All of Jules Verne's books vividly depict the past century. How enjoyable yet melancholic is this reflection for today's reader! This is mainly the case with "Sans-Souci." It evokes the hardships of the traveler from that time compared to the comfort of travel today. Specifically, Sans-Souci's journey across the Atlantic gives us a measure of human nature in all its grandeur as well as its wretchedness. Scenes of horror and despair follow one after another. For days, for months... All this on a makeshift raft with the ocean as the background, sometimes calm and sometimes raging. Calmness and storms. Both in the sea and in the hearts. This is the essence of this powerful work by the brilliant French novelist, told with striking realism.