Jules Verne (1828-1905) was the first author to popularize the literary genre of science fiction. Written in 1898 and part of the author’s famous series Voyages Extraordinaires, The Mighty Orinoco tells the story of a young man’s search for his father along the then-uncharted Orinoco River of Venezuela. The text contains all the ingredients of a classic Verne scientific-adventure tale: exploration and discovery, humor and drama, dastardly villains and intrepid heroes, and a host of near-fatal encounters with crocodiles, jungle fever, Indians and outlaws — all set in a wonderfully exotic locale. The Mighty Orinoco also includes a unique twist that will appeal to feminists — readers will need to discover it for themselves. This Wesleyan edition features notes, and a critical introduction by renowned Verne scholar Walter James Miller, as well as reproductions of the illustrations from the original French edition.
CONTRIBUTORS: Walter James Miller, Stanford Luce, Arthur B. Evans.
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Inrtoduction
THE MIGHTY ORINOCO
PART ONE
M. Miguel and His Two Colleagues
Sergeant Martial and His Nephew
On Board the Simon Bolivar
First Encounter
The Maripare and the Gallinetta
Island after Island
Buena Vista at La Urbana
A Cloud of Dust on the Horizon
Three Boats Navigating Together
At the Mouth of the Meta
A Halt in the Village of Atures
A Few Observations by Germain Paterne
Respect for the Tapir
The Chubasco
San Fernando
PART TWO
A Few Words about the Past
The First Leg of the Journey
Two Days in Danaco
FInal Advice from Manuel Assomption
Beef Cows and Electric Eels
Terrible Fears
The Campsite near Maunoir Park
The Young Indian
Across the Sierra
The Ford of Frascaes
The Mission of Santa Juana
En Route
Two Months at the Mission
Au Revoir!
Notes
Bibliography
Jules Gabriel Verne: A Biography
About the Contributors
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Arthur B. Evans is an emeritus professor of French at De Pauw University and winner of the 2014 Cyrano prize for his scholarly contributions to the field of French science fiction. He has published numerous books and articles on Jules Verne and other early writers of French science fiction, serves as the managing editor of Science Fiction Studies and is the general editor of Wesleyan’s Early Classics of Science Fiction series.