From the Earth to the Moon

Baltimore Gun Club #1

by Jules Verne

Een in de 19e eeuw geschreven verhaal over een reis naar de maan, waaruit blijkt dat de schrijver in technisch opzicht zijn tijd ver vooruit was

Genres: Science Fiction, Classics, Fiction, Adventure, France, Fantasy, Literature

188 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1865

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

[Carlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una novela liviana, fácil de entender, rápida y entretenida. Me gustó mucho lo detallado que es Verne para dar las explicaciones del proyectil (Distancia, peso, materiales, etc). Todo con base y argumento. Con esto, me dieron ganas de aprender más sobre física y cosas acerca de proyectiles que no sé absolutamente nada. Después de haber leído esto, seré un poco más científico para mis cosas.
Libro totalmente recomendable, amigable y liviano. Me gustó.

[Sr3yas · Rating 4 out of 5]

★★★✬☆ 3.5 Stars

Alright, Kids. Let's start by catching some reel from Back To the Future III:

Clara Clayton: Emmett, do you think we'll ever be able to travel to the moon like we travel across the country on trains?

Doc: Definitely, although not for another eighty-four years and not on trains. We'll have space vehicles, capsules to sail off in rockets, devices that create giant explosions, explosions that are so powerful that they...

Clara Clayton: [finishes Doc's sentence] "They break the pull of the earth's gravity and send their projectile through outer space."

[Doc stares at her in shock. Clara laughs]

Clara Clayton: Emmett, I read that book too. You're quoting Jules Verne, "From the Earth to the Moon".



Jules Verne wrote "From Earth to Moon" in 1865, a century before the actual small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. In his novel, Verne introduces the Baltimore Gun Club, a group of Gun enthusiasts with a wide membership and an unquenchable thirst for action, yet they find themselves without a war to fight and nothing notable to occupy them.

Not for long.

When Impey Barbicane, the president of the club reveals his plans to create a gun long enough and strong enough to launch an expedition to the moon, the whole world is captivated by his dream. Calculations are made, locations are scouted, and days are marked. Will they be able to pull it off?



If you take a step back and look at the story, you'll see that It's about a bunch of gun-crazed adventure-loving Americans constructing a big ass gun, so that they can literally shoot for the moon... with a bullet.



Only when you take a closer look, you'll see the beauty of Verne's work. Yes, there are pages of mostly outdated 20th-century science dump, along with some shockingly accurate predictions and calculations. Also, there are pages of minute details like amount of money collected from each county for the project and list of banks participated, which probably is weird for a modern reader.

BUT when you put those pages behind you, you'll find a story filled with humor, courage and UTTER LUNACY!

Some of the best parts were the enmity between Captain Nicholl and President Barbicane and their "duel", the entry of the Frenchman, the infectious enthusiasm of every member of the audience and the description of final take off!

At the end of the day, From Earth to Moon is a bumpy and a fun ride. Apart from that, the novel's historical value is tremendous: To bring equilibrium to the Wikipedia article which describes with many points why Verne's expedition won't work, there is a NASA page which showcases the predictions of Verne that came to fruition!

[[ J o ] · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the Earth to the Moon was written almost 100 years before man finally stepped foot on the moon, a mixture of early sci-fi and adventure book that has truly imaginative elements alongside Jules Verne's very scientific mind.

In an America that is rather frightfully similar to its current state, gun enthusiasts find themselves at the end of the civil war without anything to shoot. The Baltimore Gun Club and its president, Impey Barbicane, decide that an altogether different approach to ballistics should be taken and undertake a mission to send a missile to the moon.

Inevitably, a Frenchman pops up and demands he man the missile, turning the un-manned mission in to a manned mission, and something that the whole country is captivated by.

Unparalleled in imagination, though rather lacking in some areas, Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon is an excellent read, especially considering the 1969 mission that actually occurred. It is a wonderful tale, though I think it relies far too heavily on what Verne was rather too fond of, and that's the scientific element. Many sci-fi writers fall foul of this and that's to add too much science and not enough fiction. Keeping the balance truly makes a "can't-possibly-happen" story turn in to a "wonderfully-imaginative-and-yet-might-actually-happen" story. Just as in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, we seem to be inundated with Verne's intelligence.

The characters are much of a muchness and his stereotypes are complete, if rather boring. From the Earth to the Moon is an important book in as much as for the time it was written, than for any other reason. But it is still a very interesting read, great fun to get through and really won't challenge you but will still make you think.

[Julian Worker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was an excellent book, very understandable and easy to read. Jules Verne had a wonderful imagination and I look forward to reading other works by this author.

What I particularly liked was the satire and the technical explanation of how various types of telescope worked.

Who needs a technical manual when you can read Jules Verne?

[Axl Oswaldo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Como siempre me pasa con las novelas de Jules Verne, De la Tierra a la Luna ha sido una experiencia mayormente gratificante. Una novela que se lee rápido, fácil y que cumple con entretener y hacerte pasar un rato agradable. En pocas palabras, unas de esas lecturas para desconectar y que te entrega lo que te promete.

En De la Tierra a la Luna se plantea un proyecto muy ambicioso para su tiempo: la construcción de un proyectil para ser enviado a la Luna. La historia empieza con una simple idea, para dar paso a una serie de consideraciones, cálculos, tipos de materiales a utilizar, entre otros aspectos aparentemente relevantes. Como es típico en una novela de Verne, lo primero es discutir cómo hacer la idea posible, para posteriormente pasar a la ejecución del ambicioso proyecto. Entiendo que algunas veces esto podría parecer tedioso, en especial cuando los personajes hablan de cantidades tal o cual, que al final del día no son los puntos más fuertes en la historia, pero pienso que una vez que toda esta etapa ha pasado, la novela se mantiene con un ritmo adecuado en el que empiezan a pasar muchas cosas relacionadas con la construcción del proyectil y al menos a mí me mantuvo interesado desde ese momento hasta el final.

Con respecto a los personajes, hay cuatro que se podrían considerar los principales: el presidente del Gun Club, Barbicane, el secretario Maston, el capitán Nicholl, y por supuesto mi favorito y el típico personaje verniano que se caracteriza por ser quien vive para la aventura y que es por lo general intrépido y valeroso, el francés Michel Arden. Lo que destaco aquí es la rivalidad que existe entre Nicholl y Barbicane, que a ratos me sacaba una risa, y también la llegada de Arden para dar un giro muy inesperado a los planes que se tenían hasta ese momento.
No está de más mencionar que el tono satírico que tiene la novela hacia ese deseo y ambición por la expansión y el poder es un total acierto, y quizá no sea una sorpresa que Verne haya decidido situar su obra en los Estados Unidos, con (casi) todos sus personajes de dicha nacionalidad. Incluso hay un capítulo titulado Florida y Texas que me hizo reír tanto dadas las similitudes con nuestra época actual y con ese comportamiento tan salvaje cuando de política y poder se trata. Creo que preferiría reservarme otros posibles comentarios al respecto.

No está de más mencionar que en esta novela no somos testigos del viaje en sí, ya que esa parte corresponde a su secuela, Viaje alrededor de la Luna, que espero estar leyendo muy pronto. Aquí sólo encontramos el origen del proyecto, la planeación y la ejecución del mismo, pero aun así no deja de ser muy interesante. Por supuesto, lo recomendaría a cualquier persona que disfrute de leer las obras del autor y como primer acercamiento también.

—Mis valientes colegas, no hay ninguno de nosotros que no haya visto la Luna, o al menos que no haya oído hablar de ella. No les extrañe que venga a hablarles del astro de las noches. Quizá nos esté reservado ser los Colones de ese mundo desconocido. Compréndanme, secúndenme con toda su fuerza, y yo les guiaré a su conquista, y sus nombres se unirán a los nombres de los treinta y seis estados que forman este gran país de la Unión.

[Paul Haspel · Rating 4 out of 5]

From its beginnings, this early work of science fiction, by one of the founding authors of the genre, revels in its sheer wealth of scientific detail – and the science-minded reader is likely to note many interesting instances of consonance and dissonance between Jules Verne’s imagined lunar voyage in From the Earth to the Moon (1865), and the real-life accomplishment of a lunar landing by the Apollo 11 astronauts 104 years after Verne published his novel.

Jules Verne remains one of the authors associated most strongly with science fiction as a literary genre. As contemporary SF author Gregory Benford points out in an informative foreword, Verne continues to appeal to authors and readers of “hard SF” – meaning science fiction that hews as closely as possible to known scientific fact. Where Verne’s contemporary H.G. Wells indulged in storytelling elements that seemed more overtly fantastical – invaders from Mars, invisibility serums, a hollow moon inhabited by Selenites – Verne drew upon his own considerable scientific erudition, and tried not to step too far beyond what the science of his time deemed possible.

Perhaps it is for that reason that so many of the seemingly fanciful SF speculations of Verne’s work have come to pass: going around the world in less than three months, say, or travelling 20,000 leagues (60,000 nautical miles) under the sea in a submarine called the Nautilus – or flying from the earth to the moon.

As a Marylander, I was surprised and pleased to find that De la terre à la lune begins in, of all places, Union Square in Baltimore. Today, Union Square is a lovely part of the Sowebo (South West Baltimore) neighborhood, close to Hollins Market and H.L. Mencken’s old house. In Verne’s fictive Baltimore, Union Square is home to the Baltimore Gun Club, an organization of artillery manufacturers and artillery officers, many of whom are missing eyes, arms, legs, or other body parts because of the dangerous nature of their trade.

With the end of the American Civil War, the members of the Baltimore Gun Club are generally distraught, because the demand for their work is likely to decline. Yet low spirits among the group’s membership are quickly lifted when the club’s president, Impey Barbicane, proposes that the group build an exceptionally large cannon that would work as a “space gun,” launching a projectile to the moon.

Verne’s enthusiasm for scientific detail comes out in Barbicane’s setting-forth, for the benefit of Baltimore Gun Club members (and Verne’s readers) of the details behind a successful moon launch:

“When a projectile is launched into space, what happens? It’s acted on by three independent forces: air resistance, the pull of the earth’s gravity, and the propulsive force that’s been applied to it. Let’s examine these three forces. Air resistance will be unimportant. The earth’s atmosphere is only forty miles thick. At a speed of 36,000 feet per second, the shell will go through it in five seconds, and that time is so short that we can regard air resistance as insignificant. Next, let’s consider the pull of the earth’s gravity – in other words, the shell’s weight. We know that its weight will diminish in inverse ratio to the square of its distance from the earth. Here’s what physics tells us: when a body is dropped near the surface of the earth, it falls fifteen feet in the first second, but if it were as far away from the earth as the moon is – 257,242 miles – it would fall only a twentieth of an inch in the first second; in short, it would remain almost motionless. So we must progressively conquer the force of gravity. How will we do it? By the propulsive force we’ll use.” (p. 55)

The gun club’s plan captures the attention of the entire world, many of whose nations pledge financial support. Yet there are complications, including an enduring and bitter rivalry between Barbicane, as a builder of artillery weapons, and one Captain Nicholl, a Philadelphia-based armour manufacturer. Nicholl establishes a series of wagers against the viability of the BGC project, and the reader wonders how much the rivalry between Nicholl and Barbicane will accelerate, and with what consequences.

It is interesting to see what aspects of lunar exploration Verne anticipated with some degree of accuracy, a century before human beings reached the moon. One accurate prediction Verne made was that the United States, with its enterprising people and its traditions of mechanical innovation, would be the first nation to reach the moon. Another thing Verne got right was that any American space program would involve warm-weather states like Texas (now home to Johnson Space Center) and Florida (today, the site of Cape Canaveral). One could even say that Verne looked ahead beyond NASA, to an era when private companies would take the lead in space travel. From the Baltimore Gun Club to Space-X, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic? The mind boggles.

Back in the world of From the Earth to the Moon, Barbicane resolves the Texas-Florida rivalry over the prospective launch site by naming a Tampa-area site at Stone Hill, Florida, as the site where the cannon will be built to launch a projectile toward the Moon. As he makes this declaration, he reveals author Verne’s dedication to establishing a set of details thorough enough to give his scientific romances a sense of verisimilitude:

“This place is 1800 feet above sea level, latitude 27º 7’ north, longitude 5º 7’ west. Its dryness and rockiness seem to indicate all the conditions favorable to our project, so it’s here that we’ll build our powder magazines, our workshops, our furnaces, and the houses for our workers, and it will be from here, from this very spot,” he said emphatically, stamping his foot on Stone Hill, “that our projectile will begin its journey through space to the moon!” (p. 100)

It all sounds quite convincing – even if, in fact, the highest point of land in Florida is only 345 feet above sea level.

Eventually, the BGC’s plans to send an unmanned projectile to the moon when a man named Michel Ardan, a French adventure-seeker with a decided Indiana Jones flair, makes clear that he wants to travel to the moon on what will now be a manned spacecraft. At a public meeting on the topic, Ardan is subjected to a hostile line of questioning regarding his proposed trip to the moon:

“What about food and water?”

“I’ve calculated that I can take along enough for a year, and my journey will last only four days!”

“And what about air?”

“I’ll make it by chemical processes.”

“And your fall on the moon, assuming you ever get there?”

“It will only be a sixth as fast as a fall on the earth, since the pull of gravity is only a sixth as strong on the moon.”

“But it will still be strong enough to break you like a glass!”

“What’s to stop me from slowing down my fall by igniting properly placed rockets at the right time?”

“All right, suppose we say all those difficulties are resolved, all those obstacles are overcome; suppose we put all the chances in your favor and say you arrive safe and sound on the moon. How will you get back?”

“I won’t.” (p. 153)

Well! That would have shut down any Gemini or Apollo space-project news conference, back in the day.

It should be no surprise that the hostile questioner of Ardan is Barbicane’s old nemesis, Captain Nicholl, or that the hostility between the two men quickly reaches a crisis point.

Yet a launch is eventually made, with the time to blast-off being counted second by second, though the BGC personnel count up to 40 rather than having a countdown to zero. Still, once an electric spark has been transmitted down to the bottom of the cannon,

Instantly there was a terrifying, fantastic, superhuman detonation which could not be compared to thunder or any previously known sound, not even the eruption of a volcano. An immense spout of flame shot from the bowels of the earth as from a crater. The ground heaved, and only a few people caught a brief glimpse of the projectile victoriously cleaving the air amid clouds of glowing vapor… (pp. 203-04)

The results of the launch include an earthquake, along with hurricane-force winds that destroy 100 buildings across Tampa, as well as ships being sunk 300 miles out in the Atlantic – in contrast with the first Cape Canaveral rocket launch in 1950, where nothing untoward happened at all. As Benford points out in his commentary, Verne’s mode of launching a spacecraft to the moon could pose some serious problems in celestial mechanics. But I would rather enjoy Verne’s storytelling verve than quibble with his deployment of applied science.

From the Earth to the Moon ends on a note of uncertainty, with the BGC spacecraft and three human occupants orbiting the moon, with no particular way of either landing on the Moon or returning to Earth. No doubt it was for this reason that Verne published a sequel, Around the Moon, in 1869.

This book provides a fun, steampunk-style look at the possibilities of lunar travel – even if, for me, it did not reach the heights of Verne’s masterpieces, Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1864) and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1870). Still, no one can deny its cultural influence. Verne’s two moon novels inspired filmmaker Georges Méliès to make his film A Trip to the Moon (1902), with its iconic special-effects image of the travelers’ space capsule crashing right into the eye of the Man in the Moon! From the Earth to the Moon was adapted for cinema in 1958 – just 11 years before the Apollo moon landing – with a cast that included Joseph Cotten and George Sanders. And in 1998, when Ron Howard and Tom Hanks developed an epic multi-part HBO documentary about the Space Race era, the title that they gave the documentary was, perhaps inevitably, From the Earth to the Moon.

[Parmida R. A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

“How many things have been denied one day, only to become realities the next!”
― Jules Verne, From the Earth to the Moon



From the Earth to the Moon is the best book I have read from Verne so far. Perhaps, one of the reasons is that in about a century, his science-fiction novel came true. Verne wrote this novel in 1865, depicting the project as an ambitious American dream. It is interesting to see that in about a century, it all happened: in 1969, Apollo 11 was launched by a Saturn V rocket from Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida, and after a long journey, it landed on the moon.



In other words, the novel is full of eerie bits of business that turned out to be very near reality: he had the cost, when you adjust for inflation, almost exactly right. Verne's cannon was named the Columbiad; the Apollo 11 command module was named Columbia. Apollo 11 had a three-person crew, just as Verne's did; and both blasted off from the American state of Florida. Some other similarities between the novel and reality are fascinating. Verne once mentioned the glorious moment that Americans plant the flag of the United States on the lunar surface, just as it happened in 1969!

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Another wonderful thing about the novel was Verne's sophisticated knowledge in different areas. It was more likely for me that I was reading a scientific book rather than a fictional story. Jules Verne pointed out any problem he could imagine and tried to find a scientific solution for them. It almost sounds as if he had profoundly studied American geography, history, and society alongside chemistry, physics, and math. He also knew other international affairs and policies of his time as well.



As a person who studied American history and culture, I believe his assertions were valid. However, all Verne and I knew from America are the matters of the old America, but I truly hope it is still that great. :))

“Nothing can astound an American. It has often been asserted that the word "impossible" is not a French one. People have evidently been deceived by the dictionary. In America, all is easy, all is simple; and as for mechanical difficulties, they are overcome before they arise. Between Barbicane's proposition and its realization, no true Yankee would have allowed even the semblance of a difficulty to be possible. A thing with them is no sooner said than done.”
― Jules Verne, From the Earth to the Moon

[Miltos S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Από τα αγαπημένα αναγνώσματα των παιδικών μας χρόνων.
Νομίζω πως ή αυτό ή οι "20 χιλιάδες λεύγες κάτω από τη θάλασσα" ήταν το πρώτο πραγματικό μυθιστόρημα που διάβασα στη ζωή μου.
Φυσικά, το βιβλίο πλέον δείχνει την ηλικία του και με το παραπάνω, και δεν ξέρω αν είναι δυνατόν να έχει την ίδια απήχηση στα νεότερα παιδιά.
Πάντως για εμάς τους 40+, ο Ιούλιος Βερν παραμένει μια μυθική μορφή της παιδικής μας ηλικίας.

[Tanabrus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una storia molto particolare, questa di Verne.
Nei volumi precedenti di questi Viaggi Straordinari avevo trovato sbocchi comici, spesso affidati al servitore di turno mentre il protagonista rimaneva monolitico, serio e sicuro di sé.

Qui invece fin dall'inizio la storia ha tratti comici, le situazioni e le persone vengono accentuate ed estremizzate al punto da richiamare in più punti un Pratchett o un Benni.
Abbiamo il Gun Club, che contrariamente ai club "inglesi" visti in altri libri è formato da appassionati sfegatati di armi da fuoco, soprattutto cannoni. Persone che se le progettavano, costruivano e poi correvano sul campo di battaglia a provarle contro i Secessionisti.
Un nugolo di gente pressoché menomata, e totalmente pazza.
Lo stile usato nella narrazione si confà a questi appassionati cannonieri, così il loro piano iniziale è di raggiungere la luna con una grande palla di cannone. In segno di amicizia.

Purtroppo, a rovinare l'effetto di quella che poteva essere una storia veloce, divertente e in grado di strappare diverse risate, ci sono state alcune parti in cui Verne sembra indeciso su cosa voglia ottenere e piazza a tradimento capitoli di spiegazioni e di elenchi di fatti scientifici.

Sorprendente e piacevolissimo il finale, comunque il personaggio principe è senza dubbio Maston, il folle di buon cuore che vive per i suoi cannoni.


Azzeccata la scelta della seconda storia da mettere nel libro, "Il signor Oss", che prosegue sul filone umoristico\scientifico mostrandoci un paesino fiammingo sconosciuto al mondo dove da secoli la flemma permea abitanti, animali e natura. Non ci sono rumori, chi si muove lo fa lentamente, le decisioni richiedono tempistiche degne degli Ent di Tolkien, non ci sono litigi, non ci sono cause. Un paese al rallentatore e sotto morfina, insomma.
Finché non arriva il misterioso Oss col progetto di finanziare a sue spese l'illuminazione pubblica della città, un'illuminazione di nuova generazione ideata da lui, tramite gas ossidrico. E le cose cominciano a cambiare... piacevole.

[L.S. Popovich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is it the fate of every science fiction novel to become obsolete, to appear quaint, even silly in ages to come? Verne was certainly a pioneer, and this book is impressive in a number of ways. But on the narrative level, it performs a glorious belly flop.

Pages and pages of engineering terminology, numbers, weights and measures. A few snide lampoons in the form of the American Gun club, who are determined to fire off their experiment as quickly and dramatically as possible. The set up is very Verne, but the process and intricate examination of the principles underlying the book's thesis are tedious in the extreme, unless you like scientific textbooks. Verne passed off many such treatises as "adventures." Historians will always read him, but I predict his fans will die out as his works are superseded by modern innovations in fiction. Maybe if he had balanced the storyteller's art with the research more evenly.

[BrokenTune · Rating 3 out of 5]

As for the Yankees, they had no other ambition than to take possession of this new continent of the sky, and to plant upon the summit of its highest elevation the star- spangled banner of the United States of America.

Yup, this is still my favourite quote. Simply because I cannot get over Verne daring to imagine that iconic tv image from 1969 in 1865.
There were a lot fun points that Verne picked up in this novel and made fun of, but sadly a lot of the satire in this novel is at the expense of the US, who is pretty much represented only by the characters of the Baltimore Gun Club, who out of boredom following the end of the Civil War, attempt to build a cannon that can reach the moon.

I enjoyed the poking fun at gun enthusiasts, I did not enjoy the poking fun at whole nation. There were some other stereotypes, too, French and German, but the majority of Verne's mockery was pointed firmly at the US.

Still, apart from the blatant stereotyping, this was a romp and fun, fun, fun diversion into imagining the impossible and then backing it up with science. Of course, we know now that the science was iffy, but it is conceivable that the readers in 1865 did not meet the book with our modern scepticism but with wonder and marvel. And I just love Verne's work for that. I would really love to know if anyone involved in space exploration was inspired by this book because I can totally see this being the case.

So, why not 5 stars?

The sheer amount of maths and hypothesising about maths and physics, was just too much for me.

Oh, and, the cat ate the squirrel. I'm just not ok with that.

[Ajeje Brazov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Secondo libro che leggo del Verne mondiale e direi, un passo indietro rispetto a "Viaggio al centro della Terra", forse più per la scrittura: qui l'ho trovata un po' troppo scarna (colpa, magari, anche della traduzione), ma comunque meno coinvolgente!
La prima parte del libro è stata deludente, ero lì lì per abbandonarlo, ma poi non potevo farglielo al buon Jules e così ho continuato e meno male, perchè la parte centrale e finale meritano proprio. Ci sono ottimi spunti di riflessione, sia filosofica che scientifica, non approfonditi, ma che aprono la mente.
Insomma una mini-mezza-delusione, ma sempre una piacevole scoperta, soprattutto perchè scritta circa 150 anni fa dove, l'argomentazione del viaggio spaziale, nello specifico del viaggio sulla Luna, era ancora un'utopia. Bravo Verne!

[Heena Rathore Rathore-Pardeshi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not a fan of Jules Verne's writing, hence it was a bit difficult for me to complete this book. I'm just glad that somehow I did. Though there was a fair bit of skimming involved (like pages at times.)

There are a lot of good things I can say about this book like the entire concept of the Gun Club and the mission to send a projectile to Moon, some really sharp sarcastic observations that made me giggle every time I recalled them later on, a decent story overall and the feel-good factor. But there was the inescapable Verne writing that I have now come to dread that literally haunted me through the entire book, the excruciatingly slow pace of the story progression and the crazy level of Science involved for such a short read. Though the Science bit was actually quite impressive, I did not enjoy it at all.

I was hoping to finish this book in a few hours, but it took me more than 3 days to finish it. So you can guess why I gave this book a 2-star rating.

I'd recommend this book only to the hardcore fans of author Jules Verne and to no one else.

You can also read this review at The Reading Bud.

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why would any skeptical post Apollo 8 reader (the earliest NASA mission that most closely resembles the plot of this book) be bothered with a lunar exploration science fiction story written 158 years ago?

After the initial euphoria surrounding the success of the Apollo 11 had worn off, people the world over quickly lost interest in putting any more men on the moon. With the developments in space tourism, space travel is now almost routine.

At face value the plot of, “From the Earth to the Moon”, appears to be old fashioned, technically infeasible and dangerously impracticable with little hope of success. The plan is for three men, seven chickens, and two dogs to embark on the conquest of the moon for the United States on board a giant projectile that has been blasted from a giant cannon packed with 400,000 pounds of gun-cotton producing 6 billion litres of gas.

To answer my own question however posed in the introduction, this terrific novel has much to offer the modern reader. It is a remarkably prophetic, satirical and adventurous science fiction masterpiece that is my favourite Verne novel to date.

”…the Moon”, proved to be inspirational for a number of early rocket pioneers such as Robert Goddard - built the world’s first liquid-fuelled rocket; Herman Oberon - one of the founding fathers of modern rocketry; Konstantin Tsiolkovsky - published the first serious work on space travel, and Wernhner von Braun - developed the Nazi’s V2 rocket and was the chief architect of the Saturn V rocket.

Whist onboard Apollo 11 Neil Armstrong acknowledged Verne by making the following broadcast as he and the rest of the crew were getting ready to return to Earth after their successful moon landing -

“A hundred years ago, Jules Verne wrote a book about a voyage to the moon. His spaceship, Columbia took off from Florida and landed in the Pacific Ocean after completing a trip to the moon. It seems appropriate to us to share with you some of the reflections of the crew as the modern-day Columbia completes its rendezvous with the planet Earth in the same Pacific Ocean.”

Verne’s countless hours spent at the National Library of France researching and writing about the latest scientific discoveries proved critical for his later laundry list of predictions that were to come true a century later. See below a selection:

- Just as Verne predicted there was fierce competition between Texas and Florida to host the modern space program. This was resolved by placing the Space Centre in Houston Texas and the rockets launch site in Cape Canaveral Florida.
- Brownsville Texas is listed by Verne as a potential launch site. SpaceX now have a launch facility at this same location.
- Both Verne’s projectile and the Apollo 8 capsule were built from aluminium to save weight.
- Verne’s projectile was approximately the same weight and dimensions as the Apollo 8.
- The giant cannon was built in a fictional location Verne named Stones Hill south of Tampa which is only 217 kilometres east of Cape Canaveral.
- The fictional projectile splashed down within 4 kilometres of the actual Apollo 8 splash down site in the Pacific.
- Verne’s projectile returned to earth December 12, Apollo 8 on December 27.

“..Moon”, helped to cement Verne’s reputation as one the most important and influential nineteenth century‘s science fiction writers. Many contend that he is the father of science fiction. Verne himself however argues against this in the, “..Moon”, when he references one his favourite writers Edgar Allen Poe’s novel, “The Unparalleled Adventure of Hans Pfaall”. Written thirty years earlier in 1835 it concerns Pfaall’s adventures when he travels to the moon in a balloon.

In conclusion von Braun succinctly sums up Verne’s impact on space travel -

“The science in, ”From the Earth to the Moon”, is nearly as accurate as the knowledge of the time permitted … He was read with great respect by working scientists, so carefully did he do his scientific homework…the debt modern astronauts owe (Verne) is apparent.”

[Sportyrod · Rating 2 out of 5]

More of a checklist than a solid story.

The members of a Gun Club in Baltimore are bored of peacetime in America. Until an entrepeneur offers them a new project: let’s shoot something to the moon. So they plan, build, overcome setbacks, deal with the public, some controversy, and some spectacle.

The reading of the chapter names in the contents may have been enough to get the gist of the plot and language, which unfortunately was stale. It felt like listening to a pitch and them figuring out how to do it. Kind of similar in style to Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. Almost everything the leader said was applauded without opposition except once for a mini-plot mix up.

To demonstrate the point, here are the first four chapter names:
‘The Gun Club’, ‘President Barbicane’s Communication’, ‘Effect of the President’s Communication’, ‘Reply From the Observatory of Cambridge’. Bored yet? I was.

I’ve read other books by this author and they were far better. Having said that, I quickly had a look at my ratings and they were 3 & 3 so perhaps Verne doesn’t do it for me afterall despite writing such memorable pieces of work. Or maybe the rest of the books in this series are more interesting now that the set up is over? Either way, at least he writes memorable stories. Hmmm.

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Description: The War of the Rebellion is over, and the members of the American Gun Club, bored with inactivity, look around for a new project. At last they have it: “We will build the greatest projectile the world has ever seen and make the moon our 38th state!”

Read by: Bernard Mayes

Space Force

[Uğur Karabürk · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Ay’a Yolculuk” romanı Verne külliyatından okumuş olduğum 31. kitap oldu. Uzun zamandır Alfa Yayınlarına basılması için baskı yapıyordum. Nihayet 45. kitap olarak bastılar. Roman, Ay’a yolculuktan ziyade Ay’a nasıl gidilir sorusunu cevaplıyor gibime geldi. Ön hazırlıklar, birtakım ince hesaplamalar, ortaya çıkabilecek sorunlar ve buna çözümler; kitabın geniş çerçevesini dolduruyor.

253 sayfalık kitabın ilk 100 sayfasından sonra heyecanının daha fazla yükseldiğini düşünüyorum. Gun Club Başkanı Barbicane karakterinin inancı ve kararlığı güzel aktarılmış. Öte yandan halkın Ay’a yolculuk hayalini nasıl da merakla karşıladıkları da vurgulanmış. Verne kitabında daha 1860’larda böyle bir fikrin mantık sınırları içerisinde nasıl gerçekleştirebileceğini âdeta bizi ikna eder gibi tek tek anlatmış. Tabii ben kitabı oldukça beğendim. Yalnız bana kalırsa bir “Denizler Altında 20.000 Fersah” mıydı? Hayır. Ayrıca spoiler olmasın ama Ay’a giden yolcuların akıbetini öğrenmek için “Ay’ın Etrafında Seyahat” romanının da çevrilmesini bekliyoruz.

“Ay’a Yolculuk” üzerine Youtube kanalımda bir video gelecek. Yine aynı kitap üzerine uzun bir inceleme yazmaya başladım bile. Nerede ve ne zaman yayımlanır şimdilik meçhul. Son olarak kitaptan bir alıntı ile yorumumu tamamlamak isterim:
“Beni anlayın ve bütün gücünüzle destekleyin, Ay’ın fethine götüreceğim sizi ve Birleşik Devletler’i oluşturan otuz eyalete onun da adı eklenecek! Haydi Ay’a!”

[Efka · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nors Žiulis Vernas ir yra both sci-fi žanro tėvas ir mokslo populiarinimo knygų žanro tėvas, ši knyga nesusiklostė nei kaip viena, nei kaip kita. "Nuo žemės į mėnulį" pasigirti gali nebent primityvoku siužetu, standartizuotais nacionaliniais stereotipais ir personažais, kurie sukarikatūrinti iki absurdo.

Kaip žmogui, parašiusiam "Kapitona Grantą", "Paslaptingąją salą" ar "20k mylių" - labai silpna. 2*.

[Silvana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whoa, thank goodness I didn't read the back cover of the book, or else several fun surprises would be spoiled.

Holy Verne, it's been so long since my last fix of his work. Two years perhaps. From the Earth to the Moon is light but still well written. This book was published in 1865, more than a hundred years (!) prior to the first successful moon landing by the men of Apollo 11.

I'm not able to prove all the scientific calculation and details described so eloquently here, but they're sure as hell convincing enough. Again, Verne never ceases to amaze me with his knack of making technical details to be interesting.

He actually made some correct predictions, such as:
1. the country who successfully sent a manned mission to the moon is the US. Well, he did manage to include a French guy to join the mission - nationalistic interest perhaps?
2. the two states contesting to be the launch site were Florida and Texas. Yep, and Florida won too in real life.
3. the shape of the capsule and there were three people on board. Remember Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins?

Verne did see far into the future. And he complemented all of those with wisecracking humor in between. Je vous adore beaucoup, monsieur!

Distance is an empty word, distance does not exist!
Believe in the power of imagination and let it flow, because you'll never know what the future holds.

[Alexander Theofanidis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Εδώ έχουμε ένα στοίχημα που ο Βερν έχασε. Παρά το ότι το βιβλίο είναι εξαιρετικά ενδιαφέρον, είναι από τις περιπτώσεις που το όραμά του θα οδηγούσε σε... λιώσιμο τους επιβάτες του βλήματος που κατευθύνεται προς τη σελήνη. Η αλήθεια είναι ότι χωρίς σταθερή ώση, για να επιτευχθεί η ταχύτητα διαφυγής στο διάστημα οι επιβαίνοντες που το όποιου οχήματος θα γίνονταν πουρές/βιομάζα στο κάτω μέρος.
Ωστόσο, το απολαύσαμε και συνεχίζουμε να το απολαμβάνουμε, ειδικά με το χαριτωμένο twist με τα μαθηματικά στο τέλος. ;)

[Cb · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the similarities from the book (1865) to what actually happened later
One example:
Excerpt from wikipedia:

Apollo 13 was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon. The craft was launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, but the lunar landing was aborted after an oxygen tank in the service module (SM) failed two days into the mission. The crew instead looped around the Moon, and returned safely to Earth on April 17.

[Todd Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

There’s a reason From the Earth to the Moon isn’t listed among Jules Verne’s most popular works. It’s terrible. It’s not that the science and technical aspects are laughable (that’s not unexpected given the book was written a century before the NASA program put a man on the moon), but that the story itself is dumb.

Basically, the plot involves shooting a 9 foot hollow aluminum bullet from a cannon so that it escapes the Earth’s gravitational pull and ultimately collides with the moon. The bullet is hollow and carries a passenger along with a rifle (in case he needs to defend himself from moon-men) and some seeds so he can grow some crops on the moon when he arrives. One might forgive Verne his naiveté, but these ideas would have been considered absurd even in 1865.

The worst part, however, is that the bulk of the book is a bore, consisting of an endless discussion of the technical aspects of this ridiculous plan. The materials, the propellant, the location from which the gun must be fired, the angle, and financing are all covered in minute and unnecessary detail leaving the actual firing of the gun to the final chapters. And even though the book has been building to this supposed climax ... the conclusion is also just another disappointment.

[ناصر سليم · Rating 4 out of 5]

سفر به ماه، یکی از شاهکارهای ژول ورن است چرا که او قبل از این که بشر موفق به سفر به ماه شود، این کتاب را نوشته‌است. از آن زمان که انسان ماه را به عنوان کره‌ای دیگر شناخت، آرزوی پرواز خود را با آرزوی دستیابی به تنها قمر زمین عجین ساخت اما سال‌های بسیاری نیاز بود. حتی از زمانی که ژول ورن در داستان خود انسان را به ماه رساند نیز مدت‌ها گذشت تا بالاخره این رؤیای انسان به حقیقت پیوست.
نکات قابل توجه در این کتاب
سال چاپ کتاب : ۱۸۶۵
سال عملیات آپولو۱۱ : ۱۹۶۹

اشخاصی که در سفینه‌ی کتاب ژول ورن بودند: باربیکن، نیکول و میشل آردن

اشخاصی که در آپولو ۱۱ بودند:
نیل آرمسترانگ، آلدرین، مایکل کالینز

محل عملیات در کتاب : فلوریدا آمریکا
محل عملیات در واقعیت: فلوریدا آمریکا

محل سقوط سفینه در کتاب : اقیانوس آرام
محل سقوط سفینه در واقعیت: تقریبا نزدیک به همان محلی که سفینه ورن سقوط کرد!

این کتاب و باید خودتون مطالعه کنید تا پی به قدرت تخیل این نویسنده بزرگ فرانسوی ببرید
انگار که ژول ورن زنده بوده و این عملیات و به چشمان خودش دیده و به رشته تحریر در آورده! چرا که تمام اتفاقات روی داده در داخل سفینه و خارج از سفینه شباهت‌هایی بسیار زیادی به واقعیت داشته!

[Lena · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Those three men have carried into space all the resources of art, science, and industry. With that, one can do anything...”

Though humorous and outlandish at times, this must have been an inspiration for generations to come.

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name · Rating 2 out of 5]

Audiobook #244

[Katerina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Αν σου αρέσει η φυσική, η χημεία, τα μαθηματικά είναι τέλεια η ιστορία αλλά δεν είμαι λάτρης οπότε και δεν ευχαριστήθηκα την ιστορία! Επίσης έχει τόσες υποσημειώσεις που εφτάσαν σε σημείο αγανάκτησης.

If you like physics, chemistry and mathematics it's the perfect story for you but I'm not a fan of this subjects so I didn't enjoy this story! Also my edition had so many footnotes that it frustrated me!

[Ulysse · Rating 2 out of 5]

A story that takes 362 pages to take off.

[Leo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I either end up really enjoying Jules Verne's books or feeling rather underwhelmed by them? The premise always draws me in but the content don't always end up being as exciting. They are well written but my mind tends to wander around while reading. But when I read a winner by him it's all worth the dudds. However this wasn't a winner. But I'll keep trying

[Denisse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing. Reading Verne is so fun! You always get the right amount of adventure, imagination, craziness and criticism. From the Earth to the Moon is no exception. The plot could've failed so easy, since it is full of data, numbers, lists and what anyone could categorized as boring, but the author wants you to be entertain and I was the entire time. It is impressive how fast I got into the novel. A visionary man with great ideas that illuminated our present.


Verne es extrañamente entretenido y muy propio. Incluso para insultar tiene elegancia.

De la Tierra a la Luna es muy interesante si en verdad quieres saber cómo una persona de 1800s creía que se podía llegar a la Luna y lo que se pensaba de ella en ese entonces, ya que te topas con listas, capítulos enteros centrados en la logística de lo que será el viaje y comentarios constantes sobre los “habitantes de la Luna”. De alguna manera lo disfruté, las descripciones son sencillas, no te revuelve y cuando menos te lo esperas ya se terminó. El autor no solo era un visionario sino que era un increíble contador de historias, por eso un libro tan técnico como este no aburre.

No se puede negar la clara crítica a la adoración que sienten los americanos por las guerras (ganadas), si lo hace bien o mal ya es a consideración personal, yo creo que a partes iguales se burla y lo cuestiona, perfeccionar las armas bélicas, consideradas como instrumentos de civilización. Y a decir verdad, la transición de esta crítica a historia de aventuras es perfecta aunque tarde en llegar.

"Y sin embargo lo que pretendían era enviarle un proyectil, manera bastante brutal de entrar en relaciones, aunque sea con un satélite, pero muy utilizada por las naciones civilizadas. "

El final es bastante increíble, para nada lo que me esperaba y por supuesto hay continuación, pero les digo, si acabara así yo estaría feliz e impresionada.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Los nombres de Nicholl, de Barbicane y de Michel Ardan deberán, pues, ser siempre célebres en los fastos astronómicos, porque estos atrevidos exploradores, deseando ensanchar el círculo de los conocimientos humanos, atravesaron audazmente el espacio y se jugaron la vida en la más sorprendente tentativa de los tiempos modernos.

Si Julio Verne hubiera tenido una bola de cristal para ver el futuro, no lo habría adivinado con tanto acierto. Es increíble la cantidad de coincidencias entre las aventuras descritas en "De la Tierra a la Luna" y la misión espacial "Apollo XI", o tal vez, tanto influyó la literatura de Verne en la imaginación de la humanidad que consiguió que la realidad se amoldara a sus creaciones literarias.
A parte de ser una obra eminentemente científica, donde Verne exhibe sus conocimientos en ciencia y tecnología, es también una obra satírica (los primeros capítulos con la fundación del Gun Club y las ocupaciones de sus miembros no tiene precio, para morirse de risa).
Además de todas las serendipias científicas y tecnológicas, en esta obra también nos encontramos con un "crowdfunding" pionero para financiar los gastos del proyecto, en el cual, por cierto, ya los españoles dábamos muestras de nuestra pobre inversión en I+D+I, con la mísera aportación de 150 reales. Hasta en eso Verne era visionario, jajaja.