The Mysterious Island
Public-domain ebook
The Mysterious Island
by Jules Verne
English1,216 downloads on Project GutenbergDownload EPUB
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #8993.
About this book
The Mysterious Island is a science-fiction adventure of survival, ingenuity, and exploration. During the devastating hurricane of 1865, five passengers are swept through the skies in a balloon over the Pacific, with the sea rushing perilously close beneath them. Cut off from ordinary navigation and stripped of their supplies, they face the prospect of becoming castaways on an unknown island. The contents promise storms, wilderness expeditions, unfamiliar animals, volcanic terrain, hidden caverns, and the demanding work of turning natural resources into shelter, tools, food, and a functioning settlement. Jules Verne combines the hazards of an island adventure with the practical questions of how people might endure, and investigate, their surroundings.
The prose has the energetic, explanatory manner of a nineteenth-century adventure novel, moving from urgent dialogue and spectacular natural danger to geographical observation, scientific reasoning, and methodical accounts of labor. Its period language and detailed chapter structure give it the character of an expansive Victorian journey, while the Pacific setting and emphasis on invention place it firmly within Verne’s imaginative science fiction. It will appeal to readers who enjoy exploration, survival under extreme conditions, technical detail, and mysteries embedded in a richly described landscape.
Characters in The Mysterious Island
- Cyrus SmithMiddle-aged American engineer, practical bearing, strong features, dark hair, and neatly trimmed beard
- Gédéon SpilettVictorian newspaper correspondent, lean weathered face, keen eyes, dark coat, and broad-brimmed hat
- Captain NemoGrave Indian captain, commanding gaze, dark beard, turban, and richly austere nineteenth-century garments
The opening · free to read
Since the text was hand set for a newspaper there are many printer’s errors (including upside-down characters). Where obvious these have been corrected, although an attempt has been made to retain the original spelling of words in use at that period. Where there is a doubt, words have been altered so that the spelling is consistent. In other cases, like “trajopan” where the inconsistency is traced to Verne’s original, the spelling is left unaltered. A table of contents based on the chapter headings has been added which also indicates the points at which the french version was divided into three parts. An updated translation by Sidney Kravitz is now available from Wesleyan University Press (2001).
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