The story in one page
An inquisitive traveler experiments with various methods of flight until he successfully reaches the moon. Upon landing, he enters a society where the inhabitants walk on all fours and communicate in musical tones. He encounters a friendly demon who guides him through complex philosophical arguments regarding the infinity of worlds and the nature of God. The protagonist endures a series of absurd encounters, including a legal trial over his status as a human, before eventually returning to Earth to prepare his journals for publication.
Who's who
- Cyrano
The narrator who travels to the moon via machine.
- Demon of Socrates
A lunar spirit who acts as a philosophical guide.
- Vice-Roy of New France
An official who discusses the nature of the universe.
What it's really about
- Infinitude
- The argument that the universe contains endless worlds.
- Religious Orthodoxy
- Reasoning clashing with established ecclesiastical dogma.
Why it's memorable
- A flying machine powered by bottles of dew.
- A local inhabitant carrying the narrator on his back like a beast.
The ending, explained
Spoilers — show the ending
The narrator returns home, urging his friend Monsieur le Bret to publish his findings alongside other accounts of his cosmic travels.
For your book club
- The text uses radical science to test the limits of authority.
- It mirrors seventeenth-century debates on the size of the heavens.