My rating
3 stars
Blurb
The plot of "In the Year 2889" is undeniably prophetic in both subject and tone. It portrays a day in the busy life of the managing editor of the world's largest newspaper in New York City (now called Centropolis). This narrative framework serves quite well as a stepping-stone for a detailed description of this entire future world, its technological advancements, its international relations, and its (ironically, still quite 19th-century) social mores.
In the Year 2889 was first published in the Forum, February, 1889. It was published in France the next year. Although published under the name of Jules Verne, it is now believed to be chiefly if not entirely the work of Jules Verne's son, Michel Verne. In any event, many of the topics in the article echo Jules Verne's ideas.
My thought
An interesting book, Verne's prediction of what life would be like in 2889. Some things have yet to occur, such as world-wide pneumatic tube travel. Some has already come to pass, such as solar power and the like. Some show a limitation as to what Verne thought possible, and how much has occurred in the world that was unthought of a hundred years ago. It is fun to read about how a man in 1889 thought the world would be a thousand years in the future. Little did he know that we already are far ahead of what he predicted, at least in some aspects. It appears he did not predict the "women's liberation", for instance. I do hope we will never have continual commercials projected in the clouds! In the book the wealthiest person is the man who invented the telephonic newspaper; in which a bank of 1,500 reporters tell subscribers over the telephone what the news is. If Verne only knew that the radio, television, and internet were just around the corner . . .
GREAT knowledge and understanding of science displayed in this book, but lacked length for large novel readers. Still great for a quick read.
