Testamentul unui excentric

by Jules Verne

Extrait: D?'s huit heures, une foule norme, toujours croissante, se portait dans la direction du vingt-deuxi me quartier. L'un des plus riches, il est compris entre North Avenue et Division Street suivant le sens des parall les, et suivant le sens des m ridiens, entre North Halsted Street et Lake Shore Drive que baignent les eaux du Michigan. On le sait, les villes modernes des tats-Unis orientent leurs rues conform ment aux latitudes et aux longitudes, en leur imposant la r gularit des lignes d'un chiquier. Eh donc disait un agent de la police municipale, de faction l'angle de Beethoven Street et de North Wells Street, est-ce que tout le populaire va envahir ce quartier ?... Un individu de haute taille, cet agent, d'origine irlandaise, comme la plupart de ses coll gues de la corporation, - braves gardiens en somme, qui d pensent le plus gros d'un traitement de mille dollars combattre l'inextinguible soif si naturelle aux natifs de la verte rin. Ce sera une profitable journ e pour les pickpockets r pondit un de ses camarades, non moins grand, non moins alt r, non moins irlandais que lui. - Aussi, reprit le premier, que chacun veille sur sa poche, s'il ne veut pas la trouver vide en rentrant la maison, car nous n'y saurions suffire... - Et, aujourd'hui, conclut le second, il y aura, je pense, assez de besogne, rien que pour offrir le bras aux dames la travers e des carrefours. - Je parierais pour une centaine d' cras?'s ajouta son camarade. Heureusement, on a l'excellente habitude, en Am rique, de se prot ger soi-m me, sans attendre de l'administration une aide qu'elle est incapable de donner. Et cependant quel encombrement mena ait ce vingt-deuxi me quartier, si la moiti seulement de la population chicagoise s'y transportait La m tropole ne comptait pas alors moins de dix-sept cent mille habitants, dont le cinqui me environ n aux tats-Unis, l'Allemagne en pouvant r clamer pr?'s de cinq cent mille, l'Irlande peu pr?'s autant. Quant au reste, les Ang

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Science Fiction, Adventure, Novels, Audiobook, The United States Of America

310 pages, Hardcover

First published August 3, 1899

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

[Federico DN · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eccentric Verne.

William Hypperbone, an eccentric multi-millionaire, dies and leaves 80 million dollars in his will to the person who can find it, in a classical “Game of the Goose” type of challenge, following his clues in a perilous adventure all throughout the United States. Many randomly selected contestants, including an artist, a boxer, a married couple, a journalist, a cashier, a retired soldier, and the mysterious XKZ, added at the last minute. All of them desperately trying to beat each other and reach the coveted final prize.

I read this almost ten years ago and the only thing I remember from this book is that I liked it, but not so much as other Verne’s works. It’s good, just not as extraordinary as a journey to the center of the Earth, or a voyage under the seas, or any other of his fantastical tales. The many characters are ok, although not especially remarkable, and them being so many making it kind of difficult to follow each one like separate entities. The many sites visited all through the United States are varied, but they are just cities, and for me ultimately not very interesting. Maybe that’s why I’m also not a fan of “The Amazing Race”. A rather unknown work of Verne I suppose, since none of my friends seems to have read it. Not really recommendable, unless you love Verne and wish to read all of his bibliography.

Btw. Don’t ask me. I don’t remember who won!

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PERSONAL NOTE :
[1899] [332p] [Classics] [2.5] [Not Recommendable]
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★★★☆☆ Journey to the Center of the Earth [3.5]
★★★☆☆ The Fur Country [3.5]
★★★☆☆ The Lighthouse at the End of the World
★★★☆☆ Dick Sand, A Captain at Fifteen
★★★☆☆ Miguel Strogoff
★★☆☆☆ Will of an Eccentric [2.5]

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Excéntrico Verne.

William Hypperbone, un excéntrico multimillonario, muere y deja 80 millones de dólares en su testamento a la persona que logre encontrarlos, en una especie de desafío al estilo del clásico “Juego de la Oca”, siguiendo sus pistas en una peligrosa aventura a través de todo los Estados Unidos. Muchos contendientes seleccionados al azar, incluyendo un artista, un boxeador, una pareja casada, un periodista, una cajera, un soldado retirado, y el misterioso XKZ, añadido a último momento. Todos ellos tratando desesperadamente de vencerse uno al otro y alcanzar el codiciado premio final.

Leí esto hace casi diez años y lo único que recuerdo de este libro es que me gustó, aunque no tanto como otras de las obras de Verne. Es bueno, sólo que no tan extraordinario como un viaje al centro de la Tierra, o un viaje submarino bajo los océanos, o cualquier otra de sus fantásticas historias. Los muchos personajes están bien, aunque no especialmente destacables, y siendo tantos haciendo algo difícil seguir cada uno como entidades separadas. Los muchos lugares visitados a lo largo de todo Estados Unidos son variados, pero son sólo ciudades, y para mí en última instancia no muy interesante. Tal vez por eso tampoco soy fan de “The Amazing Race”. Una obra algo desconocida de Verne supongo, ya que al parecer ninguno de mis amigos parece haberlo leído. No realmente recomendable, a no ser que ames a Verne y desees leer toda su bibliografía.

Por cierto. No me pregunten. ¡No recuerdo quién gano!

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NOTA PERSONAL :
[1899] [332p] [Clásico] [2.5] [No Recomendable]
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[Berna Labourdette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fue uno de los primeros libros de Verne que leí a los 10 años y me voló la cabeza. La idea es rarísima, pero funciona y es MUY emocionante: un magnate decide regalar su fortuna a un grupo de desconocidos que tienen que recorrer Estados Unidos de estado a estado como si fuera un juego de la oca, para aquel que sobrepase todos los obstáculos y pueda llegar primero se quede con su millonaria herencia. Así se junta un grupo de lo más variopinto (clásico de Verne: un boxeador, un pintor, una secretaria, etc) y vamos siguiendo los progresos de cada uno según el estado donde caigan. Por supuesto, hay malos malísimos, sabotajes, trampas y de un cuanto hay hasta llegar al inesperado desenlace.

PS: No tengo pruebas, pero tampoco dudas que "El juego de calamar" se basó en esta premisa.

[Florin Pitea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read it back in the 1980s. Might well re-read it once I'm done with Mr. Ernest Cline's "Ready Player One".

[Alfredo Sirica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uno di quei rarissimi romanzi in cui la godibilità della lettura è talmente alta da compensare per le eventuali pecche di struttura. È infatti un compendio di personaggi memorabili e profondamente sviluppati, che affrontano vicende incredibilmente buffe e avvincenti narrate con uno stile ironico e brillante. Nonostante il finale inverosimile possa lasciare insoddisfatti, vi si giunge comunque sazi di un viaggio ricco e visionario che vale la pena affrontare e che, ancor più che stimolare il cervello, fa evadere la mente.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gotta be honest - I probably would have given this book 5 stars if I wasn't reading it in another language. French is not my native tongue, so I know I missed things. Probably all sorts of little things that you don't pick up on if you're not fluent. But as is, it was a very solid Verne work - clever and witty, adventurous and grand in scope. Fun. It's a good, fun book. It's not brilliant, and I can see why it didn't become one of his best known works, not one of the classics, but it's solid.

[Ghiomara Beov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es un libro que leí como paso a otra lectura que es "la tumba de julio verne" y es así solo un libro de paso, no es la gran historia, ni siquiera es de esos libros que te atrapan, como es costumbre en la lectura de Verne. A por cierto es sobre el juego de la oca.

[Kristýna Huclová]

No já nevím. Asi záleží na tom, jak se na to člověk chce dívat. Jestli jako na milý retro nebo jako jako na věc, která je naprosto přežitá a nemá už co říct.
A za mě se asi spíš přikláním k tomu druhýmu výkladu. Jednak jsem byla na začátku naprosto jistá tím, že to tentokrát nezdolám, jzpočátku jsem se tím musela horko těžko prokousávat a pak jsem prostě některý pasáže bez milosti přeskakovala. Co mi na tom ale vlastně vadilo nejvíc byla ta hrozná předvídatelnost, že bude svatba, že bude vzkříšení, že za celých těch 400+ stránek nenastal žádný překvapivý zvrat.
Možná kdybych to četla v první polovině 20.století, v době kdy internety a National Geographicy nebyly až tak k mání, tak bych z toho pravděpodobně nadšená byla. Každopádně jsme měli asi vybrat něco ze sci-fi vernoevek, tam by se třeba aspoň dalo plesat na fantazií a vizionářstvím spisovatele, ale takhle to bylo povětšinou docela fádní popis krajiny a šablonivitých postav.
A zásadní velký mínus! Proč, když je v knížce hafo ilustrací (plusové body), proč je takovej problém tak přidat mapu států? Takle by to aspoň získalo edukační rozměr.

Na druhou stranu tam byly roztomilý momenty (křižující se medvěd) a lehce ironizující snaha spisovatele vykreslit Ameriku jako skvělou zemi, skvělých lidí a skvělých příležitostí.

[Rafael Ontivero · Rating 4 out of 5]

No recordaba que fuera tan entretenida. Cuatro estrellas dentro de la escala -relativa- de la obra de Verne. Evidentemente para los no aficionados puede ser un truño de mucho cuidado, pese a que es muy original y está muy bien escrita.

La escala y los movimientos de los personajes están perfectamente regulados, y el final es uno de verdad, con sorpresa incluida e imprevista. Hasta la relación amorosa, tan metida con calzador como en otras novelas, no resulta tan fuera de lugar.

Comentar que, como siempre, no es la edición que aparece aquí, sino la de Sáenz de Jubera de principios de 1900.

[Juan Carlos Santillán · Rating 3 out of 5]

En Estados Unidos, un millonario hereda sesenta millones de dólares al ganador de un singular "juego de la oca" en el cual cada casillero es uno de los cincuenta estados. Siguiendo el orden de las jugadas, Verne hace recorrer el territorio a una serie de personajes que, por su características, hacen esta historia muy fácil de disfrutar. Y aclara que, si a alguien le resulta inverosímil, debe recordarse en qué país ocurre.

[Maritza · Rating 4 out of 5]

La idea, las descripciones particularmente al principio de la obra muestran el genio y sagacidad de Julio Verne. Prácticamente nos transporta a las grandes avenidas y el bullicio que este testamento causó. Fue lo que más me gustó. Creo que el concepto inicial es muy fuerte y que el desarrollo como tal quedó un poco débil. Aún así es una lectura única y para todas las edades.

[Valerica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cred ca am invatat harta Statelor Unite ale Americii cu cartea asta.
Ma asteptam de la inceput ca Lissy sa se casatoreasca cu Max si am banuit ca William Hypperbone e X.K.Z..
Cred ca ce trebuie retinut din carte e ca niciunul dintre jucatorii zgarciti nu au castigat( In afara de Harris Kymbale , nu era rau, dar banuiesc ca a castigat niste amintiri).

[Miguel · Rating 4 out of 5]

7 concursantes tienen que resolver diversos acertijos, enigmas en una gran búsqueda del tesoro utilizando como elementos de la novela el juego de la oca y los 50 estados de EEUU.

Una novela muy recomendable y que se lee prácticamente sin parar.

[Pablo Paz · Rating 5 out of 5]

super chevre.. como un amazing race en el siglo 19

[Gustavo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Buen libro pero a veces me sentí abrumado por los muchos detalles geográficos de los Estados Unidos. Creo que lo disfrutará más alguien de dicho país.

[Ștefan Radovici · Rating 5 out of 5]

O cursă nebună prin Statele Unite, alături de cei 7 parteneri ai Nobilului Joc al Gâștei.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most people haven’t heard of this book, written by an author of so many famous novels, and perhaps matters should remain that way.

Verne chose a wonderful and promising premise—a millionaire dies and leaves his fortune to one of six Chicago citizens chosen at random. Whichever of them first completes a game requiring them to travel to various states within the USA, as determined by rolling a teetotum, will inherit his fortune. But there’s a mysterious seventh player, known only as XKZ, who is playing with them.

If this premise conjures thoughts of Willy Wonka, Running Man, and Ready Player One, just remember that Verne’s book predates them all.

In its favor, the novel includes amazing adventures—a duel taking place between passing trains, a three-person bicycle chased by a pack of coyotes, two trains colliding head-on, and more. Fun stuff.

However, the book suffers from flaws so glaring as to render it rightfully obscure. Abandoning his normal practice of providing a group of three or four characters whose adventures the reader follows, in this novel Verne gives us six players traveling separately. Several of them are accompanied by companions. In trying to convey all their mishaps, Verne hops from one to the other with dizzying speed. Only near the end does the reader know which ones to root for.

There’s also the unfortunate racism (not unusual with Verne), surrounding the character Tommy—no last name—not to be confused with another character named Tom. Tommy is a black servant of Max. Tommy, though born free and being ‘fairly intelligent,’ longs to be a slave of Max. Really?

Another of the book’s deficiencies concerns Verne’s tendency to insert all his research into the novel at the expense of telling a dramatic story. At times, the book reads like a travel guide, giving detailed descriptions of the Rockies, Mammoth Cave, the Badlands, etc. Sadly, the story seems almost a thin excuse for including these depictions, which take over as the star attractions.

The novel suffers, too, from wild exaggerations so improbable as to fling the reader out of the story. I won’t spoil things, but the book mentions the most monstrous pie ever baked, and a bicycle trip made at a speed impossible for cycles of the time. I wonder if the surname of the title’s eccentric millionaire is Verne’s twist of the word ‘hyperbole,’ which means the same thing, and is spelled the same way, in French.

The novel’s value today, if anything, lies in its more-or-less realistic portrayal of the America of 1897, written by a French admirer of the United States. As a modern American reads the book, it’s interesting to see how little, and how much, has changed in our country.

[Farseer · Rating 4 out of 5]

(46) Le Testament d'un excentrique (The Will of an Eccentric, 1899) (2 volumes) 119K words


The 46th Extraordinary Voyage takes us to the United States. We had been there in the "From the Earth to the Moon" duet, and in "North Against South", as well as, in passing, in multiple novels of the series. However, this one is particularly devoted to exploring the geography of the country, its cities, states and natural wonders.


First read or reread?: First read for me.


What is it about?: William J. Hypperbone, an eccentric millionaire from Chicago, has left his fortune to the first person to reach the end of "The Noble Game of the United States of America." The game he devised is based upon the board game "The Noble Game of Goose". However, in his version, the game board is the United States, and the players are the tokens who will be sent to different parts of the country according to the whims of the dice, with a limited time to get there. The contestants, chosen randomly among the adult citizens of Chicago, are Max Real (an artist, accompanied by his servant and companion Tommy); Tom Crabbe (a boxer, accompanied and led by his trainer John Milner); Hermann Titbury (a miser and usurer, accompanied by his wife Kate); Harris T. Kymbale (a journalist, on his own); Lizzie Wag (a cashier, accompanied by her friend Jovita Foley); Hodge Urrican (a retired commodore of explosive temper, with his companion Turk, of even more explosive temper) and the mysterious player only known as "XKZ." And who is this mysterious "XKZ" who was added to the game by a codicil to the will? Time and completion of the game will tell.


After a couple of more serious adventure novels, Verne explores again his more light-hearted streak in this book. As he often does when depicting the citizens of the USA, he regards them with a half-admirative, half-ironic frame of mind. Verne clearly admired the energetic, can-do attitude of that country, but at the same time finds the funny side of that attitude, which can become satire when taken too far.

The premise, silly as it sounds, is not a bad setup for a story. Many other later fiction works have followed this idea of an eccentric millionaire who makes his prospective heirs take place in some kind of competition if they want to inherit.

The game here consists in turning the country into a game board inspired by the Game of the Goose, with each state being a square of the board. The late millionaire's solicitor rolls the dice in a public ceremony for each move, and given the stakes, the newspapers and the whole country's attention is on the game. It becomes a great national event, the players become celebrities, and lots of people bet money on the outcome, and some of them help or hinder the players accordingly. There are game obstacles such as the Inn, the Bridge, and Death, but in this case also real-world obstacles. The United States, of course, was a civilized country and there were suitable communications into most places, but at the time (near the end of the 19th century) in some of the remotest corners the train did not always reach and the game could turn more into an adventure, particularly given the time limit to reach the destinations.

Verne obviously uses this premise to describe different parts of the country and the means of transportation available at the time. In 1897, the first Baedecker guidebook for the U.S. was published, and Verne used this as his main source. I have commented in some of these reviews that some of his novels, such as this one, could be described as part adventure and part geography documentary. Of course, there was no TV to compete with books at that time. The danger with this kind of novel is that the descriptions may become boring and slow down the pace of the story. This happens here, but only on a few occasions. Mostly, having multiple characters and moving from one to the other makes for a decent pace. Of course, I'm used to Verne's style and I enjoy it, so a different reader may find these descriptions annoying. It offers a glimpse of the US in a different time, though, so in that sense it's interesting.

In some ways, this story reminded me of "Around the World in Eighty Days", with a bunch of travelers forced to make a race against the clock, but in this case the destinations are chosen randomly, so the characters have no control over them.

One problem of this story is that, for many of the players' trips, there is not much tension, since there's no doubt that the player will be able to reach the desired destination on time. But the colorful nature of some of the players, the ups and downs of the game and the occasional dangers and delays help maintain the interest. Verne, for all that he is normally more focused on the plot than on the characters, could use his characters to good effect when he needed.

We also have a romance between two of the players and a mystery regarding the anonymous player. The final twist is rather unlikely, but as Verne playfully says at the end of the novel, if this seems difficult to believe, the reader should remember that this happened in the United States, where anything and everything is possible.


Enjoyment factor: I enjoyed it, although I wouldn't place it in a top ten Verne list. At this time in his career, Verne, who was already 70, had health problems and would die within a decade, was still producing solid work, although perhaps not always as inspired as in the first part of his career.


Next up: The Castaways of the Flag


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

[Tristan]

I read an abridged version for Hachette’s Bibliotheque Verte as a child. I ought to read the original.

[Socrate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un străin, sosit în cel mai de seamă oraş din Illinois, în dimineaţa de 3 aprilie 1897, ar fi putut să se considere pe drept cuvânt un favorit al zeului călătoriilor, căci în această zi şi-ar fi îmbogăţit carnetul cu însemnări deosebit de interesante, pe care să le folosească mai târziu în scrierea unor articole senzaţionale. Şi dacă şi-ar fi prelungit, mai întâi cu câteva săptămâni şi apoi cu câteva luni, şederea la Chicago, i-ar fi fost dat să trăiască, alături de ceilalţi, emoţiile, palpitaţiile, trecerile de la speranţă la desperare, înfrigurarea şi, la un moment dat, chiar buimăceala acestui mare oraş care-şi pierduse stăpânirea de sine. Începând de la ora 8, o mulţime imensă, mereu crescândă, se mişca în direcţia cartierului 22, unul dintre cele mai bogate, situat între North Avenue şi Division Street, iar în sensul opus, între North Halsted Street şi Lake Shore Drive, scăldat de apele lacului Michigan.

Se ştie că oraşele moderne ale Statelor Unite îşi orientează străzile lor după latitudini şi longitudini, impunându-le simetria liniilor unei table de şah.

— Ei, zise un sergent al poliţiei municipale, stând de gardă la colţul străzii Beethoven cu strada Norh Wells, oare tot poporul va invada acest cartier?

Sergentul acesta, de origine irlandeză, era un individ înalt, ca majoritatea colegilor săi de la corporaţie, vrednici păzitori ai ordinei, care îşi cheltuiesc cea mai mare parte a soldei de 1000 de dolari pentru a-şi stinge setea nepotolită, atât de obişnuită la băştinaşii din verdele Erin.

— O să fie o zi bună pentru hoţii de buzunare, îi răspunse unul din camarazi, tot atât de înalt, tot atât de însetat şi tot atât de irlandez ca el.

— Aşa că, rosti primul, fiecare să-şi păzească buzunarul dacă nu vrea să-l găsească gol când va ajunge acasă, căci noi suntem prea puţini ca să-i putem prinde pe răufăcători.

— Şi astăzi, urmă al doilea, o să avem, cred, destul de lucru. Chiar dacă ar fi numai să oferim braţul doamnelor la traversarea străzilor.

— Pariez că vor fi mai mult de o sută de accidentaţi, adăugă celălalt. Din fericire, în America lumea are bunul obicei de a-şi purta singură de grijă, fără a aştepta de la administraţie un ajutor pe care aceasta nu-i în măsură să-l dea.

[Lenka Habrnálová · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teda já jsem nadšená! A to bych se jako cílová skupina verneovky ve svých skoro 35 netipovala.

Nápad rozjet hru o dědictví po celých Spojených státech mi přijde úplně geniální a divím se, že to někdo nenatočil jako film??? Řekněme, že záhadnost posledního hráče se dá trochu očekávat, ale příhody dalších hráčů jsou zábavné a stojí za čas. Pro moderního čtenáře jsou samozřejmě popisné pasáže místy dlouhé, v českém překladu buď chybí a nebo jsem úplně přehlédla mapu, která by mi pomohla s orientací a některé zápletky jsou z dnešního pohledu úsměvné. Místy to trošku vypadá jako akční průvodce Amerikou, ale celkově mi to přišlo velmi kompaktní a docela svižné… na 19. stoletip rozhodně.

Kdybych byla scénárista, tak to proškrtám a rovnou vidím film plný vlaků a dobrodružství. Představa, že jsem poslední vůli “odsouzena” cestovat nejasně ohraničený čas po naprosto nepředvídatelné trase mne neskutečně fascinuje a láká. :)

[Polifemo]

Narra la historia de los sucesos acontecidos tras la muerte de William J. Hypperbone, un solitario miembro del Excentric Club, apasionado jugador del juego de la oca, natural de Chicago y muy adinerado. Este hombre tuvo por última voluntad celebrar unos funerales excéntricos donde debía primar la alegría, la música y la suntuosidad. Además pidió que de entre todos los habitantes de Chicago se sortearan seis personas, las cuales deberían estar en los funerales.

[Giorgio · Rating 2 out of 5]

La storia è carina, però tre quarti del libro sembrano un mix tra una enciclopedia ed una guida turistica.

[Victor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trolling at the highest level

[Rania Ioannou · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept of this book is amazing; however, the numerous geographical details make it unnecessarily hard to read.

[Sailaway · Rating 5 out of 5]

a geographical and historical view of the end of 1800s!

[Βίκυ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Αρκετά καλό. Με κούρασαν λίγο οι λεπτομερείς περιγραφές.

[Alexandra Tabra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little difficult to read (too many details that don't influence the story and become a little useless), but surprisingly captivating, unpredictable and really beautiful. Worth reading!

[Marius · Rating 5 out of 5]

In short: story about how rich people manipulate poor and not really poor people lifes. For the huge money people will do anything.

[ioana mihaela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring

[Alexander Theofanidis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Χαριτωμένο, αλλά λίγο "αμπελαλέ". Υποθέτω ήταν καλύτερο αν το διάβαζε κανείς πριν από 100 περίπου χρόνια...