Talk:The Mysterious Island

Comments

I am currently reading The Mysterious Island translation, copyright 1965, by Airmont Publishing Company printed as "complete and unabridged" in a 415-page paperback. It has an introduction by Raymond R. Canon and contains no illustrations except a line drawing of J.G.V. and color cover art of a submarine entering an island harbor with radar antenna installations on the shore and in the sea. It is listed as a Classics Series number CL-77 and is priced at 95 cents. I will compare some of this text to the original French publication and also give commentary on the Classics Illustrated Number 34 version of M.I., adapted by M. L. Stokes.IHSRC 00:01, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

Could this article please be rewritten by someone who has read the book? Otherwise it would better be deleted.

I agree. I read it (in Czech) when I was a child, but didn't make it through. I added something what I remember about it, not very much. I have also changed the names to Cyrus Smith and Nab (they also used this names in my translation), and changed the title of the article about Cyrus Smith to this name (I don't know where the name "Harding" comes from). Samohyl Jan 11:39, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I'll be working on it a little bit, notably (but not limited to) scanning images from the book. I have already removed the end of the article, which must have come from some soapy adaptation -- certainly not from the book. Rama 23:20, 22 Feb 2005 (UTC)

What do people think about the name of Herbert / Harbert? Apparently it was Harbert in French, but has always been translated to Herbert for publication in English. Which should we use? --Apyule 02:30, 24 May 2005 (UTC)

At least we can be happy that the name is easy to recognize. Since this is the English-speaking Wikipedia, I would tend to favour using the English version, possibly with a footnote. Rama 06:03, 24 May 2005 (UTC)

I agree, so I added footnotes about the names. But there is still mystery left: In both editions from Gutenberg project, Pencroft is named Pencroff; but Pencroft seems to be common on IMDB pages etc. Rama, could you please check the original book? Samohyl Jan 11:14, 24 May 2005 (UTC)

There needs be no discussion about the names etc. The definitive translations of MI have only recently been published in 2001. I have placed the online reference to the translation of Sidney Kravitz in the External Links section. All previoius translations to 2001 were corrupted or abridged versions. They do not need to be referred to any more except as old obsolete versions. The introduction to this volume is also online in the external links section written by William Butcher noted Verne scholar. Those editing this article should read these things before arbitrarily deleting valuable information. Someone should read all of this introduction (over 30 pages) and then rewrite the main article using the latest critical information included in Wm Butchere "Introduction". (Varnesavant (talk) 15:29, 4 April 2009 (UTC))

Not steampunk

The book and movie were made prior to the genre and therefore can only be seen as a precursor to the genre and not affiliated within the same category as other works of fiction that fit the genre. This can be further explained with the purpose that Mteropolis and Brazil have not been listed either as cyberpunk works, but as precursos. 82.155.15.197 17:55, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Movie adaptations

Should there be any mention of the fact that the 1961, and especially, 2005 movies have very little to do with the book (as in, major female characters, strange creatures on the island, military man being the leader as opposed to a scientist, nothing whatsoever about the science vs. nature for survival stuff that made the book what it was, and continued to establish Verne as proponent of science)?? Something along the line of, "a very loose adaptation in the horro genre--Knyazhna 06:54, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

I agree. Why not? Tavilis 10:49, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

Cyrus Harding is a military man. Maybe if you had paid closer attention, you would see that they refer to him as 'Captain' (his rank in the Union Army during the Civil War) (User:138.89.111.65) 9 June 2006

Why be snarky? I've read this book maybe 30 times, it's one of my favorites. a) Just because somebody has a rank in the army, doesn't mean that they are really "military" in the common sense of the word. Engineers get ranks, quartermeisters get ranks, etc. b) Even if Cyrus was a true military man, it's not the role that he plays in the novel, not the predominant feature of his character.Knyazhna (talk) 07:30, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

There is also a film "based on the novel" "The Mysterious Island" (1975), an 49 min. animation[1]. There is too little about it to tell how close it comes to the book, so I let it out of the novel article. Hoverfish 13:25, 14 October 2006 (UTC)

LOST Producers do (loosely) acknowledge this book

Cripes people. Please remove that quote about LOST, they have actually admitted borrowing from jules verne, as well as a variety of other sources.

Lost may be influenced by Verne's book, but it is not a TV adaptation per se. There's no Nautilus, no Captain Nemo and so on. The reference about Lost is more suitable to "Other references" subarticle. Tavilis 07:18, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

Building site of the Nautilus.

While many fans believe that Lincoln Island was the original building site for the Nautilus, this theory isn't really borne out by the text of the novel. In Nemo's account of his story we are told "On a deserted island in the Pacific he built a shipyard and there a submarine vessel was constructed," but the island is not identified as Lincoln Island. Later we are told "Alone [Nemo] succeeded in bringing his Nautilus to one of the submarine ports which he used at times. One of these ports was hollowed out under Lincoln Island and it was this one which was now giving asylum to the Nautilus."

So Lincoln Island was just one of the Nautilus's secret underground harbours (we see another one, in the Atlantic, in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas.)

If Lincoln Island had been the site of Nemo's original shipyard, some remains of it would have survived to be found by Smith and his companions. Don Sample 23:12, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

I see no reason why there sould have been remains. Captain Nemo says himself that he burned and destroyed everything (I don't remember if he tells that to professor Aronax or to the colonists). He would have blown up the whole island if he had been able to do so. The forest would have quickly destoyed that little what fire left behind. And there was over fifteen years between building of Nautilus and the events of The Mysterious Island. As you can see I am one of those fans who think Nautilus was build on Lincoln Island...Dionne Jinn 11:24, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

Building the Nautilus was not a small undertaking, that could be done in a few wooden buildings. It would have required a very large infrastructure, a lot of heavy machinery, accommodations for dozens of workers, and so on. Even if he burned the buildings, the foundations would remain. Lincoln Island wasn't covered in tropical jungle, it was temperate forest. It takes a lot longer than 15 years for it to erase all signs of even simple wooden buildings, even if they have already been burned down. Don Sample 22:07, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

In the book the colonists go to Tabor Island where Ayrton lives. It takes effort to find any trace of human presence on the island and Ayrton only stopped taking care of his surroundings about ten years earlier. And Tabor Island is even further south than Lincoln Island. Ayrton had not tried to destroy the buildings but they were still very hard to find after less than ten years when the colonists visited the island. Dionne Jinn 08:42, 12 September 2007 (UTC)

They found the cabin on Tabor Island in less than a day of looking. They spent years on Lincoln Island without finding any sign that it had once been inhabited. And pretty much the only place on that island that it would have been practical to set up the large settlement and shipyard needed for building the Nautilus was right where the colonists established themselves. Don Sample 22:23, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

A leaden bullet

Does anybody know where came that leaden bullet that broke Pencroft's tooth? That bullet is the most mysterious thing in the Island! Everything else is explained as captain Nemo's doing BUT captain Nemo didn't hunt on land nor did he use normal firearms! He preferred to hunt underwater and use glass and mercury bullets loaded with electricity. I cannot see him hunting peccaries with a rifle or a shotgun.

Any good ideas? Dionne Jinn 07:23, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Nemo had regular firearms, he supplied the colonists with some. He might have done some hunting on land, just for a change of scenery, or menu. Those electric bullets of his couldn't be that easy to replace, he may have saved them for special occasions. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Don Sample (talk • contribs) 06:24, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

I think Verne is messing with us, he wants us to connect the dots and find some mystery even after "all" is explained. Clemonsjw (talk) 16:57, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

Pencroft's first name

I believe that I saw his first name somewhere in the book...It stated that it was "John", or something along the lines of that. I don't remember the exact location I found it, but it was before page 500, out of a 600 paged book... Can someone verify if this is true or not? Thanks :) James chen0 01:41, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

His first name seems to have been "Bonadventure." From Chapter XII of Part II:

To satisfy Captain Pencroff, it was first necessary to give the boat a name and after several proposals discussed at length, the voters agreed on that of Bonadventure which was the baptismal name of the honest sailor.

I did a search of the text, and only found 5 references to people named "John", none of whom were Pencroff. (Electronic copies of all of Verne's books are available from http://jv.gilead.org.il) Don Sample 08:21, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

I thought at some point he said "Or my name isn't James Pencroft!" or something to that effect. Either way, I remember hearing the name James. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.153.247.46 (talk) 14:40, 5 January 2009 (UTC)

Here's what he actually said. I looked for James or John, but found nothing.

"However that may be," said the sailor, "as sure as my name is Bonadventure Pencroft, of the Vineyard, our 'Bonadventure' has sailed without us!" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.153.247.46 (talk) 14:52, 5 January 2009 (UTC)

Map for English-speaking readers

[To avoid any conflict of interest, I'm suggesting this here rather than making the change myself]

I think a map of the island in English should be offered. (The map of mysterious island included in this article is in French.) I know that there is a map online that is in English, but which can't be included in this article because it's not public domain - so I think it should be offered in the External Links section of the article.

(The map's webpage includes a bigger jpeg version of the map, and also a link to a place which will sell a paper print of the map. However I don't see the presence of that link as making the page primarily commercial, or reducing its usefulness to readers of this article - the digital version of the map is there for everyone.)

URL: http://home.earthlink.net/~stuff.tm/mysteriousmap/ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.112.29.209 (talk) 00:58, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Jordan Stump's translation has the map of Lincoln Island in English. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.29.81.179 (talk) 00:43, 12 September 2009 (UTC)

Sequel?

Hello,

The Mysterious Island is not a sequel of In Search of the Castaways, although there are some similarities, and even less of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Yann (talk) 17:07, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Template

I think there should be a template because the article is costing possible spoilers(about capt,nemo's death)

Spoiler note

The fact that the article tells us the solution to the mystery of the island, is itself a spoiler. I took the liberty of adding a "spoiler" note to the "plot" section.

The article as it stands now, by the way, is quite accurate to the book. Tom71.29.81.179 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 00:45, 12 September 2009 (UTC).

Cyrus Smith vs Harding

I do not know which name is more accurate but until someone finds out, I have taken the liberty of adding the "(named Cyrus Smith in some English translations)" to the description of the character in the plot. Before this he was only referred to as "Harding" and in the caption of the final picture of the article he was "Smith", which confused me. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 190.234.253.3 (talk) 17:29, 13 February 2010 (UTC) Sorry, it is me again... I forgot to sign! --190.234.253.3 (talk) 17:38, 13 February 2010 (UTC)Arturo (unfortunately not signed in)

Original names

Jules Verne's original names for the characters, and the changes in some English versions, are as follows:

The character whom Verne calls Cyrus Smith is sometimes called Captain Cyrus Harding in English translation; Verne's Harbert is sometimes changed to Herbert; his Pencroff is sometimes changed to Pencroft; and his Gedeon Spillet (with acute accent over the first e) is almost always called Gideon Spillet in English versions. The name of the orangutan, Jupiter, is shortened to Jup, but it's spelled "Joop" in a recent translation.

I have edited the article to reflect this, and to call the characters what Verne calls them, except when explaining the changes. Tom

Comment moved from article

Following is a comment by an anon IP that was left on the main article in good faith:

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==Review of the Infprmation Given== Stars: 5 out of 5

It was very interesting reading about this review. I think it's great and I definitely want to now read this book. - 74.101.241.220 (talk - contribs)

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Glad to hear you enjoyed it. In the future, please refer to WP:TALK, or take a look at WP:WELCOME to get started on Wikipedia. Thanks! - I.M.S. (talk) 00:32, 25 February 2010 (UTC)

2010 movie adaptation

Actor Mark Sheppard is directing Jules Verne's Mysterious Island, an adaptation of the novel being filmed in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, area in August 2010. When sufficient reliable sources are available, an article should be created to cover this adaptations. - Dravecky (talk) 11:54, 3 August 2010 (UTC)

File:Mysterious island Lincoln Island.jpg Nominated for speedy Deletion

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Not Lincoln Island, But a "Floating" Phenomenon

What has always confused me from the time I was a child and went ga-ga over Jules Verne's works was how the Union Soldiers were able to get from Virginia, USA, into the Pacific Ocean region. Impossible, even by the "Deux ex Machina" of a powerful hurricane. We all know that Mr. Verne has anathema for unfounded speculation into natural or scientific phenomenon, and as the "Jet-Stream" had not been discovered at that time (and again, impossible for anything as flimsy as a ballon to suvive in it), it is obvious that Jules wouldn't even entertain (as H.G. Wells freely did) the possiblity of the happless soldiers falling through a 'space warp'of the type gradually and teasingly described in "LOST". (How else can one explain making a perilous voyage of four-thousand miles or more, from the relative east coast of North America to well far out into the Pacific Ocean? It seems after many decades and adaptions of Verne's notion of a "mysterious" never-been charted islands in the later 19th. century (again a highly improbable notion), and numerous movie adaptions to boot, the Producers of "Lost" finally figured how to get from point "A" to "B"; By using a Mobius (S)trip! --67.86.107.30 (talk) 06:55, 22 September 2011 (UTC)Veryverser

Unrelated works

Should this article acknowledge the 1981 film Jules Verne's Mystery on Monster Island? It's a loose adaptation of Godfrey Morgan, but the title has led any number of reviewers (and no doubt some viewers) to think that it's an adaptation of this work. Could rate a mention in a "See also" section. Mackensen (talk) 11:51, 11 April 2018 (UTC)

Links to real-life islands

I can imagine other modern readers like me would come to Wikipedia in search of information about a possible real-life Lincoln Island and Tabor Island. So I have linked the text "unknown island" to an article on the Ernest Legouve Reef which is the closest we get to the real-life Lincoln Island. I in turn fleshed out that article. I also fleshed out the article that is linked to with the text "Tabor Island" which is about the Maria Theresa Reef. For this information, I relied on William Butcher's "Introduction" and footnotes to Sidney Kravitz's new unabridged translation of The Mysterious Island (Wesleyan University Press, 2001). Matt1618 (talk) 22:45, 14 December 2018 (UTC)