In this Book
- The Mysterious Island
- Book
- 2013
- Published by: Wesleyan University Press
- Series: Early Classics of Science Fiction
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.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- pp. vii-xxxii
- Note on Previous Translations
- pp. xxxiii-xxxiv
- Inception of the Novel
- pp. xxxv-xlv
- Abbreviations
- p. li
- Part I: The Castaways from the Sky
- Chapter 10
- pp. 84-93
- Chapter 11
- pp. 93-104
- Chapter 12
- pp. 104-114
- Chapter 13
- pp. 115-126
- Chapter 14
- pp. 126-136
- Chapter 15
- pp. 136-145
- Chapter 16
- pp. 145-154
- Chapter 17
- pp. 154-165
- Chapter 18
- pp. 165-174
- Chapter 19
- pp. 174-184
- Chapter 20
- pp. 184-191
- Chapter 21
- pp. 192-200
- Chapter 22
- pp. 200-212
- Part II: The Abandoned One
- Chapter 10
- pp. 309-320
- Chapter 11
- pp. 320-332
- Chapter 12
- pp. 332-345
- Chapter 13
- pp. 345-355
- Chapter 14
- pp. 356-365
- Chapter 15
- pp. 365-375
- Chapter 16
- pp. 376-388
- Chapter 17
- pp. 388-400
- Chapter 18
- pp. 400-411
- Chapter 19
- pp. 411-420
- Chapter 20
- pp. 421-430
- Part III: The Secret of the Island
- Chapter 10
- pp. 521-529
- Chapter 11
- pp. 529-539
- Chapter 12
- pp. 539-550
- Chapter 13
- pp. 550-561
- Chapter 14
- pp. 561-570
- Chapter 15
- pp. 570-585
- Chapter 16
- pp. 586-595
- Chapter 17
- pp. 595-605
- Chapter 18
- pp. 605-619
- Chapter 19
- pp. 619-631
- Chapter 20
- pp. 631-636
- A Chronology of Jules Verne
- pp. 653-657
- Select Bibliography
- pp. 659-666