Les Indes Noires
Book Review of the novel by Jules Verne
Different translations give this book very different titles — The Child of the Cavern, Strange Doings Underground, and The Underground City.
It’s disappointing, nowhere near as good as Verne’s classics (20,000 Leagues, Journey to the Center of Earth).
I read itin French as a language refresher in anticipation of trip to Paris next month. For that it was useful because of its relatively simple vocabulary and sentence structure. (I’m reminded that Jack London, Hemmingway, and Poe are very popular in France, probably for the same reason.)
The story takes place in a coal mine in Scotland, which turns out to be very different than what it seems. The best part is a scene in which a young woman who has spent her whole life underground sees dawn fo the first time. (around p. 186).
