Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Barcelona Plaza & Janés 1998
Description
What would it be like to explore a largely unknown swath of the world--from the air? That's exactly what the intrepid explorers in Jules Verne's Five Weeks in a Balloon set out to do in this novel, an early entrant in the literature describing European exploration of Africa. Like many of Verne's novels, this tale is so richly detailed and historically accurate that you'll feel like you've actually come along for the ride.
User reviews
LibraryThing member YoungTrek
Originally released in French in 1863; first published in English in 1890 (English translation by William Lackland). First in Verne's Extraordinary Voyages series. Full title: Five Weeks in a Balloon, or, Journeys and Discoveries in Africa by Three Gentlemen.
In this first of Verne's adventure
Verne's writing style overall is a nice and easy one to follow, although at times he tosses in historical details which some might find themselves skipping over. Interest in Africa was still high at the time Five Weeks came out as the continent had not yet fully been explored and Verne's novel fully demonstrates this.
Most disconcerting (and at times outright uncomfortable) is the very negative stereotypes of the African natives, which would be completely unacceptable by today's standards. For a work written in the early 1860s, while the Civil War was raging over in the U.S., it probably should not be all that surprising, but that realization does not make it any the more pleasant.
Outside of this aspect, however, I found Five Weeks to be an enjoyable read. While certainly not his best, I imagine (this is the first Verne novel I've read, I believe), it was worthwhile to go back and start reading his works from the beginning in order to see how they developed as he went along. (Read as part of my "1860s to 1920s" project.) (Finished reading 8/31/09)
In this first of Verne's adventure
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novels, you can start to see the mix of ingredients which would later make him so popular: adventure, exotic locations, entertaining dialogue between the principal characters, and a pinch of science (or pseudoscience) tossed in. In Five Weeks in a Balloon, there are just three principal characters: Dr. Samuel Ferguson, his man servant Joe, and his friend, sportsman, Richard "Dick" Kennedy. Dr. Ferguson and his companions launch upon an unprecedented journey across the continent of Africa in a hot-air balloon filled with hydrogen of Ferguson's design. The three characters face many trials and dangers on their journey, from threats of starvation, less than cooperative weather and wind currents, capture by dangerous African tribes, and even condors threatening to rip their balloon apart.Verne's writing style overall is a nice and easy one to follow, although at times he tosses in historical details which some might find themselves skipping over. Interest in Africa was still high at the time Five Weeks came out as the continent had not yet fully been explored and Verne's novel fully demonstrates this.
Most disconcerting (and at times outright uncomfortable) is the very negative stereotypes of the African natives, which would be completely unacceptable by today's standards. For a work written in the early 1860s, while the Civil War was raging over in the U.S., it probably should not be all that surprising, but that realization does not make it any the more pleasant.
Outside of this aspect, however, I found Five Weeks to be an enjoyable read. While certainly not his best, I imagine (this is the first Verne novel I've read, I believe), it was worthwhile to go back and start reading his works from the beginning in order to see how they developed as he went along. (Read as part of my "1860s to 1920s" project.) (Finished reading 8/31/09)
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LibraryThing member cargocontainer
This is my second time reading a book by Jules Verne, and I'm glad it wasn't my first. It was a decent story, marred primarily by a very racist view of the African people (and to a lesser extent, of Arabs) and a few very implausible stretches of reality. This was written ten years before the first
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work of his I read, Around the World in Eighty Days. That book was much better written and I enjoyed it immensely. All said, this still wasn't bad considering it was Verne's first book, even if at times all I could think was that he must have been paid by the word to write this. Show Less
LibraryThing member soylentgreen23
Verne's travel stories were always blessed things, but this one is hampered somewhat by the low-level racism at its core. Granted that was very much as it were back in Verne's time, but the balloonists confusing African men for chimpanzees is a bit hard to stomach in the 21st century.
LibraryThing member PhilSyphe
Four years have passed since I read “Five Weeks in a Balloon” and all I remember about it is that it was slow, tedious, and neither characters nor plot engaged me at all.
LibraryThing member JHemlock
A pretty solid adventure story. Verne at his earliest. The characters are well done and he brings their personality to life. I really do not understand how some of the reviews refer to the story as being racist or dated. Their is no racism in this story whatsoever. The tribes and peoples that the
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adventurers come across during their travels are not looked down upon because of their color...they are called like they are seen, by their actions. If they are uncivilized cannibals' then that is what they are. The writer praises some tribes and berates others. That is not racism..that is observation. Of course the writing is going to be dated. It was written in 1863. The characters play their parts appropriately. An early Victorian Englishman with a rife.. if it moves kill it. The killing and/or willingness to kill certain animals just because is indicative of the times. There is plenty of adventure in the story, near misses and narrow escapes and a hair raising ending. Verne would without a doubt polish his future stories considerably. Show Less
Language
Original language
French
Original publication date
1863 (French)
1869 (English)
Physical description
296 p.; 18 cm
ISBN
9788401471797