Propeller Island (French: L'Île à hélice) (also published as The Floating Island, or The Pearl of the Pacific, and as The Self-Propelled Island) is a science fiction novel by French author Jules Verne (1828–1905). It was first published in 1895 as part of the Voyages Extraordinaires. It relates the adventures of a French string quartet in Milliard City, a city on a massive ship in the Pacific Ocean, inhabited entirely by millionaires.
Plot
A French string quartet (Sébastien Zorn, Frascolin, Yvernes and Pinchinat), traveling from San Francisco to their next engagement in San Diego, is diverted to Standard Island.
There is also a comic interlude when they arrive at night and are being ignored after playing good music. So they intentionally play out of tune, getting an immediate response.
Standard Island is an immense man-made island designed to travel the waters of the Pacific Ocean. The wealth of residents of the island can only be measured in millions. The quartet is hired to play a number of concerts for the residents during their tour of the islands (Sandwich, Cook, Society) of the South Pacific.
The island seems an idyllic paradise; however, it is an island pulled between two factions. The left half's population is led by Jem Tankerdon and is known as the Larboardites. The right half's population is led by Nat Coverley and is known as the Starboardites.
The company that created the island goes bankrupt, but the rich individuals on board buy it out. And initially they continue to accept the leadership of the man appointed by the company.
Various obstacles encountered on their journey, But things get serious when the original commander is killed, and the two faction leaders each want to succeed. They try to coopt a former king as a compromise candidate, but he refuses. This threatens the future of the island itself.
English versions
In October, 1896, Sampson Low (London) published the novel as The Floating Island, or The Pearl of the Pacific, translated by W. J. Gordon, with 80 illustrations. While Gordon was an accomplished translator, boy's author, and literary figure with an accurate translation of Verne's The Giant Raft to his credit, the dark social commentary of Propeller Island did not sit well with his publishers, and numerous alterations in the text were made. As Arthur B. Evans notes:
References
- ↑ Canavan, Gerry (2018). The Cambridge History of Science Fiction. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-31-669437-4
- ↑ Evans, Arthur B. (March 2005). "Jules Verne's English Translations". Science Fiction Studies. 1. XXXII (95): 80–104. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
- ↑ Marie-Thérèse Noiset (2015). "Translator's Note". The Self-Propelled Island. University of Nebraska Press. p. xxi. ISBN 978-0-8032-4582-2.
- ↑ M.A. Orthofer. "The Self-Propelled Island by Jules Verne". Complete Review. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
- ↑ Arthur Bruce Evans (November 2015). "Culminating a Decade of Scholarship on Jules Verne". Science Fiction Studies. 42 (3): 560–61.
