Vern's Four Great Science Fiction Masterpieces - The Mysterious Island (Illustrated Edition)

Author: Jules Verne (France), translated by Zhou Wenjun
Publisher:
Publishing Date: Not available
Features: They are like seeds in my mind, and with just a gentle breeze, a ray of sunlight, and a drop of spring rain, they can grow and bloom into flowers. Verne was an excellent popular fiction writer, possessing the ability to make his imagination tangible, with a sense that conveys a certain human passion from ordinary literature. Verne's works are filled with knowledge, but he himself was a cosmic mystic, holding a mysterious reverence for the world. In his novels, there are sometimes insufficiently profound reflections and often repeated themes. Overall, Verne's attempts remain great. Although he wrote about ordinary small things, his works still leave us deeply moved. In 1884, the Pope said when meeting Verne, "I am not unaware of the scientific value of your works, but what I cherish most are their purity, moral value, and spiritual strength."
The "Earth Village" book series by Zhongshu Publishing emphasizes authenticity, with all translations directly from the original works of the authors in their native languages, and wherever possible, original illustrations are used. For illustrations that absolutely need to be redrawn, invitations are extended to contemporary China's most outstanding painters to create them. The "Earth Village" book series features standardized bindings, with both large 32-page hardcover and paperback versions published, along with beautifully designed slipcases. It is both a grand series of books and a collection of standalone volumes.
In The Mysterious Island, the protagonists include an engineer, a journalist, a sailor, a Black person, and a child, each representing different strata of human society. They encounter danger in a balloon; these aerial survivors are indeed victims who have struggled hard to reach a deserted island, with their entire livelihood depending solely on the island. Therefore, they must rely on their own ingenuity. They possess perseverance and a social concept that binds them closely together. This small group, struggling for the most basic necessities of life, thus regresses to the Stone Age. Fortunately, one of the survivors, the engineer Cyrus Smith, the accumulated knowledge of humanity. He first made a lens from two watch glasses to start a fire. He systematically mapped the terrain of the deserted island and named it Lincoln Island. He crafted bows and arrows for hunting. After discovering clay, several metal ores, and coal, he built a furnace, then a blast furnace, and finally smelted steel, using it to manufacture the first set of tools. After extensive repeated experiments, he successfully obtained several chemical products, especially nitroglycerin; he used this powerful explosive to blast a granite hill to divert the lake water from the other side. Upon entering the lake through the old overflow channel, the engineer discovered a spacious cave, which was connected to the sea and continuously filled with seawater. The resourceful survivors transformed this cave into a rather comfortable and spacious dwelling; they even set up a simple ladder to reach the shore. They planted crops and built corrals on the island to protect the tamed livestock. They also constructed a telegraph to communicate between the settlement and the farmland.