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Melbourne and Mars : My Mysterious Life on Two Planets : Extracts from the Diary of a Melbourne Merchant
single work
science fiction
Issue Details:
First known date:
1889...
1889
Melbourne and Mars : My Mysterious Life on Two Planets : Extracts from the Diary of a Melbourne Merchant
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
Follows the story of Adam Jacobs, born in 1818 in Lancashire, who moves to Australia with his family when his father is sentenced to transportation for his involvement in a fight. The story then follows Adam's life as he grows up, marries, enters business, and then follows the goldrush. At the age of 45, he begins to have dreams of a child on Mars. It becomes clear that he is living two lives at once, one on Earth, the other as a child in a utopian Mars.
Notes
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This work has been digitised by the Reason in Revolt project.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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A Feminist, Imperialist Utopia: Sir Julius Vogel and Anno Domini 2000
2022
single work
essay
— Appears in: Meanjin , June vol. 81 no. 2 2022; (p. 176-182) Meanjin Online 2022; 'Utopias are neither as popular nor as frequent as their dark mirror, dystopias. Projecting from today into the future, using the thought experiment of extrapolation '(if this goes on...)' tends to produce more pessimism than optimism. That is hardly surprising in our perennially anxious times. Nor are vintage utopias palatable to a modern audience: they can contain racism, eugenics, or happily exterminate most of the biosphere (as in Joseph Fraser's 1889 'Melbourne and Mars: My Mysterious Life on Two Planets'). What can seem perfection then can read like tedious hell now. Additionally, utopias are not easy to write well, as polemical perfection lacks conflict, tension, the inherent interest of the devil's party. Some have endured, like Plato's Republic, but it is certainly less read than 'The Handmaid's Tale' or 1984.' (Publication abstract) -
A Better Life on Mars
2020
single work
essay
— Appears in: Inside Story , June 2020;'A colonial-era novel provides a window onto the ideas that produced our fractured federation'
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Utopia and Utopian Studies in Australia
2016
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Utopian Studies , vol. 27 no. 2 2016; (p. 200-209) 'There are no independently Australian translations of Thomas More’s Utopia. Nor is there any equivalent in Australia to the Society for Utopian Studies in North America or the Utopian Studies Society in Europe. Nor are there any extant formal research groups or undergraduate or graduate courses in utopian studies. There are, however, distinctively Australian traditions of utopian writing, both eutopian and dystopian, and also a limited field of Australian utopian studies, essentially the work of individual scholars. This article attempts a brief description of both.' (Publication summary) -
Other Worlds
2001
single work
review
biography
— Appears in: Notes on Australian Science Fiction 2001; (p. 85-86)
— Review of Melbourne and Mars : My Mysterious Life on Two Planets : Extracts from the Diary of a Melbourne Merchant 1889 single work novel ; The Germ Growers : The Strange Adventures of Robert Easterley and John Wilbraham 1892 single work novel
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Other Worlds
2001
single work
review
biography
— Appears in: Notes on Australian Science Fiction 2001; (p. 85-86)
— Review of Melbourne and Mars : My Mysterious Life on Two Planets : Extracts from the Diary of a Melbourne Merchant 1889 single work novel ; The Germ Growers : The Strange Adventures of Robert Easterley and John Wilbraham 1892 single work novel -
Utopia and Utopian Studies in Australia
2016
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Utopian Studies , vol. 27 no. 2 2016; (p. 200-209) 'There are no independently Australian translations of Thomas More’s Utopia. Nor is there any equivalent in Australia to the Society for Utopian Studies in North America or the Utopian Studies Society in Europe. Nor are there any extant formal research groups or undergraduate or graduate courses in utopian studies. There are, however, distinctively Australian traditions of utopian writing, both eutopian and dystopian, and also a limited field of Australian utopian studies, essentially the work of individual scholars. This article attempts a brief description of both.' (Publication summary) -
A Feminist, Imperialist Utopia: Sir Julius Vogel and Anno Domini 2000
2022
single work
essay
— Appears in: Meanjin , June vol. 81 no. 2 2022; (p. 176-182) Meanjin Online 2022; 'Utopias are neither as popular nor as frequent as their dark mirror, dystopias. Projecting from today into the future, using the thought experiment of extrapolation '(if this goes on...)' tends to produce more pessimism than optimism. That is hardly surprising in our perennially anxious times. Nor are vintage utopias palatable to a modern audience: they can contain racism, eugenics, or happily exterminate most of the biosphere (as in Joseph Fraser's 1889 'Melbourne and Mars: My Mysterious Life on Two Planets'). What can seem perfection then can read like tedious hell now. Additionally, utopias are not easy to write well, as polemical perfection lacks conflict, tension, the inherent interest of the devil's party. Some have endured, like Plato's Republic, but it is certainly less read than 'The Handmaid's Tale' or 1984.' (Publication abstract) -
A Better Life on Mars
2020
single work
essay
— Appears in: Inside Story , June 2020;'A colonial-era novel provides a window onto the ideas that produced our fractured federation'
Last amended 26 May 2021 12:35:34
Settings:
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cEngland,ccUnited Kingdom (UK),cWestern Europe, Europe,
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cAustralia,c
- Melbourne, Victoria,
- Solar system & outer space,
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