''Czarodziejski okręt'' (''The Magic Ship'') is a nautical

robinsonade Robinsonade ( ) is a literary genre of fiction wherein the protagonist is suddenly separated from civilization, usually by being shipwrecked or marooned on a secluded and uninhabited island, and must improvise the means of their survival from t ...

with

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

elements for young readers written by Władysław Umiński and serialized in 1914. A book edition was published in 1916. The novel tells the story of a millionaire who spends her vacation on a deserted island and her husband who embarks on a quest to find her using the titular technologically-advanced ship.

Plot

A young American aristocrat and millionaire bored with civilization resides on a supposedly deserted island. Her husband sets out to find her using the titular "magic ship", which is not magical but very modern, equipped with advanced communication systems and a

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tech ...

Publication history and reception

The novel was first serialized in the illustrated magazine ' from 1914 to 1915 (issues from 27 to 52 in 1914 and issues from 1 to 28 in 1915) and was later published as a book in 1916 by . Subsequent editions were released in 1925 and 1933. The novel is classified as a

, a genre of adventure stories featuring castaways and

nautical fiction Nautical fiction, frequently also naval fiction, sea fiction, naval adventure fiction or maritime fiction, is a genre of literature with a setting on or near the sea, that focuses on the human relationship to the sea and sea voyages and highligh ...

. Like many of Umiński's works, it is also considered to be inspired by

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

's writings (for example his '' Mysterious Island''), repeating ideas such as "the mystification of a deserted island and the grotesque treatment of the robinsonade". The novel has also been described as atypical for Umiński due to its "lightly ironic tone and complete absence of Polish themes", commonly found in his other works. The novel can also be categorized as

because Umiński describes advanced, futuristic for his time

wireless telegraphy Wireless telegraphy or radiotelegraphy is the transmission of text messages by radio waves, analogous to electrical telegraphy using electrical cable, cables. Before about 1910, the term ''wireless telegraphy'' was also used for other experimenta ...

with a range of 5,000 km, and what is effectively a

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

, which he calls a "metatelephone". In 1953, writing during the era of the

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

, the Polish literary scholar praised the book for its "sharp criticism" of the "spoiled emalemillionaire", though she criticized the novel for its positive portrayal of her husband. She also found the depiction of the expulsion of the island's inhabitants to provide the millionaire with space for solitary hunting and contemplation to be shocking. From a contemporary perspective, the novel has been criticized for its

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

portrayal of colored natives from the

Comoro Islands The Comoro Islands are a group of volcanic islands in the Mozambique Channel, an arm of the Indian Ocean lying between Madagascar and the African mainland. Three of the islands form the Union of the Comoros, a sovereign nation, while Mayotte bel ...

. Another Polish scholar, Jadwiga Ruszała, highlighted the unusual variant of the robinsonade in this novel – the stay on the deserted island is usually the result of chance and perceived as something negative; however, in this story, it is a planned escape from civilization. The millionaire heroine is not left to fend for herself; more difficult or unpleasant tasks are carried out by the crew of her nearby ship. In 1925, a reviewer from ' positively assessed the book, writing: "The book is written with the usual fluency and ease of the author, and is richly and beautifully illustrated, and about the author: a great popularizer of scientific achievements and an excellent storyteller of adventures". A 1957 reviewer categorized this book as one of the weaker works of Umiński. Despite the passage of time, in a 2021 scholarly work, the novel was praised for its brisk action and humor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Czarodziejski okret Nautical novels 1914 science fiction novels Polish-language novels Polish science fiction novels Polish children's novels 1914 children's books Children's science fiction novels 20th-century Polish novels Adventure novels Novels set on ships Novels set on islands Novels first published in serial form Works originally published in Polish magazines Works originally published in children's magazines