2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25
Joseph Henri Roni Sr. - is the pseudonym of a Belgian-French writer who worked in the genre of science fiction and prehistoric novel Joseph Henri Becks. He also wrote under the pseudonym Enakrios. Roney Sr. is one of the founders of modern science fiction. His most famous work is the book La guerre du feu, translated from French as "The Fight for Fire", dedicated to the theme of life in primitive society and the production of fire.
Childhood and early years of Roni Sr
Joseph-Henri Roni Sr. was born on February 17, 1856 in Brussels, Belgium, to Joseph Boeks and Irmin Tubix. Growing up, he conducted various studies in Bordeaux (France) related to mathematics, physics, chemistry and other natural sciences. In 1874 he left for London to work for the telegraph company. There, in 1880, he married Gertrude Holmes. In 1883 he moved to his brother in Paris. In 1890 he was naturalized as a French citizen without renouncing his Belgian citizenship. In Paris, he began to correspond and communicate with the popular writers Edmond de Goncourt and Alphonse Daudet. He is actively involved inParisian literary life and collaborates with many magazines and begins his career as a writer. Roni wrote his works in his native French.
Creativity with brother
He originally wrote with his younger brother Séraphin-Justin-François Boex under the pseudonym J.-X. Roni. In 1886, they created their first novel, The Depths of Kiyamo, influenced by naturalism. They co-create several prehistoric novels. After 1908, the brothers separated due to quarrels due to a lack of understanding. The older brother adopted the pseudonym Roni Sr., and the younger brother began to be published as Roni Jr.
Road to Glory
In 1909, his famous prehistoric novel Fight for Fire was published. The French author already had experience in creating works of this kind. If we talk about the brief content of "Struggle for Fire", then it is a description of the existence of our distant ancestors.
The action of the novel takes place in the immemorial past, and its characters are primitive Neanderthals. The main idea of "Fight for Fire" revolves around the theme of losing fire, wandering to get it. And also in general the processes of mastering fire by primitive people.
Summary of "Struggle for Fire"
The events described by the author in the novel take us tens of thousands of years ago, to the Stone Age, to a historical era when the primitive communal system flourished.
The action takes place inthe Paleolithic era, about 100,000 years ago. A small tribe of primitive people, the Ulam, leads a difficult, risky existence, living in a cave and maintaining a fire that they themselves do not know how to make. From generation to generation, the life of this tribe is full of adventure and anxiety. They are fighting the forces of nature, dangerous predators and hostile tribes, including clans of cruel cannibals.
Their whole life, from birth to death, passes by the fire and depends entirely on it - they are forced to constantly, day and night, keep and maintain the flame, because the loss of fire means the death of an entire tribe. During the fight with the enemies, many ulamrs die, and the fire was destroyed, he "died". The leader of the Faum tribe promises to give his daughter Gammla as a wife to whoever gets the fire for the tribe. A young and strong warrior Nao is called to get the fire. He decides to choose as his companions two other young hardy warriors - Nam and Gava. They are opposed by another tribesman - the bestial Agu with his two brothers. Agu also seeks to possess Gammla.
Nao and his comrades start searching for fire in a world hostile to the Ulamr. They manage to avoid many dangers that lie in wait for them at every turn: these are various predatory animals; alien and hostile tribes; unknown forces of nature. They have to endure a battle with furry cannibals - kzamiv, and later - with numerous red-haired dwarfs. Friends make fire and with great difficulty begin the way back to their home. On the way they meet a friendly Wa tribe, from whom they learnhow to make fire with stones. The heroes return to their native tribe, but one of the tribesmen suddenly drowned a portable hearth with a flame in a swamp. Nao attempts to start a fire, as he saw it with a friendly tribe, but fails. Then the representative of the Wa tribe and shows the Nao tribe the technology of lighting a fire.
Thus, the main characters defeated Agu and his brothers in battle, and return the fire to their native tribe and teach the clan members how to mine it themselves.
Of course, the book is quite voluminous, this is only a summary. "Struggle for Fire" has three chapters in its content.
The main characters of "Fight for Fire"
The main characters of the adventure novel are:
- Faum is the leader of the tribe and one of the main characters of the novel.
- Gamla is Faum's daughter.
- Nao is the main character in love with Gamla.
- Nam is Nao's satellite.
- Woof is Nao's satellite.
- Agu, the son of the Bison is the eldest of the Bison brothers.
- Roke, son of Bison - Agu's brother.
- Gong Dry Bones - tribal elder.
- M-son of Tur.
- Goo is the son of the Tiger.
Genre of Roni Sr
Roni Sr. divides his own "fantasy books" between science fiction (there was no such thing as yet) and prehistoric novels such as Vamirah and Fight for Fire, which is considered the first true prehistoric novel.
The book "Fight for Fire" is the most famous and popular representative of the genre of historicalscience fiction with adventure elements. Joseph-Henri Roni uses all sorts of artistic means to make the work captivating. He combines the real facts of the prehistoric past of mankind with fictional characters and events in their lives. In the future, many sci-fi writers will draw on Roni Sr.'s writings for their own books.
Mastering fire by man
Based on the brief content of the "Fight for Fire", we can conclude that the theme of mastering fire by primitive man is central in the novel. The extraction of fire by primitive people was a turning point in the cultural aspect of human evolution. It has become a source of warmth, protection and a way of cooking. The development of fire made it possible for the cultural achievements of mankind, and also provoked the geographical settlement of people throughout the planet. In addition, it contributed to a change in the diet of the first people (man began to eat fried meat of animals and birds) and behavior. In addition, the production of fire allowed for an expansion of human activities, as it allowed for hunting and gathering during the hours of darkness.
Claims for the earliest definitive evidence of human mastery of fire range from 1.7 to 0.2 million years BC. Evidence of the deliberate use of fire by humans is estimated by archaeologists to be over half a million years old, and has widespread scientific support.
Scientific validity
Roni Sr.'s novel "Fight for Fire" presents the most ancient fauna of the planet: mammoths, cave lion, cave bears, saber-toothed tigers, etc. In addition, it attempts to restore the life and traditions of various primitive tribes at different stages of development (here we are probably talking about Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals). These descriptions are based on the scientific research of nineteenth century scientists, but the further development of science has led to the fact that at present their reliability is low.
Other works by Roni Sr
"The Cave Lion" is also one of the famous works of the famous French writer. It tells the story of two young Cro-Magnon men who, while exploring caves and a lake underground, after a slight earthquake, discover another part of a rugged mountain range. There, amazing and shocking events happen to them: a clash with other Cro-Magnons, a fight with saber-toothed predators, and an acquaintance with a dangerous cave lion. This book is essentially a continuation of the story La guerre du feu with a separate independent plot.
Roni Sr. also creates a series of other famous novels. In his 1911 vampire-themed novel The Young Vampire, he describes vampirism as the result of an inherited genetic disorder. Roni took this idea from the writer Richard Matheson from the novel I'm Legendary. In 1925, in his work The Stargazers, Roney Sr. was the first to introduce the term"cosmonaut", which later became widely used. It can be said that this is one of the most prolific representatives of the fantasy-adventure genre.
Global recognition
In 1897, Roni Sr. was awarded the Order of the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor - one of the highest awards in France. In 1903, together with his brother, he was included in the first jury of the Goncourt Prize at the Academy. From 1926 to 1940 he was president of the Académie Goncourt. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1926, 1928 and 1933. Joseph-Henri Roni Sr. died on February 15, 1940 in Paris. In 1980, the French Literary Prize for Francophone Science Fiction was created in his honor. And Roni Sr.'s novel "The Fight for Fire" has been a model of fantasy-adventure for several decades.
Screening of the work
In 1981, the book "Fighting the Fire" was filmed. The movie of the same name stars Everett McGill and Ron Perlman. Here, too, the plot unfolds in the Paleolithic era. The fire that had been kept for a long time was extinguished. Neanderthals, who are not yet able to get it, must get it, because without fire, the life of the tribe is impossible. To win the heart of his girlfriend, the protagonist of the film decides to go on a long and very dangerous journey in order to get fire. The film critics have given "Fight for Fire" positive reviews (the film deserves recognition).
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