The lighthouse at the end of the world
The lighthouse at the end of the world (also The light at the end of the world ) is a novel by the French author Jules Verne , which was first published in 1906 by the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel under the French title Le Phare du bout du monde . The posthumously published novel has been heavily revised by Michel Verne . The first German-language edition appeared in 1906 under the title The Lighthouse at the End of the World near Hartleben in Vienna . The English title of the novel is The Lighthouse at the End of the World .
Action based on the version by Michel Verne
A lighthouse is located on the Argentine island of Isla de los Estados ( State Island ) near Cape Horn at the southern end of South America . This is operated by a crew of three who are changed every three months. The island is also - what the lighthouse crew does not know - a shelter for pirates stranded there . The lighthouse guards are a thorn in your side. The pirates hid a large part of their prey near the tower. The leader of the gang is the infamous Congress. Kongre and his journeymen are waiting to leave the island with the booty. He plans to raid the lighthouse.
Despite the beacon , a larger ship abandoned by his crew runs aground on the island. Kongre seizes the ship and makes it seaworthy again with his people. The pirates load their booty onto the ship. This action is noticed by the lighthouse keepers. Two of them want to investigate the ship and are killed by the pirates. The third guard, Vasques, observed the events from the tower. Fearing that he might be the gang's next victim, he fled to the interior of the island with provisions and weapons. The robbers storm the lighthouse, abandoned by Vasques, and destroy the facilities. The lighthouse is then out of order. Since the beacon is no longer in operation, another ship is stranded. Only one member of the crew survived the accident. The sailor allies himself with Vasques. They decide to work together to avenge their respective comrades. With a small gun that was recovered from the second stranded ship, they bombard the ship with which Kongre and his people are about to leave. With the new lighthouse crew , who came with a notice to replace, and the crew of this ship succeed in defeating the gang. Kongre then commits suicide with his pistol.
filming
The book was filmed in 1971 by Kevin Billington with Kirk Douglas and Yul Brynner in the lead roles under the title The Light at the End of the World .
literature
- Heinrich Pleticha (ed.): Jules Verne manual . Deutscher Bücherbund / Bertelsmann, Stuttgart and Munich 1992.
- Volker Dehs and Ralf Junkerjürgen: Jules Verne . Voices and interpretations of his work. Fantastic Library Wetzlar, Wetzlar 2005.
- Volker Dehs: Jules Verne . Jules Verne. A critical biography. Artemis & Winkler, Düsseldorf 2005. ISBN 3-538-07208-6
