One of my reading goals this year is to read some more science fiction and/or dystopian books. Six, to be exact. I also want to read 12 classics I have never read before (no rereads are counting this year!).
Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon fits both of these categories. (Well, the sci fi aspect of the first category, anyway.)
I'd read Verne before, namely 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. But this one was completely new.
As can be expected from the father of science fiction, some of the aspects of his tale of man's first trip to the moon are outlandish. A gun club organizes the "space ship" to be shot out of a cannon? Um... sure. But other things are more odd for how close they are to what actually happened. For example, he spends a lot of time describing the cost of the endeavor; if you adjust for inflation, he was actually very close to the actual cost of the first trip to the moon in the 1960s!
A quick note about our protagonist: His name is Impey Barbicane.
Is that not the best character name ever?
He is the one who, seeing that the poor Gun Club has no war to fight but is itching for action, posits that they should go to the moon. And he is one of the three men who board the "shuttle" and head out into space.
Some parts are accurate, some are pure information dump, and some are all kinds of fun. (I particularly like the animosity and duel between Barbicane and Nicholl.)
Overall, it was a fun read, and interesting. I originally rated this 3.5 of 5 stars, but I decided to bump it up to 4 stars. I find the creativity of Verne's world and language and imagination remarkable.
Have you read any Jules Verne? How are your reading goals going so far this year?
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