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THE
METEOR HUNT
by Jules
Verne
Publisher:
University of Nebraska Press
Pub Date: 2006
Format: Trade
Paperback
Brief Description
The original novel that
Jules Verne left upon his death, published for the first time in the
English language.
Tells
the humorous and fantastical story of a rivalry between two amateur
astronomers as they each try to seize a sphere of gold which has
appeared in space.
(see below for Full Description)
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Full Description
This version of METEOR HUNTING, the only authentic version, is now
available to readers in its original free tone, fantasy, and ironic
philosophy.
METEOR HUNTING--originally entitled
Hurtling Fireball (Le Bolide)--is a funny, light-hearted
novel with a purely imaginative story. Jules Verne, who began the
project in 1901, had been carrying the idea with him for thirty years,
ever since he wrote Hector Servadac in 1874, originally entitled Across
the Solar World. The author had dared to imagine the fall of the Comet
Gallia to the earth, destroying capitalists. Unfortunately, his
science-fiction conclusion had been refused by publisher Hetzel, Senior,
who preferred an unrealistic ending in which Servadac had just "had
a dream." A quarter of a century later, Verne took the opportunity
to avenge himself, this time freely expressing his contempt for riches.
METEOR HUNTING tells the humorous
and fantastical story of a rivalry between two amateur astronomers as
they each try to seize a sphere of gold which has appeared in space. At
the end of this comic and cosmic hunt, the rivals come home
empty-handed. The discovery of a tasty new dish does more for the good
of humanity than the discovery of a star, ironizes Jules Verne, quoting
Brillat-Savarin.
Within the verve of
"astronomical"--even "meteorical"--humor, less
humorous subjects pierce their way through the lines: reflections on
marriage, divorce, freedom of the American way of life, gold
speculation, and the vanity of riches--and even a certain metaphysical
anxiety: many grave subjects, too serious for Jules Hetzel and Michel
Verne, who systematically placed them in opposition.
World
Rights: Contact Lukeman
Dramatic Rights:
Contact Lukeman
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