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(58) La Chasse au météore (The Chase of the Golden Meteor, 1908) (1 volume) 59K words
In the fifty-eight Extraordinary Voyage, the fourth one published posthumously, Verne returns to the science fiction genre. This book is the first to deal with astronomical events since "Off on a Comet" (I'm not counting "The Purchase of the North Pole" here because that one only involved Earth). This novel also includes a trip to Greenland, where, if I remember correctly, the series had only taken us for a short visit in "The Adventures of Captain Hatteras".
First read or reread?: First read for me.
What is it about?: Two amateur astronomers in the same American town independently spot a new meteor and each attempts to claim the credit for the discovery. The bitter rivalry that results threatens the projected wedding between the daughter of one of the astronomers and the nephew of the other. This rivalry worsens when it's discovered that the meteor is made of gold and thus extremely valuable. Meanwhile, another amateur scientist, this time a very eccentric inventor, tries to create a device which will cause the meteor to fall on Earth.
On paper, the book is science fiction, but the focus is really on the social satire, with a humorous portrayal of how greed and vanity affects people and countries. I had expected Verne's posthumous novels to be somewhat glum, but that's not really the case, and the last two I have read ("The Thompson Travel Agency" and this one) are comedies.
Perhaps one element that differentiates these posthumous novels is the denunciation of greed. This message was somewhat lost in "The Golden Volcano" because of the modifications Michel Verne (Jules Verne's son) did before publication, but here the message is intact, and the author has fun depicting how greed makes people act like fools and how it threatens peace between countries. There is also a satire of the stock markets.
Comparing the final product with Jules' original manuscript, we see that Michel's main contribution was introducing the character Zéphyrin Xirdal, the extremely eccentric but brilliant French inventor who tries to bring the meteor to Earth (in Jules' manuscript the meteor fell on its own).
It's in Xirdal's work that we find the science-fictional elements of the story. The device that the inventor produces is explained with technobabble, although it's interesting to see in it the influences of the contemporary research on radioactive materials and also, with a certain prescience, some musings on the equivalence of matter and energy.
But, as I said, this is not the real focus. Despite the speculative elementas and the journey to Greenland, the main pleasure is following the quirky set of characters as they are affected by the riches that may be about to fall from the sky.
The novel is quite short and moves at a decent pace, without the slower sections that some of Verne's longest novels have in their first half.
Enjoyment factor: I liked this one, although I did not find it as amusing as "The Thompson Travel Agency". It's short and a quick read, and the plot is entertaining, even if the science is dubious. Your enjoyment will depend on how much you appreciate the quirkiness of the characters. I can see them being a bit too much for some readers.
Next up: The Danube Pilot
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