The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion

The Mysterious Island Background Information

Availability
It appears there are two editions of this selection on Project Gutenberg and I can't tell what the difference is.

Project Gutenberg:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/1268
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/8993

General Overview

The Mysterious Island is the 3rd in the Captain Nemo series and 12th in the Extraordinary Voyages series.

The Mysterious Island (French: L'Île mystérieuse) is a novel by Jules Verne, published in 1875. The first edition, published by Hetzel, contains illustrations by Jules Férat. The novel is a crossover sequel to Verne's famous Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas (1870) and In Search of the Castaways (1867–68), though its themes are vastly different from those books. An early draft of the novel, rejected by Verne's publisher and wholly reconceived before publication, was titled Shipwrecked Family: Marooned with Uncle Robinson, indicating the influence of the novels Robinson Crusoe and The Swiss Family Robinson. Verne developed a similar theme in his novel, Godfrey Morgan: A Californian Mystery (French: L'École des Robinsons, 1882).

The chronology of The Mysterious Island is incompatible with that of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, which begins in 1866, while The Mysterious Island begins during the American Civil War, yet is supposed to happen 16 years after Twenty Thousand Leagues.

The story revolves around five Americans who live in a dark and harsh environment as prisoners of the American Civil War. Depleted by famine and death all around them, the five war prisoners take a big risk and escape by hijacking a hot air balloon. The five fugitives, an engineer, a servant, a former slave, a sailor, and a journalist have to face an ugly and destroying storm, crashing on a mysterious volcanic island.


Biographical Context

Verne was a balloon enthusiast. He had already written several balloon stories and took his first balloon ride in 1873 while writingThe Mysterious Island.

Scientific Background

The Mysterious Island was a popular book when first published in 1874-5, and remains so, more than a century after the death of its author. This might seem surprising, for it can no longer be read in the way the author originally intended. When Verne packed the story with the up-to-date science of his day, he did so to make it more believable. But much of that science is now obsolescent - either because it makes little sense to the modern reader, or, for the scientifically trained, because it is now known to be wrong.

Adaptations

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916 film) - This classic American silent feature combines 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island into a single narrative, shifting back and forth between the Nautilus and the island.

The Mysterious Island (1929 film) - loosely based on the back-story given for Captain Nemo in the novel. It is an American part-talking feature shot largely in Technicolor, and features talking sequences, sound effects and synchronized music. Filmed as a silent but a talking sequence was added to the beginning and brief talking sequences were integrated into the film.

Mysterious Island (1951 serial) - a 15-chapter serial

Mysterious Island (1961 film) - also known as Jules Verne's Mysterious Island

Mysterious Island - a Canadian television series that ran for one season in 1995.

Mysterious Island (2005) - a TV movie featuring Patrick Stewart as Captain Nemo which is only loosely based on the novel

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012 film) - loosely based on the novel, done as a sequel to an earlier adaptation of Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth with Dwayne Johnson

Jules Verne's Mysterious Island: a 2012 cinematic adaptation, loosely based on the novel, made for the Syfy Channel.

There is also some significance of an adaptation of Captain Nemo and the Mysterious Island in the first arc of the sixth season of Once Upon a Time.