Reviews of Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864) and related work
- Adaptation: Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)
Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864
)
Jules Verne (writer).
Read in 2020.
The journey does not actually lead to the “centre de la Terre”; Verne is too reasonable to show a world that is hollow. Instead, in this fictional geology, the asthenosphere seems to have cooled and contracted enough to leave quite easily traversed lava tubes and a few great caverns conveniently lit by some charged gas. For a novel written just one year after Lyell’s Geological Evidences and not many generations after Cuvier, this is impressive, though obviously not credible. It’s a pleasant adventure with amusing little details, like Hans—the taciturn Icelandic guide who does most of the work—evidently receiving his weekly salary in cash, meaning the party is carrying plenty of coins on an unsupported subterranean trek of about 5000 km.
References here: From the Earth to the Moon (1865).
‣ Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959
)
References here: At the Earth’s Core (1976).