Jules Verne’s Books – Chapters of the author’s books are part to English sujbect School syllabus/ curriculum in Indian schools. Thus, as children we are charmed by the details of adventures of Jules Vern’s characters. For this reason, I have read all 5 of his popular books whose details are enumerated below. (4) Twenty thousand leagues under the sea- by Jules Verne- (1) Five weeks in a balloon (2) Journey to the center of the earth -(3) From the earth to the moon --
Round the moon -- (4) Twenty thousand leagues under the sea -(5) Around the world in eighty days. I have read book 4 and 5 first, then the rest. Therefore, I am writing about the book 4 and 5 first, then the rest of books. (4) In 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Genre Science fiction- Verne created a character, Captain Nemo, who would continue to haunt the imagination of generations to come in the manner of Homer’s hero, from whom Nemo took his name. In the Odyssey (c. 725 B.C.E.; English translation, 1614), Ulysses calls himself Nemo, or "No one,” in order to hide his identity from the Cyclops. Verne’s unknown renegade, making war on injustice, has likewise become a myth. The best known of Verne’s works was also the one that took the longest to find its way into print. It is certain that the author was working on a story tentatively titled “Voyage Under the Waters” in 1865. After his exploration of the air in Five Weeks in a Balloon and his A Journey to the Centre of the Earth, it was logical that Verne would pursue his pedagogical mission by exploring the bottom of the sea. This novel, though, was to be different from the others. Verne was very excited about the creation of a hero entirely cut off from the earth and humanity. His publisher, Hetzel, on the other hand, was very uneasy about Nemo. Verne refused to explain who his captain was and what his past had been. Letters show that the author would have liked to have made Nemo a Pole, oppressed by Russia. For commercial reasons, this was impossible, as Verne’s books were translated into Russian. The violence of Nemo’s hatred of his enemies, and his cruel sinking of ships, given with many hair-raising details, worried Hetzel, but Verne was adamant in preserving the hero driven by hatred. As is usual with Verne, the motivation in the novel is a double one: scientific, with the description of the submarine vessel and the underwater world that the submarine allows the heroes to explore, and entertaining, with an unprecedented series of adventures to be encountered. Professor Aronnax is fascinated by the marvels of submarine geology and biology, which he can study in his fantastic underwater laboratory, the Nautilus. Ned Land, on the other hand, is a simple sailor, a natural man; his name, Land, makes him incapable of remaining at sea. He remains indifferent to everything except the loss of liberty that Nemo has inflicted upon his “guests.” The story is told by Aronnax, who is capable of understanding both points of view. He comes to admire and pity the genius Captain Nemo, while agreeing with Land that it is impossible to remain with him for the rest of his natural life. The narrator, Aronnax, is often conscious that his story is an incredible one. In the space of ten months aboard the submarine, he travels twenty thousand leagues—that is, a trip around the world, under the seas. The journal form, which allows the tale to be told in the present tense and makes for considerable suspense as well as an illusion of reality, is used throughout. Many details contribute to the realism of the story: dates, the names of ships encountered, and maps on which the itinerary of the Nautilus is traced. Historical references to the American Civil War and the revolt of Crete add to the impression of reality. Probably the most impressive aspect of the narration is the quantity of scientific data given. Interminable lists of submarine plants, shells, and animals serve to present a scientific alibi for the adventure story. When the story opens, the Nautilus has seldom been sighted but has given rise to a legend that there is a new sort of sea monster in the oceans. When Professor Aronnax agrees to leave his museum and set sail, it is to hunt the monster. Verne has thus given his novel the appearance of an epic adventure. When the narrator discovers the mechanical nature of the submarine, the mythic side of the story does not come to an end. The Nautilus is powered by electricity, a phenomenon that remained mysterious enough at the time to allow Verne to play on the fantastic possibilities that it might offer. Nemo’s courage, his intelligence, and his determination excite the admiration of the narrator. Yet when Nemo dreams while improvising his journey when the submarine fights its way back from near the Lofoten Islands torrents. The three captives move to the boat and are thrown in the sea. Fishermen save them and bring to shore.
(5) Around the world in 80 days- Around the World in Eighty Days, French Le Tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours, travel adventure novel by French author Jules Verne, published serially in 1872 in Le Temps and in book form in 1873. The work tells the story of the unflappable Phileas Fogg’s trip around the world, accompanied by his emotional valet, Passepartout, to win a bet. It was the most popular of Verne’s Voyages extraordinaires series of novels. Phileas Fogg, a London gentleman of meticulous and unchanging habits, hires as his valet Jean Passepartout, a Frenchman who has had a variety of jobs, including circus performer, but now seeks a tranquil life. After reading in The Daily Telegraph that a new railroad in India has made it theoretically possible to travel around the world in 80 days, Fogg bets his fellow members at the Reform Club that he will make that journey in 80 days or less; the wager is for the princely sum of £20,000 (half his fortune). Leaving that night, Fogg and a nonplussed Passepartout board a train bound for Dover and Calais to begin their journey. Shortly before Fogg’s departure, someone resembling him had robbed a bank, and Fogg’s sudden exit leads Scotland Yard to believe that he was the bank robber. Accordingly, a detective, Mr. Fix, is sent to Suez, in British-ruled Egypt, to await the steamer Mongolia, on which Fogg and Passepartout are traveling. Fix befriends Passpartout, and, after learning that they will take the steamer to Bombay, he buys a ticket and joins them. The Mongolia reaches Bombay before the arrival of an arrest warrant, however. During the few hours before their planned departure for Calcutta on the Great India Peninsula Railway, Passepartout visits a Hindu temple on Malabar Hill, unaware that Christians are forbidden to enter and that shoes are not to be worn inside. He is beaten by enraged priests and barely makes it to the train station on time. The train travels through India until stopping at the village of Kholby, where Fogg learns that, contrary to what was reported in the British press, the railroad is 50 miles (81 km) short of completion, and passengers are required to find their own way to Allahabad to resume the train trip. Fogg purchases an elephant and hires a Parsi man, as elephant driver and guide. The elephant-borne party later encounters a group of people preparing for an act of suttee—the immolation of a widow on her husband’s funeral pyre. Fogg decides that they must rescue the young widow. Passepartout disguises himself as the body of the late rajah, and, as soon as the pyre is lit, he springs up and seizes the widow. The party then flees before the ruse is discovered. They reach the railroad station in Allahabad and continue on their journey. In Calcutta, however, Fogg and Passepartout are arrested and sentenced to prison because of Passepartout’s incursion into the Malabar Hill temple in Bombay. An unperturbed Fogg pays bail for them, and, accompanied by the widow, Aouda, they board a steamer bound for Hong Kong. Fix, who had hoped the sentences would end. In Hong Kong Passepartout attempts to secure cabins on a boat to Yokohama and learns that its departure has been rescheduled for that evening. Desperate to keep Fogg in Hong Kong until the warrant arrives, Fix tells Passepartout why he is following Fogg and offers to pay him to help delay Fogg’s departure. When Passepartout refuses, Fix drugs him with opium, preventing him from returning to Fogg. As a result, Fogg misses the steamer. However, he finds another ship that will take them to Shanghai, and he, Aouda, and Fix set sail. In the meantime, Passepartout manages to stagger onto the ship for Yokohama. Passepartout arrives in Yokohama with no money and no idea where Fogg is. He joins a traveling circus, where Fogg, having caught a Yokohama-bound steamer from Shanghai, encounters him just in time for them all (including Fix) to board the steamer that will take them to San Francisco. As Britain has no jurisdiction in United States of America A Fix is now as eager as the rest of them to get Fogg back to England quickly. The group boards a train bound for New York City. The train trip continues more or less uneventfully until it reaches Medicine Bow, Wyoming Territory, where a signalman tells them that the suspension bridge is too dilapidated to bear the weight of a train. However, the engineer believes that it might be possible to safely cross the bridge by going at top speed, and the plan works, with the bridge collapsing as soon as the train reaches the other side. In Nebraska the train is attacked by a band of Sioux, who are on the point of winning the battle when Passepartout succeeds in uncoupling the train from its engine outside Fort Kearny, and the soldiers garrisoned there frighten the Sioux into leaving. However, the Sioux capture Passepartout and two other passengers. Fogg rides to their rescue with a group of soldiers, but the recoupled train departs without them. Using a sail-powered sledge, Fogg and the others travel over snow to Omaha, Nebraska, arriving just in time to board a train to Chicago. From there they catch a train to New York City, where they arrive 45 minutes after departure of the ship to England. Fogg finds an empty trading ship whose captain is willing to carry the group of four to Bordeaux, France. After bribing the crew and imprisoning the captain, Fogg assumes control and sets course for Liverpool, England. When a storm prevents the use of sails, the coal supply runs low. Fogg buys the ship from the captain and begins burning its wooden parts. As soon as they arrive in Liverpool, Fix arrests Fogg. Several hours later, though, Fix learns that another man was responsible for the bank robbery, and he releases Fogg, who orders a special train. However, he arrives in London five minutes too late to win his wager. The following evening Fogg apologizes to Aouda for being unable to provide for her comfort as a result of losing the bet. She in turn proposes marriage to him, and he joyfully agrees. Passepartout is sent to engage a clergyman, and he learns that their journey through the time zones had gained them a day and that they are not too late after all. He rushes back to notify Fogg, who arrives at the Reform Club with only moments to spare.