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Jules Verne
«Todo lo que es posible se hará» afirmaba Jules Verne, poniéndose inmediatamente a imaginar ese futuro: cápsula espacial, comida deshidratada, metro aéreo, sin mencionar el submarino del misterioso Nemo. Flirteando con los descubrimientos de Stephenson y Edison, Verne crea un género inaudito, aplicando la fantasía a la ciencia. ¡Qué poder de anticipación! ¡Qué asombrosa aptitud para inventar las máquinas del futuro y para sortear la técnica! ¡Y qué decir de la facilidad de este nantés, retirado en Amiens, para surcar el globo terráqueo con el pensamiento! ¿De dónde vienen esas junglas amazónicas, ese océano Ártico y las fuentes del Nilo? Nacido en 1828 y destinado a suceder a su padre en la carrera judicial, Jules Verne conocerá, a los treinta y cinco años, la celebridad instantánea con Cinco semanas en globo. Desde Zola, que saluda al que «ha llevado a la práctica lo que la ciencia planteaba como posible sólo teóricamente», hasta Théophile Gautier, que lo admira por «sus paradojas atrevidas, que pronto se convertirán en verdades reconocidas», es toda una época la que ha encontrado su fabulador. Sin embargo, ¿no existe una cara oculta de este universo de progreso? A la manera de Phileas Fogg, Herbert R. Lottman dirige la investigación. Ha visitado la isla Feydeau, así como la editorial Hetzel de la rue Jacob. Ha convocado a los Dumas, padre e hijo, a los hermanos Arago, y, evidentemente, a Nadar (el célebre fotógrafo de gusto ecléctico, fundador de la Sociedad de fomento para la locomoción aérea); y cada uno de estos testigos le ha hecho sus confidencias. ¿No descubrimos, acaso, que George Sand habría sugerido a Verne la idea de Veinte mil leguas de viaje submarino? De todas formas, el último tesoro exhumado por el biógrafo-explorador son las novelas de nuestra infancia, restituidas en todo su poder de anticipación. Un viaje extraordinario al país del progreso.
464 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
3 people are currently reading
68 people want to read
About the author
Herbert R. Lottman
33 books10 followersHerbert Lottman was an American journalist and author who spend most of his life in France.
He majored in English and biology at the University of New York, graduating in 1948 and earned a master’s in English from Columbia in 1951.
In 1956 he moved to Paris and became the manager of the Paris branch of the publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux. He also was writing for Publishers Weekly for four decades and wrote a novel, Detours From the Grand Tour.
But he is most reknowned for his biographies on French personalities and his writings on French intellectual life.
He majored in English and biology at the University of New York, graduating in 1948 and earned a master’s in English from Columbia in 1951.
In 1956 he moved to Paris and became the manager of the Paris branch of the publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux. He also was writing for Publishers Weekly for four decades and wrote a novel, Detours From the Grand Tour.
But he is most reknowned for his biographies on French personalities and his writings on French intellectual life.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 29, 2018
This book starts out well, with a chatty informal style that promises to give you both a standard biography of a major author, but also the biographer's interesting asides. Unfortunately, that promising beginning is not carried through in this book, as it quickly declines into a standard-issue chronology without much insight. It's quite repetitious, too, though this can be perhaps be the fault of the subject himself, who constantly complained about stomach ailments and who was ridiculously prolific (thus tempting a biographer to give short summaries of book after book after book). It's no exaggeration to say there are at least 100 references to Verne's stomach complaints in his letters to family and friends. And since he wrote 100-plus books, it's no exaggeration to say that there are about 100 times when we get a book title, a plot summary and then are told that the book was serialized in one magazine or another and then bound into an illustrated edition for the Xmas holiday sales season.
But back to the actual subject: Jules Verne. He created a new type of literature, or at least perfected it. A blend of science, historic travelogue and fiction, Verne's best books educated children and adults while also entertaining them. He researched his topics meticulously, but then layered on top of them wild scenarios that brought his heroes and villains into those worlds, where the skills of the hero (and usually a trusted servant or colleague) would eventually save the day. It was formulaic, and it rarely earned much praise from the intelligensia of the day, but it sold well for decades.
The locations of these tales was literally everywhere in the world and occasionally beyond earth. But his favorites were the North Pole, South Pole and the ocean. He could evoke the scary depths of these uncharted and dangerous places, while also sharing with readers whatever new knowledge was emerging about their topography, weather, geology, flora, fauna and human habitation. And whether his heroes arrived by boat, train, balloon, on foot or some other means, they always carried with them just enough modern technology and engineering savvy so that they could scrape together a new contraption. As the biographer notes, this fired up the imagination of countless explorers and scientists for generations.
I must admit, however, that I find his books to be dreary. They're basically lists, punctuated by stock characters doing obvious things. In fact, I picked up this biography hoping that it would inspire me to re-read a few of his books. Not gonna happen.
This biographer does a good job of delving into Verne's life and politely asking some provocative questions. Were his stomach ailments real? Did he cheat on his wife -- and with women or with teenage boys? Why did he allow his publisher to continually lengthen a very unfair contract that deprived Verne of a share of the profits of illustrated editions? Why did he leave Paris at the height of his fame and move to the provincial town of Amiens for the rest of his life?
And the biographer places him in context of his times, which were very interesting, including rapid and violent changes in the French govt. several times during his lifetime. Verne was a religious man (Catholic) and deeply conservative politically. He politely, but firmly, was one of those guys trying to hold back the dam of political progress, even as he celebrated technological progress in his books.
Yet, the book is still lacking something. It doesn't give a truly deep dive into how Verne actually put together his research and his fantastical ideas into a book. We are told that he always had two or three books in progress, and that he rewrote and edited his drafts many times, always with deep consultation with his editor and publisher. But we don't really understand how he did it, other than some weird system of writing in pencil and then writing over it in pen when he had finished the first draft. In a book-length biography, we would have been better served with a full chapter on his technique.
Similarly, we would have been better served to have a deeper look at a few of his most lasting works: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea; Around the World in 80 Days; etc. These do get lengthier treatment in the book, but the treatment is more about their acclaim and the theatrical productions that "80 Days" spawned than about what made the books special.
In the end, this book is a helpful grounding in Verne's life and times. But I'm not sure it really told me what make Jules Verne special.
But back to the actual subject: Jules Verne. He created a new type of literature, or at least perfected it. A blend of science, historic travelogue and fiction, Verne's best books educated children and adults while also entertaining them. He researched his topics meticulously, but then layered on top of them wild scenarios that brought his heroes and villains into those worlds, where the skills of the hero (and usually a trusted servant or colleague) would eventually save the day. It was formulaic, and it rarely earned much praise from the intelligensia of the day, but it sold well for decades.
The locations of these tales was literally everywhere in the world and occasionally beyond earth. But his favorites were the North Pole, South Pole and the ocean. He could evoke the scary depths of these uncharted and dangerous places, while also sharing with readers whatever new knowledge was emerging about their topography, weather, geology, flora, fauna and human habitation. And whether his heroes arrived by boat, train, balloon, on foot or some other means, they always carried with them just enough modern technology and engineering savvy so that they could scrape together a new contraption. As the biographer notes, this fired up the imagination of countless explorers and scientists for generations.
I must admit, however, that I find his books to be dreary. They're basically lists, punctuated by stock characters doing obvious things. In fact, I picked up this biography hoping that it would inspire me to re-read a few of his books. Not gonna happen.
This biographer does a good job of delving into Verne's life and politely asking some provocative questions. Were his stomach ailments real? Did he cheat on his wife -- and with women or with teenage boys? Why did he allow his publisher to continually lengthen a very unfair contract that deprived Verne of a share of the profits of illustrated editions? Why did he leave Paris at the height of his fame and move to the provincial town of Amiens for the rest of his life?
And the biographer places him in context of his times, which were very interesting, including rapid and violent changes in the French govt. several times during his lifetime. Verne was a religious man (Catholic) and deeply conservative politically. He politely, but firmly, was one of those guys trying to hold back the dam of political progress, even as he celebrated technological progress in his books.
Yet, the book is still lacking something. It doesn't give a truly deep dive into how Verne actually put together his research and his fantastical ideas into a book. We are told that he always had two or three books in progress, and that he rewrote and edited his drafts many times, always with deep consultation with his editor and publisher. But we don't really understand how he did it, other than some weird system of writing in pencil and then writing over it in pen when he had finished the first draft. In a book-length biography, we would have been better served with a full chapter on his technique.
Similarly, we would have been better served to have a deeper look at a few of his most lasting works: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea; Around the World in 80 Days; etc. These do get lengthier treatment in the book, but the treatment is more about their acclaim and the theatrical productions that "80 Days" spawned than about what made the books special.
In the end, this book is a helpful grounding in Verne's life and times. But I'm not sure it really told me what make Jules Verne special.
March 27, 2020
How could a book about the man who wrote so many fascinating books be so boring? This review is based on an unabridged audio version. Maybe it would have been better with a more vibrant narrator, or if I had read a paper copy. Maybe not. About halfway through the book I started to ask myself how much longer I could stick with it. Then I encountered a defective cassette and that made my decision easy. Jules Verne definitely deserves a better biography than this one.
August 16, 2025
This is a well researched biography. While Verne didn't travel much, he was well-read and was able to read accounts of other travelers. Current periodicals presented information that he used for his books. Verne was greatly influenced by the Robinson Crusoe story and many of his novels also include such survival techniques. I really enjoyed learning about Verne's life.
May 7, 2025
Che tristezza le vite degli scrittori. Ogni volta speri sia andata non dico bene, ma almeno non troppo male. Ma niente da fare. Anche di fronte al successo, non c'è mai niente che non sia insoddisfazione e infelicità. Monsieur Verne, da oggi, se possibile, le voglio ancora più bene.
January 27, 2019
A bit dense and academic.
April 2, 2019
Fascinating read.
Read
August 24, 2024Authoritative biography of the great French writer
July 2, 2017
This biography followed the life of one of my dad’s favorite authors, Jules Verne. The author of such famous tales as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Around the World in Eighty Days, and Journey to the Center of the Earth, Verne wrote a bizarre and (at the time) fresh combination of adventure and science fiction presented as almost-fact.
While Verne’s books can sometimes get overly technical (I learned to skip any paragraph with latitudes and longitudes when reading 20,000 Leagues), they are still great fun, and classic adventures. Reading this biography inspired me to reread (and first-time read) some of Verne’s classics.
This biography was well-written and fairly easy to read (it wasn’t the author’s fault that apparently everyone in France was named either Jules or Jacques). Verne led an interesting life, and the author was respectful in his writings. (So often, modern biographies love to turn everyone into bisexual whores based on “recently discovered letters” or some such fiddle-faddle. I’m not saying that everyone was living pure and clean lives, but I do find it hard to believe that everyone in the 1800’s was living a secret double life dressed in drag.) While he would mention various rumors or theories, he was honest about the sources that claimed such rumors. Overall, he stuck with the actual point of a biography–the progress through the subject’s life.
I greatly enjoyed this read, and look forward to reading some of Vernes’s stories soon.
While Verne’s books can sometimes get overly technical (I learned to skip any paragraph with latitudes and longitudes when reading 20,000 Leagues), they are still great fun, and classic adventures. Reading this biography inspired me to reread (and first-time read) some of Verne’s classics.
This biography was well-written and fairly easy to read (it wasn’t the author’s fault that apparently everyone in France was named either Jules or Jacques). Verne led an interesting life, and the author was respectful in his writings. (So often, modern biographies love to turn everyone into bisexual whores based on “recently discovered letters” or some such fiddle-faddle. I’m not saying that everyone was living pure and clean lives, but I do find it hard to believe that everyone in the 1800’s was living a secret double life dressed in drag.) While he would mention various rumors or theories, he was honest about the sources that claimed such rumors. Overall, he stuck with the actual point of a biography–the progress through the subject’s life.
I greatly enjoyed this read, and look forward to reading some of Vernes’s stories soon.
August 17, 2025
Lo malo son los spoilers de los libros de Verne. En lo que voy leyendo el autor ya contó el argumento y el final de Cinco semanas en globo y del Capitán Hatteras, que todavía no leí :-(
October 5, 2014
Easy, if overall slow read. I kept putting it aside for failing to retain my attention.
Still, it was interesting, if academic, and a fan of Verne may unfairly come away with the image tarnished. Tarnished not because of Verne, but because of Lottman's treatment...slow, and an odd mix of broad-based critique with excruciating attention to irrelevant minutia of details of Verne's life.
In this case, shoot the messenger. I loved Verne from childhood and knowing the man, as an adult, fortunately doesn't impact the memory of the love, but that's because I was able to overcome a plodding narrative.
Still, it was interesting, if academic, and a fan of Verne may unfairly come away with the image tarnished. Tarnished not because of Verne, but because of Lottman's treatment...slow, and an odd mix of broad-based critique with excruciating attention to irrelevant minutia of details of Verne's life.
In this case, shoot the messenger. I loved Verne from childhood and knowing the man, as an adult, fortunately doesn't impact the memory of the love, but that's because I was able to overcome a plodding narrative.
January 15, 2016
Creo que se trata de la biografía más completa y seria que existe, o al menos de todas las que conozco.
El autor se basa en hechos, como cartas, entrevistas, y deja de lado los tópicos habituales fomentados por los primeros biógrafos con más ganas de fantasear y presentar a un Verne acorde a los gustos de su familia y de la sociedad que de la realidad en sí.
También es cierto que tropieza varias veces consigo mismo, adelantando hechos que luego matiza.
El autor se basa en hechos, como cartas, entrevistas, y deja de lado los tópicos habituales fomentados por los primeros biógrafos con más ganas de fantasear y presentar a un Verne acorde a los gustos de su familia y de la sociedad que de la realidad en sí.
También es cierto que tropieza varias veces consigo mismo, adelantando hechos que luego matiza.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews