I have a love for old books, especially this style.  These kinds of stories have always intrigued me, they have always been mysterious and simple, old and new at the same time, these stories about science or technology, told from the point of view of someone who lived before many major scientific breakthroughs were made.  Jules Verne was an 1800s French author who is often said to have laid down the foundation for modern science fiction, along with H. G. Wells.  He wrote about submarines in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea before submarines were even invented, as well as a gun that delivered an electric shock (tasers!).  From the Earth to the Moon he wrote about the possibility of light-propelled spacecraft which are now in the process of being created (solar sails), as well as what we now have invented and call lunar modules that carry people to space.  And, in Journey to the Center of the Earth, he explored the possibility of reaching the core of our planet through networks of caves and tunnels.  And, even knowing the impossibility of such a feat now because of heat, magma, etc., reading this book I could almost believe it was possible.

While there is life there is hope.  I beg to assert…that as long as a man’s heart beats, as long as a man’s flesh quivers, I do not allow that a being gifted with thought can allow himself to despair.

Continue reading “‘Downward’; a Review of Journey to the Center of the Earth” →