The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-05-21
SOME VIEW BOOKS.
Mr.. Ju,e. yerne,s u >sct,c Fiction.

AngfffiDlLa Tel1n6. been running through
scrQ,ns,'s Mdonrtne. II NAV be questionable
vbethe, tho sanotion Of that per,odical recon-
mends a work to careful confederation; but 40
some earlier performsnces OF Mr.. Jules Verne
baye mat with n rood deal OF favor In other
ouarters. We may avail ourselves of the appear
.,ce NJ tb,a stranqe narrative In hook form to
ENQUIRE what degree Of merit belongs TO HE pro-
auctions
IL ia mot inpoaaibie that tho familiar field Of
social life to which the novel properly confines
itself NAV be abandoned bv some impatient
vriters dazz,ed nv the Temporary success OF
psued o-scientinc romance. Before, however,
we are flooded with mutations OF Mr.. verne's
proiusions IL may be well to see whether his
books do not supply grounds for believing that
the revulsIon Of public taste will be far more
uneauiyocal than Its present propitiOus drift.
where a long series ~ volumes purportlne
20 convey useful information In captivating form
IL put forth under the warrant OF reputs-
BILE publishers set on with the most sumptuous
establishment that printer and engraver can
bestow, and pushed into circulation by all the
levers known to the trade, II is not surprising
that the easy.eoing reader should accept the
author for a time at his own valuation, and re-
gard with naive respect his pretensions TO uni
versal knowledge. But when the young mics
consulting a cheap atlas, and the school boy.
u
exposing blunder after blunder. the question Ia
pressed upon us whether books like vernes
possess any claim to serious attention, or
whether the bulls aud botches OF the sciolist arc
not 40 ubiquitous In his works as to render them
either noxious or impertinent.
The motive which prompts some people TO
buy The Mysterious Island and It's compan-
lou pieces lie sufficiently Ineligible. So much
prestige attaches Just now to scientific attain
ments, that even the young woman OF fashion
and the average college graduate (perhaps not
the least torpid member Of society are not UNI
willing to secure the materials Of pyrotechnic
display. provided they are not called upon for
more strenuous headwork than Is demanded nv
the or mary novel And doubtless. II Il were
possible to infuse a modicum Of scientific truth
nv snecies NJ bvoods,uic ,niec,,o, our ,,r,,,al
conversation would be the brighter forn. But au-
tbors like Rabelais may be reckoned on the nm
gers, who, knowing themselves competent to
teach, have condescended to saw profound
things amusingly and even with them the in
structor Is so far merged In the artist that they
constantly forget to edlfy, and NAV be said to
demonstrate the difficulty OF drawing pleasure
and profit from one fountain. The didactic
poem has been rd'cued by Lowell as contra
diction In terms, and no one probably would
deny that Virril's Georges, u read for their
iNoht AaHu VI III tue present STATE OF
agriculture they could be read for nothing
slse), are hardly relieved from dunsss by elabor-
ate ornament; while on the other hand the de-
hehtful poem Of Lucretus, regarded merely as
M EXPOSITION Of the epicurean philosophy, Is a
tumble OF Isolated dtcta. without synthesis or
logical evolution. And so with the sol disdnt
historical novel. which never yet In any eminent
degree with the possible exception Of Hugo's
"Notre DameD has united dramatic vitality ana
yivacious photography. SCOTS ESSAYS, for in
stance, In that Geld, are notorously Inaccurate
as pictures OF medieval manners, whereas books
like Becker's "Charicles," or Heps's attempt
10 portray human life under the conditions OF
the Lacustrine epoch, are ingenious IL osaics OF
authentic fact and fair induction. but, wanting
plot and Characterization, prove insursrably
tiresome.
On the whole he m ost successf,I s.ns,irer,s
In the direction OF didactic fiction havs ha.n
made by DE Foe and Swift. and the short
cuminps of Verne appear glazing nv con,,.s,
with the METHODS OF those artists. Ne,tber .c-
curacy nor conRruity IL sinned against nv
those masters OF Illusion The r,ldI,nents az
many technic wits as practised I'm DE Fo.'s dav
are described In his best known work and II
was precisely the authors curious familiarity
with the processes OF their several crafts and
bis dexterous application Of them to rude In.
III. lie
Bans, at all events. OF authenticity OF Cruso.s
narrative. Crusoe's travels in siberia and lar.
tary produced a like impression Of verisimili.
ssue "" '"e nuss'a" merchants oi London and
'"' ''o','."' wa '"o ino'e 'e"arNaole De-
% "'"e 'n.o'l""''on resi- oUhe those
n.r'., "%s Wv" III p'i"'. III snort
$50. 800. es"o'n VI tue ar'ui'
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