TS: jules verne vs hg wells

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do you prefer mr verne, the "father of science fiction," and his wacky voyages led by eccentric old gentlemen with funny names who frequently pause to explain in encyclopedic chapter-length detail why so fanciful a notion as A TRIP TO THE NORTH POLE (the idea!) is perfectly plausible, OR mr wells (also, curiously, known as the "father of science fiction") and his "scientific romances" about how man is headed for hell because he can't quit messing around with nature?

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Monday, 15 May 2006 21:19 (nineteen years ago)

I'll go with Wells just cuz I never bothered to read anything by Jules Verne.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 15 May 2006 21:27 (nineteen years ago)

he was french

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 15 May 2006 21:27 (nineteen years ago)

another question: is it even possible to read jules verne if you're over the age of 10? it seems like it'd be kinda like tintin with long footnotes for every panel.

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Monday, 15 May 2006 21:32 (nineteen years ago)

I read journey to the centre of the earth, last year, and, after getting used to the style, I really enjoyed it. v silly but good fun. not quite as epic as I'd imagined it might try to be but, yes, v good

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 15 May 2006 21:33 (nineteen years ago)

I used to have an audio book of Tom Baker reading JTTCOTE with gothic organ music in the background. That was pretty cool.

― chap who would dare to be a nerd, not a geek (chap), Monday, 15 May 2006 21:35 (nineteen years ago)

I read "Around The World In 80 Days" when I was about 14, I think - I liked it, don't even remember any long technical explanations in that, tho I am aware that this is widely considered to be one of Verne's biggest stylistic ticks. More recently tho I *have* read Erskine Childer's "The Riddle Of The Sands", which is chock-full of technical stuff about yachting, and I found that book sort of engrossing - the narrator droning on and on about that stuff provided a good breather for the spy action, and somehow I do just get a kick out of hearing ppl talk about their passions, no matter how impenetrable. So I don't think that sort of thing is a deal-breaker, especially when it comes to adventure fiction.

Never read any Wells :( The kneejerk reaction would be to choose him, right, because of political relevancy and stuff? While Verne "just" wrote little adventure stories...

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Monday, 15 May 2006 22:41 (nineteen years ago)

Does Jules Verne get to be a Michael Moorcock character?

― Action Time Version (noodle vague), Monday, 15 May 2006 22:43 (nineteen years ago)

haha - I forgot that Wells turns up in those "Dancers at the End of Time" books! Moorcock did pen a loving tribute to Verne (and Wells too I suppose) with his Oswald Bastable trilogy, which is some of my favorite stuff of his....

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 15 May 2006 22:46 (nineteen years ago)

It's been 20 years plus since I've read either, but HG comes across as a lovably wrong idealist whereas I struggle to remember JV.

― Action Time Version (noodle vague), Monday, 15 May 2006 22:48 (nineteen years ago)

Nemo is quite an interesting character, no? Less wooden than most of Verne's d00ds.

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Monday, 15 May 2006 22:55 (nineteen years ago)

This thread makes me want to re-read (in descending order): Moorcock, Wells, Verne.

― Action Tim Vision (noodle vague), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 10:22 (nineteen years ago)

one year passes...

what is the most 'kentish' of wells' books, do you think?

― Filey Camp, Friday, 13 July 2007 12:21 (eighteen years ago)

Verne sucks. Wells is one of the six SF writers worth reading (Lem, PKD, Strugatskis, Bradbury, Wells).

Especially enjoy "When The Sleeper Wakes".

― shieldforyoureyes, Saturday, 14 July 2007 03:07 (eighteen years ago)

Long-Lost Jules Verne Short Story 'The Camera-Phone' Found c/o the Onion.

― Abbott, Saturday, 14 July 2007 03:16 (eighteen years ago)

Journey to the Center of the Earth blew my MIND as a kid (4th grade-ish?). Man alive the center of the earth is one fucking acid trip. I love books from before the North Pole was actually found, like this one & the first Dr. Doolittle, where it is this exotic bastion of craziness.

Tho all the same can be said of The Time Machine, whoa wtf trippy Eloi & stuffs. Wells married his cousin.

Besides a short story I can't remember who wrote (In The Kingdom of The Blind), that's all I read of either & I enjoyed both v. v. much, tho it has been...14?...years since I read either.

― Abbott, Saturday, 14 July 2007 03:21 (eighteen years ago)

Verne also shows up in "Time After Time," haha.

― Abbott, Saturday, 14 July 2007 03:22 (eighteen years ago)

seven years pass...

I rewatched Things to Come on Saturday morning, forgot how awfully preachy it is in the talky parts (Raymond Massey, calm down!). Loses a lot when Ralph Richardson's tinhorn warlord drops out... Visuals are singularly sleek and eye-popping for that era, quite a stew of W C Menzies, Vincent Korda et al.

"The Gas of Peace," that's quite a trick.

Apparently Wells would just describe what he wanted to see, both on paper in hius treatment and orally on the set, but was always disappointed that the concrete reality didn't match what he imagined.

― the increasing costive borborygmi (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 7 April 2015 19:38 (ten years ago)

I read a few Verne last year or the year before after picking up an omnibus edition of several of his in a charity shop or library or something. Enjoyed what I read anyway.

THink that was Around the World in 80 Days, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and From The Earth To The Moon.

Haven't read Wells in a long time. Did read a few back then.

― Stevolende, Tuesday, 7 April 2015 22:01 (ten years ago)

i reread a couple of wells classics earlier this year and they hold up pretty well. "war of the worlds" reads as especially poignant and strange now, since it's set in a world where the fastest way to get anywhere is by bicycle.

― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Tuesday, 7 April 2015 22:11 (ten years ago)

The short stories are really great and not often discussed.

― demonic mnevice (Jon Lewis), Tuesday, 7 April 2015 23:40 (ten years ago)

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