(41) L'Île à hélice (Propeller Island, aka The Floating Island, 1895) (2 volumes) 109K words


The 41st Extraordinary Voyage takes us to Oceania on board a huge artificial, self-propelled island designed to travel the waters of the Pacific Ocean. We had been in Oceania in the last two volumes of "In Search of the Castaways" and in "Mistress Branican", but here we explore a new region: the multiple archipelagos of Melanesia and Polynesia. The theme of a sea voyage on a great ship had been treated in "A Floating City", but here Verne takes the concept further by introducing one of his marvellous vehicles. We also saw a community sharing a floating surface, in that case on a river journey, in "Eight Hundred Leagues on the Amazon".


First read or reread?: First read for me.


What is it about?: A French string quartet (Sébastien Zorn, Frascolin, Yvernes and Pinchinat), traveling from San Francisco to their next engagement in San Diego, is diverted to Standard Island. Standard Island is an immense man-made island designed to travel the waters of the Pacific Ocean. On the island there is a luxurious, futuristic city inhabited by millionaires. The quartet is hired to play a number of concerts for the residents during their tour of the islands (Sandwich, Cook, Society, etc.) of the South Pacific. Standard Island seems an idyllic paradise; however, it is a society divided in two. The left half's population is led by Jem Tankerdon and is known as the Larboardites. The right half's population is led by Nat Coverley and is known as the Starboardites. Despite the several obstacles and shared dangers encountered on their journey, the two parties maintain a disagreement that threatens the future of the island itself.


This novel has several interesting things to offer the reader. The first is another of those Verne science-fictional vehicles, which is something we had not had for a while in the Extraordinary Voyages. The last one was the flying machine in "Robur the Conqueror". In this case, we get the largest of these vehicles: an artificial island thrust by giant propellers. On the island there is a city that functions as an utopia, with some futuristic technology (futuristic for the time it was written, anyway), and able to do some long-range communications to rendezvous with supply ships. The residents, apart from the necessary workers, are millionaires who pay a large rent to the company that owns the island in exchange for a luxurious place to live with their families.

Verne had already explored the concept of an utopian city in "The Begum's Millions", but here the utopia is threatened not just by external enemies, but also by internal dissension. We see the slightly more pessimistic outlook that Verne had in the second half of his career, because this community of wealthy citizens, ideal on paper, is somewhat bored and aimless, divided by petty rivalries.

There's material here for an interesting story, but unfortunately Verne does not make very good use of it, at least initially. There is just too much exposition and too little action for large parts of the novel.

Our main characters are four outsiders, a group of French musicians who are initially touring the US as a string quartet. The four of them are good friends but have different personalities: we have the curmudgeon leader, the practical one, the poetic one and the jokester. They are taken onto the island (initially one could almost say kidnapped, although they are compensated generously) and that way the readers discover this technological marvel along with the characters. This leads to a lengthy description that we can forgive because the island is interesting, but maybe it goes on for too long. Then the story turns into a travelogue describing the different Pacific islands were our moving island makes stops in its journey. Our four heroes are always among the most interested in doing some tourism, and that way we get descriptions of the different locations and natives.

I have never been a fanatical adherent of the "show, don't tell" golden rule. In general it's reasonable advice, but there is a place for "telling" in a narration. Verne is famous for using his stories not just to entertain, but also to inform the reader, and that means telling. However, for a good part of this novel, I feel he forgets the "entertain" part. Even in a novel with a lot of informative asides, like "Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas", this is tempered by an interesting story. Here, not so much, at least during the first half of the novel, some parts of which I found dull.

This improves in the second half, where we have a lot of things going on, from an invasion of dangerous wild animals due to sabotage, to an attack by native pirates, from the kidnapping of one of the characters when exploring one of the islands to dangerous internal strife. Still, the first half may have been the dullest part of the Extraordinary Voyages so far.

Apparently, the public domain English translations are kind of infamous. The W. J. Gordon translation published as The Floating Island censored multiple passages that were critical of the Americans and, mainly, of the English. That's a pity, because some of that is integral to the novel, and some of Verne's zings are rather funny. He really did not like the English at this point of his career. Another translation published as Propeller Island is abridged, and we have to go to the modern 2015 translation by Marie-Thérèse Noiset to find one more faithful to the original text.


Enjoyment factor: This has some good things going on for it, a wondrous vehicle, social satire, paradisiacal locations... It also has nice little moments, like the private concert our heroes give for the king and queen of Malecarlia, where their passion for music really shines through. Unfortunately, despite having things to offer, I probably wouldn't recommend this one except to committed Verne readers. Verne has his occasional tics and his tendency to supply the reader with information, but I like his style and I always find him entertaining. However, some parts of this novel were dull. It does improves in the second part, but Verne has better stories to offer.


Next up: Facing the Flag


See all my Verne reviews here: https://www.sffworld.com/forum/threads/reading-vernes-voyages-extraordinaires.58... ( )

Does it still count as Filler if theres nothing else to it?
It seems the central conceit of this is not enough to build a story around so you have various other elements strung together to pass the time. There's a bit of romance, social politics, international politics, some piracy, some comedy (MOST of which at least manages to survive the translator) and of course, since this is verne some facts. Which in this case is a tour of the pacific islands.
Have you ever wanted to know the import/exports, population, geology, flora/fauna and political history of Tahiti circa 1890? Well then this is the book for you!
OK, it isn't as bad as it sounds, its usually at least mildly interesting. I've had several worse Verne reading experiences.
I did like the ending and most of the incidents along the way held my interest, except for one which was too random and ridiculous.
Lions and tigers and alligators, Oh My! ( )

Once more, I did not find this to be among Verne's most astounding of works. The plot was haphazard and thrown about and the characters seemed like only vestiges of what they could have been. Overall, I would say that one could comfortably skip this one- even if they like Verne books.

2.5 stars. ( )

Verne's prescient novel of a society of elites who construct their own country and navigate it around the world's oceans. The technical premise of vast floating structures built from concrete cassions is completely contemporary, and is being considered even today for both industrial and residential purposes. What Verne adds to this technical tour de force is an insight into the social and political considerations involved in the creation of floating nation-states. As we contemplate the submergence of island states, we might soon have to deal with the issue of whether they continue as legitimate entities, and whether we accept the transfer of their sovereignty to these sort of structures, and whether if we recognize these we also open up the possibility of politically motivated groups setting up their own societies afloat. ( )