Customer Reviews

The Tribulations of a Chinaman in China (facsimile of the 1880 English translation)

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Jules Verne always had a warm spot for Americans and the Chinese. This picaresque tale of a young man of leisure who decides to end his life at the hands of his old tutor gives a picture of life in China in Verne's day. Character development was never Verne's strong point, and his work was often seriously diluted by his translator Mercier (Merciless) Lewis, but Verne's research and sense of story carry us along with our hero, his two Pinkerton guards, and a host of others from one end of the empire to the other.

To get the most out of this book, remember when it was written, and pay attention to the details that Verne uses to give the reader a sense of place, and for us, a sense of the times. Alternatively, you can just follow the story with its twists and turns and clever escapades.

A good Verne travel story, but be aware that the Kessinger publication is missing two pages. (I had to go to the Library of Congress to find them.)