Not as engaging as his other classics
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Mostly rather dull, lacking the sense of dynamism and adventure of Verne's other classics, at least until the final third of the novel when Captain Nicholls properly joins the plot as Michel Ardan's and Barbicane's antagonist. The early part of the book reads too much like a dry Victorian technical manual on casting cannons. I also find it difficult to get past the now ridiculous science.
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Verne the Master story teller
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I have recently started to read Verne's novels and have found them to be very entertaining indeed. Although From the Earth to the Moon is not perhaps as well written as Around the World In Eighty Days, or Twenty thousand Leagues Under The Sea, it is still worth dipping into. The characterisation is not brilliant, but the story itself is entertaining. Anyone who is a fan of the birth of science fiction as a genre should read this book.
Verne attempts to explain exactly how to send a group of men to the moon with scientific reasoning. It is fascinating reading about the various opinions that existed at the time regarding who inhabited the moon, what it was made of and various other strange questions that we take for granted nowadays.
The ending to the novel was not what I expected and should leave the reader satisfied. A charming read.
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A wildly entertaining story
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While I naturally have long admired Jules Verne for his outstanding scientific vision and prodigious talent as a writer, I really had no idea that he could also write in such an entertaining and humorous fashion as revealed in this short novel. My memories of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea consist to a large degree of stretches of pages devoted to pure scientific language that could be hard to get through, but this book is an easy read full of action and laugh-out-loud commentary. Don't get me wrong, though--the science is here, and Verne goes into a lot of details concerning the project from conception to reality, walking us through all of the steps involved in constructing the cannon and its projectile. Surely, though, Verne knew that the very idea of launching men to the moon via a superhuge cannon was not really an idea that could work; as such, he lets the story and especially his characterizations of the main players in the drama, take center stage over the science. What we end up with is a study of sorts of the American character, a tribute to the power of imagination and dreaming, the glorification of science, and a very funny story about some really amazing characters. I can not begin to relate the number of truly humorous anecdotes and observations filling the pages of this story. Barbicane, J. T. Maston, and Michel Ardan are quite memorable characters, and their acts and exploits will entertain you to no end. Verne introduces subtle but hilarious remarks and observations throughout the entire book that will make you laugh out loud. If the idea of hard scientific theorizing has scared you away from Verne, pick this book up and be wholly entertained. I would recommend, though, that you pick up a copy that also contains the sequel, Round the Moon. This first book essentially culminates in the firing of the men into space inside the projectile, and you will certainly want to read the story of what happens to the men afterward. I now have to find a copy of the second book, so I urge others to save yourselves time and buy both stories in one package.
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A captivating insight into fantasy spacetravel methods
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The gun club, famous for its revolutionary war machines finds itself without a war and turns its attentions to launching a manned projectile to the moon. An extraordinary tale with a strange twist towards the end.
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Excellent example of pragmatic use of knowledge of the time
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From the Earth to the Moon is an example of hard science fiction, were, as with all Jules Verne's works, the author takes the accepted scientific knowledge of the time, and extrapolates its use in a most real and convincing fashion. He also manages to bring human flaws, such as professional ambition and jealously, into the story. The very fact that the scientific knowledge used in this book is somewhat different from currently accepted knowledge, makes it all the more enjoyable as one discovers the elements the have been updated by discover and experiment. It also makes on wonder how much of our current accepted scientific knowledge will be proven wrong and superceded by newer theories.
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