Jules Verne, from science to imagination

At the beginning of 1870, a very original adventure novel appeared in France, drawing its heroes and readers into the underwater depths. The title: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. In this new episode of "At the heart of history", produced by Europe 1 Studio, Jean des Cars tells you about the life of Jules Verne.

Off the coast of the United States, a sea monster, of gigantic proportions and very elongated shape, is reported by several boats. It has caused many shipwrecks. The rare survivors describe its huge yellow eyes and swirls of water around this mass. The most incredible stories keep fear alive. An expedition was quickly organized by the American frigate Abraham Lincoln. 

On board are a French naturalist, Professor Aronnax, his faithful servant Conseil and a harpooner, Ned Land. Suddenly, the frigate is almost entirely submerged by a huge wave. The emerging monster is not a whale but a steel submarine whose name appears in streams of foam: Nautilus. The three men are collected on board (and only them) and then taken to the master of the submersible. It is announced under a Latin surname: "I am Captain Nemo"!

Nemo? The Latin term translates as "person". So it would be "Captain Person"? Who is this strange and enigmatic sailor? Jules Verne presented it to his publisher Hetzel in a letter of spring 1868: "This stranger must no longer have any connection with the humanity from which he separated. He is no longer on earth, he is passes from the land. The sea is enough for him, but the sea must provide him with everything, clothing and food. He never sets foot on a continent. The continents and the islands would disappear under a new deluge, which he would live just like, and I beg you to believe that his ark will be a little better installed than that of Noah ... Ah, my dear Hetzel, if I missed this book, I would not console myself. I've never had a better subject in my hands. "

The trio of shipwrecked people are received with an icy courtesy and then installed in comfortable cabins. They are not invited, they are prisoners and they are afraid. Indeed, Captain Nemo is very disturbing. They will stay on board the Nautilus for almost ten months, living incredible adventures. The Nautilus uses an unknown energy. It passes under the Suez Isthmus, not yet pierced at the time. The involuntary passengers see, amazed, the mythical Atlantis and its sunken treasures. They will fight against cannibals, against giant octopuses. They will hunt in underwater forests and attend the burial of a sailor in a coral cemetery ... An underwater odyssey under the relentless authority of Captain Nemo. 

But who is this Jules Verne, the author of this fascinating novel which exceeds all imaginations? He is far from a stranger and his audience is enthusiastic. I would add, because it is surprising, that George Sand is one of his passionate readers. It was even this famous novelist who gave her the idea of ​​Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea! 

Indeed, she wrote to him, from 1865: "I hope that you will soon lead us into the depths of the sea and that you will make your characters travel in these diving devices that your science and your imagination can afford to perfect."

Nothing predestined him to become a writer

Born in Nantes in 1828, nothing predestined Jules Verne to become a writer. His family wanted him to take over from his father as head of his attorney's office. But at 20, in November 1848, Jules Verne moved to Paris, officially to study law. But that bothers him. He is thinking of a literary career. Meeting Alexandre Dumas, then owner of the Historical Theater, he offers her a one-act play, in verse. It is not a success. The press is lenient but friends have to help him financially. Jules Verne repeats with a surprising operetta Colin Maillard, created on April 20, 1853. This time, the press is enthusiastic. The show reached forty performances, which was a success for the time.

He writes a new title The first ships of the Mexican Navy which proves his curiosity for the scientific world and the work of people reputedly learned. Even if he passes his lawyer thesis, he refuses to succeed his father. His numerous visits to the National Library allow him to acquire a precise vocabulary. With passion, he listens to the travel stories of explorers and dreams of writing. But, married in 1857, to live and support his wife, he became a stockbroker. Standing at 5 a.m., he writes until 10 a.m. Then he goes to the Stock Exchange. He is bored and fails to make a fortune. A witness will say that Jules Verne "made more good words there than good business".

After a trip to Scotland from which he returns enthusiastic, the ephemeral stockbroker publishes a study on the accounts of maritime adventures of the American novelist Edgar Poe. Jules Verne sets himself the goal of arousing the taste of the public through romantic works where the fantastic, in the manner of Edgar Poe, would be supported by a teeming imagination. Jules Verne wants to lead his readers into unknown worlds, to make those who travel very little or not travel. But to be credible, it must be precise, therefore very documented. He works a lot and accumulates very detailed knowledge so as not to be caught in the dark. At this time when the means of transport are developing, he even explains to a friend: "Not knowing which direction the locomotive is going, if the train goes up from the northeast or goes down from the southeast, that would be unbearable! Especially since nightfall, I will not see anything, not being a night owl like owls, owls, tawns and gutter cats. "

His extraordinary journeys

In 1862, Jules Verne gave the editor Hetzel the manuscript of Five Weeks in a Balloon. After the underwater world, he takes his readers through the air. The author is very competent and passionate about aerostation and aeronautical problems. The book was an immediate success. 

The happy publisher had Jules Verne sign an exclusivity contract, obliging him to supply two volumes per year for twenty years. It is the first title in the series Les Voyages Extraordinaires, which will be crowned by the French Academy. These volumes, carefully illustrated, are recognizable by their red and blue cover, adorned with golden letters. The editor and the author will keep their word: the journeys they will tell and publish are all extraordinary. 

That same year 1862, Jules Verne founded, with the famous photographer Nadar, a company for the study of air navigation. Two volumes appear: From Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon. Readers are fascinated: but where and how did this author find such documentation? Jules Verne knows how to stage what he describes. His dramatic fantasy is remarkable: he leads his audience where he wants. He knows how to introduce poetry. In 1864, with his Journey to the Center of the Earth, we discovered another prodigious world: prehistoric animals survive in the cavities of an Icelandic volcano! Jules Verne makes travel wherever he wants. 

The rigor of what he describes and his talent as a writer do wonders: his books are translated into all European languages. However, we were mistaken in calling him "father of Science Fiction". He was much more the creator of the scientific novel. His characters are unforgettable and they become symbols.

The round the world bet in 80 days 

Increasingly passionate about the progress of means of traveling the world, between railways, balloons and the steamer, the novelist published, in 1873, a particularly clever book in which he introduced a real suspense. It's around the world in 80 days. The story first appeared in serial in the daily Le Temps. The fascinating story raises the circulation of the newspaper. The press correspondents of all the countries telegraph each day the new adventures of the heroes.  

The idea is simple but prodigious: it is a bet between an English gentleman and his club comrades: Philéas Fogg must go around the world in 80 days. The stake of the bet is important: the agreed amount is several thousand pounds. Accompanied by his servant, the inventive Passepartout, Philéas Fogg leaves. But suspected, wrongly, of having robbed a bank, he is under the surveillance of a police officer who persists in delaying him and pursues him. In this novel, the twists are permanent and all means of movement are used, from the balloon to the elephant. Many obstacles delay Philéas Fogg who has his eye on his watch. In India, he saves the young widow from a Maharaja who, according to Hindu tradition, was to perish at a stake. In the United States, the transcontinental train which connects the West coast to the East coast will be attacked and therefore stopped by Indians. Another delay! If the distinguished Philéas Fogg overcomes all obstacles, he cannot get rid of the policeman. But his imagination (and that of Jules Verne!) Is incredible. Jules Verne succeeds perfectly in the balance between the phlegm of Philéas Fogg and his ingenuity, shared with Passepartout, to get out of the most unexpected situations. 

The story is breathtaking, inventive and very precise. The author has accumulated incredible but perfectly accurate documentation. Some readers of the soap are so passionate that they offer Jules Verne a fortune for his hero to win his bet! And shipping companies offer the author crazy amounts of money for Philéas Fogg to be on board one of their liners!

Returning to London and cleared of all suspicion, Phileas Fogg is convinced that he has lost his bet, within 24 hours ... But, suddenly, he realizes that having always headed east, he has won 24 hours and , at the same time, his bet! He went around the world in two months and twenty days! Triumphantly elegant, he shows up at his club where his friends, who thought they had won, are forced to recognize his victory. It's a great idea from the novelist! This book is the first to introduce the concept of time zones to the general public. 

For Michel Strogoff , he is inspired by current events 

With Michel Strogoff in 1876, it was a new triumph. But it is also a reflection of diplomatic news. Indeed, the adventures of mail of the Tsar of Russia, who must go from Moscow to Irkutsk, in Siberia, appear at the time when the Franco-Russian Alliance is forged. This must break the European isolation of France because of the defeat of 1870. The novel by Jules Verne highlights the need to build a Trans-Siberian railway in order to truly unite the Russian Empire. Reader of Jules Verne, Tsar Alexander III will organize the beginnings of this gigantic project. The works will be carried out with the assistance of loans taken out by the French, the famous Russian loans. We know that they will leave a bitter memory to the never reimbursed subscribers. But Russia, it must be remembered, will pay part of its debt first by attacking Germany in Pomerania. This obliges Guillaume II, to move from September 1914 two regiments which threatened Paris. Then, in 1916, the tsar will send two regiments (nearly 9,000 men) to fight on French soil.

The success of his books and his theatrical adaptations brought a golden shower to Jules Verne. It allows him to buy his third yacht, the Saint-Michel III. He goes on cruises when, unlike his heroes, he has traveled little. And yet, the descriptions of its landscapes are surprisingly accurate. We will see it in Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Scotland, Norway, Iceland, the Baltic Sea.

In 1872, Jules Verne settled permanently in Amiens, the country of his wife. This allows him to moor his dear boat at Le Crotoy, while frequently going to Paris or Nantes, where his mother still lives. He explains that he can no longer work in Paris: "You can't find an hour of peace and quiet there! There is too much fever and too much noise! ​​It's a fact, I'm going back to the Province! Good evening Paris! ".

1872 the year of the consecration

1872 is also the year of a consecration: the French Academy crowns its Extraordinary Voyages. He wrote L'Ile Mystérieuse in 1875 and Mathias Sandorf in 1885. He dedicates this title to Alexandre Dumas Fils: "To Alexandre Dumas, I dedicate this book to you by also dedicating it to the memory of the genius storyteller who was Alexandre Dumas your father . In this work, I tried to make Mathias Sandorf the Monte-Cristo of the Extraordinary Voyages ".

On Monday March 9, 1886, Jules Verne returned home. At 5.30 p.m., one of his nephews, Gaston, suffering from the disease of persecution and in the midst of an insanity crisis, fired two revolver shots at his uncle. A bullet wounded him over the left foot. Gaston will be interned. He will explain that he wanted to draw attention to his uncle (whom he admired!) So that he was elected to the French Academy! A strange way to campaign for Jules Verne! As the bullet could not be extracted, the injured man suffered enormously. Until the end of his days, he will walk with a slight lameness. He participates in local life, is elected municipal councilor of Amiens on a radical-socialist list. This shocked her family, who was very conservative, enormously.

At the end of 1904, Jules Verne had a violent crisis of diabetes but recovered from it. March 17, 1905, new crisis. The pains are excruciating. He knows he will die. He announces it to his own. Paralysis wins him. He lost consciousness on March 24 and died on Saturday March 25 at 7 a.m. Jules Verne was 77 years old.

More than 5,000 people from all over attended his funeral on March 28. There is no government representation. Paradoxically, it is the Emperor of Germany, William II, learning the news on his yacht the Hohenzollern, which pays him the most beautiful tribute. The Kaiser declares "that he himself would have followed the convoy if he could, because he remembered the charm he had found, in his youth, when reading the works of the great novelist who had disappeared". 

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"At the heart of history" is a Europe 1 Studio podcast

Author and presentation: Jean des Cars 

Project manager: Adèle Ponticelli

Realization: Laurent Sirguy and Guillaume Vasseau

Diffusion and edition: Clémence Olivier

Graphics: Europe 1 Studio

Bibliography: Charles-Noël Martin The life and work of Jules Verne  (Michel de l'Ormeraie, 1978)