Success has two fathers - Jules Verne and Pierre Hetzel

A successful book may continue to resonate in the minds of readers for many years after it was written. Some of Jules Verne's books have accompanied us for more than a hundred years, such as 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under Water' or 'Around the World in Eighty Days'. There are very few writers who are able to write such good books - all by themselves... and Jules Verne was not one of them.

Jules Gabriel Verne was born in France in 1828. Already when he was a teenager, he often wrote short stories, plays and rhymes - but he did not receive much encouragement at home. His father, the lawyer Pierre Verne, was the scion of a five-generation dynasty of lawyers - and Jules was supposed to be 'the Verne lawyer' like all his ancestors.

Unfortunately for Pierre Verne, Jules was born in a time in history when being an adventurous and daring explorer was much more interesting than being a lawyer: a period spanning the last two thousand years or so. In particular, Jules was drawn to two fields that were booming in the 19th century: geography and engineering. His father sent him to Paris to study law, but when he discovered that his son was busy writing fictional fantasies about balloon trips and other such 'nonsense', he turned off the taps. Vern had to find a living for himself and for some time worked as a stock broker.

In 1863, when Jules Verne was about 35 years old, his condition was not promising. He didn't earn much, and he already had a wife and three children: two daughters from his wife's previous marriage and a common son. Even in the literary sector, things did not progress in the right direction. A book he wrote, about a balloon trip over Africa, was rejected by all the book publishers because it was too scientific and 'technical'.

Pierre-Jules Hetzel was a well-known publisher in Paris, and one of the well-known figures in the French literary world - behind him were collaborations with famous writers such as Victor Hugo, for example. The Shadow also thought that Verne's style was too technical and dry, but his keen senses told him that the basic plot of the story contained all the right elements, and that he was holding an unpolished diamond in his hands.
'Five Weeks in a Hot Air Balloon' follows the journey of three daring explorers who seek to cross Africa from Zanzibar in the east to Senegal in the west. On the way they overcome all possible dangers: from barbarian cannibals to the deadly dryness of the Sahara. If you read the book through the eyes of a 19th century person, you can't help but feel a thrill of excitement. The hot air balloon was in those days a new and revolutionary means of transportation, a bit like spaceships nowadays, and Africa was a land full of mystery, large parts of which were still unexplored. On a journey like this, anything can happen!

The shadow decided to bet on the unknown author and publish the book, but Moran demanded to make some fundamental changes in the manuscript. He asked the author to incorporate more comical and amusing sections into the plot, to delete sad sections and political references and to introduce more action into the story. Verne agreed to the changes, and did not regret it: 'Five weeks in a hot air balloon' became an unprecedented hit and made him a famous writer.

Hatzel and Warren continued to work together for over twenty years. The fruitful collaboration between them resulted in more than forty books, including all of Jules Verne's famous books. In all the books you can clearly see the influence of the shadow: he was not satisfied with minor corrections and polishing of the plot, but was a real partner in the writing process. Jules Verne was responsible for the original ideas, the revolutionary technologies and the dangerous journeys, and the shadow helped him shape the characters, the stories and the comic reliefs. Hetzel's influence as an editor is even more evident when reading Verne's books written after Pierre Hetzel's death in 1887: the plots became less and less intriguing and colorful, the endings were sadder and the books, in general, were not an impressive success.

The relationship between Varen and the shadow is an excellent example of the importance of editing on the writing process - so much so that sometimes it is difficult to decide how much of the book's success can be attributed to the writer's talents, and how much to the editor's. The degree of influence the editor has on the final work depends on the subtle complexity of the relationship between him and the writer.
At the most basic level, the role of editing is to improve the manuscript and polish it: the editor points out to the writer about overly cumbersome sentences, incomprehensible descriptions or internal contradictions in the text and helps him improve. Writers are usually happy to receive such instructions, as it is clear that the story and plot will only benefit from clear and reliable writing.
The problem begins when the editor crosses the thin, unwritten line and begins to struggle with the writer for control of the work.

Every writer reacts differently to such an invasion into his territory, and Jules Verne's attitude to Pierre Hetzel's aggressive editing has changed over the years. At first Verne accepted the Shadow's offers with open arms, perhaps even with some humility. Pay attention to what Vern Lahcel writes in one of his letters:

"I promise you that I will take your suggestions into account, since they are all correct... You write not only as an editor, but also as a friend in whom I have complete confidence... You flatter me when you write that my style is constantly improving... I wonder if you are not trying to sweeten the bitter pill of your criticism on the text. I assure you, my dear editor, that there is no need to sweeten the pill: I swallow it willingly and without sweetener."

Buds of change can be found in the book 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under Water' which was published in 1869, about six years after Shoran and Hatel started working together. The hero of the book, or rather the anti-hero, is Captain Nemo, commander of the submarine Nautilus. Nemo is a terrorist: his submarine rams hundreds of European ships and sinks them with their crews. As strange as it sounds, throughout the plot no satisfactory explanation is given for Nemo's burning hatred. Nemo detests European imperialism and especially Britain, but does not explain why: he only claims that he is avenging the death of his family, but the reader does not know who eliminated the family and why.

This big plot hole is no accident. Verne's original Captain Nemo was supposed to be a Polish nobleman whose family was murdered by the Russians in 1863 during the suppression of a rebellion that occurred in Poland. The Polish uprising under Russian occupation and its brutal suppression were not a figment of Verne's imagination: they happened in reality.
Hetzel didn't like the idea very much: he hoped to sell a lot of copies of 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under Water' in the Russian market, and the last thing he needed was a diplomatic incident between France and Russia. Therefore, he offered Hatzel Loren an alternative motive for Nemo's actions: strong opposition to the slave trade, which was mostly carried out by ships.

Vern did not agree to the change. His Nemo was a Polish noble - that's how he imagined him in his head, and that's how he wanted him to stay. The compromise that Vern and the Shadow finally reached was not to explain the submarine commander's motives at all. Only in one of his later books did Verne return to Captain Nemo, and gave a different explanation: Nemo was an Indian nobleman, and his real name is Prince Dekar. The British exterminated his family while suppressing a rebellion in India.

As time passed, Vern began to gain more and more self-confidence in his abilities as a writer - and his relationship with the Shadow changed accordingly. He stopped accepting Hezel's suggestions as a Sinai torah and the tone of his letters took on a more correct and harsh tone. The shadow began to worry: had he crossed the line? He did not want to lose his best writer...his concerns are well reflected in the following letter written by Lauren:

Dear Vern,
My friend, do not feel disappointed by my comments... I feel that I am helping you a lot. Let us support each other in our various roles, my old friend, and if we get angry at each other - we will overcome knowing that the joint result is good for both of us.."

Happily for us, the readers, Verne was astute enough to understand the tremendous contribution Pierre Hetzel had in his books, and the two continued to work together until Hetzel's death.

[Ran Levi is a science writer, and writes and presents the podcast 'Making history!' - about science, technology and history: www.ranlevi.co.il]