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The Mysterious Island (Early Classics Of Science Fiction) Paperback – February 1, 2002

by Jules Verne (Author), Arthur B. Evans (Editor), Sidney Kravitz (Translator),
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 17 ratings
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First new unabridged translation since 1876 of one of Verne's best-known novels

At a time when Verne is making a comeback in the US as a mainstream literary figure, Wesleyan is pleased to publish a new translation of one of his best-known novels, The Mysterious Island. Although several editions under the same title are in print, most reproduce a bowdlerized nineteenth-century translation which changes the names of the characters, omits several important scenes, and ideologically censors Verne's original text.

The Mysterious Island was published in 1874, and it is one of Verne's longest novels. The plot depicts a group of men who have become castaways stranded on an island in the Pacific during the American Civil War. The novel describes their attempts not only to survive but also, with the aid of the scientific and technological know-how, to rebuild their world from the meager resources of the island. At the end, however, it is realized that Captain Nemo, from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, has secretly been helping the settlers. A marvelous adventure story, The Mysterious Island is also notable for its modern retelling of the utopian deserted-island myth, with repeated echoes of Robinson Crusoe and the Swiss Family Robinson. This Wesleyan edition features notes, appendices and an introduction by Verne scholar William Butcher, as well as reproductions of the illustrations from the original French edition.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    676 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Wesleyan University Press
  4. Publication date
    February 1, 2002
  5. Dimensions
    5.42 x 1.69 x 8.6 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0819565598
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0819565594
  8. Lexile measure
    410L
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

There has been a great resurgence of interest in Verne the last few years and especially in this title, which also was reissued recently by the Modern Library (Classic Returns, LJ 12/01). This Wesleyan edition offers the complete text apparently the version that has been available for ages was severely abridged in a new translation along with a scholarly introduction and 75 illustrations.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

". . .The many good things contained in this book begin and rely on translator Sydney Kravitz's wonderful rendering of Verne's original words. There is nothing fusty or dull about this tale, as filtered through Kravitz's talents. The dialogue sounds like actual people might speak it, and hardly any archaic constructions obtrude. Reading this prose is pure pleasure; it allows the story itself to leap free."―SciFi.com

". . .The many good things contained in this book begin and rely on translator Sydney Kravitz's wonderful rendering of Verne's original words. There is nothing fusty or dull about this tale, as filtered through Kravitz's talents. The dialogue sounds like actual people might speak it, and hardly any archaic constructions obtrude. Reading this prose is pure pleasure; it allows the story itself to leap free."―SciFi.com

"With the publication of The Kip Brothers and The Mysterious Island, it is no longer possible to dismiss Verne as a 'children's author'. Revealing the sociological, scientific, historical, and geographic breadth of his vision, these titles provide room for critical speculation for years to come."―Janice M. Bogstad, Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wesleyan University Press; Trans. from the 1874 French ed. edition (February 1, 2002)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 676 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0819565598
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0819565594
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 410L
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.9 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.42 x 1.69 x 8.6 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 17 ratings

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Jules Verne

Jules Verne

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Jules Verne (1828-1905) was a French author best known for his tales of adventure, including Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Around the World in Eighty Days. A true visionary, Verne foresaw the skyscraper, the submarine, and the airplane, among many other inventions, and is now regarded as one of the fathers of science fiction.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
17 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Bob C. Haynie
5.0 out of 5 stars It's About Time
Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2016
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This has been one of my favorite books since I was a kid. When I first read it I was in the sixth grade, and for some years it stood as the longest book I had read. I read a lot of Verne back then, but drifted away from The Master as I grew older. Back then, I did not know that many, if not most, translations of Verne's works were somewhere between bad and horrible. The first English translation of this book, on which most subsequent editions are based, was by Kingston. It was well enough done, one of the better ones, but he changed some character names (why? beats me), abbreviated some of the important exposition about motivation in the climactic scene, and lost some of the flair and verve of Verne's language.

Finally, that has been corrected. Sidney Kravitz invested 14 years of effort in creating a translation closer to what Verne intended, and in doing so has restored this book to the status it deserves. It is a great story, long and involved (Verne's longest novel) and mostly believable, even with the several whoopers resulting from Verne nodding. Forget those and just enjoy this saga, watch rational man and American know-how conquer and subdue a wild environment, forget the movies purporting to tell this story, and read on to find the answer to the mystery of the island.

All that is good stuff. The only bad thing is that this good translation is expensive and hard to find. As much as I wanted a hardback, I wimped out and bought a paperback edition. Seemed a wise move for someone who already has three other copies of this novel. One of these other copies is the Modern Library/Jordan Stump translation which, coincidentally, came out about the same time as Mr. Kravitz's. It, too, is worth reading and can be found more easily, and cheaply. One difference is that the Wesleyan/Kravitz edition has the full complement of engravings from the original French edition. As with most Verne novels, this is about an acre of art. The Modern Library edition leaves some out. A piddling difference, but I like those engravings; they provide a wonderful vintage atmosphere, despite their occasional shortcomings (a long snaky tail on Jup, the orangutan? Yikes!). The Wyeth illustrations in the Scribner's Classics edition (again the Kingston translation) are more polished and artistic, but I like the originals. De gustibus non est disputandum.
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Dave_42
4.0 out of 5 stars An Epic Of Early Science Fiction
Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2005
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"The Mysterious Island" is the second book in the Early Classics of Science Fiction series which is being published by Wesleyan University Press. This novel is a much better choice for the series than Verne's "Invasion of the Sea". Although not as well known as some of Verne's novels, it is certainly a better representation of his style than "Invasion of the Sea" was. As with the first in the series, this release features a new and unabridged translation, which is much superior to previous translations. They also include a wealth of material about the history of previous translations, the inception of the novel, the historical context of the novel, and they have done a fantastic job of including notes in the novel itself, explaining where Verne is making references to other works, where he has made errors, and other interesting information regarding the text of the novel itself.

The novel was first published in "Magasin" from January 1st, 1874 through December 15th of 1875. It is not as good as his more famous works, but it is still worth reading, especially this new translation. It is the tale of five men who find themselves stranded on an island, and who through the course of trying to survive notice mysterious happenings and become convinced that there is one or more benefactors helping them. The one movie I saw bearing the name of this novel, bears little resemblance to Verne's story. Absent from the novel are the giant animals (chicken, crab, bees), nor are there any women on the island. Verne considered his stories to be scientific fiction, as opposed to science fiction, and so an island of giant creatures is far from the kind of story he would write.

The main characters in this story are Cyrus Smith, who was a Union staff officer who was captured by the South, and he is also the scientist of the group. Next is Gideon Spilett, a reporter who was also captured and met Smith when both were prisoners of war. The next is Neb, who is described as "a Negro born of slave parents into the engineer's estate" who stayed with Smith after he was freed by him. He came to find Cyrus Smith, in Richmond when he learned Smith was a prisoner. The next man is Pencroft, a sailor who found himself trapped in Richmond because of the siege. The last is Harbert Brown, a fifteen year old boy who is an orphan that Pencroft takes care of as if he were his own son.

The novel is divided into three main sections. The first of these is titled "The Castaways from the Sky". It opens with the men desperately trying to keep their balloon aloft until they are able to reach land. Verne quickly fills the reader in on the history of these men, who have escaped from Richmond in a hot-air balloon, only to have been swept away in a storm which has taken them into the South Pacific. There they are fortunate to get near to an Island which they name Lincoln Island. The first section is devoted to them building a home on the island; there are a few unusual events, but nothing which can not be explained away. The section ends with the first undeniable evidence that someone else either is, or recently was on the island with them; a lead bullet.

The second section is titled "The Abandoned One". In this section they do a more thorough search and survey of Lincoln Island, and they find it is a very diverse island, which can provide for most all their needs. While searching their island, a group of apes take over their residence. Under unusual circumstances they are able to regain their home, and with it they gain an Ape servant (Jup). They build a small ship to investigate a nearby island when they find a note in a bottle. There they find a man (Ayrton) who has been abandoned there and become more animal than man. As with the first section, there are many unusual events which lead them to suspect they are not alone on the island. This section ends with the sighting of a ship.

The third section is titled "The Secret of the Island". In this section they deal with the pirates who appear to have come to make the island their own personal base. At the end, they do find their mysterious benefactor who has helped them throughout their time on the island. With the volcano nearing an eruption which threatens to destroy the island, they rush to build a ship in a last ditch effort to save themselves. When time runs out, they find their benefactor has reached out to them one last time.

I recommend this book to those who are interested in early science fiction or in the works of Jules Verne. However, I do expect that other people are likely to find the pacing rather slow. It is over 600 pages long, and the mysterious part of the tale builds slowly. In today's fast-paced action world, it could easily be viewed as slow and/or lacking in action.
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Cthulhu
5.0 out of 5 stars Warning: be VERY careful if you order this book from a 'third party' seller
Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2009
Verified Purchase
If you order from a third party vendor and you are not receiving a massive, 2002 edition, 700-page, richly-illustrated (black and white) magnificent book whose cover looks exactly like that on display at Amazon then you are receiving the wrong edition. If what you get is a cheap, 1970's, small, yellowed, abridged edition that looks like it's not even worth the shipping charge, you should immediately request a refund and your refund should include the shipping charge. That was my story and, in the end, after I received my refund from an embarrassed seller, I ordered Amazon's 'new' offer and it's worth every penny.

In fact, one of my kids is reading it right now and he can't put it down. Having read the abridged version of 20,000 Leagues before this, he can't believe why anyone would bother with the abridged editions.

Just a few words about this book. Besides the full translation and more than 30 pages of introductory materials, you get all the original 154 drawings found in the first French edition as well as images of the original covers. The translation quality is beyond reproach, the typeface is legible. If I have any issue with this edition, it's got to be the binding. The book is simply too massive to fit comfortably inside a paperback binding. I wish it was issued as a 2-volume set.

Oh, well... I am still VERY happy with what I got.
16 people found this helpful
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Mama2aWildOne
5.0 out of 5 stars Best translation of this work
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2022
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My nine-year-old son and our whole family really are obsessed with Jules Verne. Different but we tried a different version of the story and it was almost unreadable. I was getting a little discouraged and then I found this translation… Yeah yay! This one is perfect spend the extra money and enjoy the book 😁😁😁
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