Around the Moon

Alcuni secondi della vita di Pascal o di Newton sono più preziosi di tutta l'esistenza dell'indigesta folla degli imbecilli...
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In quell'emisfero di sinistra si stende il «Mare delle Nuvole,» in cui va così di frequente ad annegarsi la ragione umana. Poco lungi apparisce il «Mare delle Pioggie» alimentato da tutti gli intrighi dell'esistenza; più oltre si apre il «Mare delle Tempeste» in cui l'uomo lotta senza tregua contro le sue passioni troppo spesso vittoriose. Poi sfinito dai disinganni, dai tradimenti, dalle infedeltà e da tutto il corteo delle miserie terrestri, che trova egli al fine della sua carriera:? Il vasto «Mare degli Umori,» a mala pena temperato con poche goccie delle acque del «Golfo della show more Rugiada!» Nuvole, pioggie, tempeste, umori; la vita dell'uomo contiene forse altro e non si riassume tutta con questo quattro parole? L'emisfero di dritta, «dedicato alle signore,» contiene mari più piccoli, i cui nomi significativi riflettono tutti gli incidenti d'una esistenza femminina. Vi è il «Mare della Serenità» sul quale si china la giovinetta; il «Lago dei Sogni» che le riflette un ridente avvenire! E il «Mare del Nettare» coi suoi flutti di tenerezza, le sue brezze d'amore! E il «Mare della Fecondità,» e il «Mare delle Crisi,» poi il «Mare dei Vapori» le cui dimensioni forse sono troppo ristrette, e infine quel vasto «Mare della tranquillità,» dove si assorbono tutte le false passioni, tutti i sogni inutili, tutti i desiderii insoddisfatti ed i cui flutti si versano placidamente nel «Lago della Morte.
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Agli occhi dei viaggiatori riappariva quell'aspetto arcaico dei passaggi lunari, crudi di toni, senza gradazioni di colore, senza sfumature d'ombre, brutalmente bianchi e neri, poichè la luce diffusa fa loro difetto. Peraltro, la vista di quel mondo desolato li impressionava per la sua stessa singolarità. Essi scorrevano sopra siffatta regione caotica come se fossero trascinati dal soffio d'un uragano. Vedevano le vette sfilare sotto i loro piedi, tuffavano lo sguardo nella cavità, scavalcavano le scanalature, si arrampicavano sulle bastite, scandagliavano le misteriose bocche: ma non era traccia di vegetazione, non apparenza di abitato; nulla, null'altro, fuorchè stratificazioni, canali di lava, piani puliti come specchi immensi, che riflettevano i raggi solari con uno splendore irresistibile. Nulla d'un mondo vivente, tutto d'un mondo morto, dove le valanghe, precipitantisi dalla vetta delle montagne, s'inabissavano senza rumore in fondo alle voragini. Avevano il movimento, ma lo strepito loro mancava ancora.
(pagina 127) show less

Possible spoilers, because I discuss the ending’s similarities to other works.

****

This story picks up almost immediately where From the Earth to the Moon leaves off—and good thing, too, because that cliffhanger was unbearable! Barbicane, Ardan and Nicholl are the first humans to go up into space in this fictional universe, and they are all abuzz with plans for when they touch down on the moon. But will they get there? And will the place be hospitable to Earthlings?

Overall, this was unintentionally funny in places (the 21st-century reader having the benefit of hindsight) but still maintained a reasonable level of suspense. The ending reminded me a bit of Journey to the Centre of the Earth, with everyone thrown back to earth show more unscathed. This ending was slightly less plausible than Journey, but admittedly more of a relief to this reader. I didn’t want it to end as macabrely as I thought it might.

I’d recommend this if you’ve read at least one of Verne’s other works or if you’re interested in early sci-fi. show less

Around the moon published in 1869 is the sequel to Verne's From the Earth to the Moon published four years earlier. It qualifies as the first real hard science fiction novel containing at one point an algebraic equation as proof of the speed necessary for the three adventures to leave the earths atmosphere. This sequel takes up the story of the earlier novel where the three adventurers (they cant really be called astronauts) are waiting for the enormous cannon to be fired that will launch their hollowed out bullet like capsule towards the moon. Two Americans: Barbican the President of the gun club and Nicholl the scientist along with the Frenchman the bon viveur Michael Ardan are resting on their water filled couches and awaiting the show more explosion. The cannon is successfully fired and the three men gradually regain consciousness and check their calculations to ensure that they will hit the moon.

On the journey to the moon they are knocked off course by a tiny asteroid and find themselves in orbit around the moon with their hopes dashed of making a landing and resigned to being entombed in a satellite that will forever circle the moon. It is at this point when the three men particularly the scientists have considered all their options that the Frenchman says 'There is only one thing that we can do - we must sit down and have lunch' and he cracks open a bottle of good quality french wine.

It is of course a preposterous story from the vantage of our 21st century knowledge of a journey to the moon, but Verne spends a large part of this novel bombarding the reader with factual detail, which includes a potted history of the use of telescopes and calculations of distances and speeds needed for a trip to the moon, much of this would appear to be accurate, but don't ask me as my eyes started to glaze over when I came across that equation. Perhaps Verne was trying to convince his readers in 1869 that such a trip under the circumstances that he imagined was possible, but all that will be lost on todays readers and all that is left for us to do is to verify what he got right. The devil may care attitude of the characters also rings hollow, although there are some amusing moments. This is a story where scientific detail gets in the way of a good story line - sounds like hard science fiction to me and so 3 stars. show less

This is a continuation of From the Earth to the Moon, starting right where the previous novel finishes. In fact, we only consider them as two different novels because they were originally published that way, but it would make sense to think of them as a single novel in two volumes, and sometimes it's published that way.


What is it about? (from goodreads): Having been fired out of the giant Columbiad space gun, the Baltimore Gun Club's bullet-shaped projectile, along with its three passengers, Barbicane, Nicholl and Michel Ardan, begins the five-day trip to the moon.


In my review of From the Earth to the Moon I commented that the book was short of action, being more about the preparations than about the actual space trip. Well, at last show more here is what happens in the actual trip.

The tone is different from the previous book, with less humor and more action. There's still the problem that, while a lot of things happen, the characters have limited influence on the events, given that, once the projectile is shot, its occupants have a limited ability to influence its movements.

Because of that, the emphasis is in the interaction between the characters (even though this is not as satirical as the first part, there's still some humor because of that) and the scientific sense of wonder of the journey. In fact, the characters seem more scientifically competent here than in the first book (well, except for Michel Ardan, who is as incompetent in that sense as ever). But Barbicane, who seemed a glorified cannon-maker, is here quite knowledgeable about astronomy.

What doesn't change is how geeky this novel is. To give you an idea, there's a whole chapter devoted to discussing an equation. That is played for laughs, showcasing how unable Ardan is to understand maths, and I'm afraid readers who know little physics won't make sense of the maths either, because with Ardan's constant interruptions it's not explained clearly at all, but the equation itself is a simple conservation of energy formula, describing how the total energy (kinetic and gravitational potential) of the projectile must remain constant after the launch, thus allowing us to calculate the speed as a function of its distance to the Moon. They do discover a mistake the Observatory of Cambridge made, which seemed unrealistic (one would think the calculations would have been rechecked many times before the launching).

Anyway, there is also a lot of direct observation, and scientific discussions about the Moon, its formation, the possibility of it being able to support life (now or in the past)... Of course, some of the science is outdated (there's even discussion of aether), but it's fascinating how Verne tries to keep everything grounded and believable in the context of the knowledge available at the time. This is indeed hard science fiction.

Among the mistakes, one example is how Verne is unaware of the effects of opening a window into space. He knows that the air would go out and that it must be closed immediately to avoid losing all of it, but he absolutely underestimates how violently air would leave. This goes to show just how little knowledge there was about space at the time, which in a way makes this book more meritorious.

One thing that strikes me about this story is how stubbornly optimistic the characters are about their chances. They know it's very risky and they are willing to die, but they seem unaware of how almost impossible their survival is. They are upbeat about finding water and a breathable atmosphere on the Moon, even if it's only in the deepest valleys. And they handwave a lot about how exactly they intent to survive the impact against the Moon. Sure, the gravity is lower, but even so...

The ending is good. I'm noticing that Verne was quite good at writing endings that give an satisfying payoff after all the adventures.

I suspect the success of this story depends a lot on how much the reader is able to appreciate the wonder of this voyage from the point of view of people living in the 19th century. For those unable to appreciate retro-science-fiction, a lot of that sense of wonder will be lost. The two parts are also heavy in the scientific exposition, so readers who dislike these not-plot-related infodumps may be advised to choose a different Verne novel. Or even a different writer altogether, because those digressions are quite common in Verne's work, even in the more adventure-oriented. One thing that redeems Verne even for these readers is that he was a good storyteller. Some readers will tolerate his digressions because they enjoy his adventures, while others appreciate his didactic style as well. Personally, I appreciate his didactic style, being a reader of popular science too, but even so I understand why people complain about infodumps.


Enjoyment factor: I enjoyed this novel, along with the first part. It may not be the easiest one for casual readers to enjoy, though, unless they are interested in the early science fiction element. There's a lot of sense of wonder, if the outdated science doesn't prevent you from getting into the story. There's humor, and there's excitement about the fate of the explorers. There's also a lot of talk about astronomy, so if that's not your thing at all, you might want to try a different novel.


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

I have previously read the book in French, but all the technical and scientific details (for my lacking in ability) went over my head. Nevertheless, the book was a little on the technical side and, although enjoyable, it seemed to be more concerned with bearing some resemblance of technical fact more than anything else. Nevertheless, it was worth a re-read in English and I feel I have a better grasp on what Verne was getting at now. An enjoyable, brief, scientific voyage.

3 stars.

Rarely has a sequel been so much worse than the original. While From the Earth to the Moon was one of my favorite 19th century science fiction works, this sequel was tedious, unimaginative and uninspiring. As a previous reviewer noted, Verne's attempt was little more than a bland cartographic journey of the moon.

Another overly scientific Verne book. Yes its interesting how he anticipated certain aspects of the space program but while he does the science well the story loses out, as it often seems to in my experience.