Why did Verne (almost) never write about France?

[Ana Klimchynskaya]

Hello all! 

I think it is well-documented in Verne scholarship that Verne very rarely set the action in France in his Extraordinary Voyages, with many of his stories either circumnavigations or set in distant locales such as the U.S., Africa, etc. What I haven't come across is any explanations as to why. Why was Verne so hesitant to use France as a setting? I was particularly struck by this as I began rereading Around the World in 80 Days, which begins in London but utterly skips over Paris, going straight to Egypt and Suez. Certainly in that case Paris may have been a "difficult" setting, as Verne was writing in the midst/aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War and Commune. Yet that does not explain the hesitation in other novels...

I would love to hear your thoughts. 

Anastasia

[volker.dehs]

Verne wrote primarily for a french public (he had no influence on translations in other languages). France was simply not "extraordinary" or "unknown" enough for his readers, I guess. Certainly, there was no real taboo or special reason for him to avoid France. French history and themes were served with success in Hetzels publishing house by other authors like Erckmann and Chatrian. So, Vernes purpose was "out of France". Anyway, french characters and the "french view" are omnipresent in his Extraordinary Voyages.

[mken...@aol.com]

Hi Anastasia,

I guess the main reason is quite simple. France would not have been Extraordinary, or extraordinary enough, and France would not have been a Voyage

…

now Volker has posted, and I fully agree with him, obviously

…

France would not have been a Voyage because he was already there :) ;)

Cheers,

Matthias

[Ron Miller]

While Verne is often described as a science fiction author, the science that seemed to fascinate him most was geography. All of his books take his readers to far-distant exotic corners of the world...far-distant and exotic, that is, to an audience that was largely largely French. A story taking place in France wouldn't have the same appeal to either Verne or his readers as, say, a story set in China, the Arctic, Africa, South America, the moon or under the sea.

R

On Mon, 22 Dec, 2025 at 2:03 PM, Ana Klimchynskaya <anaklimc...@gmail.com> wrote:

 

To: jules verne forum

Hello all! 

I think it is well-documented in Verne scholarship that Verne very rarely set the action in France in his Extraordinary Voyages, with many of his stories either circumnavigations or set in distant locales such as the U.S., Africa, etc. What I haven't come across is any explanations as to why. Why was Verne so hesitant to use France as a setting? I was particularly struck by this as I began rereading Around the World in 80 Days, which begins in London but utterly skips over Paris, going straight to Egypt and Suez. Certainly in that case Paris may have been a "difficult" setting, as Verne was writing in the midst/aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War and Commune. Yet that does not explain the hesitation in other novels...

I would love to hear your thoughts. 

Anastasia

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[Tad Davis]

This is a passage from Chapter 10 of William Butcher’s biography:

 

“The reason the publisher rejected many of Verne’s efforts seems to have little to do with their literary value, and more with his commercially-inspired decision to concentrate on a juvenile audience. He thus precluded contemporary reality or social commentary, including—surprising as it may seem—any depiction of France. Verne would be stuck in the genre of young people’s writing about foreign parts for life.”

 

This suggests that the limitation had as much to do with Hetzel as with Verne himself. 

— 
Tad Davis
tad.dav...@gmail.com

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[Don Sample]

I’ll add myself to the group of people whose opinion for the reason for the omission of France from taking a significant part in many of Verne’s stories is that he was writing about adventures in foreign places, (whether by his own choice, or his publisher’s) and France wasn’t.

I have no actual evidence to back up this opinion.

On Dec 22, 2025, at 5:20 PM, Tad Davis <tad.dav...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[William Butcher]

Verne very much enjoyed writing about Paris in Paris in the 20th Century. But his publisher Hetzel's reaction was so negative that he felt 'burnt', wanted to steer away from the subject. Also, throughout his career, Hetzel cut his comments on French society, politics, even culture at manuscript stage, so Verne felt freer to write his often acerbic commentaries  about other countries.

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From: jules-ve...@googlegroups.com <jules-ve...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Tad Davis <tad.dav...@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2025 6:19 AM
To: jules-ve...@googlegroups.com <jules-ve...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [JVF] Why did Verne (almost) never write about France?

 

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[quentin skrabec]

How about coincidence? or even better, much to do about nothing or maybe there was no underlying reason

would make a great article for Verninia right up there with the one about Verne predicting the appearance of Hitler

Quent