Product Description
Journey to the Impossible: Designing an Extraordinary Life, a Benjamin Franklin Award finalist, will take you wherever you want to go-over, under, around, and through any obstacles, challenges, and barriers to reach a life of indescribable fulfillment.
* Learn how to achieve impossible results in every area of your life.
* Unlock five magic words to transform your life.
* Discover how to master your health with six pure energy principles.
* Unravel the ultimate secret behind innovation.
* Master the power of Playful Defiance.
Short, simple chapters make it easy to absorb the information at your convenience.
Customer Reviews:
Required reading for everyone.......2003-02-11
I review many, many books each year and each year I find two or three that are so powerful that I find myself taking notes. "Journey to the Impossible" is one of these books. Read it, reread it, highlight it, take notes, do whatever you need to do to keep this information at hand while you use it to transform your life.
A lot of things are impossible only because we perceive them to be impossible. And yet others who don't see them that way achieve those same goals. Scott Jeffrey takes us on a wonderful journey to achieving the impossible every day. With short, easy to read chapters the book lends itself to reading a chapter whenever you get a few minutes. This is easily one of the most practical life-changing books that I have ever read. Bravo, Scott Jeffrey, I could not recommend the book more highly.
This book will get you moving!.......2002-03-27
Got dreams you haven't begun to put wings on? Got goals you have not yet achieved? Got plans for the future? Well, Scott Jeffrey's book has been a genuine inspiration to me, and I believe it will help you too. He gives you short, easy tips to implement, fun ways to motivate yourself, and a whole toolbox of ideas that will help you put wings on those dreams and reach those goals.
I have 4-5 favorite chapters that offered advice that has become part of my daily life, and even if those chapters are not your own favorites, I know every reader will find something that will speak to him or her personally. This is easily the best motivational book I've read in several years.
Something for EVERYbody!.......2002-03-20
The title got me excited -- and the rest of the book changed me. 'Journey to the Impossible' is full of useful, easy and practical ways to change your life and create something extraordinary.
The chapters are broken into bite-sized pieces, some only 2-3 pages long. This technique allowed me to easily take Scott's recommendations and apply them - instantly. I didn't need to learn a philosophy to begin practicing what Scott preaches, as I was able to digest every chapter quickly and see the effects of the excercise, thought process, etc. right away. This is a powerful difference between 'Journey' and many other books on the market right now. With the busy lives we lead, we need something that we can take in and integrate quickly and effectively. Scott Jeffrey's 'Journey' accomplishes this admirably.
Read and recommend this book to all you care about. This book brings home a strong message for those who want to lead the best life they possibly can...it is amazing how the power of a few words can change so much.
In all, a true pleasure to read and recommend!
Book Description
From war-torn Afghanistan, through the snow-capped Himalayas and across the burning sands of the Taklamakan desert, to a rapidly modernizing China and on to the Central American jungles: it is an impossible journey, but one that Gary Geddes eagerly undertook in order to retrace the voyage of the legendary 5th-century Buddhist monk Huishen. Geddes was long fascinated with stories of Huishen’s life and travels: this Afghan holy man fled Kabul for China and may have crossed the Pacific to North America 1,000 years before Columbus.
The length and breadth of this expedition, and its difficulty, would have been amazing enough on its own, but Geddes’s trip takes on an added dimension and poignancy due to its timing: he reaches Afghanistan one month before September 11, 2001 and arrives in China as the tragic events unfold.
Along the way, Geddes encounters Afghan refugees, Pakistani dissidents, Tibetan monks, Buddhist scholars, a KFC outlet in Luoyang, mysterious cairns in Haida Gwaii, and ghostly remains in Mexico. As the Silk Road morphs into superhighways, ancient sculptures turn into military targets, Geddes glimpses, in the collision of past and present history, important clues for imagining a workable future.
Customer Reviews:
Bad Company.......2007-08-02
The premise of this book is wonderful - tracing the path of a Buddhist monk who is reputed to have traveled from Afghanistan, across China, and on to the Amreicas in the 5th century. One might expect, at the least, that a poet writing about his travels would produce a book that would have beautiful descriptions of people, places and things. At best, one could hope for exploration of insights and thoughts about what it is to be a traveler - actually and metaphorically, and speculation about the spiritual import of such a journey.
Unfortunately, what we get in this book is a collection of places vaguely described by a depressed man who spends most of his time writing about himself and his reaction to the places so ill-described. Frankly, this self-described "grumpy" man is not very good company for this trip, and all we are left with is a sense of trip of wonderful possibilities unrealized. The only thing impossible about this journey is the writer.
A Passionate, Engaging Journey.......2005-03-12
Explore Gary Geddes' emotionally charged, spiritual terrain with him as he passionately traces the pre-Columbian steps of Afghan monk, Huishen, to North America. The compelling poetic prose, humorous at times, subtly reveals much about the political concerns of China, the Middle East, and Central America while transporting the reader into a significant adventure that is both history lesson and pure escapism. Comparatively, think about doing the dishes while singing along to Bob Marley's "One Love/People Get Ready." It's at once engaging and liberating.
Customer Reviews:
Start with this book to understand the Yugoslavian conflict.......2006-01-15
This is my choice for the best introduction to the conflicts in what was Yugoslavian. When I was hosting an exchange student from the Balkans, I read 15 books in an effort to gain understanding. I was frustrated with blatantly one-sided books, and also books which had all the names, dates and horrors but did not help me understand. Hall's book was the best. While I will never truly understand the roots of the hatred, this thoughtful and amazingly non-partisan book opened windows for an uninvolved American into the psyches of that troubled region. I wish I had read it first.
Good intro to the Former Yugoslavia.......2004-02-26
This book is a very good introduction to most of the regions/republics which comprised Yugoslavia. The author is not a great writer or a fantastic historian, but he has created an extremely readable book which introduces the reader to many of the conflicts inherent in Yugoslavia and which caused its demise. The things I read in this book are supported by other works I have read (written after Hall's book) by scholars and Jugoslavian authors such as Slavenka Drakulic. I feel that this book better explains (to the casual reader) Jugoslavia's problems than does 'Balkan Ghosts' or other popular books I've read on the subject. I really enjoyed this book and think it is worth the purchase price for anyone interested in the current Balkan situation. Just about anyone can enjoy this book.
Middle Ground.......2000-05-25
I read Brian Hall's account of the Balkan conflict while in Zagreb on a language immersion program. I was incredibly impressed by his ability to give a balanced view on this incredibly difficult land. I felt his astute observations made it easier for me to remain neutral in my views and perceptions of the land, people and complicated situation. I was surrounded by ultra-nationalists, and honestly did not meet a single person in Croatia that could look at their role objectively. Brian Hall's insights helped me to step back and view the situation with a completely different outlook.
Balanced observations on an unbalanced land.......2000-01-09
Brian Hall knows there is no reasonable way to explain what happened in Yugoslavia, so he doesn't even try, at least not in this exciting if somber travelogue. What he does do is travel extensively in that country and engage in conversation with all sorts of people, many of them journalists who themselves are trying to figure out what is going on politically in their own country. Apart from a few wry comments and astute observations on some of the more glaring inanities and venalities he encounters, Hall refrains from expressing his own opinions, prefering to let his several interlocutors express the truth in their own words and ways. The difficulty is that there are several truths here, or versions of it. Croatians are Catholic and they think they hate the Serbs because they are Orthodox. They are unable to admit they hate Serbs because they feel dominated by Belgrade. On the other hand, Serbs think they despise Croatians because they are Catholics and because Croatians helped the Nazis when they came calling. They can't admit to a certain envy of Croatia's Western orientation. An underlying philosophical theme of this book is 'attitude to truth.' South Slavic culture seems to believe that one can be in possession of the truth absolutely and for all time. The idea of striking out independently and asking questions that might lead to more and more questions is simply not part of the Yugoslav mindset. Each group or 'republic' has its own view of reality and this is usually so out of sync with the rest of the country that there is no point in discussion or conversation. The only solution is force, or so each party thinks. If you can't make sense of your neighbor's point of view, kill him and his family and friends. This general outlook must have helped Milosevic in his sleazy rise to power. Most Yugoslavs, as Hall points out, believe that Serbian and Croatian are two distinct languages, which is completely at odds with what linguistics tells us. And then there is Bosnia and its overwhelmingly Muslim population, unloved by both the Croatians and the Serbs. In hindsight, one shudders to think... The journey described in this book took place in 1991, when things were starting to heat up in the Balkans. Slovenia had just separated. The author shows how ominous things were at that point, how one didn't need much imagination to foresee what the unhappy future would hold, including the sad Kosovo events. Hall has done a masterful job of describing Yugoslavia on the verge of disintegration. He includes excellent descriptions of buildings and landscapes, but his more important work is reporting on the interviews he conducted with real people in real situations of frustration, danger, and sometimes despair. Now that the NATO bombing of Serbia and Kosovo is just a puzzling memory, we should all go and read a lot of books that show how and why all that came about. Of all such books, this is one of the best I know of.
Superb understanding of ethnic animosity.......1999-10-14
Brian Hall has really open my eyes in understanding what triggers the Balkan war ie suspicious, revenge, fear, not understanding and non-tolerance among the ethnic. These are the traits that usually leads to a disaster, no matter which part of world you live in.
Average customer rating:
- My daughter loved it and lent it to her friends
- An exciting adventure set during 1930s Soviet Russia.
- THe Impossible Journey
- The journey of Georgi and Marya in, The Impossible Journey.
- A Beautiful Story
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The Impossible Journey
Gloria Whelan
Manufacturer: HarperTrophy
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Angel on the Square
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Burying the Sun
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The Turning
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Listening for Lions
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Homeless Bird
ASIN: 0064410838
Release Date: 2004-04-13 |
Book Description
From National Book Award winner Gloria Whelan comes the remarkable continuation of her Russian series.
With her signature spare language and luminescent detail, award–winning author Gloria Whelan delivers the gripping companion novel to her Russian saga, Angel on the Square.
One night in 1934, Marya and Georgi's parent's disappear. The children, alone and desperate, fear the worst. But one crumpled letter gives the children hope and sends them on a difficult mission : to escape the city and find passage to the great Siberian wilderness. This is the story of their journey, one both perilous and transforming.
Ages 10+
Customer Reviews:
My daughter loved it and lent it to her friends.......2007-01-20
Our family recently returned from an extended stay in Russia. My 11-year old has read all of the books in this series and loves the link to Russian history and the characters of the children in the books.
An exciting adventure set during 1930s Soviet Russia........2006-06-27
This is the story of a young girl who drags her younger brother from St. Petersburg Russia to an outpost in Siberia in an attempt to reunite with their exiled mother; exiled by the secret police to this far-away place. First they journey by train, then by river, and finally by an even more unusual method. Their father, by the way, had been arrested by Soviet police officers and sent away as well, but his destination couldn't be determined by the children; whereas they were able to learn their mother's whereabouts. This book thus is a grand adventure story (written for young readers), but interesting on another level as well. For the book does provide a semblence of what life was like in the Soviet Russia, and provides a window into that society wherein people were arrested for no reason in the dead of night, seemingly at random, just to keep the citizens of the country passive & afraid. Moreover, the (limited) historical details presented herein are actually factual so those unfamilar with the events of this era will learn a few things. One character in the book helpfully explains a parable within this story of how a bear gets upstaged by a younger, quicker one. "When you make our leader look weak you put all of us in danger." Substitute these bears for the leader of Soviet Russia and the Communist Party chief at the time of the city of St. Petersburg (then called Leningrad) and you have the basis for this novel. A charismatic man by the name of Sergei Kirov was the city chief & the person who was apprehensive of this growing ever-more-popular person was dictator Josef Stalin. A character within the story herein classifies real-life Kirov as "our best hope," but it isn't to be as Kirov is gunned down in cold blood in 1934 (The world-famous Kirov Ballet company is named after this man, incidentially). Historians (in particular, Amy Knight & Robert Conquest) have persuasively shown how Stalin himself was behind this murder; to remove a potential rival in the making. Stalin then used this incident as an excuse to crack down on all potential Kirov sympathizers to consolidate his (Stalin's) own hold on power (since there weren't elections in Soviet Russia & a leader could only be forced out by those around him). "It's people like you," a politcal official thus tells an arrested citizen "who are responsible for Kirov's murder." And it was people like that who were arrested and sent off to God knows where---like the parents of the children of this story---traumatizing people far and wide across the Soviet Union so that leaders like Stalin who ran the country from Moscow could continue to do so as they liked. The Soviet Union/ USSR no longer exists, of course, but the legacy of Communist leaders such as Stalin still does linger over Russia even now as it tries to put the nightmare of Communism behind it. And this short entertaining book is a fine introduction to that era for young readers. (06Jun) Cheers!
THe Impossible Journey.......2006-02-07
In this book, Marya and Georgi are out on an exciting adventure. Their Parents were arrested after the assassination of the Russian president. On their long adventure they come across some wild animals and an Indian tribe. Will they find their Mama? Will they finds their Papa? Will they survive? Find out in The Impossible Journey. This book is great for the whole family. You will enjoy it.
The journey of Georgi and Marya in, The Impossible Journey........2005-10-20
In this book Georgi and Marya start to search for their parents. They head to a train station where they buy train tickets with the money Marya earned from her paintings and other art work. The train takes them to Moscow and then they get on another train at the Trans-Siberian Railroad. On the train a man with two children tell them his name is Mr. Globov. His wife's name is Olga and his kids names are Nikolai and Yuri. Soon the man finds out that they are trying to find their parents and they don't have passports.. So the family takes them in and helps them by claiming them as their kids on their family passport. Once they get off the train they have to cross the Yenisey River. Once they pass the river Marya and Georgi go to a shop there Georgi gets a globe with a cottage and snow in it.They get a ride from a man with a boat. He says he will take them to a village but instead he takes them to his cottage. Finally his wife helps them excape. However, before they left the man tought Georgi how to fish and went on walks and discovered a lot of good creations. Meanwhile, everyday of the journey Marya put a twig in her pocket and later counted them up after they got to their destination.
A Beautiful Story.......2005-10-02
For people who liked The Angel in the Square, by: Gloria Whelan, you will really like this. Misha and Katya are now married with children, Mayra and Geogi. One night Mayra's parents are arrested. Katya is sent to Siberia and Misha is sent to a coal mine. Mayra dreams of finding her parents. After almost half a year of saving her money, she has enough to make the trip. Marya and her brother stuggle in the wilderness to stay alive. When all hope is almost lost special friends are made. Yet winter is coming, will they survive? It brought tears to my eyes at the how much these girls loved their mother and father.
Book Description
In August 2002, Mike Horn set out on a mission that bordered on the impossible: to travel 12,000 miles around the globe at the Arctic Circle - alone, against all prevailing winds and currents, and without motorized transportation.
This is the gripping account of Horn's gruelling 27-month expedition by sail and by foot through extreme Arctic conditions that nearly cost him his life on numerous occasions. Enduring temperatures that ranged to as low as -95 degrees Fahrenheit, Horn battled hazards including shifting and unstable ice that gave way and plunged him into frigid waters, encounters with polar bears so close that he felt their breath on his face, severe frostbite in his fingers, and a fire that destroyed all of his equipment and nearly burned him alive.
Complementing the sheer adrenaline of Horn's narrative are the isolated but touching human encounters the adventurer has with the hardy individuals who inhabit one of the remotest corners of the earth. From an Inuit who teaches him how to build an igloo to an elderly Russian left behind when the Soviets evacuated his remote Arctic town, Horn finds comaraderie, kindness, and assistance to help him survive the most unforgiving conditions.
This awe-inspiring account is a page-turner in the vein of Jon Krakauer and a Arctic survival tale rivaling Jack London. Most of all, it's a testament to one man’s unrelenting desire to push the boundaries of human endurance.
Customer Reviews:
Greatest, Most Unbelievable Story.......2007-09-06
First off, this book caught my interest because I recognized Mike's name from a National Geographic article about Mike Horn & Borge Ousland's un-supported trip to the North Pole, on foot. This book is absolutely INCREDIBLE!
You get the man who experienced these things telling you about his own daily adventures around the top of the world. This book reads like the most epic, survival adventure you'd find in any fiction or movie. Except it really happened.
Mike Horn's journey takes you across Greenland, Canada, and of course northern Siberia. He faces nightmare situations repeatedly. More than 100 degrees below zero, he's done it. More than 70 mph winds, done that too. Tent catches on fire, in the Arctic, yeah, done that too. Sleeping on a frozen lake, with wolves clawing at the thin wooden door that's the only thing separating your guts from being dinner, check. Playing a game of "chicken" with a bear. Playing a game of chicken with Russian border guards. Yep!(I think he preffered the bear.)
You really get to know this man through his journey, as he gets to know himself better. His conflict with not wanting to leave his family, especially his daughters, for 2 whole years, versus his need to go and push his own limits. He plays out a conflict that I know burns within each of us. Some more so than others. It's something that I know I feel as well. I have gotten to know man better as well, as a result of reading this book... mankind that is.
I also learned interesting things about the cold and what it does to things like whiskey, and various materials that are used to make products for cold weather, and why so many of them are inadequate for such cold traveling as Mike did. Also, why do you want loose clothing for such a journey instead of tight, something Roald Amundsen knew as well. Oh, and a vital use for snot in such extreme conditions.
Once you start, you can't put this book down until Mike reaches his next stop, the next town, the nexr Radar shack, whatever that next bastion of safety from the cold is. Then you can relent, as does he. Then you can continue the next time, as he will the next morning. It's as though you're there with him, needing him to make it, so you can too.
A timeless journey.......2007-06-13
This book details explorer Mike Horn's 2 year journey, all 12,000 miles of it, along the Arctic circle, in incredibly harsh conditions. I found it enthralling, fascinating and inspiring.
How do you travel solo in temperatures often 50 degrees below where perhaps noone has ever been before? For weeks on end? In case you're interested, you'll find a few tips here. Not least of his accomplishments is dealing with Russian bureaucacy as he travelled through northern Siberia, encountering deserted gulags and a town with only a single inhabitant. Brushes with polar bears, wolves, it's all here.
If you like adventure books, this is one that grabbed me and which I could not put down. Foremost, you'll feel the spirit of this man coming through. This is not someone else describing this mindblowing odyssey, it's the person who actually lived it. It was a privilege for me, an outdoors lover and Appalachian Trail hiker, to be able to share his journey. A possibly life-altering book.
Average customer rating:
- A great read.
- A Wonderful Book
- True life adventure at its very best!
- The book the reads itself
- Most wonderful adventure story I've read lately!
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Race to Freedom : A Tale of an Impossible Around the World Journey
Vladislav Murnikov
Manufacturer: 7 Seas Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0967665701 |
Book Description
When on September 2, 1989 sailing yacht FAZISI sailed off into the Whitbread Round the World Race, she became the first ever and the only boat from the former Soviet Union to enter one of the most challenging and prestigious endurance races on the planet. Built in the Soviet Union, equipped with Western sails, rig and electronics, sponsored by Pepsi-Cola International and co-skipperd by American Skip Novak, she was indeed an intriguing mix.
In the height of Michael Gorbachev's perestroika that not only changed Russia but also altered the entire order of the world, FAZISI with her international crew bravely challenging the most treacherous waters on the planet was, in a sense, like a proverbial dove sent into an uncertain future. Like perestroika itself, FAZISI was a bold experiment in survival... RACE TO FREEDOM by Vladislav Murnikov, FAZISI's project manager and designer, tells this incredible story firstnand.
Customer Reviews:
A great read........2000-11-08
This book combines Perfect Storm with Into Thin air. The story of how to beat the bureaucracy of the old Soviet system to get the project started; then handle the biggest challenge of raisng the capital to feed the machine,without knowing the capitalists system; to finally test Poseidon in the toughest sailing challenge on the planet!
A Wonderful Book.......2000-04-19
A good sailing story needs to be about more than simply sailing, and Vlad Murnikov's book "Race to Freedom" is just that kind of book. True, it's about sailing, in fact it's about one of the last great sailing adventures, the Whitbread Round the World Race, but it is much more than that. It's a personal story about Vlad's transition from life in communist Russia, to a life on the free streets of America. It's a story of hope and struggle and inspiration, perspiration and desperation, and through it all Vlad weaves the story of the first ever, and by happenstance, the last ever Soviet Whitbread entry. And who better to tell this wonderful story than the man who started it all. As Vlad tells it; "I was traveling through the night on a train from Moscow to ........... reading an outdated copy of Sail Magazine. I had found the magazine at a book store in Moscow. It was a rare find in those days, but lucky for me it was a bonus issue about the 1995/96 Whitbread race." As his train swayed across the dark landscape, a germ of an idea firmly planted itself in his resolve. Vlad vowed to field a Soviet entry in the next Whitbread race. It took a man a rare courage and blind optimism to think that he could pull it off, but once you have read "Race to Freedom," you will come to realize that Vlad is indeed a man of rare courage and unwavering optimism. How else could he have designed, built, found sponsorship and raced his yacht around the world at a time when the Soviet Union was barely learning to crawl into democracy and capitalism?
I have a personal affection for this book. Indeed I was lucky enough to be invited by Murnikov to race the first leg of the Whitbread on board the boat. I must admit to being surprised when Vlad leapt into the rubber dinghy moments before the start of the race, and waved us goodbye as we sailed over the horizon. I only discovered later that he was returning to shore to continue the never ending search for money, that ingredient key to any successful sailing campaign. It was this type of selfless determination (he would rather have been sailing than fund raising) that saw the Fazisi project through to the end and placed it squarely in the history books.
While the book takes the reader through the struggles of organizing a project of this scale, it also delights the reader with vivid descriptions of life on board and introduces them to the cast of colorful characters that made the trip happen. Their personal narratives are woven into the story and add depth and perspective. One of the most important figures is Vlad's wife Tatiana, without whose support the project would have faltered on the drawing board. She adds a chapter of her own to the book, and it is a beautifully written insight into her own personal misgivings about the campaign, and her voyage to freedom in the west. Vlad and Tatiana now live in the US, forsaking their homeland for pull of America and a life without limits. You will enjoy their story. It is told with candor and a hint of a Russian accent. Mostly you will be inspired to have adventures of your own, realizing that anything is possible if you just have the courage to dream.
True life adventure at its very best!.......2000-04-07
On September 2, 1989, the sailing yacht "Fazisi" launched into the Whitbread Round the World Race and nautical history. She became the first every (and only) boat from the former Soviet Union to enter one of the most challenging and prestigious endurance races the world has to offer. Built in the Soviet Union, equipped with Western sails, rig and electronics, sponsored by Pepsi-Cola International, and co-captained by Skip Novak, the Fazisi bravely challenged the most treacherous waters on the planet. Author Vladislav Murnikov was the Fazisi's project manger and designer, and tells this remarkable and memorable story from a firsthand, eyewitness perspective. Race To Freedom is highly recommended for readers who appreciate true life adventure at its very best.
The book the reads itself.......2000-03-21
It seems like I set this book on my table and the pages started to turn by themselves. The book disappeared: I fell into a world of history, courage and bold determination. I held on to my chair as Fazisi pounded the waves. I felt as if I were trying to break out of Russia. Not only is this book a great around-the-world-race story, but it is filled with history. Yes, the tale is impossible, but it happened. I purchased more and sent them to friends who can't stop thanking me.
Most wonderful adventure story I've read lately!.......2000-03-18
This is one great book that touches one deeply. Emotions, drama, adventure, extreme sailing, danger, travel all over the world, and on the top of it all, Russia and Russian life from the unusual prospective. It is hard to put this book aside, it is a great story. I recommend it highly!
Book Description
Here at last is the first complete edition and the first English translation of a surprising work by a tremendously popular French writer whose novels continue to delight readers and audiences nearly a century after his death.
Jules Verne (1828-1905), the most translated novelist in the world and best known for books such as TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA and AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS was also a prolific playwright. JOURNEY THROUGH THE IMPOSSIBLE, a play of fantasy and science fiction, ran 97 performances in Paris in 1882 and 1883. In three acts, the characters go first in the center of the earth, then under the sea, and finally to the planet "Altor." Characters from TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON, DOCTOR OX, and JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH appear again in JOURNEY THROUGH THE IMPOSSIBLE, including Captain Nemo, President Barbicane, Michel Ardan, Doctor Ox, and Professor Lidenbrock.
Verne wrote this play in the middle of his life, between his optimistic (science helps humanity and is good) and pessimistic (science is dangerous and bad) works; the play is a vehicle for Verne to ask himself and his readers whether science, technology, and the pursuit of knowledge are good or bad. He used the play to pose questions about life and wisdom that are still important to us today.
The script of the play was lost to Vernian scholars for almost a century, until the text was discovered in 1978 in the archives of the Censorship Office of the Third French Republic. This special edition of JOURNEY THROUGH THE IMPOSSIBLE includes several important features that will enhance the reader's appreciation for the play. Edward Baxter's compelling English translation is augmented by a revealing Introduction written by Jean-Michel Margot, president of the North American Jules Verne Society, which places the play in historical context and explains its importance to Verne's corpus. Detailed references and explanatory notes by Margot expand upon important terms and concepts in the play and provide additional insights into the author. Many wonderful illustrations from the original set designs and a reproduction of a page from a lost scene of the play combine with spectacular original illustrations by artist Roger Leyonmark created specifically for this edition of the work. Leyonmark's artistry will transport readers to the world of Jules Verne on stage.
Customer Reviews:
Jules Verne's Stage Play of Intergalactic Travel.......2003-06-20
Most science fiction fans think of Jules Verne as the "father" of the genre, but with a rather remote paternity, the genre's modern directions owing more to H.G. Wells. Verne would hardly be suspected of telling a story of cosmic travel to another planet in a distant galaxy. And yet that is among the destinations in this incredible play, staged to acclaim in France in 1882, then lost for over a century until the manuscript's rediscovery in a French archive. This is not only the first English translation, it is also the only version in any language that offers the complete text of the play. With it, and other recent Verne books discovered or translated for the first time, readers of today can gauge Verne's imagination far more accurately than those of the 19th or 20th century.
Verne's editor constantly rejected or toned down his true science fiction, compelling his most inventive author to remain largely earthbound. For instance, 1994 saw the first appearance of Paris in the 20th Century, a book rejected outright by Verne's publisher, who refused to sanction a dystopia set a century in the future. Similarly, Verne's publisher compelled his author to transform his voyage around the solar system on a comet in Hector Servadac into simply a "dream." Journey Through the Impossible goes even further, because Verne found an escape from his publisher's censorship by turning to the theater.
In Journey Through the Impossible Verne takes us to the center of the earth and under the sea, destinations from some of his most popular novels. In the underground realms dwell Troglodytes anticipating the Morlocks of Wells's The Time Machine. On board the submarine Nautilus, a visit is made to the city of Atlantis. The play includes appearances by many of the most famous characters from Verne's novels, including the diabolical scientist Doctor Ox and the Baltimore Gun Club that launched the first projectile to the moon. This time the Gun Club's giant cannon sends a capsule full of explorers to Altor, a newly-discovered distant planet with two sons.
Journey Through the Impossible is published in association with the North American Jules Verne Society, and includes a preface and footnotes by its president, Jean-Michel Margot, one of the leading authorities on Verne today. The background explains the play's many allusions and allows the reader to readily imagine how its presentation might have appeared. Further visual embellishment is provided by lavish illustrations, including several originals by Roger Leyonmark that evoke the style of the engravings that were a trademark of the early French editions of Verne's books. Edward Baxter, translator of the play, has already earned approbation for his previous translations of Verne into English, including several novels.
This is an incredible book, one that is full of both Verne's imagination and Vernian scholarship. It will forever change the way readers think of Verne, and will re-establish his foundation as the originator of modern science fiction.
Product Description
4 Books by Various Authors: 1) Another Season: A Coach's Story of Raising an Exceptional Son / 2) The Brooke Ellison Story : One Mother, One Daughter, One Journey / 3) Nothing is Impossible: Reflections on a New Life / 4) Down Syndrome: the Facts (Unboxed Set of Books on Special Needs), in either Hard or Softcover, (See Seller Condition Comments), Shipped in one package to
save on shipping costs.
Product Description
Archie Series,"It's A Scream"--" Impossible ,Journey"No.176,Sept.,No.178,December,1967,Archie Comic Publications Inc,IT IS 2 BOOKS.
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