Meteor Avı

by Jules Verne, Özel Aydın (Translator)

Jules Verne, Dean Forsyth ve Sydney Hudelson adlı kahramanlarının, zaman zaman bir çıkar çatışması haline gelen bilimsel çekişmelerini alaycı bir dille anlatıyor okuyucuya. Olayın geçtiği dönemin değer yargılarına olan eleştirel bakış açısıyla ve yarattığı karakterlerin kişilik özellikleriyle esprili üslubunu bir kez daha ortaya koyuyor.

Genres: Science Fiction, Classics, Fiction, France, French Literature, Audiobook, Science Fiction Fantasy

262 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1908

About the author

Novels of French writer Jules Gabriel Verne, considered the founder of modern science fiction, include Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864) and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873).

This author who pioneered the genre. People best know him for Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870).

Verne wrote about space, air, and underwater travel before people invented navigable aircraft and practical submarines and devised any means of spacecraft. He ranks behind Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie as the second most translated author of all time. People made his prominent films. People often refer to Verne alongside Herbert George Wells as the "father of science fiction."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_V...

Reviews

[Vichy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Απολαυστικότατο μυθιστόρημα που με πνευματώδη τρόπο συνδυάζει μια αστρονομική ανακάλυψη με την ανθρώπινη ματαιοδοξία, το κυνήγι του χρήματος και πώς όλα αυτά εμποδίζουν την αγάπη!

Στην πόλη Γουώστον της Αμερικής δυο ερασιτέχνες αστρονόμοι διεκδικούν την ανακάλυψη ενός κομήτη που εκ των υστέρων τα Αστεροσκοπεία διατείνονται ότι είναι από χρυσό. Ο ανιψιός του κ. Ντην Φορσάυτ και η κόρη του Δρ. Χούδελσον, ο Φράνσις Γόρδων και η Τζέννη Χούδελσον, ζουν το χωρισμό τους αντί του γάμου τους, αφού από παλαιοί φίλοι οι 2 αστρονόμοι γίνονται άσπονδοι εχθροί. Ωστόσο, στο Παρίσι ένα σοφός εκκεντρικός, ο Ζεφυρίνος Ξιρδάλ καταφέρνει με μια μηχανή που κατασκευάζει να εκτρέψει την πορεία του του κομήτη και να τον ρίξει σε οικόπεδο που προαγοράζει στην Ουπερνίβικ της Γροιλανδίας κατόπιν ενεργειών του θείου/νονού του τραπεζίτη Ροβέρτο Λεκέρ. Κι όλα αυτά ενώ τα κράτη του κόσμου συνδιασκέπτονται αδιαλείπτως έχοντας αποκλείσει τους 2 αστρονόμους και αγνοώντας τις πράξεις του Γάλλου, για την τύχη του κομήτη! Τι μέλλει γενέσθαι και τι λύση θα δοθεί;

[Shakiba Bahrami · Rating 5 out of 5]

"بارش شهاب" اثر ژول ورن
از متن کتاب:
کلفت پیر گوشه پیشبندش را که از لحظه‌ای پیش به دست گرفته و بشدت تاب می‌داد، رها کرد و گفت:
- به عقیده من، اینها دیوانه هستند. این مردم، آقای قاضی...
آقای جان پروت که باز آبپاش کوچکش را به دست گرفته، آبیاری رزها را از سر گرفته بود، تصدیق‌کنان اظهار داشت:
- بدون شک، بدون شک، کات باتقوی. اما کجای آن تعجب دارد؟... مگر تمام کسانی که ازدواج می‌کنند، کمی دیوانه نیستند؟




ترجمه کتاب یکم بد بود (چون قدیمی بود ) ولی کتاب جالبی بود مخصوصا آخرش. کتاب موردعلاقه‌م نبود اما اگه داستانهای علمی دوست دارید، بخونیدش:)

[Nei · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dupa ce am terminat de citit O calatorie spre centrul pamantului , nu aveam asteptari prea mari de la aceasta carte. Am fost, in schimb, placut surprinsa si aveam impresia ca citesc de data aceasta un autor total diferit. Sunt de parere ca autorul era prea focusat pe detaliile științifice ca să își arate erudiția și uitase sa mai facă romanul roman, adica sa fie atent la firul narativ si la interactiunea dintre personaje. Îmi spusesem ca nu cred ca voi mai citi ceva de Jules Verne, mai ales ca nici în copilărie nu prea m-am omorât cu cartile lui. Dar a compensat din plin cu Goana dupa meteor și mi-a câștigat simpatia. Recomand cu căldură.

Meteorul fiind de aur, mi s-a parut ca aceasta este o satira a goanei dupa aur ("gold rush") a populatiei americane din secolul al-XIX-lea. Povestea se citeste foarte usor, iar cartea este pur si simplu delicioasa si m-a binedispus, punandu-mi un zambet poznas in coltul gurii pe tot timpul lecturii. Mai jos o mostra care demonstreaza asta.

"- Ei, Mitz, raspunse domnul Dean Forsyth, suparat foc, vasazica nu stii ce mi-a facut Hudelson asta?
- Ce v-a facut?
- M-a furat!
-Furat?
- Da, m-a furat cu nerusinare!
- Si ce v-a furat?... Ceasul?... Punga?... Batista?...
- Bolidul!
-A! Iar bolitul! , striga batrana, strambandu-se cat putea mai ironic si mai neplacut pentru Forsyth. De mult nu mai auzisem de mitiorul dumneavoastra! E cu putinta, Doamne, sa ajungi in halul asta, din princina unei dracii care se plimba!... O fi bolitul mai mult al dumneavoastra, decat al domnului Hudelson? V-ati iscalit cumva pe el? Nu e oare al tuturor oamenilor, al oricui, al meu, al catelului meu, daca as avea catel... dar, slava Domnuluo, n-am!... L-ati cumparat cu banii dumneavoastra sau vi l-a lasat cineva mostenire?..."

Dacă e sa fac o paralela, as face o cu Charles Dickens David Copperfield , mai ales partea de început a acestui roman al lui Dickens. Cu diferența ca Dickens nu se mai satura de scris, țintind deliberat pentru cat mai multe pagini (probabil pentru ca prefera sa publice in foileton), pe când Jules Verne nu avea acest scop și s-a rezumat la doar 200 de pagini, scurt si la obiect cum s-ar spune.

Personajul meu preferat e Zephyrin, pur si simplu il ador pe acest om datorita combinatiei de geniu cu capul in nori, dar cu principii alese.
Zephyrin Xirdal desfacu valiza in mijlocul camerei si statu multa vreme pe ganduri in fata ei. Ce sa puna in ea? "Numai lucruri absolut trebuitoare, isi spuse el. Trebuie deci lucrat metodic si operata selectie rationala." In virtutea principiului acestuia, puse mai intai in valiza trei articole de incaltaminte. Avea sa regrete mai tarziu ca, printr-o nefericita intamplare, dintre aceste trei obiecte, unul era o gheata cu nasturi, altul un pantof cu sireturi, iar al treilea un papuc. Dar, pana una-alta, nepotrivirea lor n-avea nicio importanta, iar o parte a valizei se si umplu. Asta era cel mai important!
Dupa impachetarea incaltamintei, Zephyrin Xirdal, frant de oboseala, isi sterse fruntea, dupa care incepu iar sa chibzuiasca.
Rezultatul reflectiilor sale il facu sa-si dea oarecum seama de nepriceperea lui in arta de a impacheta. Iata de ce, spunandu-si ca nu va ajunge la nimic bun prin metoda clasica, hotari sa se increada in inspiratie.
Isi vara deci mainile pana la coate prin sertare si maldarul de haine care ii reprezenta garderoba. Peste cateva clipe, un talmes-balmes de obiecte umplu una din despartiturile valizei. Poate ca despartitura cealalta ramsese goala, dar Zephyrin Xirdal habar nu avea. Si fu nevoit sa-si indese lucrurile cu calcaiul, pana cand izbuti sa le faca loc.

Bineinteles, se poate argumenta ca romanul e un pic previzbil si cu happy ending asemena filmelor americane, dar fiind scris in 1908, putem spune ca filmele americane s-au inspirat din acest roman si nu invers.

[Mirko Gustic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sak to povecte!

"Naco by dospely clovek cital Verneho, ak len nechce vykradnut daky z jeho nadcasovych napadov a nahanobit pre nasledujucich 17 generacii ha? NACO?!!!"

No, ale kto si s Vami zaflirtuje v style "Nerobte si nadeje, ze tu najdete zoznam statov, ktore sa zucastnili..."? Kto iny bude k svojim postavam laskavy aj spravodlivy a nauci Vas o spekulaciach na finacnom trhu lepsie jak Izip? Kto Vasu hlavu naplni vedomostami aj srdce zahreje?

Tak klud hej? Dospely-nedospely Verne sa citat bude a hotovo!

A ano nie je to Dva roky prazdnin, ale banovat nebudete. (Zrejme som nemal predtym citat Kukucina, lebo moja irecita slovencina lezie na nervy aj mne. A to ani neviem ci sa ma Slovencina pisat s velkym ci malym S, preto som v tejto vete pouzil oboje. A, samozrejme, co je v zatvorke sa nerata. To sa vie...)

[Samuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75⭐

No llega al 4 por la lentitud con la que se han narrado ciertas situaciones. Es cierto que Julio Verne suele ser bastante pomposo a la hora de escribir, pero siento que la historia podría haber avanzado bastante más rápido.

Tengo la sensación de que en 240 páginas, todo ha sucedido en las últimas 40. No digo que el build-up no sea necesario, pero hasta cierto punto.

Por lo demás me ha gustado e incluso me ha sorprendido para bien. El desarrollo de personajes es posiblemente lo que me ha gustado, porque no se siente que se deje a ninguno marginado, todos tienen un papel importante y necesario.

[Ulker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jules Verne 1905 yılından gelip meteorlar, Grönland konusunda beni aydınlattı. Hele o alaycı dil ayrı bir keyif katıyor olaya.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written late in his career, The Chase of the Golden Meteor did not represent the optimism that Jules Verne felt earlier. Imagine a huge meteor made of solid gold in earth's orbit. Two amateur astronomers in Whaston, Virginia discover the bolide at almost exactly the same moment -- and much of the plot of this somewhat disappointing novel relate to their almost cosmic pigheadedness.

At the same time, a French inventor named Zephyrin Xirdal finds a way to make the bolide come down to earth in a place which he buys and occupies so that HE can claim the gold.

What happens is an interesting surprise, which I do not wish to divulge, but which endeared the novel to me ... somewhat. Unfortuanately, long before you get to that point, you will have had a snootful of the amateur astronomers and their mutual antipathy.

[Rafael Ontivero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Como siempre, la edición leída es la de Sáez de Jubera de principios del siglo XX, en el tomo XIII.

Verne escribió la novela en 1901, y la retocó un poco antes de morir para ampliar el contenido internacional y económico, y el hijo añadió a Zéphyrin Xirdal y sus "pajas mentales", así que originalmente el meteoro debería haber caído de forma natural y luego haberse ido al mar sin más, sin la influencia ni los trabajos del personaje añadido, que por cierto, algo modificado, fue mi Nick durante bastantes años en internet.

Los juegos de palabras son incesantes en boca de la fámula de Forsyth, y el desarrollo es muy bueno incluso pese a los añadidos de Michel, que en este caso sí que se nota desentonan un poco.

Un libro poco conocido de Verne, que se lee bastante bien y es corto.

[Martijn Vsho · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the small town of Whatson live two amateur astrologers, friends on good days and otherwise rivals. When they both spot a new meteor in the sky, they each claim to have seen it first. Tensions heighten between the two astrologers when another observatory claims that the meteor is made of gold and that it might fall on the earth. Suddenly the countries of the world are in heated debates as to who would lay claim to this gold when it does fall. How will this gold affect the world? Will the countries come to a peaceful agreement as to who would own this gold or how it might be split? And will the two astrologers be able to settle their disagreement and perhaps lay claim to the gold?

A comical story exploring the science of astrology. Verne does not go as in-depth into astrology in this novel as he does with sciences in some of his other novels, though that might be because of how the translation was done. The series this translation is in includes novels that have been shortened to be roughly 200 pages so I'm not sure how much was edited out or changed by I. O. Evans. Evans has done this with other Verne books which is surprising and very annoying. Much of Verne's books are hard to find in English so I had no choice but to stick with this version for now.

The themes of fame, rivalry, and greed are prevalent throughout this story. Verne especially has readers consider the implications of greed and how it affects us. The difference between the greedy characters and those for whom money is a mere tool is quite stark and shows that Verne seemed to side with the latter. I haven't read a biography of Verne yet but it makes me wonder how he used his own wealth.

This is another one of Verne's stories that contain his classic slow reveal. There are several mysteries in this novel: the meteor, a seemingly random couple that gets married at the beginning of the novel, and an eccentric scientist that shows up part way. All of these mysteries are slowly revealed through the story. I enjoy Verne's slow reveals and think he did a good job with it in this novel.

Verne is an author who likes to have the world captivated by the events in his stories. It always seems like somehow every person in the world gets interested in what happens. The same happens in this story as everyone gets involved in the meteor and the debate between the two astrologers. It's a bit unrealistic and makes me chuckle and shake my head each time Verne uses this trope.

A good story, though certainly not a great one. 3/5 (=good, I liked it).

[Nicolás Ortenzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

La historia gira alrededor de dos astrónomos Hudelson y Forsyth, ambos vieron un meteoro surcar los cielos y ambos tendrán una batalla por quien es el verdadero dueño de tal hallazgo. Luego de unos cuantos capítulos surge un tercer competidor...


Bien debo decir que la historia tiene un inicio flojo, no tiene el encanto de: La isla misteriosa (mi libro predilecto), viaje al centro de la tierra o el pueblo aéreo.
La historia no esta mal, entretiene y te deja con ganas de saber el resultado de todo; solo por una curiosidad propia del ser humano. Se pone interesante al final, ahí es donde esta la emoción.
El personaje más interesante es el tercer competidor, creo que este fue el que mejor desarrollado estaba. Hudelson y Forsyth, solo son personajes de relleno a mi modo de ver.

[Kristyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This first English translation of the original manuscript is a clever commentary on ownership, obsession, and greed as the meteor is discovered, investigated, and tracked down.

I have never read previous translations of The Meteor Hunt, but Frederick Paul Walter and Walter James Miller's notes on the differences between Verne's original and his son's posthumous editing is just as humorous and enlightening as Jules Verne's own text!

[Alicja (book book to ja) · Rating 3 out of 5]

No, powiedzenie, że to sci-fi to może trochę za dużo powiedziane. Dla mnie bardziej obyczaj z elementami naukowymi, astronomicznymi. Niemniej, bardzo przyjemna, chociaż nie jest to szczególnie moja literatura.

[Karel Burian · Rating 3 out of 5]

More concrequetly I would give 3,5 stars. Book wasn't so catchy, but as always with Verne, I liked story telling.

[Klaudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

[Nia · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Les francophones connaissent déjà ce livre, donc je vais écrire cette revue en anglais.)

A decent read, in the end. This one started off more slowly than some of these other books, with a lot of description, funny also.

A marriage on horseback, a couple of friends becoming rivals, a few thousand people chase a big ball of something that probably should have melted coming through the atmosphere, and then an interesting happily ever after with reconciliations all around!

I listened to this book on audio at nights while trying to fall asleep, or after being awakened by noisy or smoking neighbors, thanks to a very good volunteer reader from librivox.org

[Alfredo Sirica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una vera e propria favola moderna (ai tempi in cui è stata scritta) con morale. Due astronomi dilettanti, amici-nemici, avvistano contemporaneamente una meteora e dal quel momento ne disputano la paternità della scoperta, in un elegante balletto di attacchi e contrattacchi che rischia di mettere al repentaglio il fidanzamento dei loro rispettivi figli. Nel frattempo, scoperta la natura aurifera della meteora, uno scienziato parigino cerca di attirarla alla Terra per impossessarsene (e nel farlo anticipa le teorie di Einstein), mentre i governi di tutto il mondo si riuniscono per decretare il da farsi.

Una vera e propria satira sociale che espone l'orgoglio, la vana gloria, l'egoismo e l'inettitudine che l'uomo adotta spesso ciecamente, dimenticandosi ciò che realmente conta. Un romanzo il cui messaggio ricorda molto "Canto di Natale" di Dickens, lineare ma scritto con uno stile curato, ironico, coinvolgente e carismatico. Un Verne in piena forma, che come suo solito ci fa divertire lasciandoci di soppiatto anche qualche buon insegnamento.

P.s. molto simpatica l'aggiunta di una coppia di sposini originali e disinvolti, che mostrano come un amore che dura nonostante gli ostacoli che vi si pongono in mezzo, abbia molto più valore di uno nato e consumato alla leggera, senza alcuna prova.

[Taneil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was pretty interesting, although the notes about the differences between the imposter book, and this one were quite annoying. After a while I stopped looking up the notes. Maybe that wasn't a good thing, but I still enjoyed the book.

[Esteban Martos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es interesante cómo la caida de un meteoro de oro puede causar tanto impacto a nivel mundial tanto social, como políticamente y económicamente; las grandes potencias mundiales lo reclaman como suyo poniéndose el título de "la humanidad"; está bien escrita, es una historia amena y muy bien relatada

[Tentatively, Convenience · Rating 3 out of 5]

review of
Jules Verne's The Hunt for the Meteor
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - June 11, 2017

As w/ H.G. Wells, Verne is like an old friend from my childhood whose stories I'll never get tired of. &, again as w/ both of them, I pace my reading of them far enuf apart so that I'll probably never read them all. Here're the Verne's I've read, roughly in the order of their writing:

Paris in the Twentieth Century (1863)
A Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864)
20,000 Leagues under the Sea (1869-70)
Around the World in Eighty Days (1873)
The Begum's Fortune (1879)
The Demon of Cawnpore (1880)
Carpathian Castle (1892)
For the Flag (1896)
The Village in the Treetops (1901)
Master of the World (1904)
The Lighthouse at the end of the World (published posthumously 1905)
The Hunt for the Meteor (published posthumously 1908)
Yesterday and Tomorrow (published posthumously 1910)
Into the Niger Bend (published posthumously 1919)
The City in the Sahara (published posthumously 1919)

Now, I'm informed by the Wikipedia entry re Verne that the "posthumously published volumes in the Voyages Extraordinaires were extensively altered and in some cases entirely written by by Verne's son Michel." & that apparently applies to The Lighthouse at the end of the World AND The Hunt for the Meteor in the above list. However, some of the others aren't in the Wikipedia list at all so perhaps they're completely discredited.

"Until recent years, The Hunt for the Meteor (La Chasse au Méteore) was the only one of Jules Verne's posthumous works to be translated and published in English; it appeared, however, under a title which revealed its secret prematurely." - p 5

'I wonder what title that might've been.' you ask. But is that a question? Where's the question mark? Can it be 'answered' by The Chase of the Golden Shower? Close, but no question mark.

"Another of his attempts at humour breaks down in translation; neither the original translator or I as editor have been able to render the extraordinary malapropisms of the housekeeper Mitz." - p 6

Of course, I don't know what the original malapropisms were like en Français but I find the translations quite satisfactory.

""And My Crown?" she questioned, this being her pronunciation of Omicron's name.

""He's busy upstairs," replied Francis. "We'll manage without him this morning."

""All the better," grumbled Mitz. "I wish he'd stay and moon about in his absurdatory for good and all. We'd be better off here without that prize idiot."" - p 22

Mitz doesn't really get a fair deal & neither does Omicron. Omicron gets no credit for discovering the meteor b/c he's a servant. I cry 'FOUL!'

"Mitz, a model servant, and whose like it would be hard to find nowadays, belonged to that lost breed of domestic servants, resembling a dog in being attached to her masters and resembling a cat in being attached to the house." - p 16

Really, Verne?! That's disgustingly classist. I expect better from you. Of course, Mitz's 'master' is a person of more dollars than sense, Forsyth is a man of leisure, someone privileged enuf to be an amateur astronomer.

"And what was Forsyth's occupation? Medicine, law, literature, art, business? No, not at all. Sciences? Well, not sciences in the plural, but science in the singular, that sublime science which is called astronomy." - p 17

""It's quite possible," Omicron agreed. "It's very probable, even: for, a few days ago, when the sky was a little clearer, I thought I could see . . ."

""And I saw it too, Omicron."

""Both os us, then, both of us, and at the same time!"

""Omicron!" Forsyth protested.

""Yes! You first, no doubt," Omicron conceded, with a significant nod. "But when I thought I could see the thing in question, I thought it must be . . ."" - p 18

Much of the conflict in this bk centers around Forsyth & Dr. Hudelson, a neighbor astronomer, both trying to claim discovering the meteor to the exclusion of the other.

"Why didn't the two old friends share their shooting-star between them? There was no material advantage, no pecuniary profits to be hoped for. Even the honour was purely platonic. Why, therefore, grudge there being two names associated with the discovery? Why? Because they were both vain and touchy. And when these two foibles arise in question, how can reason prevail?" - p 44

"When Forsyth learnt the value of his meteor, he cried: "As I discovered it, and not that rascal in Morris Street, it belongs to me; and if it should fall on the earth, all this wealth would be mine!"

"On his side, Hudelson, as he shook his fist towards Elizabeth Street, declared: "It's my property, my children's inheritance, which is circling in space. If it should fall on our globe, nobody could take it from me, and I should be fabulously rich!"": - pp 70-71

The meteor, for reasons that will be revealed, is valued at 231,520 millions sterling - in other words for more than any human being has ever had to this day. Do I really believe that there are people so venal that they cdn't share that? Maybe.

Omicron's claim to the discovery is dismissed b/c he's a servant. Since Verne (or his son Michel) wrote that into the story one might think that there's critical commentary implicit but I'm not so sure. Verne seems to accept the status quo.

"The town in which this strange story begins is situated in Virginia, U.S.A.; it may be called Whaston, on the right bank of the river Potomac; it is useless to specify its exact whereabouts, for it does not appear even on the best maps." - p 7

Whaston, despite its obscurity & presumed small size, has at least 5 newspapers, something that cdn't be supported in hard copy in today's electronic age in any but the largest cities. There's the Daily Whaston, the Whaston News, the Whaston Morning, & the Whaston Evening, there's even a satirical one called the Whaston Punch. What? No Whaston Astronomer?

As w/ Whaston, try calculating how to get to Cross Village, MI, sometime on yr MapQuest or whatnot & you'll find it to be pretty obscure. There's at least one romance going on between here & there but there're 2 romances going on in Whaston.

"Seth Stanfort checked him: "Is it really necessary," he asked, "for Miss Arcadia and myself to dismount?"

"Mr. Proth reflected. "No," he decided. "The marriage can quite well be celebrated on horseback."" - p 13

Indeed, why not? I've never been married but when I got divorced from Laure Drougoul for all I know I was in a car at the time. Perhaps Verne shd've gotten divorced instead of married since he finds the qualities he likes in wives lacking in real life:

"Whenever he was preoccupied she respected his preoccupation. She even inquired after his work, and her kindly heart dictated encouraging language when the astronomer seemed to have lost his way in the infinity of space. She was a woman of the sort whom every husband could have wished to marry, and especially the astronomers. Unfortunately, her species is rarely met with outside novels." - p 26

I find this next type of detail to be the sort of thing that makes Verne particularly likable:

"Dr. Hudelson's house was comfortable, with a courtyard in front and a garden at the back. On its roof was a sort of square tower, thirty yards high, on the top of which was a terrace, and at one of the corners rose the mast on which, Sundays and holidays, there was hoisted the Star-spangled banner, the flag of the United States with its fifty-one stars."*

*"Verne was looking well ahead, for when he wrote, the flag had only forty-five Stars, and even now there are only fifty!" - p 28

Having been a Pittsburgher now for 21.5 yrs I'm always delighted when PGH gets mentioned in something I'm reading: "To the Head Astronomer of Pittsburgh Observatory, Pennsylvania." (p 33) I've been to that observatory, observatories are always very interesting to me.

The discovery of the meteor leads to people fearing that it'll crash into their town:

"As the said meteor had appeared in the zenith of Whaston, the town must be situated in its trajectory. And, if this were a closed orbit, it would again pass over the town. Suppose that the meteor should, for some reason or other, stop in its course just at this time. Whaston would then be hit, with results that could scarcely be conceived." - p 48

For one thing, one of the most literate towns in the United States might be destroyed. God's Wrath, people, doncha no yer serposed to be ign'rant?

The meteor is made of gold. Poo! I gave it away. Well, you'd probably figure it out by reading the bk's back jacket.

"Throughout the world this had become the one centre of interest. Unlike the Gauls, whose only fear was that the sky might fall on their heads, humanity at present unanimously desired that the meteor would stop in its course, and, yielding to the earth's attraction, would fall and enrich the globe with its wandering millions." - 68

Ok, here's where it gets confusing to me. Isn't the reason that gold is highly valued simply that it's rare? & wdn't the arrival on Earth of one large chunk of gold that's bigger than all the gold hitherto known simply devalue gold in general? & how exactly were people expecting to benefit from it? Ok, I cd understand all the excitement if the meteor were some sort of self-renewing source of food but gold? Whatever. & that's part of what Verne riffs off of here.

There are plenty of extraordinary characters in The Hunt for the Meteor but the one who's most remarkable has the best name. If I ever have a gerbil, I'll know what to name it:

"Speaking colloquially people were apt to say: "Zephyrin Xirdal? . . . What a man!" and indeed, in mind and in body alike, Zephyrin Xirdal was something out of the ordinary." - p 73

"For Zephyrin Xirdal, matter is only an appearance and has no real existence; this was shown by the complete impossibility of ascertaining its ultimate constitution. Whether matter be decomposed into molecules, atoms, or even more minute particles, there will still remain a last fraction insusceptible of any analysis, and this will always be so until a first principle which is not matter is admitted. This first immaterial principle is energy." - p 82

Xirdal is, of course, a genius whose inventive abilities will turn everything around. He's also presented as absent-minded enuf to stop doing something major b/c he simply forgets about it.

""Well, I'm just off by train. I'm on my way to the seaside, where I mean to spend a week revelling in the fresh air."

""You're in luck!"

""Why not come with me? We can talk quite comfortably in the train."

""That's so! . . ." began Zephyrin.

""Unless anything is keeping you in Paris just now."

""No!"

""Nothing in particular? . . . no experiment that you're making?"

"Xirdal tried in vain to remember.

""No, nothing," he replied." - p 88

[..]

"And, in the meantime, while Xirdal, mounted on his new hobby, was hurrying towards the train that should carry him far from the city, there, in the Rue Cassette, up in a room of the sixth storey, a dark harmless-looking box went on softly buzzing, a metallic reflector was still projecting its bluish light, and the cylinder of eddying dust articles still travelled, so slender but so rigid, into the unknown depths of space.

""Left to itself, the machine that Xirdal had neglected to stop, and whose very existence he had forgotten, proceeded blindly with its obscure mysterious task." - p 89

How many people use the word "milliards" any more? Why, just t'other day, I sd: "If I had a milliard for every time Zephyrin Xirdal left a box proceeding blindly with its obscure mysterious task, I'd be a milliardnaire!" & people looked at me as if I were tetched in the haid. It's sad living in a world of people w/ small vocabularies.

""And, yet, sir, if it's made of gold, it must be worth millions."

""Millions and milliards, Kate. Yes, there are milliards shooting round above our heads."" - p 95

My, how times have changed. Take, eg, the Earth's human population. 110 or so yrs ago:

""Admitting," he said, "that the earth contains fifteen hundred million inhabitants["]" - p 96

Now, that estimate probably wasn't very accurate. Still, today's estimate of human population is 7,500,000,000. That means the population has increased by 5 times in a mere 110 yrs. &, yet, I find people less worried about that now than they were 50 yrs ago. Watch out! This problem is going to come up & bite us on the ass! Not b/c it means to but b/c the person next to you won't be able to move away from where yr ass IS & it'll just look tooooooo tempting. Since constant murder doesn't really seem to be helping maybe we shd try something else? I don't recommend missionaries & their position on abstinence either.

"Thanks to the missionaries, the former fashion of tattooing has now disappeared from among these people" - p 142

Pooh. Let's put an image of a guy crucified on a cross everywhere instead.

"Although the meteor had been considerably flattened in its swift descent, its spherical shape was still perceptible. Its upper portion was fairly round, while the crushed base fitted into the anfractuosities of the ground." - p 160

While the plot of this bk doesn't necessarily follow the deepest intricate path or process of the mind, it lives up to ye olde Verne verve that we know & love.

"Verne had always been aware of the evil effects which the lust for gold can have on the human character: it suggested an episode, for example, in the first of his "Strange Journeys," Five Weeks in a Balloon, and it forms the theme of three of his posthumous stories. Though in the present work it is dealt with lightly, it is considered very seriously in The Golden Volcano and The Survivors of the "Jonathan"." - p 189

The reader is further referred to B. Traven's The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

[Farseer · Rating 4 out of 5]

(58) La Chasse au météore (The Chase of the Golden Meteor, 1908) (1 volume) 59K words


In the fifty-eight Extraordinary Voyage, the fourth one published posthumously, Verne returns to the science fiction genre. This book is the first to deal with astronomical events since "Off on a Comet" (I'm not counting "The Purchase of the North Pole" here because that one only involved Earth). This novel also includes a trip to Greenland, where, if I remember correctly, the series had only taken us for a short visit in "The Adventures of Captain Hatteras".


What is it about?: Two amateur astronomers in the same American town independently spot a new meteor and each attempts to claim the credit for the discovery. The bitter rivalry that results threatens the projected wedding between the daughter of one of the astronomers and the nephew of the other. This rivalry worsens when it's discovered that the meteor is made of gold and thus extremely valuable. Meanwhile, another amateur scientist, this time a very eccentric inventor, tries to create a device which will cause the meteor to fall on Earth.


On paper, the book is science fiction, but the focus is really on the social satire, with a humorous portrayal of how greed and vanity affects people and countries. I had expected Verne's posthumous novels to be somewhat glum, but that's not really the case, and the last two I have read ("The Thompson Travel Agency" and this one) are comedies.

Perhaps one element that differentiates these posthumous novels is the denunciation of greed. This message was somewhat lost in "The Golden Volcano" because of the modifications Michel Verne (Jules Verne's son) did before publication, but here the message is intact, and the author has fun depicting how greed makes people act like fools and how it threatens peace between countries.

Comparing the final product with Jules' original manuscript, we see that Michel's main contribution was introducing the character Zéphyrin Xirdal, the extremely eccentric but brilliant French inventor who tries to bring the meteor to Earth (in Jules' manuscript the meteor fell on its own).

It's in Xirdal's work that we find the science-fictional elements of the story. The device that the inventor produces is explained with technobabble, although it's interesting to see in it the influences of the contemporary research on radioactive materials and also, with a certain prescience, some musings on the equivalence of matter and energy.

But, as I said, this is not the real focus. Despite the speculative elementas and the journey to Greenland, the main pleasure is following the quirky set of characters as they are affected by the riches that may be about to fall from the sky.

The novel is quite short and moves at a decent pace, without the slower sections that some of Verne's longest novels have in their first half.


Enjoyment factor: I liked this one, although I did not find it as amusing as "The Thompson Travel Agency". It's short and a quick read, and the plot is entertaining, even if the science is dubious. Your enjoyment will depend on how much you appreciate the quirkiness of the characters. I can see them being a bit too much for some readers.


Next up: The Danube Pilot


See all my Verne reviews here: https://www.sffworld.com/forum/thread...

[Marjorie Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

That's another Jules Verne book under my belt. You read one on Kindle, and Amazon keeps offering you more.

I personally find Mr Verne rather long-winded and flat. His characters feel wooden and remote. And although I have a scientific background, and enjoy reading technical details, I don't particularly enjoy pages of detailed technical explanations and science lessons in a novel. I'd rather read about the people, what they were like, what they did, why they did it and how they were affected by the underlying science.

I didn't really feel I had a clear image in my mind of most of the characters, except possibly little Loo, and Omicron, and that's probably because they were slight caricatures. So the consequence was that I didn't care enough about most of them to want to find out what happened to them. And I skipped some of the pages and pages of technical details.

But that's just me. I'm glad I persevered, as I did want to know what happened when the meteor finally landed. It took me several weeks, and several more interesting books in between, to break up the long-windedness a bit.

I read the Kindle edition. It has copious notes at the end about lots of things, some about the translation from the original French, and some about the science. I didn't read them (see below).

Unfortunately, the Kindle edition I read has been very badly prepared and presented. The chapter bookmarks are non-existent (except for the sections at the end that contain the notes about each chapter). The page layout is all over the place, with page numbers and section numbers mixed up with the text, and big gaps between words, and even letters in the same word for good measure. There are asterisks in the main body of the text to refer to the copious notes, but since you can't click or link from one to the other, and one asterisk is very much like any other, it was impossible to reference the notes as you read, or even after you read. And since the main body of text has no meaningful chapter heading bookmarks, you couldn't even read the notes then refer back to the relevant chapter.

So, ten out of ten to me for persevering with this. But a rather lower score for the novel itself, from this reviewer, I'm afraid. And about two out of ten for the Kindle edition, and the two points are for the fact that there were words I could read in a logical order.

[Antje · Rating 3 out of 5]

Der letzte Roman Jules Vernes, der mit der Chance einer Überarbeitung des Schriftstellers ein großer Roman hätte werden können.

Die Idee hinter der Geschichte ist faszinierend - das Verhalten der Menschen zeitlos. Zwei Hobby-Astronome in der gleichen Nachbarschaft entdecken zur gleichen Zeit einen Meteor, der die Erde umkreist. Beide erheben den Anspruch, ihn zuerst entdeckt zu haben und ihn damit zu besitzen. Als Wissenschaftler feststellen, dass sein Kern aus purem Gold ist, gewinnt dieser Anspruch an Bedeutung. Noch mehr, als ferner errechnet wird, in welchem Gebiet er abstürzen wird. Es entwickelt sich eine irrsinnige Debatte zwischen den beiden Hobby-Astronomen und auf internationaler Ebene. Zahlungsfähige Schaulustige und Vertreter Dänemarks pilgern per Schiff nach Grönland, um dort den Absturz den goldenen Meteors mitzuerleben und weitere mögliche Ansprüche zu erheben.
Wie bereits notiert, die Idee hat etwas. Nur die Umsetzung gelang nicht so rund. Szenen wie die Entdeckung der Hobby-Astronome, die Schiffsreise, die ungeduldige Erwartung des Boliden sowie was mit diesen letztlich passiert, erzeugten Spannung und Lesefreude. Die Debatten der Nachbarn und internationalen Kommissionen hingegen lasen sich holprig und hatten ihre Längen. Den Meteor ließ Verne unspektakulär und ungesehen in einem Satz auf die Erde plumpsen. Somit war die Spannung innerhalb weniger Worte zerschnitten. Sehr sehr schade. Zudem streute er eine Liebesgeschichte eines reiselustigen, reichen Paares in die Handlung ein, die ich nicht gebraucht hätte.
Der Versuch, die Geld- und Geltungsgier von Privatleuten und Staaten humorvoll ins Zentrum zu rücken, ist ihm hingegen wieder gelungen. -

Wäre Verne mehr Lebenszeit geblieben, um seiner Erzählung den fehlenden Feinschliff zu geben, hätte ich dieses Buch mit größerer Freude gelesen.

[Michael Neno · Rating 4 out of 5]

A recent trend in science fiction has been the juxtaposition of the intimate and the cosmic, the domestic and the infinite (see the films The Tree of Life, Interstellar and Arrival, for example).

Jules Verne, nearly 125 years ago, anticipated the formula with his posthumously published The Meteor Hunt, the gentle, whimsical and satirical tale of a meteor composed of gold and the residents of a small Virginian town, Whaston. Beginning and ending with weddings and filled with many droll observations on relationships (as well as brash American characteristics in general), the crux of the novel is two amateur astronomers and friends who both discover the orbiting object at the same time and claim it as their own. This creates first division and then animosity between the friends, dragging their families and their affairs along with them (a planned marriage between two of the family's members is put in jeopardy during the process). Once world powers get involved the story becomes a fast-paced free-for-all, with a journey to Greenland ending in delicious irony.

The Meteor Hunt was first published as The Chase of the Golden Meteor, editorially butchered by Verne's son, Michel, who added chapters, characters and inventions, deleted aspects of the novel he didn't like, and altogether transformed the novel into a different work. For most of the 20th century, this was the only version available. This publication by University of Nebraska Press, translated and edited by Frederick Paul Walter and Walter James Miller, is the one to get. Though the tale gets a bit repetitive, Verne's amusing observations, asides, and dialogue are worth the read.

This edition is annotated in detail and includes a forward, an afterward and a bibliography.

[Fandom SK · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recenziu pre Fandom.sk napísal Igor Čonka:

Dvadsaťtisíc míľ pod morom, Tajomný ostrov, Cesta na mesiac, Cesta do stredu Zeme a Za osemdesiat dní okolo sveta. Na týchto niekoľko kníh si pri mene Jules Verne spomenie väčšina bežných čitateľov. Nadšenci ich vedia vymenovať oveľa viac, ale málokto z nich považuje Honbu za meteorom za dobrú „verneovku“. Možno preto, že vznikla ku koncu života tohto génia, alebo preto, že jej chýba typicky optimistický postoj k vede a ľudstvu, taký charakteristický pre prvé „Voyages Extraordinaires“. Pravdou je, že Jules Verne napísal iba 17 kapitol a ďalšie doplnil a čiastočne upravil jeho syn Michel Verne, ktorý odľahčil pesimistický postoj románu a dal dôraz na romantickú dejovú líniu...

Celú recenziu nájdete na Fandom.sk https://www.fandom.sk/clanok/recenzia...

[Lina Mincev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jules Verne
Goana după meteor
Biblioteca Adevărul, 2009 - 218 p.

Goana după meteor (La Chasse au météore) este un roman scris de Jules Verne. Romanul a fost scris în 1901, dar a fost publicat în 1908, după moartea autorului, fiind unul dintre cele 7 romane postume care au fost modificate semnificativ de fiul romancierului, Michel Verne.

Romanul este o poveste de aventuri plină de suspans și de intrigi între personaje care sunt dornice să obțină un câștig financiar din vânzarea unui meteorit de aur. Jules Verne a reușit să creeze o lume fascinantă în care țările lumii se întrec într-o cursă pentru obținerea meteoritului. În plus, prin descrierea detaliată a procesului științific de descoperire și studiere a unui corp ceresc, autorul evidențiază importanța științei și a cunoașterii în societatea modernă.

#GoanaDupaMeteor #LaChasseAuMeteore

[Braňo Welter]

Taká rýchla Verneovka. Čítal som ju ako malý a minule pri pivnej debate som si na ňu spomenul, že vlastne v tej knihe som sa prvýkrát stretol s konceptom inflácie (aj keď ju Jules nepomenoval, ale zakomponoval do deja efekty náhleho prílivu penaživa [v tej dobe sa zlato dalo považovať za penaživo]). Tiež samozrejme v knihe sú stručne zachytené vtedajšie poznatky o asteroidoch, meteoroch a ich známych miestach dopadu a zloženia, z rýchlika uvedené výpočty objemu, hmotnosti, hybnosti a pod... Celé obalené v jednoduchom deji na stranách, ktoré sa djau zhltnúť na párkrát. SME.SK má e-book na zdarma stiahnutie, bol to milý nostalgia flash hodiť si to do google play books do mobilu a prečítať znova namiesto scrollovania fejsbúkmi na dovolenke...

[Lulo GB · Rating 2 out of 5]

⭐⭐ 1/2

Cuando la obsesión llega a cegar.

Densito. Bastante densito. Por lo menos el comienzo. Se notó que al inicio no sabía cómo iba a dirigir la obra y decidió alargarse en las descripciones, pero una vez que se llega al cenit, más o menos a la mitad, se vuelve entretenida.

Además que se centró en la aventura y no tanto en los puntos divulgativos, aunque hay partes que se fumó un porro, pero gracias a que no se puso a dar más explicaciones, porque las convulsiones que me habrían dado no habrían sido chicas.

Verne, lo que sí, hazme una novela de amor en condiciones, y déjate de meter seudo historias amorosas (bastante bien hechas, sinceramente) en paralelo a la aventura, que me distraes.

[Robin Vanmassenhove · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ik begon dit boek met goeie moed te lezen omdat ik al veel goeie dingen had gehoord over Jules Verne. Maar...

Komt het door een feit dat het een Nederlandse vertaling is van een Franstalig boek? Of door het feit dat ongeveer 85% van het verhaal het kibbelen tussen twee mannen beslaat? Of omdat het enorm traag leest? Ik had de grootste moeite om mijn aandacht er bij te houden. Ik heb er een half jaar over gedaan om in grote tussenpozen het boek uit te lezen.

Echter, wat het boek enigzins heeft gered waren de drie laatste hoofdstukken. Er gebeurde eindelijk (heel) wat. Mocht die stijl over heel het verhaal hangen, dan was ik instant fan.

[Mihaela Chiriac · Rating 4 out of 5]

It started slow, little boring but grew on me towards the 2nd half and until the end, that is why I rated it with 4 stars, as it really kept me curious and interested till the end. Would I have liked a different ending? I don't think so :). This one was just the right one. Human's greed will always lead to wars and I loved that a mad genius with passion and interest for science ruined all plans, plans possible only due to his inventions to start with. Jules Verne has his way with words and the beautiful thing I find in his writings is that it is a science fiction that I can imagine and enjoy. It definetely opened my apetite for more of his books.

[Edward Burton · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of his few books published and translated into English posthumously, this is a typical Verne science fantasy book about two amateur astronomers who become fierce competitors in being the first to have a discovered meteor named after themselves after both of them observe it at the same time. And then it's revealed the meteor is comprised of pure gold, diminishing the two men's claim, as the meteor comes closer and closer to the earth in its orbit and a third scientist devises a way to force the meteor to crash.

Typical delightful fare by Verne, this could easily have been an old Disney movie in the vein of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.