|
Mysterious Island is a novel by the French writer Jules Verne. The plot centers on a group of men, Cyrus Smith (listed as Cyrus Harding in some translations), Union officer, his servant Nab (listed as Neb in some translations), Jack Pencroft, a sailor, Gideon Spillet, a reporter for a Northern newspaper, and the young naturalist Herbert, who escape from a Confederate prison during the American Civil War via balloon. A storm sends their balloon, fairly improbably, across North America to an uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean, which the castaways name Lincoln Island.
The plot
The broad theme of the book seems to be one of a celebration of rationality, science and industry. The men of the book are able to provide for themselves. The most important help comes from Cyrus Smith, who is a skilled engineer, and throughout the years spent on island he recreates technologies such as fire, pottery, bricks, nitroglycerine, iron and simple electric alarm.
The 'mystery' of the island seems comes from periodic inexplicable deus ex machinas which occasionally prevent disaster. But these episodes seem to neither reinforce nor undermine the theme. Nor are they a particularly powerful engine for the plot.
It is only in the very end that there is some resolution. A volcanic eruption threatens to destroy the island and the castaways find themselves trapped on a small rock. Captain Nemo arrives with the Nautilus to save them, and it is explained that he was the source of the mysterious aid. Within that context, all of the previous action can be reinterpreted as an experiment by Nemo. His observation of the island utopia created by the castaways causes Nemo to reinvestigate his own rejection of society, as evidenced by his rescue of the castaways.
The movie
The novel is the basis for the 1961 film Mysterious Island directed by Cy Endfield. The film is also known as Jules Verne's Mysterious Island, and features creature effects by Ray Harryhausen. Captain Nemo is played by Herbert Lom. There was also a television series in 1995, with Alan Scarfe playing the role of Captain Harding.
External links
|
