"Απ' την αρχή της επιτυχημένης συνεργασίας του με τον εκδότη του, ο Ιούλιος Βερν, είχε πεισθεί πως ο Χετζέλ, με τη μεγάλη πείρα του στις προτιμήσεις του αναγνωστικού κοινού, ήταν ο πιο κατάλληλος για να τον καθοδηγεί στην συγγραφή των "Παράξενων Ταξιδιών". Και γι' αυτό όχι μόνο δεχόταν στα κείμενά του κάθε διόρθωση ή προσθήκη καμωμένη απ' το Χετζέλ, αλλά και την επιζητούσε. Σαν φτασμένος πια συγγραφέας όμως, ο Βερν είχε και το "φιλότιμό" του: δεν εννοούσε να συνεργασθεί με άλλον συγγραφέα, για να μην προστεθεί άλλο όνομα κοντά στο δικό του".
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."
That's a charming novel by Jules Verne with his must-have characters: the hero without defect and integrates, the old wishes facetious and the nasty abject. There are adventures on the waves, even in the arctic ice and untying in the last pages - a reassuring treat.
Verneden harika bir kitap daha ! Günümüz için aşırı naif bir yaklaşım olmuş ama dönemi gözümde canlandırırken ve macera seven biri olarak bu kitap tam da yetişkin insanın kayıp çocukluğuna hitap ediyor. Verne severlere tavsiye.
Slechtste boek dat ik in tijden heb gelezen. Mogelijk 50 of 150 jaar terug een leuk avonturenboek voor kinderen, maar tegenwoordig op veel vlakken enorm oubollig. Vooral hoe het verhaal van de hak op de tak springt, hoe er over vrouwen gesproken wordt, en hoe de hoofdpersonage niks fout kan doen en alles magisch aangewaaid krijgt. Alleen maar uitgelezen omdat ik toch wel nieuwsgierig was naar het mysterie dat in het einde opgehelderd werd, maar ook dat viel tegen en werd afgeraffeld. Lees vooral ander werk van Verne, niet dit.
One of my childhood favorites. The Scandinavian setting of this novel was unusual and quite refreshing. The plot revolved around a dark-haired boy called Erik in a family of blond Norwegians. He was discovered by them in the sea as a baby tied to a ship's buoy. The plot concerns Erik's efforts to chase round the world trying to track down a sailor who supposedly knows the secret of his abandonment. We follow Eric’s life from his childhood: all his struggles in finding his own identity as he has no roots. It was a nice coming of age story, but still I liked more the adventurous part of the novel. It was a great sea journey that I followed with a map open, marking their route and places visited. It is true that everything comes together rather conveniently at the end, but I could not ask more from a teen adventurous story.
L'Epave du Cynthia (The Waif of the Cynthia, 1885) 71K words
This novel was published as cowritten by Jules Verne and Andre Laurie (pseudonym used by Paschal Grousset), but modern scholars believe the actual writing was done by Laurie and Verne's role was that of supervisor and corrector. It is not officially part of the Voyages Extraordinaires, although the edition and the type of story are similar. The story begins in Norway and eventually takes us on a sailing trip all around the Arctic Circle.
First read or reread?: First read for me.
What is it about?: Erik Hersebom is a Norwegian boy from a small fishing town, endowed with a remarkable intelligence. However, there is something else unusual about him: he does not have the characteristic physical features of the Scandinavian people. He looks like a Celt. Doctor Schwaryencrona takes him under his wing and finances his education. The doctor discovers that Erik was adopted by his family of Norwegian fishermen, after being saved from the sea when he was only a few months old, attached to a lifebuoy with the word "Cynthia". Once grown up, with the help of the Doctor, Erik will seek to elucidate the mystery of the sinking of the Cynthia to find a trace of his origins. This quest will lead him through the polar seas and Siberia.
I mentioned that this book is not part of the Extraordinary Voyages. You might wonder what this means exactly. OK, so this book was published as co-written by Verne and another writer, and nowadays scholars think the other writer probably did the actual writing. However, we have seen that the posthumous Extraordinary Voyages were modified by Michel Verne, with one of them ("The Thompson Travel Agency") possibly written by Michel alone. So then, why are those posthumous novels part of the Voyages, but not "The Waif of the Cynthia"?
The answer is that the Extraordinary Voyages is a series only in the sense that they were published with that label by Verne's publisher, Hetzel. "The Waif of the Cynthia" was also published by Hetzel, and the edition looks more or less similar to the ones used for Verne's Extraordinary Voyages. However, the publisher did not include it as part of the series, so that's why the posthumous novels and the two short story collections are part of the Voyages, while "The Waif of the Cynthia" isn't. Just a question of labels.
In my case, the collection of Verne novels that I have includes this novel, so I have also included it in my reading project. I have read it after the other novels, but actually it was published in 1885, in the middle of Verne's career.
So let's talk about the book. I have to say that I found it an enjoyable read. It's an adventure story, with a plot that wouldn't be out of place among the Extraordinary Voyages. The writing style was slightly different from Jules Verne's, which is something I did not notice in "The Thompson Travel Agency", for example.
It's not a huge difference, though, and I don't really mention it as a bad thing. There are fewer geographic descriptions, and more emotional content. There was more emphasis on the feelings of the characters, for example how Erik's adoptive family feels about his search for his biological family, and how Erik himself feels about it. Some moments are quite emotive, more than we would expect in a Verne story.
It wasn't a long novel (just one volume). I thought the pacing was good, and it kept me interested throughout. I did think at some point, when they were investigating by sending letters and discussing the responses, that I would like it if they actually travelled in person to investigate, but they quickly did just that, and once they did I have no complaint about the amount of adventure and exploring, in search of a disappeared sailor who might have relevant information. The novel reminded me a little of "In Search of the Castaways" because of the investigation element.
So the plot is very Verne-like, and the style, while not the exactly the same, is not that different. It's similar to Verne's adventure stories, without any speculative element.
One thing that was similar to Verne is how it foreshadows which characters are villains. This is something that is quite Verne-like. The character-related twists in Verne's novels often do not come as a surprise, which is something some modern readers complain about, but I have come to accept as part of his storytelling style.
Enjoyment factor: I enjoyed it. It was more emotional than most Extraordinary Voyages, but in terms of quality it was a good adventure story and it could have easily been part of the series, even if it wouldn't be among Verne's most innovative novels.
Embora Júlio Verne seja famoso pela ficção científica e por previsões como o submarino atômico, o balão dirigível e muitas outras invenções difíceis de imaginar no final do século XIX, ele escreveu muitas histórias mais convencionais.
O Náufrago do Cynthia conta a história de um garoto encontrado flutuando em uma boia. A aventura se passa nos países nórdicos e nos mares árticos, envolvendo surpresas e reviravoltas. Apesar de alguns exageros nas coincidências, perfeitamente permitidos pela ficção, a história é interessante e envolvente.
Mình chưa đọc sách riêng của A.Laurie, nhưng trong quyển này cũng thấy rõ tâm ý đề cao nước Pháp, yêu nước của J.Verne. Câu chuyện 140 năm rồi nhưng đọc vẫn rất cuốn. Tuy so với thời hiện đại, những tình tiết và mô tả của 2 tác giả về Bắc Cực có phần sơ sài, nhưng vẫn thật quá sức ấn tượng đối với 140 năm trước. Nhìn chung, các câu chuyện của J.V sẽ làm các thiếu nhi và thiếu niên thích thú (nếu chịu đọc sách).
Een wat a-typische Jules Verne: geen bizarre technische hoogstandjes of onmogelijke reizen, maar gewoon een degelijke en onderhoudende avonturenroman. Niet heel knap geschreven, tal van 'toevalligheden' die nodig zijn om het verhaal kloppend te krijgen, en met een voorspelbaar happy end. Desondanks een boek dat mijn aandacht wist vast te houden.
A novel about a young man's search for his identity leads him through Verne's 5th novel of Arctic exploration. A bit convoluted, but mildly interesting.
1886. A baby, attached to a buoy, is found by a fisherman who raises it as his own. When old enough, the child goes in search of his real family, and the story of how he came to be tied to the buoy. Was he put there on purpose? Did his ship go down? Are his parents alive or did they drown? Erik has many adventures along the way as he searches for answers to his questions.
As a co-author with Andre Laurie, a good story out of the genre of Jules Verne, less adventure motiff and more informative of the Scandinavian culture.
In a small town of Noroe in Norway, schoolmaster Mr. Malarius is interrupted while teaching his students. The unexpected visitor is the wealthy Dr. Schwaryencrona -- famous for his cod-liver pills, and a childhood friend of the schoolmaster. The Dr. interviews a student (Erik Hersebom) to see how their learning is coming. He is highly impressed with studious Erik, and finds that Erik is a supposed orphan, who survived a shipwreck and was adopted by a fisherman of the village. The Dr. asks the parents if he may take Erik to Stolkholm to put him in school, and also to research Erik's history. The rest of the book is spent with Erik, the Dr., and others investigating Erik's mysterious origin.
The characters in this book are somewhat one dimensional, and there doesn't really seem to be much growth or development. Erik seems too perfect - brilliant, courteous, athletic, popular, etc... -- as if the authors didn't want to deny him any good character trait. The captain of the "Alaska" commits suicide with a poor motivation, which makes me think it was merely to get him out of the way and put Erik in a position of leadership.
The book does have a very happy ending, which is how I prefer books.
This book makes me crave fish. It also makes me cold.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Jules Verne sets off on another adventure into the Arctic for this story. A baby is rescued from the sea, and when he grows up searches for his real parents. The quest leads him into arctic perils and high adventure. The main problem is that the plot is so transparent as to provide no real suspense.