Jules Verne - Classic Literature Jules Verne
Jules Verne was born in Nantes, France on February 8, 1828. His father was a lawyer and the family was well-off. As a young boy, he ran off to be a cabin boy on a merchant ship. He was caught and returned to his parents.
Verne spent his early years in Nantes and went to school there. When he was of the correct age, his father sent him to Paris to study the law, which he did from 1847-1849. While in Paris, he was introduced to literary circles and to the theatre. He wrote and published a one-act play "Broken Straws" which was performed in 1850.
Verne’s father was outraged when he learned of Verne’s passion for writing and cut off his money. Verne continued writing to earn money and did manage to pass his law degree. During this period, Verne suffered from digestive problems that would reoccur through his life.
Verne began to read the works of Edgar Allen Poe, which had been translated into French. In 1851, he wrote a science-fiction story "A Voyage in a Balloon" which showed the influence of Poe. Later, Verne published a sequel to Poe’s unfinished novel "A Narrative of Gordon Pym" entitled "The Sphinx of the Ice Fields" (1897).
Verne’s writing success came very slowly. He became a stockbroker, a position he held until 1863. He also spent many hours in Paris libraries, studying geology, engineering, astronomy and the like as a means to enhance his writing.
In 1863, Verne published his first successful novel "Five Weeks in a Balloon" which was published by Pierre Heutzel. The cooperation between Verne and Heutzel would continue for the rest of his career. Heutzel was a solid critic and did not hesitate to correct Verne. One book "Paris in the Twentieth Century" was turned down by Heutzel and was not published in English until 1997.
Verne followed his success with more. "From Earth to the Moon" appeared in 1865. Verne spent a tremendous amount of time in research for his books, as he was neither a scientist nor a traveler to distant places to any great degree.
Verne had married Honorine de Veane in 1856, when he was 28. She was a widow with two children, who became his step children. As he gained success, they bought a large provincial house and occasionally sailed off the coast of Europe.
Verne had written "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in 1864 which continued his success. Many of his science-related works were prophetic in that his ideas or ones similar eventually came to pass.
Verne introduced the world to one of the fathers of modern superheroes in the character Captain Nemo in "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea". The elaborate submarine, "Nautilus" was named after Robert Fulton’s steam powered craft. The first electric-powered submarine built in 1886 by two Englishmen was named "Nautilus" in honor of Verne’s vessel.
Verne published "Around the World in Eighty Days" in 1873. It was the fantastic story of the adventurer, Phinneas Fogg, and his loyal servant Passapartout and their flight around the world to win a bet. The story was loosely based on the exploits of a real journey made by George Francis Train.
Verne spent a relatively uneventful life from the 1860s forward. He did travel to the US in 1867, where he saw Niagara Falls with his brother. He also sailed occasionally in the Mediterranean, visiting North Africa and Gibraltar.
Verne settled in Amiens in 1871 with his wife and family. In 1886, a nephew shot him in the leg. Verne walked with a limp thereafter. Although Verne had written about many exotic places, his travel was limited. His only balloon flight lasted twenty-four minutes.
Verne’s major works were written by 1880. Thereafter, his books reflected some pessimistic views about the future. He did predict the birth of airplanes in his book "Robor the Conqueror" (1886). He showed interest in Socialist theories in "Mathuis Sandor" (1885) and demonstrated his admiration for Prince Pytor Kropotkin, the revolutionary, in his book "Naufrages de Jonathan".
Verne died in Amiens on March 24, 1905. During his life he had written sixty five novels, thirty plays, opera librettos, and more than twenty short stories, essays, and geopolitical works. His early books reflected the sense that anything could be done.
