Jules Verne: Bad Translations, "Extraordinary Voyages," and the Invention of Science Fiction

In this episode of pplpod, we dive 20,000 leagues into the life of Jules Verne, the French author who ranks as the second most-translated writer in the world, sandwiched between Agatha Christie and William Shakespeare. While often remembered as the "father of science fiction," we explore why Verne viewed himself as a man of letters and how his true literary legacy was obscured in the English-speaking world for decades.

Join us as we discuss:

From Law to Literature: How Verne defied his father's wish for him to become a lawyer, choosing instead to write plays and eventually the "Roman de la Science" (novel of science).
The Hetzel Era: The pivotal and sometimes contentious relationship with publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel, who launched the Voyages extraordinaires series but also sanitized Verne’s work—including altering the backstory of Captain Nemo to protect sales in Russia.
The Translation Trap: Why Anglophone readers have historically received "clunky" and butchered versions of his novels, leading to the misconception that Verne was merely a writer of simple children's books rather than a stylist.
The "Prophet" Myth: We debunk the idea that Verne was a technological psychic predicting the future, revealing how he was actually a diligent researcher who compiled vast amounts of data from the Bibliothèque nationale.
Tragedy and Influence: From the "Hermione complex" developed after a failed romance to the tragic 1886 incident where his nephew shot him, leaving him with a permanent limp.

Tune in to understand the man whose work inspired the Steampunk genre and why Ray Bradbury declared, "We are all, in one way or another, the children of Jules Verne".

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