Paris in the Twentieth Century
Jules Verne's lost dystopian novel, written 1863, published 1994.
Jules Verne’s long-lost novel, *Paris in the Twentieth Century* (French: *Paris au XXe siècle*), was written in 1863 but didn’t see print until 1994. It imagines Paris in August 1960—97 years ahead of its time—where business and technology are the only things that matter. The story follows a young man who fails to find his place in a world that is technically advanced but culturally hollow, offering a bleak, dystopian vision of a tech-driven society.
The protagonist, Michel Dufrénoy, is a young man who has just completed his studies, typically around 18-20, and graduates with a degree in literature and classics, only to discover that these subjects have been completely forgotten. Michel himself is a poet born too late. He lives with his respectable uncle, Monsieur Stanislas Boutardin, and his family. The day after graduation, Boutardin tells Michel he must start work at a bank, doubting he can succeed in business. That same day, Michel searches for classic 19th-century writers like Hugo and Balzac, but bookstores stock only technical works. His last hope is the Imperial Library, where the librarian turns out to be his long-hidden uncle, Monsieur Huguenin. Huguenin, still devoted to the arts, is considered a family disgrace and was kept away from Michel’s birthdays and graduations, though he has watched from afar. This is their first meeting.
At his new job with Casmodage and Co. Bank, Michel fails at every task until he is assigned to The Ledger, where he dictates accounts to a bookkeeper named Monsieur Quinsonnas. Quinsonnas, a kindred spirit of 30, tells Michel this job will let him eat, rent an apartment, and work on a mysterious musical project in his free time. Michel’s fear of not fitting in fades; he can read and write after hours. The two visit Uncle Huguenin, joined by Michel’s former teacher Monsieur Richelot and his granddaughter, Mademoiselle Lucy. Quinsonnas also introduces Michel to his friend Jacques Aubanet, who dreams of being a soldier—an impossible dream, since warfare has become so scientific that only chemists and mechanics can operate the killing machines, and even they are denied the chance because weapons are so efficient that war is unthinkable and all nations are locked in a perpetual stalemate.
Michel and Lucy fall in love.
Quick Facts
- Title Orig
- Paris au xxe siècle
- Translator
- Richard Howard
- Author
- Jules Verne
- Country
- France
- Language
- French
- Genre
- Science fiction novel
- Publisher
- Hachette
- Release Date
- 1994
- English Release Date
- 1996
- Media Type
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
In the winter of 1960, Europe suffers unprecedented cold and famine. Michel spends his last money on violets for Lucy but cannot find her. He wanders deliriously through frozen Paris, convinced he is hunted by the Demon of Electricity, and finally collapses comatose in the snow in a cemetery.
Reader's Guide
Paris in the Twentieth Century is significant for its remarkably accurate predictions of 1960s technology, including internal combustion engine cars, gas stations, paved roads, elevated and underground trains, skyscrapers, electric lights, fax machines, elevators, primitive networked computers, wind power, automated security, the electric chair, and weapons that make war unthinkable. It also predicts mass higher education, department stores, feminism, electronic music, and recorded music replacing live performances. The novel was rejected by Verne's publisher, Pierre-Jules Hetzel, who found it too pessimistic and unlikely to sell. The manuscript was set aside and its whereabouts known, but a story of its loss and discovery was created as a marketing ploy. First published in French in 1994 and in English in 1996, the book caused a stir among critics, who mostly received it warmly as prescient and plausible, though some found it unnecessarily pessimistic. It was a bestseller in France, and one critic suggested Verne might be a candidate for a Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1996. The novel is important to scholars who had long asserted that none of Verne's works prophesied the future of a whole civilization.
Did You Know?
- The novel was written in 1863 but not published until 1994, 131 years later.
- Verne's publisher, Pierre-Jules Hetzel, rejected the manuscript because he thought it was too unbelievable and would sell poorly.
- The book predicts a device similar to a synthesizer and the rise of electronic music.
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