From the Earth to the Moon / Around the Moon by Jules VerneMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
As one of the true founders of science-fiction before it was really a thing, reading some of Jules Verne's work has been on my to do list for a while.
At the time, Verne's writing made the idea of space travel not only an exciting story, but a genuinely plausible concept and genuinely inspired humanity into overcoming the technical challenges that lay between us and the stars.
What Verne does then, knowing that the actual journey not be possible, is flumax his readers with scientific jargon. The sheer volume of "facts", figures and plausible sounding theories with plausible names backing them, awes the reader into believing this is truly possible.
That said, unfortunately now so many of the scientific ideas have dated or been surpassed and it can feel quite a slog to get through Verne's reasoning which can go on for lengthy segments at a time. It was a slog to get through some parts of the story, but I was not to be deterred.
What makes it enjoyable for a modern audience in my opinion, is the social drama of the reaction of the project to the world, and the likeable members of the gun club who are destined to attempt the journey. It feels ludicrous, how they deck out their projectile with all the then mod cons and even take a pair of dogs with them because of how easy and habitable life will be on our satellite.
The addition of French Man Michel Arden the the American Gun Club crew, an affluent man with a passion for exploration but not much scientific nouse or common sense, gives Verne the opportunity to explain his scientific notions fully for us to understand, and then not feel bad when it takes us a while to understand the concept (whether achievable or not).
Although I struggled I had an increased determination and was definitely never bored. It's an interesting story and it's place in the roots of science and science-fiction can't be denied and is worth reading for that reason alone. There's enough of an enjoyable story and cast alongside this to make this readable even today.
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