Customer Reviews

Michael Strogoff Or, The Courier of the Czar

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Considered by many critics as Jules Verne's best novel, Michael Strogoff tells the tale of a brave courier for a Russian czar who sets off on an adventure in Siberia.

Michael Strogoff: The Courier of the Czar (French: Michel Strogoff) is a novel written by Jules Verne in 1876. It is considered one of Verne's best books by critics. Unlike some of Verne's other famous novels, it is not science fiction, but a scientific phenomenon is a plot device. The book has been adapted several times for films and cartoon series. (From Source: Wikipedia).

About the title - A "verst" is a unit of measure. If you read Michael Strogoff you will quickly become well versed in "versts" since Jules Verne uses the word on nearly every page of the novel!

Besides the minor annoyance with the use of the word "Verst", Michael Strogoff is a fine adventure novel/epic. While it should not be confused with Verne's typical works of science fiction it is an adventure epic.

Other reviewers have complained about Verne's character development, but Verne acknowledged throughout his career that he purposely skimped on character detail. If you want detailed characters read Henry James... the styles of the authors could not be any more different!

The writing style is a little sloppier than typical Verne (it appears to have been rushed and poorly edited) but it is passabe. However, Verne is rarely read for the simple appreciation of his wordmanship... and he will never be compared to his friend, Alexander Dumas.

Michael Strogoff is one Verne's better plots, while it is not the page turner of a "Mysterious Island" it is much better than some of his other lesser known works (Measuring the Meridian and "800 Leagues down the Amazon" come to mind).

Final verdict - it may take a little patience to get into "Michael Strogoff" but I have no hestitation in giving it a hearty recommendation.

Written in 1876, Michael Strogoff holds all the right traits of a good adventure book that will keep your toes even today while taking you to a far away land as well.

Despite other reviewers stating that this has been considered to be one of Verne's best, I did not find it so, and had a hard time reading it. It's hard to believe the author who wrote such sheer, unadulatered fun to read as "Around The World In 80 Days" also wrote this tedious Russian travelogue. Michael Strogoff is sent on a misssion by the Czar, from Moscow to Siberia, to deliver a message warning the Czar's brother of treason and invasion. Most of the novel is descriptions of the Russian countryside and small towns between Moscow and Siberia....there's a lot of countryside and a lot of small towns. Michael Strogoff faces some danger, but none of it struck me with the tension that Verne built and sustained with "Around The World". Possibly because there was so much countryside to slog through, in which nothing happened, unless you count getting severely bitten by mosquitos in a boggy area as an andventure or danger, and there were several pages devoted to insect bites in the bog. Not what I consider compelling adventure.

My take on it....boring! You'd have to be a die-hard Verne fan to take this one up and finish it. 3 stars only because it's Verne and I am a die-hard Verne fan. Had anybody else written this, I would have tossed it away before 1/4 of the way through, and rated it 2 stars for at least trying.

Like most adventure books, a strong force in Michael Strogoff is the force of love. Michael goes through all kinds of dangerous journeys only to be joined at the end with his love Nadia.

Verne wrote this novel on the basis of first-hand contemporary knowledge of the situation in Russia, which makes it of historical interest. As with many 19th century adventure novels, the plot is relatively naive by modern standards. I wouldn't spend a lot of time with this unless you are really interested in the novels of Jules Verne, or in 19th century Russia.

Although most of the science in them is rubbish, I prefer Verne's science fiction books but still, if you're a Jules Verne fan you'll find here what you like as well.