A journey to the world under-ground

About the book

Returning from university with learning but little money, Nicholas Klimius explores the landscape near Bergen in the hope of making a discovery. A descent carries him into a subterranean world whose peoples and institutions overturn his expectations. On the planet Nazar, encounters with intelligent trees make his own body, habits, and judgments objects of scrutiny. Further travels extend the comparison across societies with different arrangements of religion, education, government, and everyday conduct. Holberg uses the structure of an adventurous travel account to expose the confidence with which people mistake local custom for universal reason. This 1742 English translation retains its period spelling and presents the journey through Klimius's narration, whose attempts to understand and distinguish himself are also targets of the satire.

• Custom and reason
• Satirical travel
• Power and self-importance

Why read it

The imagined societies turn the explorer himself into evidence, giving the satire more than a parade of exotic marvels.

English translation published 1742 under the narrator's name Nicholas Klimius