The Children of Captain Grant. Literary work of the French writer Jules Verne . The novel began to be published in France in the magazine “Magasin d’Éducation et de Récréation” in 1865 and was completed in three volumes in 1868 .
Summary
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- 1 Synopsis
- 2 Characters
- 3 Linking to other arts
- 1 Lyric
- 2 Cinema
- 3 Television
- 4 External links
Synopsis
Cover of the first edition.
It is a fantastic novel that narrates the suffering and anguish of two very young brothers who go in search of their missing father, the victim of a shipwreck, turning the whole story around deciphering the message found in a bottle inside a shark and which is the origin of the trip. It is a reading full of adventure, intrigue, surprise, technical, geographical and historical descriptions. It is one of the few love stories that appear in Jules Verne’s novels. This is possibly due to a request when making the contract with the publisher of Pierre-Jules Hetzel. Scottish aristocrat Lord Edward Glenarvan and his wife Lady Elena were hunting sharks on a recreational trip off the Scottish coast, on a very luxurious yacht named Duncan with Captain Mangles and then hunting ashark and they open it, they discover a message inside a bottle thrown by Harry Grant, captain of the Britannia brig , which has been shipwrecked two years before ( 1862 ) along with two members of its crew.
The writing is composed of three parts in the English , German and French languages when joining the parts these were blurred by the water and they decide to translate it into a single language, French. The message is of help; Due to its state, it is incomplete and leaves between seeing that Captain Grant and two sailors of the Britannia were in the power of the Indians of Patagonia , what was very clear in the message were the 37th parallel coordinates.
They write an advertisement in a newspaper explaining that Captain Grant disappeared and they want to speak to a relative. After a few days, María and Roberto Grant, the captain’s children, arrive and set sail on the Duncan to go to Patagonia with the following crew: Captain Mangles, Major Mac-Nabbs, Lord Glenervan, Lady Elena, Maria Grant, Roberto Grant, Mr. Olvient cook. and the sailors.
Already on their way to Patagonia, in the middle of the sea they find a strange man on board who believed he was on a boat that would take him to the Indies, a very foolish but wise man, he explains to those present that he is a French geographer and His name is Santiago Paganel, initially they decided that they would leave him on the ground somewhere close to his destination, but he decided to accompany them on their adventures, giving up the trip he had planned to make due to his profession.
Patagonia extends through South America , in the territory of Argentina and Chile , they search those lands and have no news of Captain Grant, deciding to travel by land using what they knew with certainty from the message the 37th parallel. unforeseen situations.
Having been on the road for several days, they find a cabin on a mountain, there is a collapse and then they do not find Roberto, then they see that a crow caught him, he is saved by a shot fired by Talcave at the crow, a resident there decides to guide them through the Argentine Pampas; they run out of food and water and decide to separate into groups to go in search of a river. Roberto, Talcave and Glenveran, find the river, then they prepare dinner and at night Talcave hears noises, they are some wolves that are going to attack them, they start shooting at them and they run out of bullets, Roberto rides a horse called Tauka, the horse from Talcave reaches the other group and is saved, they follow the path and it begins to rain, a river overflows and they grab onto a tree and they all save themselves, they camp in that tree but a lightning strike that sets the tree on fire, they pretend to jump into the water But they cannot because there are alligators and crocodiles , then the tree is washed away by the water, as the alligators are burning they move away and they reach the mainland. They then find Talcave and continue the journey.
By not finding Captain Grant and due to a new interpretation of the message suggested by geographer Paganel, he points out that the Captain can be found in Australia . They arrive at the beach in Argentina and ride the Duncan to go to Australia to look for the captain but they decide to go through the Tristan de Acuña islands, without any results in the search they pass through the islands of Amsterdam.
Sailing again they are inserted by a hurricane that begins to damage and destroy the boat, they manage to get out of it and reach Australia. They arrive at a mill where they are assisted with horses, a cart and other animals to continue the journey. There was Ayrton the boatswain of the Britrania and according to him he woke up in Australia after the shipwreck. But they do not know that Ayrton is being wanted by the English authorities for belonging to a band of thieves in which he takes the nickname of Ben Joyce. Ayrton betrays the trust that the members of the expedition place in him and tries to take control of the Duncan yacht, but luck eludes him and his blow fails, thanks to the loyalty of the crew and an oversight by Santiago Paganel.
Taken prisoner on the Duncan, Ayrton offers Lord Glenarvan to give information on Captain Grant in exchange for being abandoned on a desert island, instead of being handed over to the English authorities, who could execute him. The Duncan then heads for Tabor Island (or Maria Teresa Reef), which happens to be the refuge of Captain Grant and the two surviving sailors from the disaster. The group returns to England , leaving Ayrton on the island to live among the beasts and thus regain his humanity. Ayrton’s character reappears in Jules Verne’s novel ” The Mysterious Island “, published in 1874.
Characters
- Harry Grant: captain of britannia Britannia.
- Lord Edward Glenarvan and Lady Elena: Scottish aristocrats who own the luxurious yacht named Duncan.
- Captain Mangles: Captain of the Duncan and participate in the search for Captain Grant.
- Mary Grant: daughter of Captain Harry Grant.
- Robert Grant: son of Captain Harry Grant
- Olvient: Duncan’s cook
- Santiago Paganel: wise geographer, but entertaining.
- Talcave: a native of Patagonia helps them throughout their journey.
- Ayrton: He was the boatswain of the Britannia but became a bandit with the nickname of Ben Joyce.
Link to other arts
Lyric
- 1877: “The nephews of Captain Grant. Zarzuela . Spain .
Libretto: Miguel Ramos Carrión Music: Manuel Fernández Caballero
Cinema
- 1913 : “The children of Captain Grant” (“Les enfants du capitaine Grant”). France .
- Production .: Henri Roussel.
- Script: Michel Verne.
- Director: Victorin-hippolyte Jasset, Henri Roussel.
- 1935 – 1936 : “Дети капитана Гранта” – “Dieti kapitana Granta”. Mosfilm. Soviet Union .
- Screenplay: Óleg Leónidov – Олег Леонидов.
- Address: Vladimir Vaynshtock (Weinstock) – Владимир Вайншток, ** David Gutman.
- 1962 : “The children of Captain Grant” (“In search of the Castaways”). Walt Disney . United States .
- Script: LowellS. Hawle.
- Director: Robert Stevenson.
- 1996 : “The Children of Captain Grant” – “Der Kinder des Kapitan Grant”. Co-production between Germany , Russia , Canada and the United States.
- Script: Paul Nicholas, Donovan Scott.
- Director: Donovan Scott.
TV
- 1970 : “The nephews of Captain Grant”. Version of the zarzuela of the same name. TVE. Spain.
- Direction: José Antonio Páramo.
- Actors: María Luisa Arias, Tania Ballester, Alberto Fernández, Mary González, Conchita Goyanes, Cris Huerta, Narciso Ibáñez Menta, Concha Márquez Piquer, Pedro Osinaga, Joaquín Pamplona, José María Prada, José Luis Sanjuán, Pastor Serrador, Fernando Sánchez Polack.
- Voices: Josefina Cubeiro, Mary Carmen Ramírez, Vicente Sardinero.
- Musical direction: Federico Moreno Torroba.
- 1985 : “В поисках капитана Гранта” – “V Poiskaj Kapitana Granta”. Miniseries. Co-production between the Soviet Union and Bulgaria .
