In Search of the Castaways

By Jules Verne

A message in a bottle launches a quest for the recovery of shipwrecked crew in this Jules Verne classic—now with an arresting new look!

When Lord and Lady Glenarvan catch a shark during a sailing trip, they are surprised to find a message in a bottle within its belly, sent by Captain Grant of the shipwrecked Britannia. Unfortunately, the water-damaged note is mostly unreadable, giving any would-be rescuers only a latitude and no longitude to work with.

Eager to help the castaways, the couple urges the British government to launch a rescue expedition but are refused. So they take it upon themselves to search for Grant with the help of Mary and Robert—Captain Grant’s children—and the crew of the Duncan. Thus, the group sets off, determined to find the shipwrecked crew, even if it means sailing across the entire thirty-seventh latitude—and facing whatever dangers lie in their path.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Aladdin
• Release date: Apr 23, 2024
• ISBN: 9781665934374

Jules Verne

Jules Gabriel Verne was born in the seaport of Nantes, France, in 1828 and was destined to follow his father into the legal profession. In Paris to train for the bar, he took more readily to literary life, befriending Alexander Dumas and Victor Hugo, and living by theatre managing and libretto-writing. His first science-based novel, Five Weeks in a Balloon, was issued by the influential publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel in 1862, and made him famous. Verne and Hetzel collaborated to write dozens more such adventures, including 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in 1869 and Around the World in 80 Days in 1872. In later life Verne entered local politics at Amiens, where had had a home. He also kept a house in Paris, in the street now named Boulevard Jules Verne, and a beloved yacht, the Saint Michel, named after his son. He died in 1905.

Reviews for In Search of the Castaways

[danielstj · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a solid adventure book by Jules Verne. I was kept entertained throughout the duration of the novel by the interesting plot-line, pacing, descriptions, locations, and events that occurred during it. This is a great Verne book and I'm glad that I have his "Complete Works" to read through. Very entertaining, fun, and worthwhile. A good read for those interested in classics or adventure stories.4 stars!

[edwinbcn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The children Of Captain Grant is a classic adventure story, the fifth of Jules Verne's series of "extraordinary travels and voyges". The story is very entertaining, and, provided the reader can bear Verne's extentive descriptions of geography, flora & fauna, and local customs, all very entertaining.The story begins as Lord and Lady Glenarvan, sailing home to Glasgow in with their ship, the Duncan find a bottle with a message. The message is written identically in three languages, but the papers in the bottle have sustained water damage and the message is barely readable. Nonetheless, it is clear that the message comes from Captain Grant, who was shipwrecked. Research reveals that the message must have been posted by Captain Grant after the supposed shipwreck of his vessel, the Brittania. Lord Glenarvan also locates Captain Grant's children, Mary and Robert. As the Admiralty refuses to undertake a rescue mission, Lord Glenarvan decides to undertake such a mission himself, bringing along his wife and Captain Grant's children. A very valuable additional team member will prove to be Paganel, a somewhat muddle-headed geographer who mistakenly boarded the Duncan in the harbour of Glasgow.After the most meticulous interpretation of the three messages from the bottle, compared with the last call in port of the Brittania, it is decided that Captain Grant is most likely to be found in South-America. Based on details from the message they decide to cross the continent along the 37th parallel south. The Duncan lands them on the continent from where their travels to search inland for Captain Grant, whom they believe to be held captive by native tribes. During their search in Patagonia, they encounter a native who tells them about a white man who was taken, and they follow this lead hoping to find Captain Grant. However, half-way through they realize the story is incorrect. Crossing the continent, they come across the wildest adventures including an earthquake and a flood, while observing all the most typical flora an fauna, such as the condor, for Latin America. There are also mentions of typical culture of south American indians. After a strenuous journey, they are taken on board the Duncan which awaits them at the agreed point on the other side of the continent.Despairing after their failure in finding Captain Grant, Paganel is inspired to read the message in a different way, explaining that they should pusue their search along the 37th parallel, but should set sail for Australia. They set course, via Tristan da Cunha and Amsterdam Island, to the west coast of Australia. Here, they meet a sailor called Ayrton, who was the quarter-master of the Britannia. He promises to lead them across the continent to the place where the Britannia was shipwrecked. They set out with a caravan of waggons, oxen and horses, to follow the trail and cross over to the east coast. However, in the middle of their journey Ayrton rouses suspicion, as their animals die one after the other, and they are shadowed by a band of crooks. Ayrton leaves them stranded, while getting away with a letter by Lord Glenarvan which he will use to board and direct the Duncan, which he wants to take control of. After a long journey of foot, the rescue party reaches the east coast of Australia, and failing to meet the Duncan at the appointed location, they believe their mission is a complete failure. They have not found Captain Grant, and have lost the Duncan. They pay passage on a ship to New Zealand, but this ship is wrecked off the coast of New Zealand. The unhappy party falls into the hands of a maori tribe they believe will kill them, but with the help of Robert, who was not captured they manage a spectacular escape, and making use of the Maori's superstitious believes in taboo, the escape being recaptured by the cannibals. Crossing over land, they reach the coast, but here they are again in danger of being captured. They try to escape in a canoe, and as they are about to be overtaken by Maori in pursuit, they are rescued by a European ship, which turns out to be the Duncan. Back aboard ship they hear how Ayrton's attemp to capture the Duncan was foiled. At his own request, Ayrton is transported to to be left at an uninhabited island, Tabor Island, on which they discover Captain Grant.To modern readers, the features of the geography, flora and fauna, and anthropology of local peoples of South America, Australia and New Zealand may be a bit tedious to read, but most of it is quite entertaining. It is obvious that the novel is structured in such a way to enable the author to maximize the descriptive potential. Coming from Scotland, in search of a shipwreck in South America the most logical attempt would be to land on the east coast of the continent and cross over to the west coast. Upon failing to find the captain, the most logical thing would then be to cross over to New Zealand, as if the travellers would have followed the 37th parallel they would then have found Captain Grant immediately on Tabor Island. In the novel, however, the globe is circumvented, sailing from the west to the east.Beside the extensive descriptions of geographical features, natural history and disasters, readers are entertained with lock, stock, and barrel clichés about cannibalism and "once a convict, forever a convict" regarding the settlers in Australia.

[john257hopper · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This novel also goes by the slightly more interesting title of In Search of the Castaways. It is one of Verne's longer novels and involves a hunt round the world by a group of travellers for the missing sea captain of the title, accompanied by his children, following the discovery of a message in a bottle which purports to show where he was shipwrecked (but there are several twists). It has some exciting episodes, but is too long and Verne indulges in too much of his usual braindumping of information about the geography, flora and fauna of the several continents and islands through which they travel. So a bit of a slog, all in all. 3/5

[bnielsen_30 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Glimrende oversættelse selv om der er pudsigheder. Fx er fætter McNabbs blevet til den fjerne slægtning Mac Nabbs.Et skib er gået ned og en flaskepost bliver fundet inden i en hval. Det er svært at læse hele brevet, men man finder dog ud af det er Kaptajn Harry Grant, der var skipperen og at det forliste skib hed Britannia.Der er også en angivelse af en breddegrad på 37 grader, 11 minuter. Lord Edward Glenarvan og hustruen Lady Helena lader eftersøgningsekspeditionen være deres bryllupsrejse på yachten Duncan og tager Kaptajn Grants børn, Robert og Mary Grant, med om bord.En berømt fransk teoretisk geograf Jakob Eliacin Franz Maria Paganel skulle egentlig have været til Indien og Tibet, men tager fejl af skibene i havnen og lader sig med tiden lokke/overtale til med glæde at tage med på ekspeditionen.Kaptajn John Mangles, stewart Olbinett, major MacNabbs, styrmand Tom Austin og to matroser Wilson og Mulrady udgør resten af besætningen.Brevet tolkes som om forliset er sket ved Patagonien og velankomne dertil følger nogle af dem den 37. breddegrad til Atlanterhavet i håb om at finde de skibbrudne. De rammes af jordskælv og jordskred på dramatisk vis og Robert bliver først såret og siden bortført af en kondor. Han slipper levende fra det, takket være en indfødt patagonier, Thalcare, der er en sikker skytte.Thalcare og slutter sig til selskabet. De finder ingen spor af kaptajn Grant, derimod af Vazello og Gunard. De rammes af oversvømmelser og flodbølger. Paganel finder en alternativ tolkning af brevet, så det er 37 grader sydlig bredde i stedet for nordlig bredde, så de forlægger eftersøgningen til Australien. De tager afsked med Thalcare efter at en skypumpe har reddet dem fra en oversvømmelse.De ankommer til Australien ved Kap de Bernoulli og møder en mand ved navn Ayrton. der er skibbruden fra Britannia. Endeligt et spor. De begiver sig til fods til Melbourne, hvor Duncan er på værft under ledelse af Tom Austin. Ayrton følger med på rejsen, men der sker underlige ting undervejs og MacNabbs får vished for Ayrton i virkeligheden er den undvegne straffefange Ben Joyce. Ayrton flygter og opsnapper et brev, der giver ham kontrol med Duncan. Rejseselskabet minus Ayrton er nu strandet i Two Fold bugten, men de får skibslejlighed langt om længe. Skibet forliser, de redder sig i land, men tages til fange af en maorihøvding Kai-Koumou.De undslipper ved at starte et vulkanudbrud og stikker til søs i en kano skarpt forfulgt af maorierne. Alt håb er ude, da Duncan pludselig dukker op. Ayrton er blevet taget til fange, men får lov at gå i land på øen Maria-Theresia. Her finder de selvfølgelig Kaptajn Grant og hans to mænd. De bliver taget med om bord og kursen sættes hjemad. Det går op for Paganel at han har fejltolket brevet, fordi han brugte et engelsk kort, da han tolkede det franske brev. Pinligt.Vel hjemme bliver John Mangles og Mary Grant gift. Robert Grant bliver sømand som sin far. Og vil oprette et "Nyt Skotland" et sted i Stillehavet.