Jules Verne

Jules Gabriel Verne (February 8, 1828 – March 24, 1905) was a French author and a pioneer of the science fiction genre. Verne was noted for writing about space, air, and underwater travel long before they were possible, let alone commonplace.

Hetzel influence

Hetzel's influence on Verne's writings was substantial, and Verne, happy to at last find somebody willing to publish his works, agreed on almost all changes that Hetzel suggested. Not only did Hetzel reject at least one novel (Paris in the 20th Century) completely, he asked Verne to change significant parts of his other drafts. One of the most important changes Hetzel enforced on Verne was to change the pessimism of his novels into optimism. Contrary to common perception, Verne was not a great enthusiast of technological and human progress (as can be seen from his early and late works, created before he met Hetzel and after his death). It was Hetzel's decision that the optimistic text would sell better -- a correct one, as it turned out. For example, the original ending of Mysterious Island was supposed to show that the survivors who return to mainland are forever nostalgic about the island, however Hetzel decided that the ending should show the heroes living happily -- so in the revised draft, they use their fortunes to build a replica of the island. Another thing that Hetzel eliminated from Verne's drafts were his antisemitic views, again visible only in Verne's early (Martin Paz) and late (Hector Servadac) works. Finally, in order not to offend France's then-ally, Russia, the origin and past of the famous Captain Nemo were changed from those of a Polish refugee avenging the partitions of Poland and the death of his family in the January Uprising repressions to those of a Hindu fighting the British Empire after the Sikh War.

Related Topics:
Antisemitic - Russia - Captain Nemo - Polish - Partitions of Poland - January Uprising - Hindu - British Empire - Sikh War

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~