Five weeks in balloon

Five weeks in balloon is a Romance of Jules Verne, published in 1863.

It is about one of the first novels of Jules Verne and he develops at it the “ingredients” of his work to come, interfering with skill a fertile intrigue in adventures and bounces all kinds and technical, geographical and historical descriptions. The book makes a good summary of explorations of the African continent, at that time still incompletely known of Europeans but furrowed by the explorers who want to discover the secrecies of them.

In little time success is complete. The book brings to Jules Verne abundance of cash and a contract with the publisher of Jules Hetzel which will publish several tens of its works during more than forty years.

The intrigue of the novel

Text not to be read if one wishes to preserve the intrigue A scientist, Samuel Ferguson, accompanied by his Joe servant and his friend Dick Kennedy undertakes to cross the African continent - then incompletely explored - using a balloon inflated to the Hydrogène. He indeed invented a device which, while avoiding to him losing gas or having to throw ballast to regulate its altitude, authorizes more the long voyages. This voyage is supposed to connect the explorations made by Burton and Speke in Eastern Africa to those of Heinrich Barth in the areas of the the Sahara and the Chad. Started from Zanzibar, the three aeronauts carry out indeed the crossing, at the price of thousand adventures at the end which they arrive at the Senegal before turning over in England where they receive an enthusiastic reception.

Topics approached in the novel

the exploration of unknown territories (context of the time of the drafting of the novel)
ethnological Study, made by Europeans, African populations
Speech on the races and the ethnos groups
the great role of the evangelization (in the character of the missionary lazarist)
ballooning and the invitation with the space voyage which the protagonists of this novel test (they pre-empt of this fact the cosmic tour of Of the Earth to the Moon )
the great atmospheric phenomena (like the episode of the rise of a tropical storm)
the phobia vernienne of gold (also perceptible in the gold Volcano )
Critical of slavery (in the evocation of Zanzibar and its “large market of the slaves”)

List characters

Sergeant Dufays
Lieutenant Dufraisse
Elspeth
Doctor Samuel Fergusson
Flippeau
Guillon
Dick Kennedy
Lebel
Lorois
Sir Francis M…
Mayor
the missionary lazarist
Pélissier
Captain Pennet
Rascagnet
Sign of vessel Rodamel
Joe Wilson, so known under the simple name of Joe

Science and anticipation

The novel is a pretext to expose knowledge of the time out of matter

of Aérostation, field where Jules Verne made work of anticipation
of geography of Africa.

External bonds

the book in integrality with the Association of the universal bibliophiles (ABU)
the book in integrality on Gallica
the book in integrality on Wikisource
This book under several formats on Ebooks free and free
Jules Verne, the man and ground. Mysterious geography of the Extraordinary Voyages: Analyzes novels of Jules Verne, including Five weeks in balloon. Test of (Lionel Dupuy)

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