Verne's dystopian vision of Paris in 1960 — ruled by finance, speed, and machinery.

Young Michel Dufrénoy, a poet, wanders through a cold, electric metropolis.

Science and industry dominate; literature and beauty are obsolete.

He fails to find love, meaning, or recognition in a mechanized society.

The story ends in isolation and despair — the poet buried beneath technological triumph.

Verne’s "lost" novel: a prophetic elegy for imagination in an age of machines.