Jules Verne, my new author-love

Is it possible to fall in love with an author and his writing without ever reading anything he's written? I say yes, Yes, YES!


I've always been interested in the many books by Jules Verne but I'd never actually read any of them. I LOVED all the movie adaptations though. Here's a clip from one of my all-time favorites:



And here's another classic I always loved:



So maybe I was already a bit biased, but by the time I finished reading the (lengthy) translator's introduction to Jules Verne's The Mysterious Island I was convinced that I would love everything ever written by Verne. Translator Jordan Stump writes not only about his specific translation (which is quite fasinating, honestly) but also about Verne's life and writing career, about the futuristic ideas Verne had, about his clashes with his editor over the "appropriateness" of his books, etc.

Now that I've finished reading The Mysterious Island I can say that the translator's introduction did not steer me wrong! I'll have my review up later today and you can see for yourself.

I HIGHLY encourage you to read this translator's essay.* I think it will give you a clear idea of Verne's works and you can decide based on that whether or not you'd like to read his books or not. (And this would be VERY helpful for anyone participating in the Lost Challenge!)

* The version of The Mysterious Island that I read has this ISBN #: 0679642366. I thought that might be helpful, since there are so many versions out there.

the cover of the original French version

PS. I'm not the only blogger who has a thing for Jules Verne! This blogger writes about his book Journey to the Center of the Earth, but you have to scroll way down the post to find her comments.