Jules Verne, “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”, 1870 was the topic of an earlier blog post.
Here I present: Jules Verne (1828-1905), “Floating City”, 1871 a nautical fiction story of the 4,000 passengers’ ship “Great Eastern”.
Self-insertion is a literary device in which the author writes himself into the story as a fictional character.
Jules Verne is a self-insertion in,” The Floating City”, 1871 as both the narrator & protagonist.
The book consists of thirty-nine (39) untitled chapters. The first sentence of each chapter is shown BELOW:
Chapter. “First Sentence”.
#1. “On the 18th of March, 1867, I arrived at Liverpool, intending to take berth simply as a tourist on the Great Eastern, which in a few days was to sail for New York.”
#2. “The deck was still nothing but an immense timber-yard given up to an army of workmen.”
#3. “The Great Eastern was indeed preparing to sail.”
#4. “Fabian left me to look for his cabin, which according to the ticket he held in his hand, was number seventy-three of the grand saloon series.”
#5. “The work of weighing anchor was resumed; with the help of the anchor-boat the chains were eased, and the anchors at last left their tenacious depths.”
#6. “The next day, the 27th of March, the Great Eastern coasted along the deeply-indented Irish shore.”
#7. “I said that the length of the Great Eastern exceeded two hundred yards.”
#8. “On Wednesday night the weather was very bad; my balance was strangely variable, and to prevent myself from falling I was obliged to lean with my knees and elbows against the sideboard.”
#9. “It must be confessed that the Doctor’s words were not very comforting, and the passengers would not have heard them without shuddering.”
#10. “In spite of the ship’s disorderly behavior, life on board was becoming organized, for which the Anglo-Saxon nothing is easier.”
#11. “This day at half-past twelve, a steersman posted up on the grand saloon door the following notice: Latitude 51°51’N, Longitude 18°13’W & Distance to Fastnet 323 miles.”
#12. “The next day, Saturday, 30th of March, the weather was fine, and the sea calm; our progress was more rapid, the Great Eastern was now going at about twelve knots.”
#14. “The next day, the 31st of March, was Sunday.”
#15. “The next day, the 1st of April, the aspect of the sea was truly spring-like; it was as green as the meadows beneath the sun’s rays.”
#16. “Going back to the grand saloon, I saw the following program posted on the door: THIS NIGHT!”
#17. “During Monday night the sea was very stormy.”
#18. “The next day, the 3rd of April, the horizon wore from early dawn that peculiar aspect the English call blink.”
#19. “Leaving the brilliantly lighted saloon I went on deck with Captain Corsican.”
#20. “Corsican and I could no longer doubt that it was Ellen, Fabian’s betrothed, and Harry Drake’s wife.”
#21. “At four o’clock, the sky, which had been overcast, cleared up, the sea grew calm, and the ship was so steady, that one might almost have thought oneself on “terra firma” – this gave the passengers the idea of getting up races.”
#22. “From Thursday night to Saturday the Great Eastern was crossing the Gulf Stream, the water of which is dark; and, the current forces its way through the waters of the Atlantic its surface even becomes slightly convex.”
#23. “Some moments later I met Captain Corsican, and I told him of the scene I had just witnessed.”
#24. “The night was stormy; beaten by the waved, the steam-ship rolled frightfully, without being disabled; and the furniture was knocked about with loud crashes, and the crockery renewed its clatter.”
#25. “Scarcely had the Great Eastern tacked and presented her stern to the waves, then pitching gave way to steadiness, breakfast was served, and most of the passengers, reassured by the ship’s stillness, came into the dining-rooms, and took their repast without fear of another shock.”
#26. “In the meantime, the pumps were draining the lake which had been formed in the hold of the Great Eastern.”
#27. “The next day, at break of dawn, I went in search of Captain Corsican, whom I found in the grand saloon.”
#28. “At noon, Drake had not, so far as I knew, sent Fabian his seconds, and were preliminaries which could not be dispensed with if he were determined to demand immediate satisfaction.”
#29. “The next day, Monday, the 8th if April, the weather was fine.”
#30. “It was no longer possible to put off the duel: only a few hours separated us from the moment when Fabian and Harry Drake must meet.”
#31. “The land announced at the moment when the sea was closing over the corpse of the poor sailor was low-lying and yellow in colour.”
#32. “Dean Pitferge left me, but I remained on deck, watching the storm rise.”
#33. “The storm was gathering, and a black arch of clouds had formed over our heads; the atmosphere was misty; nature was evidently about to justify Dr. Pitferge’s forebodings.”
#34. “The next day, Tuesday, the 9th April, the Great Eastern weighed anchor and set sail to enter the Hudson, the pilot guiding her with an unerring eye.”
#35. “A week to spend in America!”
#36. “The St. John, and its sister ship the Dean Richmond, are two of the finest steam-ships on the river.”
#37. “The Niagara is not a river not even a stream; it is simply a weir sluice, a canal thirty-six miles long, which empties the waters of the Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie into the Ontario.”
#38. “The next day, the 13th of April, the Doctor’s program included a visit to the Canadian shore.”
#39. “Some minutes later we were descending a long flight of steps on the Canadian side; these led to the banks of the river, covered with huge sheets of ice.”
Here I presented: Jules Verne (1828-1905), “Floating City”, 1871 a nautical fiction story of the 4,000 passengers’ ship “Great Eastern”.
SUMMARY.
Jules Verne is a self-insertion in,” The Floating City”, 1871 as both the narrator & protagonist.
The story begins on the 18th of March 1867, at Liverpool England; and, fictional Jules Verne boards the Great Eastern steamship to sail to New York.
The Great Eastern is technical development of a new era of marine engineering; and Jules Verne is enthralled by the possibility of this futuristic invention. While the Great Eastern has wind sails, propulsion by adding steam engines makes futuristic for a 1867 ship.
What did Jules Verne contribute to science fiction?
Verne was noted for writing about space, air, and underwater travel before air travel and submarines were actually invented, and before space travel had been devised.
Jules Verne, “The Floating City”, 1871 is travelogue fiction that is classically what Jules Verne readers expect.
Jules Verne, “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”, 1870 was the topic of an earlier blog post.
