From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne

From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne

Jules Verne wrote ‘From the Earth to the Moon‘ in 1865, more than 100 years before the Apollo 11 took its own three-person crew to the moon.  As a layman I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the scientific or financial information in the book but, as this is a work of fiction, I’m sure I can be forgiven for just being super-impressed by Verne’s imagination.

The Gun Club has a membership of gun-toting men who love nothing more than blowing stuff up but there are no wars and so they find themselves at a bit of a loose end.  To keep themselves occupied, they begin looking for an outlandish (no pun intended!) project to sink their teeth into: and launching an unmanned cannon to the moon sounds like just the thing.  We learn of classic crowd-funding to pay for the launch and all the technical difficulties that must be overcome in order to succeed.  Verne takes us through the choosing of a launch location, the launch preparations, the jeering from the naysayers and the actual launch.

The book did, at times, feel like a double-period of Advanced Maths on a Friday afternoon but if you can forgive the author this liberty, the story line is actually very entertaining and, dare I say it, hilariously funny.  The dialogue is beyond farcical and the debates are stuff playgrounds are made of but I just think that all adds to the complete battiness of not only having thought of a trip to the moon before the time of mainstream flushing toilets and personal hygiene but having thought about it extensively, apparently.  The character descriptions are typically Dickensian complete with the ‘obligatory plucky Frenchman – which Verne included in all of his novels.‘

The big day arrives, the cannon is launched and the three men head off into orbit towards the moon…and that’s where the book ends, rather disappointingly.  In fact, if you want to find out how the voyage ends you’ll have to read the sequel, ‘Round the Moon‘.  Although I can’t see myself reading too many Jules Verne books, I have to admit that I am tempted to read the sequel, ‘Round the Moon‘.

I took this book at face-value and read it as a story about a journey to the moon written by a man who was so clearly ahead of his time.  There may be deeper philosophical, historical, psychological interpretations but that would be telling?!

I give this book TWO COFFEE CUPS ☕☕

SPOILER ALERT:  The dog doesn’t make it…