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{{work}}
{{Infobox book
| title = In Search of the Castaways
| original title = Les Enfants du capitaine Grant
| image = 'The Children of Captain Grant' by Édouard Riou 136.jpg
| caption =
| author = Jules Verne
| central theme =
| elevator pitch =
| genre = Voyages Extraordinaires
| franchise = Sea Trilogy
| preceded by = Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
| followed by = The Mysterious Island
| publication date = 1867–1868
| source page exists = yes
| wiki URL =
| wiki name =
}}
Probably one of the best known and beloved (well, [[Blind Idiot Translation|outside of the English-speaking world]]) [[Jules Verne]] novels, ''In Search of the Castaways'' (or ''Les Enfants du Capitaine Grant'', ''The Children of Captain Grant'' to give its original title) is, on the surface, a deceivingly simple story [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|of a rescue expedition looking for the marooned captain Grant and his sailors]]. This simplicity, however, belies the veritable feast of adventure, intrigue and betrayal, hope and despair, and, in a truly Vernian style, [[Shown Their Work|enough subtly weaved-in geographical knowledge for a master's degree]] (even if some of it [[Science Marches On|is sadly out of date]]).
A wealthy Scottish noble, Lord Edward Glenarvan with his friends and family, while testing his newly built yacht, [[Cool Boat|The]] ''[[Cool Boat|Duncan]]'', in preparation for his honeymoon trip to Mediterranean, takes part in a shark hunt. The sailors find a bottle with a note in a shark's stomach, which tells of the plight of the titular Captain Grant. Lord Glenarvan tries to get the Admiralty to mount a rescue, but they are unwilling -- Captain Grant was a well-known Scottish nationalist, and was lost looking for lands in which to establish a Scottish colony. Everyone in his household is devastated by the news, especially the titular ''children'' of Captain Grant, Mary and Robert, who arrived to Glenarvan's home seat, Malcolm Castle, after reading a newspaper account of the discovery of the note from their father.
Then, moved by the children's despair, the young [[Team Mom|Lady Glenarvan]] decides that they should mount a rescue by their own -- after all, they have a ship, [[Uncle Pennybags|they have money]], and this expedition would make for an infinitely better honeymoon trip! The only problem is that the shipwreck note is badly damaged, and only readable coordinate is the latitude -- the 37th parallel south. Still the heroes are undaunted and decide to circumnavigate the Earth if needed. What follows is a wild goose-chase around the world, through [[Argentina|Patagonia]], [[Australia (
This simple explanation, though, doesn't even get close to doing justice to Verne's brilliant novel, which is widely accepted as one of the top jewels in the ''Voyages Extraordinaires'' crown. A cornerstone of the ''Captain Nemo'' trilogy (even if that was conceived in its final form somewhat later), it doesn't really have any science fiction elements, but as an adventure novel it stands tall and proud, and would remain one of the [[Trope Codifier|genre's defining work]] for a long, long time. But beware of the public domain translations as they are [[Blind Idiot Translation|notoriously poor]], and most translators not only excised ''any'' anti-British statements, [[Author Filibuster|of which there were many]], but also never bothered with Verne's detail, [[Writers Cannot Do Math|especially measurements and dates]].
{{tropelist}}
* [[Absent-Minded Professor]]: Paganel, full stop. In fact, this novel is undoubtedly the [[Trope Codifier]] for this trope. He's so airheaded that he ''joined'' the team by mistaking the ''Duncan'' for his steamer to India!
* [[Amusing Injuries]]: Paganel, who was richly tattoed by the Maori during their New Zealand adventures, and was deeply embarrassed by the whole thing, even to the point of never returning to France.
* [[Arc Welding]]: Was later joined together with the ''[[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea]]'' and ''[[The Mysterious Island]]'' to form a "Captain Nemo trilogy".
* [[As You Know]]: Guilty as charged, but that's one of the main attractions of Verne's writing anyway, and he's usually quite subtle about it.
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* [[Overly Long Name]]: ''Jacques-Eliacin-Francois-Marie Paganel''.
* [[Plucky Comic Relief]]: Guess who?
* [[Rescue Romance]]: Unusual in that it's not ''her'' rescue, but the growing attraction between Mary Grant and John Mangles, the ''Duncan'''s captain, definitely has shades of this.
* [[Monty Python and
* [[The Stoic]]: MacNabbs, who only ever gets fired up by [[Vitriolic Best Buds|Paganel]]'s antics.
* [[Those Two Guys]]: Wilson and Mulrady, two ''Duncan'' sailors who inevitably follow the team on all overland journeys.
* [[Team Mom]]: Lady Helena Glenarvan might be just 24, but she fits the role perfectly.
* [[Trope Codifier]]: For the [[Absent-Minded Professor]] with Paganel.
* [[Vitriolic Best Buds]]: Major MacNabbs and Paganel.
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[[Category:French Literature]]
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