I remember seeing the 1959 movie version of this as a kid. The movie starred James Mason and Pat Boone and included scenes of dinosaurs which to my mind then couldn't get any better. At the time in the 50s and 60s, Verne's novels were adapted into several films including Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Around the World in Eighty Days, Master of the World, Mysterious Island, In Search of the Castaways, and Journey to the Center of the Earth which was always my favorite. Not long after seeing the movie, I read the novel probably when I was in the 6th or 7th grade and thought it was fabulous. I also read Hector Servadac, a lesser known Verne novel, about that same time. Most of his more famous novels I have read since then and usually enjoyed them.
This reading of Journey was instigated by an article from Forbes magazine that I happened upon on the internet called "The Geology Of Jules Verne's Journey To The Center of the Earth." The article discusses the influences on Verne and that "many geologists at the time believed that volcanic conduits, empty once the volcano erupted, connected a volcanic crater to magma chambers deep underground. Today we know that such conduits are far too small (and obstructed by solid rock) for humans to move through." But the article goes on to say that Verne was right about gigantic crystals growing underground.
This edition of the novel is based on the 1877 translation by Malleson which is more faithful to the original than an earlier 1872 translation. I know the story is somewhat preposterous but it still makes for a really good adventure novel, taking the reader to a place where no one had gone before. I remembered most of what happened in the novel from my previous read but I didn't remember that Verne described an early man who was herding a group of mastodons in the story. The introduction to this version states that this text was added to the 1867 edition of the novel to reflect discoveries about Stone Age humans. So I think Verne was trying to include in the novel the most up to date geological data at the time but the whole idea of a hollow earth and underground sea were definitely outside the realm of scientific fact. However, that idea still can be fascinating. Edgar Rice Burroughs used this premise for his Pellucidar series of novels that I read and enjoyed back in the 70s. I also read an interesting book titled The Hollow Earth back in high school that put forth the theory that the earth is hollow with large openings at both poles. This theory dates back to 17th century.
Anyway, I'm glad that I finally reread this classic. Overall, I thought it was a fun and enjoyable adventure.
This reading of Journey was instigated by an article from Forbes magazine that I happened upon on the internet called "The Geology Of Jules Verne's Journey To The Center of the Earth." The article discusses the influences on Verne and that "many geologists at the time believed that volcanic conduits, empty once the volcano erupted, connected a volcanic crater to magma chambers deep underground. Today we know that such conduits are far too small (and obstructed by solid rock) for humans to move through." But the article goes on to say that Verne was right about gigantic crystals growing underground.
This edition of the novel is based on the 1877 translation by Malleson which is more faithful to the original than an earlier 1872 translation. I know the story is somewhat preposterous but it still makes for a really good adventure novel, taking the reader to a place where no one had gone before. I remembered most of what happened in the novel from my previous read but I didn't remember that Verne described an early man who was herding a group of mastodons in the story. The introduction to this version states that this text was added to the 1867 edition of the novel to reflect discoveries about Stone Age humans. So I think Verne was trying to include in the novel the most up to date geological data at the time but the whole idea of a hollow earth and underground sea were definitely outside the realm of scientific fact. However, that idea still can be fascinating. Edgar Rice Burroughs used this premise for his Pellucidar series of novels that I read and enjoyed back in the 70s. I also read an interesting book titled The Hollow Earth back in high school that put forth the theory that the earth is hollow with large openings at both poles. This theory dates back to 17th century.
Anyway, I'm glad that I finally reread this classic. Overall, I thought it was a fun and enjoyable adventure.
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