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Yesterday and Tomorrow af Jules Verne
Indlæser...

Yesterday and Tomorrow (udgave 1968)

af Jules Verne (Forfatter), Jerome Podwil (Illustrator), I. O. Evans (Redaktør)

MedlemmerAnmeldelserPopularitetGennemsnitlig vurderingOmtaler
1032262,320 (3.69)2
Medlem:kevmoni
Titel:Yesterday and Tomorrow
Forfattere:Jules Verne (Forfatter)
Andre forfattere:Jerome Podwil (Illustrator), I. O. Evans (Redaktør)
Info:Ace Books (1968), 192 pages
Samlinger:Dit bibliotek
Vurdering:
Nøgleord:Ingen

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Yesterday and Tomorrow af Jules Verne

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review of
Jules Verne's Yesterday And Tomorrow
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - April 14, 2013

As is entirely too often the case, my review is "too long" to be presented in its entirety here so I've had to put it under the "My Writing" section of my GoodReads profile. The end of it is truncated here. For the entire review go here:

http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/332728-yesterday-and-tomorrow-review

For those of you who are only familiar w/ Verne's more famous novels that involve gadgetry & 'exotic' travels & who want to read some short stories that show a more diverse side to his imagination, this bk is for you. Selected largely from "filler" stories that Verne himself might've considered minor, there are, nonetheless, some interesting things here.

From I. O. Evans' introduction: "Five years after Jules Verne's death in 1905, half-a-dozen of his shorter works, which had never previously been published in book form, were included in one volume." [..] "That volume forms the basis of the present collection of short stories and oddments, hitherto, so far as I can ascertain, unpublished in Britain." (p 7) That means that it probably took 60 yrs after Verne's death for these to appear in English. Strange, isn't it?, that even a writer as popular as Verne was so neglected.

"Two stories included in the original volume have, however, been omitted as lacking in general interest, and have been replaced by others culled from various sources.

"One of the omissions, La Famille Raton (this could perhaps best be translated as "Mr. Rat and his Family") seems to be a fairy-story, but it is so absurdly fantastic that one cannot be certain whether Verne meant it "seriously" as an entertainment for children or simply as a burlesque for the amusement of sardonic adults; it appeared in the Figaro illustré for January 1891.

"The title of the other, Le Humbug, needs no translation: this is a fierce satire of the type of character whom the author disliked intensely, the boastful mendacious American "go-getter"; its hero is a caricature of a super-Barnum. Written about 1893, it never appeared before Verne's death; it may, indeed, not have been written with a view to publication at all - its author may simply have been "letting off steam."" - p 7

As usual, I find the editor/translator's excising choices to be execrable. At least he lets the reader know what he left out - in the process of wch he gets me interested in what he's not made available to me. Too bad.

The 1st story in the collection was probably of the most immediate interest to me for this reason: "This long-short story, "The Eternal Adam," is believed to be the last of Verne's works; afflicted with cataract, he dictated it almost from his death-bed." (p 9) Imagine that! What will YOU be doing on yr death bed? I imagine myself alone, perhaps talking to a vaudeo-camcorder.

"The Eternal Adam" continues the investigation of evolution vs religion that was so well developed in Verne's novel entitled The Village In The Treetops (see my review here: http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/332108-the-village-in-the-treetops-review ). At the same time, it investigates the possible circularity of human development & devolution: "For more than eight thousand years, the history of the Mahart-Iten-Schu, gradually getting more complete and more exact, described only conflicts and wars, at first of individual against individual, then of family against family, then of tribe against tribe." (p 11)

Writing assumes an important place in this history: "mankind had invented writing, so as to perpetuate his thoughts. Then - the invention went back more than five hundred years - he had found a method of spreading the written word far and wide in an endless number of copies by the aid of a block cast once and for all. It was really from this invention that all others had sprung." (p 14) How many people think of writing as an "invention" - the printing press, yes, but writing? I like the idea of inventions that are more thought process oriented than they are object oriented.

"Zartog Sofr" [..] "by systematising and codifying the patient observations of his predecessors and of himself" [..] "had arrived at his law of the evolution of living matter, a law universally accepted". (p 15) Does this imply that, to Verne's mind, in the 4 yrs since The Village In The Treetops & this story that he found 'Darwinism' to be "universally accepted"? As w/ that novel, Verne has his character question this over the 'missing link issue': "Between man and the animals there was no point of union." (p 16)

On the subject of skulls found: "The very largest were found among the debris, somewhat scanty to be sure, found on the surface of the layer of silt. The conscientious examination of these venerable remains admitted of no doubt that the men living at that distant epoch had a cerebral development far superior to that of their successors - including the very contemporaries of Zartog Sofr. So that, during a period of a hundred and sixty or a hundred and seventy centuries, there had been an obvious retrogression, followed by a new ascent." (pp 17-18) One of the only things I remember from a Physical Anthropology course I took 38 or so yrs ago is that Neanderthals had bigger brains than contemporary humans & that this didn't necessarily indicate superior intelligence. SO, so much for Verne's character's simple-minded assertion.

Verne has his character Sofr take what strikes me as a pretty atheistic position: "When you have given up trying to understand something, it is only too easy to bring in the intervention of a deity. But that makes it useless to look for an answer to the riddles of the universe, for no sooner are the questions asked than they are suppressed." (p 20) Thank you, Jules Verne. At least one supposedly devout Christian had the courage to say such a thing on his deathbed instead of whimpering for the protection of a deity out of fear.

Sofr finds an ancient time capsule & translates it, thus bringing the reader back to the '20th century':

"That was the beginning of the discussion. A fervent Darwinist, and a convinced supporter of natural selection, Moreno asked Bathurst ironically if he seriously believed if he seriously believed in the legend of the Earthly Paradise. Bathurst replied that at any rate he believed in God and that as the existence of Adam and Eve was stated in the Bible, he refused to question it.

"Moreno retorted that he believed in God at least as much as his adversary, but it was quite likely that the first man and the first woman were only myths and symbols. So there was nothing irreligious in supposing that the Bible had meant thus to typify the breath of life introduced by the Creative Power into the first cell, from which all the others had then evolved." - p 24

I suspect that Verne identified more w/ his Moreno character. This time capsule reveals to Sofr a story akin to other 'last-man-on-Earth' narratives such as Mary Shelley's 1826 The Last Man & M. P. Shiel's 1901 The Purple Cloud or it cd be sd that "The Eternal Adam" presages such stories as Ward Moore's 1942 Greener Than You Think or the 4 disaster novels of J. G. Ballard - esp the 1962 The Drowned World. Wd Ballard have known of Verne's story? "Dr. Moreno put forward the theory that these remains must have come from ancient Atlantis". (p 42) How long have myths of Atlantis been around for?

In the time-capsule-related disaster narrative, Verne has his characters observe evolution occurring at a fantastically accelerated rate. This seems like another indication to me that the dying Verne had come to be at peace w/ the notion of evolution & wished to describe it on a human scale: "A few, however, able to adapt themselves to the new living conditions, flourished in the fresh water just as they had in the salt. But the process did not stop there: a few of these plants gifted with an even greater power of accommodation, adapted themselves first to fresh water and then to the open air. At first along the banks and then further and further away from them they have spread into the interior." - p 43

This story, in & of itself, made reading this collection worthwhile to me. While I didn't particularly like the next story, "The Fate of Jean Morenas", it was at least so over-the-top romantic that it was interesting. The editor/translator explains: "This story is another of those which never appeared during its author's lifetime - understandably enough, for it is obviously full of the wildest improbabilities." [..] "Verne had in his early days derived much inspiration from two of the leading authors of his own country, Dumas and Victor Hugo." (p 49) &, yes, I can definitely see their influences here.

One can also see the unfortunate conventional prejudices of the editor in things quoted above: He distrusts the "absurdly fantastic", rejects "fierce satire" & "wild[..] improbabilities", Definitely NOT a man after my own heart!!

One can see the influence of such Dumas stories as The Count of Monte Cristo or The Man in the Iron Mask in wch men are imprisoned for crimes they didn't commit, etc. Verne waxes philosophical re prisons:

"If there is any place in the world where equality ought to not prevail it is certainly within a prison. Varying with the magnitude of the crimes and the degree of moral turpitude, the scale of penalties ought to imply distinctions of castes and ranks. But far from this. Convicts of all ages and types are shamefully huddled together. From that deplorable promiscuity there can only result a hideous corruption, and the contagion of evil ravages among this gangrenous mass." - p 51

In other words, 'evil' people are stronger than 'good' ones & will bring them down to their 'level'. Why not apply this to all of society then? Personally, I think that influence can go both ways. At any rate, the romanticism of this story is of the type where the hero's very heroicism produces the greatest tragedy. It's quite the tear-jerker.

Next is "An Ideal City", an address he gave to the Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts of Amiens upon becoming an elected member: "The following address, which appeared in the Academy's "Memories" for 1875, though not to be taken too seriously, shows, according to his biographer Marguerite de la Fuye, "a humorous and enlightened appreciation of urban problems." It also shows his concern at the growing Americanization of European life, and it gives some interesting sidelights - which, we may be sure, were not wasted on his audience - on contemporary conditions in Amiens." (p 83) I'm reminded of a guy that I, unfortunately, used to work for, who gave speeches that were written for him by speech-writing software. No such shortcuts for Verne! This lecture wd be a delight in any day & age! Verne went that extra light-yr.

He takes advantage of a time-travel dream pretext to do things like promote the train line that he thinks does the best job: ""instead of the "N" of the Nord line, I saw the "P" and the "F" of Picardy and Flanders. What did this mean? Had the little company absorbed the big one, by any chance? Were we now going to have the carriages heated, even when it was cold in October, against all the company's rules? Were we going to have the compartments properly dusted?" - p 85

Verne's humorous vision of the future included music:

"Nothing musical in these phrases. No melody, no time, no harmony! The quintessence of Wagner? The algebra of sound? The triumph of discord! An effort like that of instruments being tuned in an orchestra, before the curtain rises!

"Around me, the strollers, now grouped together, were applauding in a style which I'd seen only at gymnastic displays.

""But it's the music of the future?" I exclaimed in spite of myself. "Have I left my own time?"

"Certainly this seemed likely, for on approaching the notice which gave the names of the pieces, I read this bewildering title:

""No.1: Reverie in a minor key on the Square of the hypotenuse!"" - p 88

The word "prophetic", of course, often occurs in relation to Verne & I'd say that that passage is exemplary of both foresight & music theory mediocrity. Bringing mathematics in is prophetic, choosing Wagner as an example of the 'far-out-nik' shows how limited his knowledge 'inevitably' was: Wagner is implied to have no "melody, no time, no harmony". Hardly. But, HEY!, this was 1875 - I think that the things that truly radically altered music didn't start to happen until at least 10 yrs later. So who can blame Verne?

But Verne becomes truly farsighted only 2 pp later when he predicts a concert essentially streamed world-wide electronically:

""But if he isn't coming, when will he give this concert?"

""He's giving it now."

""Here?"

""Yes, here, in Amiens, and at the same time in London, Vienna, Rome, St. Petersburg, and Pekin!""

[..]

""Just read the notice! You'll see that this is an electrical concert!"

"I read the notice, and indeed at that very moment the famous ivory-pounder was playing in Paris; but by no means of electric wires his instrument was linked up with the pianos of London, Vienna, Rome, St. Petersburg, and Pekin. So, whenever he struck a note, the identical note resounded on the strings of these distant pianos, the keys being instantaneously depressed by the electric current!" - p 90

A similarly wonderful prediction is made in Verne's novel Carpathian Castle (wch I've reviewed here: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17660660-carpathian-castle ). Verne encounters a future doctor: ""Our sick! Have we had any sick since France adopted the Chinese system! Now it's just as if you were in China." / "In China! That wouldn't much surprise me!" / "Yes, our patients pay us their fees only so long as they keep well!" (p 94) Ha! Well that cd be a double-edged sword - a healthy person might become sick just from the pressure of having to pay a doctor all the time. Becoming sick wd be a way of avoiding unaffordable debt.

American industrial efficiency is parodied: "Then on all sides were machines of American origin, carried to the last extremes of progress. One was given a live pig, and out of it came two hams, one York and one Westphalian! To another was offered a rabbit, still quivering, and it produced a silk hat! This one absorbed an ordinary fleece and ejected a complete suit of clothes in the best style! That one devoured a three-year-old calf and reproduced it in the twofold form of a smoking blanquette of veal and a pair of newly-polished shoes!" (p 101) Harumph! Seems awfully genocidal to me! Why not the repurposing of already dead things?

A comedy about hunting seems like a funny thing to have follow that last bit but there it is: "Ten Hours Hunting". The narrator is rather forcefully invited to go hunting. It's shockingly revealed that he's never had a gun. He goes to an inn where a scene ensues worthy of Rabelais or Sterne: "And there was I, who'd naively asked our hostess, an old lady of Picardy with an untidy shock of hair, if there were any fleas in our room! / "Oh, no!" she'd told me. "The lice eat them!"" (p 109)

Then, "Frritt-Flacc", "Greatly influenced though he was by the work of Adgar Allan Poe, Verne wrote very few occult or "horror" stories. Here is one of the exceptions, which appears to have been suggested by Poe's, "William Wilson."" (p 124) This one's partially interesting just for the sound effects of the title as they appear throughout. It's also a conspicuously moral tale told to presumably influence the character of his readers.

"Gli Braltar": "Much as he found to admire in the British character, Verne seems to have developed a great dislike of what is now called the country's "establishment," and to have regarded british imperialism with a very unfavorable eye - the inclusion in the Empire of Gilbraltar seems to have especially jarred upon him." (p 133) Ok, this was published in 1887 & it can be sd to be both anti-imperialist & pro animal rights!

""Will you surrender?" he howled.

""Never!" replied General MacKackmale.

Suddenly, just as the soldiers were surrounding him, Gil Braltar emitted a prolonged and shrill "Sriss." At once the courtyard of the house itself, were filled with an invading army.

"Could it be credible! They were monkeys, they were apes - hundreds of them! Had they come to seize from the English that Rock of which they themselves are the true owners, that hill on which they had dwelt even before the Spanish, and certainly long before Cromwell had dreamed of conquering it for Britain?" - pp 137-138

Amazing. As w/ the other 5 bks by Verne that I've recently reviewed I was going to give this a 3 star rating but just transcribing that little bit has prompted me to make this one a 4! This particular story even has a pretty darned good punchline that I'm going to give away here (w/o really giving away what leads up to it): "And that is why England, always practical, decided that in future it would send to the Rock only the ugliest of its generals, so that the monkeys could be deceived once more." - p 140 ( )
  tENTATIVELY | Apr 3, 2022 |
Publicación cinco años póstuma de Verne, se trata de una colección de seis narraciones o novelas cortas de imaginación, de carácter premonitorio, humorístico o fantástico bastante sorprendentes y atípicos: "Aventuras de la familia ratón", "El señor Re Sostenido y la señorita Mi Bemol", "El destino de Juan Morenas", "El Humbug", "En el siglo XXIX" y "El eterno Adán". ( )
  Eucalafio | Oct 13, 2020 |
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