John Cleves Symmes (1779–1829)

Meh...
So this is a utopian Hollow Earth novel with some elements of satire. Although due to the age of the book its a little hard to tell who exactly he's satirizing at times.
Its relatively short, which is good but doesn't have a lot to it. A couple of elements of interest but thats about it.

It uses the basic Hollow Earth theory, to-wit, that the earth is completely hollow and the interior can be sailed (or walked) to through openings at both poles.

I've read a few of these books now and one, [b:The Goddess Of Atvatabar|3631404|The Goddess Of Atvatabar; Being The History Of The Discovery Of The Interior World, And Conquest Of Atvatabar|William Richard Bradshaw|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1420807473s/3631404.jpg|5092011] i think but i could be wrong, had this wonderful description of sailing into the globe.
As they went the gravity adjusted with them so they appeared to be going in a straight line and the only way they could tell they were headed into a tunnel was that the waves in the distance kept getting higher until eventually they were directly overhead, like 'Inception' or something.
This has nothing like that descriptive style. In fact the sailors don't even realize they are inside the earth. Only the captain knows, who by the way completely lies about trying to find the polar openings. His crew think they're on a seal hunt. Its similar to Vernes' [b:Captain Hatteras|158247|The Adventures of Captain Hatteras (Extraordinary Voyages, #2)|Jules Verne|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1172270825s/158247.jpg|4553176]; except in that case it actually had a reason why he lied. But no explanation is given in this, the implication being simply that Hollow Earth theory was such obvious crap even when this book was written that no one would voluntarily go on a voyage to try and prove it.

The book also uses a lot of references about angles of light and astronomical stuff about the position of the sun at different times of the year none of which meant anything to me.

The utopia stuff is fairly standard and most of the books philosophical ideas are pretty ridiculous, which is at least mildly entertaining. Not a complete waste of time is about all the enthusiasm i can muster :) .… (más)

The earth is hollow at both poles and there is a 1,400 mile gap that will allow entry to the inside. Captain Adam Seaborn's well written account of his voyage in 1817 to the South Pole and his subsequent meetings with the humans that inhabit the interior is put forward as proof of this hollow earth theory. There is no record of a Captain Adam Seaborn or of his voyage, but in 1818 American Captain John Cleves Symmes jnr had started a fund raising campaign for an expedition to prove his hollow earth theory and had gained the support of millionaire James McBride. An obvious conclusion is that Symzonia published in 1820 was written by John Cleves Symmes, but if so it would have been a grand hoax and it's satire on American life and society would have done little to aid his cause. The author therefore remains a mystery.

The book itself is a factual account of a voyage towards the South Pole, first taking in and describing the flora and fauna of some of the outlying Falkland islands. The confirmation of the Antarctic continent was not made until the 1840's and so Seaborn's voyage further South was purely imaginary. He discovers a passage through the ice and finds a more temperate climate and the outlying islands of a southern continent which he names Seaborn's land. Thrilled with the vindication of his theory that there is a passage through the cone of ice, he pushed on and enters a great river system. Eventually they come across evidence of civilization and the sighting of other ships leads him to the settled land which he names Symzonia.

Seaborn discovers that the Symzonians are everything that the Americans are not; he describes their civilization as Utopian, with most inhabitants content to lead exemplary lives that will result in the greater good of humanity. All power in the land emanates from the people whose government is led by The Best Man, who is supported by a grand council of wothies consisting of the Good, the Wise and the useful. The Efficients operate the government machinery and aim to provide equality for all. Man's cupidity had almost been eliminated and where it has not then the guilty parties are exiled. Seaborn does not discover all this until he has been able to learn the language and then allowed to visit the seat of government. He discovers that commerce is only practised for the convenience of society, the accumulation of wealth is disreputable and a bar to a seat in government. Seaborn gets into real difficulty when it is his turn to describe the government of America; the Symzonians are horrified by Seaborn's bowdlerised version and so he leaves them with The Collected Works of Shakespeare and Milton's Paradise Lost to read.

The giving of the books proves to be Seaborn's undoing, because the Symzonians cannot countenance such people and the Best man hits the nail on the head when he says that Seaborn and his crew had only made the voyage because:

it was only our inordinate thirst for gain, that had induced me and my people to hazard our lives in an unknown region, and that it had not escaped their notice, that our vessel was equipped with terrific engines of destruction, no doubt to enforce our will where our purposes required it: Wherefore he, the Best Man, in council, had come to a resolution, that the safety and happiness of his people would be endangered by permitting any further intercourse with so corrupt and depraved a race

Seaborn and his crew are then unceremoniously booted out of Symzonia, being nowhere near good enough to remain and of course they face more trials and tribulations when they eventually get back top America.

James McBride managed to get a proposal to Congress for funding for an expedition to the South Pole to prove the hollow earth theory, to be led by Captain Symmes in 1823. It was defeated by 56 votes to 46, but where the story of Adam Seaborn's expedition fits into all this is anybody's guess. As a vision of Utopia it is a bit sketchy, but is still an interesting curio which stands up more as a satire on our 19th century civilization (and of course as evidence of a hollow earth.) An interesting read that I rate as three stars.… (más)