Somehow with every passing day, my tastes in reading are inching towards the wildly fantastical rather than the thought-provoking. My current reading list would attest to that. As I noted in an earlier post, I had picked up this article In the Year 2889 purely out of my utter reverence for Jules Verne, and I dare say that I derived some childish pleasure in reliving some of his visions.
I wouldn't certainly put this up as must-read, but for a 'futuristic' article, it serves its purpose quite well. As the title suggests, the article follows a day in the life of a Rupert Murdoch-ish character in the year 2889. You should remember that the article was written in late 19th century and most of the author's fantasies have been already realised. Some are yet to be conceptualised though, and make for good imaginative reading.
The work however lacks the awe-inspiring nature of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island, and sounds more like a wishful after-dinner conversation. There is a marked lack of details and perhaps the fact that some of the Verne's imaginations are in fact, regular realities of life now, takes away some of the sheen. There is some debate about the actual authorship of the piece, with suggestions that it may have been penned by Jules Verne's son Michel Verne. Either way, In the Year 2889 would have been perfect had I read it as a kid, though I still dig the folding furniture concept !
All considered, I was expecting a little more kick out of a Verne work, but the mild knock wasn't too bad either.
Image courtesy http://acidfreepulp.com/2014/09/01/in-the-year-2889-by-jules-verne/
Image courtesy http://acidfreepulp.com/2014/09/01/in-the-year-2889-by-jules-verne/
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