Edwin L Arnold

Gulliver of Mars Edwin L Arnold Annotated edition

In 1905, Edwin L. Arnold adapted the classic Gulliver character and story into the adventures of Gullivar Jones. Like Washington Irving and Mark Twain did with Rip Van Winkle and Hank Morgan, Arnold employs an abstract device to explain how his hero is able to instantaneously be transported to a magical world, but instead of being displaced in time, he finds himself on Mars. Jones is actually carried there by means of a magic carpet, making this novel the first significant contribution to what will become the space fantasy genre. Gullivar Jones is the perfect unifying idea between Jonathan Swift's hero and his more recognizable descendants. Like Lemuel Gulliver, Gullivar Jones employs his courtesies to gain the goodwill of the Martian society. Arnold's novel calls back to Swift's also because it takes a satirical look at society and its irrational particularities of structure. The new element it introduces to that concept is that of swashbuckling space adventure. Jones finds himself in a world of weaklings where he, an average man of our own world, is now superior both in physical strength and mental resolve. This is reminiscent of THE TIME MACHINE, published ten years prior, which thrust its protagonist into a world of soft and simple people who were helpless to defend themselves whenever a threat was introduced into their peaceful primitive lives. But Gullivar's adventures have long-reaching effects beyond the modest boundaries of this single book. Just as he was inspired by those who came before him, he in turn serves as inspiration for the most popular space heroes that came after. In this annotated edition, we will explore Gullivar Jones' Martian adventure. Footnotes will be provided within the text where particular lines or passages are individually worthy of mention, but a post-script to each chapter will review the story's impacts and influences along the way. You are probably familiar with more popular variants of this concept, such as those Edgar Rice Burroughs offered in the Barsoom adventures of John Carter, but Gullivar is a worthy predecessor and his story stands on its own as a swashbuckling fairy tale of otherworldly adventure. If you haven't had the opportunity to experience this book before, I think you're in for a treat.