my imagination. I have always had a weakness for stories about explorers, and this time in the second half of the 19th century, including the exploration of Africa and the search for the source of the White Nile, was particularly fascinating. I feel lucky to be able to read a book about that written at exactly the same time these explorations were taking place, because although you lack a wider perspective that comes with time, you get to see the mentality people had at that time in a way that is not possible in historical books written today.

I also like stories about those Victorian adventurers, particularly British ones, so proper in their demeanour, who regarded themselves in the first place as gentlemen. Like Henry Stanley, who was tasked with searching for David Livingston, after he (Livingston) disappeared for years in the heart of Africa. When Stanley, after a long a dangerous search, finally found Livingston at the shores of lake Tanganyika, instead of an exhibition of surprise or happiness he just approached the other man and greeted him with the famous and laconic "Dr. Livingston, I presume," as if he had just met him in London after leaving the theatre.

It's worth mentioning that English translations have often let Verne down. I mean the widespread contemporary translations that are everywhere because they are in the public domain. There are modern translations at least for the most famous books, including this one, and they are worth it, even though they are more expensive. I'm reading this in Spanish, where the translations have been faithful even if using old-fashioned language. I found it easy to get into the style, though, and it wasn't a problem for me.

You have to understand, modern readers often feel that 19th century books are too slow, and Verne's books, including this one, occasionally have descriptions of the flora or fauna or geography, or speeches by one of the characters describing the travels done in the area by European explorers (and their often gruesome deaths). That bothers some modern readers because they are infodumps, but for me it's part of the charm of Verne, and sometimes I gloss over it, regarding it as mood-setting (I mean, I can't tell the difference between one type of tree and the other, but I don't mind that Verne does.. it's like when you are listening to someone who is passionate about something... even if you don't understand the technical part, you can still enjoy the energy).

At the beginning of the story, Dr. Samuel Fergusson gives a couple of speeches about the innovations he developed for the balloon (basically it uses hydrogen, and he invented a heating system which allows it to go up and down without releasing gas, basically very similar to what's used today for balloons) and about the state of African exploration. I didn't bother understanding everything he said about the balloon, just the gist of it, but about the explorations it was interesting to see just how difficult and dangerous it was to make any progress in those unknown regions. Explorers often died of illnesses, privations or killed by hostile natives. Of course, nowadays air travel is normal, but you have to put yourself in these people's place to understand the sense of wonder from the idea of exploring it and finding the source of the Nile from the air, in a cutting-edge vehicle.

So, apart from that speculative element (it was speculative at the time), this is a good Victorian adventure novel, in the style of Conan Doyle's Lost World and that kind of stories. Really, a lot of the area they explore was unknown at the time the book was written. Some geographers speculated with the possibility that central Africa was a huge lake (fortunately Verne did not adopt that theory in the novel). Incidentally, Verne did get the source of the Nile right (by trusting Speke's speculations, which would be proven right by Stanley some years later).

The book is kind of episodic, because of course they are travelling through Africa in a balloon, so it's not like they can have an adversary following them along. The first part, looking for the source of the White Nile, was very interesting for me because of the excitement of seeing whether they would find it. Afterwards, the adventures and dangers get more pressing, as they start having problems with the balloon and the winds or lack thereof.

This reminded me of the style of pulp adventures in exotic regions. Verne is always well documented, as far as there was documentation at that time, but he takes artistic licenses for the sake of excitement. I'm sure for example that there were not that many overtly aggressive and/or cannibal tribes at the time. As I said, exaggerated for excitement but also revealing the image that had reached Europe of this area, fuelled also by dramatic descriptions from explorers. Obviously don't expect any wokeness here. That concept did not exist at the time and the characters take it for granted that European civilization, being more advanced, is the most desirable state. Verne is enlightened in some ways, like when Fergusson argues that just like Asia used to have the most advanced civilizations and then, as it exhausted some of its resources, it was Europe and then probably America, Africa would probably one day have the leading civilizations. On the other hand, mainly Joe, who is the jokester and less educated of the group, a few times makes comments that are insensitive or offensive from a modern perspective.

Of course, one important character is the balloon. The vehicle playing a big role in the story is characteristic of many Verne stories. Despite the vast regions they travel through, including wild rivers, forests, lakes, deserts, mountains, jungles, they are most of the time cosily enclosed in the basket of the balloon, which keeps them mostly safe from the dangers below. Safer than they would be on foot, anyway.

The main human characters are the three explorers, Dr. Fergusson, a brilliant and unconventional scientist and explorer; Joe, his manservant; and Dick Kennedy, the Scottish hunter and adventurer. These are archetypes that appear in several Verne novels. Fergusson is the driving force of the adventure, and the way for Verne to give information to the reader when he needs it; Kennedy is the man of action, the hunter; and Joe is the comic relief, always cheerful and willing to make a joke, but also agile and able to hold his own in any scrape. Joe is also very loyal, which can be difficult to understand for modern readers, because not that many people are so perfectly willing to die if necessary for their employers, but one has to understand the class dynamics: life was very harsh for uneducated, poor people, and by hiring him as his manservant Dr. Fergusson had given him a chance to have a comfortable and interesting life (instead of, say, working in a Victorian factory). So Joe is loyal because he is grateful, and rather than weird this would be seen as a positive quality by Verne's original readers.

Despite the characters being archetypes, they do develop a rather nice camaraderie during their adventure, and there is a rather moving moment near the end when you see how they have come to care for each other.

So a fine start to the Voyages Extraordinaires in this Victorian pulp novel of exploration with a speculative element.


Enjoyment factor: I enjoyed it a lot. African exploration really captures my imagination. I felt as if I were with the characters in that balloon basket, and enjoyed following their progress in the map. The occasional infodumps are mainly about African explorations, which interested me. The book was always entertaining for me, although it was somewhat episodic until it got more exciting in the second part. Worth reading.


Next up: Journey to the Center of the Earth


See all my Verne reviews here: https://www.sffworld.com/forum/threads/reading-vernes-voyages-extraordinaires.58... ( )

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Ferguson, pero’, si teneva sempre lontano da quelle dotte assemblee, poiche’ apparteneva alla categoria dei militanti e non di chi teorizza, e pensava che il tempo fosse meglio speso nel cercare che non nel discutere, nello scoprire che non nel discorrere. (14)

Altro che ferrovie, con le quali i Paesi si attraversano senza vederli! - ribatteva Kennedy.
Ah, se mi parlate di un pallone, si’, - riprendeva Joe. - Non sembra neanche di camminare, e la natura si prende da se’ il disturbo di passarvi dinanzi agli occhi. (52)

E chissa’, - ribatte’ il dottore - se un giorno o l’altro questa regione non diventera’ il centro della civilta’? Forse, quando le regioni d’Europa non potranno piu’ nutrire i loro abitanti, i popoli del futuro vi emigreranno,
Lo credi? - disse Kennedy. (72)
(Previsione errata…)

Io ho sempre immaginato che l’ultimo giorno del mondo sara’ quello in cui qualche immensa caldaia, scaldata a tre miliardi di atmosfere, fara’ saltare in aria il nostro globo! (73)
(Previsione... )

Siamo ancora lontani dalla costa? - domando’ Joe.
Quale costa, figliolo? Sappiamo forse dove ci condurra’ il caso? (168)

Verso le otto di sera, il Vittoria aveva percorso piu’ di duecento miglia a ovest, e i viaggiatori furono allora testimoni di un magnifico spettacolo.
Un fascio di raggi lunari, insinuandosi fra alcuni intestizi delle nuvole, e scivolando fra i rivoli d’acqua, cadde sulla catena dei monti Hombori. Nulla di piu’ bizzarro di quelle creste d’apparenza basaltica: si profilavano in forme fantastiche sul cielo cupo; si sarebbero dette leggendarie rovine di un’immensa citta’ del Medioevo, tali come appaiono, nelle notti buie, le banchise dei mari glaciali agli occhi stupiti di chi li guarda.
Ecco una localita’ dei Misteri di Udolfo, - disse il dottore; - Ann Radcliffe non avrebbe potuto descrivere queste montagne sotto piu’ terribile aspetto. (172-3)



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