From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne

 

For the sixth year in a row, I started off my reading for the year with Jules Verne. I ran out of Verne books that I had heard of before by year three of this tradition, so I've had to do a bit of digging in recent years to find new stories to read. With this one, however, I got rather lucky. I came across From the Earth to the Moon in a used bookstore about a year ago, so I saved reading it for now. Based on the title and cover art on my edition of the book, I assumed that this would be a novel about a space mission to the moon, full of dense scientific descriptions of moon topography. Basically, I was expecting 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, but in space. As usual, my assumptions proved to be totally wrong.

The plot begins in 1865 with four members of the Baltimore Gun Club: President Impey Barbicane, General Morgan, Major Elphiston, and Secretary J.T. Maston. Each of these men are enthusiastic inventors of artillery that distinguished themselves with their creations during the Civil War. When the war ended, however, they found themselves without purpose. With no wars going on, and no conflicts on the horizon, there was no need for them to develop new weapons. To assuage their boredom, President Barbicane suggests a massive new project--to build a giant cannon and shoot a projectile all the way to the moon. Their overall desire is to achieve something that has never been done before with artillery, and they also hope to attract the attention of any species that might be living on the moon and open up a line of communication between them. The entire gun club, and the general public, enthusiastically agree to the project and they start working on it straight away. 

Their first priorities are to determine how to make the projectile, how large to build the cannon, and how much powder to use for propulsion. They use data from their past creations and mathematical calculations to decide these issues, and then set about raising money and choosing a location to build in. As they want to keep the entire project housed within the United States, they end up choosing Tampa as their launch site. They ask for donations to fund the project, and people from all over the world are so enamored with the idea that they have no trouble raising what they need. Before long, they are in the building phase and everything moves along according to plan.

While their cannon and projectile are being constructed, they receive a mysterious telegram from a Frenchman named Michel Ardan. He proposes to seal himself inside the projectile and make their mission to the moon a manned one. After meeting with him, the group must decide whether they will allow him to do this, and then see if they can have a successful launch.

I ended up enjoying this book, but I think you have to be a specific type of person to like it the same way I did. From the Earth to the Moon is a very fitting title for this novel, because the entire story is about the process of getting to the moon. It ends on a big cliffhanger and we don't get to see the full results of the project up close at all. If you want the rest of the story, you have to read the sequel, Around the Moon. This is a book about drafting plans and constructing artillery. Verne leaves no detail out, and most of the pages in the novel break down the math, physics, astronomy, and costs associated with the project. He is as accurate with his information as someone writing in the nineteenth century can be, and it's clear he did copious amounts of research to make the plot of this novel as believable as possible. I was absolutely blown away by his prediction that either Florida or Texas would be the best place to launch the projectile from, as both of those places are closely tied to the U.S. space program now. As a perfectionist who really enjoys planning, I liked reading about the meticulous process Barbicane and his pals went through. I would assume that a lot of readers, however, might get really bored with this.

The characters were very typical Verne characters. With Barbicane you have the stalwart, preternaturally intelligent leader. With Maston you have the overly-enthusiastic and loyal sidekick. With Ardan you have the likeable French guy. All of his classic archetypes were there. I do have to say that none of the characters here particularly grabbed me, as the text was more about the process of making the projectile rather than about the characters as individuals. There was no one as distinctive as Captain Nemo, for example. What made them fun. however, was all the gentle ribbing Verne does about their American-ness. I thought it was hilarious how he poked fun at the American enthusiasm for guns and firepower. Towards the start of the novel, he explains that, "the sole preoccupation of [the Baltimore gun club] was the destruction of humanity from motives of philanthropy, and the perfecting of firearms considered as instruments of civilization." He goes on to describe its members as, "an assembly of exterminating angels, otherwise, the best fellows in the world." Almost all of them are missing a limb or two from their creations, but that doesn't cool their ardor for gun design in the slightest. His sense of humor was excellent, and it was pretty amusing that the jokes he was making back in 1865 were still funny today. He wasn't mean-spirited with his teasing though, and you could tell that he rather admired his heroes' uniquely American grit.  

I would probably stick From the Earth to the Moon somewhere in the middle of the pack when it comes to ranking the Verne novels I have read. It wasn't too heavy on the scientific exposition (at least compared to some of the others I've experienced), but it wasn't super-memorable either. I also think it was a little bit of a disappointment to leave the story so incomplete. It's basically half of a story. If I didn't have a tight schedule to maintain with my Classics Club list, I've probably just go ahead and read Around the Moon next, but as it is, I might end up waiting until January 1st of next year to see how this one ends. It's still a great read though, especially for old school science fiction fans like me.    

Challenge Tally
Back to the Classics 2021 (A Travel or Adventure Classic): 1/12

Total Books Read in 2021: 1