Ben Fisher
212
Faustroll so that they may be taken along on the voyage.
12 Among the
thirteen living authors whose books are selected (five of whom are
visited on Faustroll’s voyage), Verne is the only one with no links to
Jarry’s own artistic circles.
13 It may appear easy to assume that Le
Voyage au centre de la Terre is included as a childhood favourite; the
very wide range of books within the list (from The Odyssey to the latest avant-garde poetry and prose) does include a small number of
other texts which Jarry may or may not have known in childhood,
such as a harlequinade by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian and a children’s tale by Marceline Desbordes-Valmore. There is, however, a total lack of any corroborative evidence for this. Throughout his work,
Jarry is the most allusive of authors, and his reading is relatively easy
to trace, regardless of its diversity and frequent obscurity. Yet his only
other reference to Verne is an offhand one (“Jules Verne en écrirait un
roman”) in a humorous article written for Le Canard sauvage in 1903
(II, p. 468). In this light, Verne’s presence among Faustroll’s books
would not appear to be a random item in isolation – in fact it sticks out
like a sore thumb.
I believe it is a provocative choice, not least because Gestes et
opinions du docteur Faustroll includes a substantial apparent borrowing from Le Voyage au centre de la Terre. In both voyages, there are
three travellers, and Jarry appears to base his unusual trio on
Verne’s.
14 Otto Lidenbrock and Faustroll are both explorers of inner
space; Faustroll’s exploration of it is not limited to the artistic constructs of the sea of Paris, but also includes (prior to the start of the
main voyage) a brief excursion to explore the element of water, by
miniaturizing himself in order to better examine a raindrop (“Faustroll
plus petit que Faustroll”, I, pp. 670-71). The narrators Axel Lidenbrock and Panmuphle are both neophytes learning from both the
words and the examples of the scientists, and they also share a lack of
depth in their characterization. And in both novels the physical hard
work is done by a character of very few words; as already remarked,
___________________________
12 I have explored these volumes and their relevance to Jarry extensively in The Pataphysician’s Library.
13 The thirteen are Léon Bloy, Georges Darien, Max Elskamp, Gustave Kahn, Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé, Catulle Mendès, Joséphin Péladan, Rachilde
(under her additional pseudonym “Jean de Chilra”), Henri de Régnier, Marcel
Schwob, Émile Verhaeren, and Verne. The death of Mallarmé in September 1898
would reduce the number to twelve between the two manuscripts of Faustroll.
14 Fisher, The Pataphysician’s Library, p. 124.
212
Faustroll so that they may be taken along on the voyage.
12 Among the
thirteen living authors whose books are selected (five of whom are
visited on Faustroll’s voyage), Verne is the only one with no links to
Jarry’s own artistic circles.
13 It may appear easy to assume that Le
Voyage au centre de la Terre is included as a childhood favourite; the
very wide range of books within the list (from The Odyssey to the latest avant-garde poetry and prose) does include a small number of
other texts which Jarry may or may not have known in childhood,
such as a harlequinade by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian and a children’s tale by Marceline Desbordes-Valmore. There is, however, a total lack of any corroborative evidence for this. Throughout his work,
Jarry is the most allusive of authors, and his reading is relatively easy
to trace, regardless of its diversity and frequent obscurity. Yet his only
other reference to Verne is an offhand one (“Jules Verne en écrirait un
roman”) in a humorous article written for Le Canard sauvage in 1903
(II, p. 468). In this light, Verne’s presence among Faustroll’s books
would not appear to be a random item in isolation – in fact it sticks out
like a sore thumb.
I believe it is a provocative choice, not least because Gestes et
opinions du docteur Faustroll includes a substantial apparent borrowing from Le Voyage au centre de la Terre. In both voyages, there are
three travellers, and Jarry appears to base his unusual trio on
Verne’s.
14 Otto Lidenbrock and Faustroll are both explorers of inner
space; Faustroll’s exploration of it is not limited to the artistic constructs of the sea of Paris, but also includes (prior to the start of the
main voyage) a brief excursion to explore the element of water, by
miniaturizing himself in order to better examine a raindrop (“Faustroll
plus petit que Faustroll”, I, pp. 670-71). The narrators Axel Lidenbrock and Panmuphle are both neophytes learning from both the
words and the examples of the scientists, and they also share a lack of
depth in their characterization. And in both novels the physical hard
work is done by a character of very few words; as already remarked,
___________________________
12 I have explored these volumes and their relevance to Jarry extensively in The Pataphysician’s Library.
13 The thirteen are Léon Bloy, Georges Darien, Max Elskamp, Gustave Kahn, Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé, Catulle Mendès, Joséphin Péladan, Rachilde
(under her additional pseudonym “Jean de Chilra”), Henri de Régnier, Marcel
Schwob, Émile Verhaeren, and Verne. The death of Mallarmé in September 1898
would reduce the number to twelve between the two manuscripts of Faustroll.
14 Fisher, The Pataphysician’s Library, p. 124.