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adventurous
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
I won't be writing a full review for this one, but let's just say that this classic and me REALLY didn't get along. I read Around The World In 80 Days last year and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it, so I decided to read more of Jules Verne's work. This ended up being Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, which sounded interesting enough as I love a travel element in my stories. What I didn't expect was for this story to be THIS boring and extremely tedious, filled with scientific talk and constant repetitions... I had to resort to skimreading multiple times, and I probably should have just DNFed it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Racism, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement
Moderate: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Colonisation
adventurous
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
my "what could have been perfectly set for a gay tragedy book" 😭Save me AO3! Save me!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death
adventurous
informative
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A thrilling classic! It was very exciting and interesting. The depiction of sperm whales was far from accurate, but, oh well, it was written in 1870.
Captain Nemo was such a fascinating character! His motivations and background are a complete mystery and you only piece together fragments along with the main character. His love for the sea is truly unparalleled. Mr Aronnax (mc) and him share a really unique bond through this feeling. It is really interesting.
(Also Captain Nemo and Mr. Aronnax definitely had a bit of queer tension ;> )
I also just loved all the parts where Jules Verne described all the different marine creatures!
Captain Nemo was such a fascinating character! His motivations and background are a complete mystery and you only piece together fragments along with the main character. His love for the sea is truly unparalleled. Mr Aronnax (mc) and him share a really unique bond through this feeling. It is really interesting.
(Also Captain Nemo and Mr. Aronnax definitely had a bit of queer tension ;> )
I also just loved all the parts where Jules Verne described all the different marine creatures!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Gun violence
Minor: Death, Slavery, War
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was a decent enough read. Part two was certainly better than part one, which took me a while to get through on account of the extremely long paragraphs that just listed and classified different marine creatures. (I ended up just skipping these paragraphs in part two).
We follow Professor Aronnax as he joins Captain Nemo in a submarine that tours the waters of the world. The imagery was splendid and there were numerous situations where I felt rather tense and on the edge of my seat. Everything was described exceptionally well and it was easy enough to follow. Consiel was definitely the best character, and I stand by that. I think my love of biology and ecology helped me to get through the book, otherwise I would’ve struggled.
The book could’ve been shorter. The final climax could have been reached much sooner but I did enjoy the tension leading up to it. Nemo was a mysterious character and I enjoyed finding out more about him as the protagonist did. One thing I didn’t like about the book was the descriptions of the native characters on the different islands they visited. It was just uncomfortable to read; I know this book was written years ago but I still didn’t enjoy it. A lot of the book felt like they were aimlessly swimming along and there wasn’t much going on, and there was so much animal slaughter that I just felt ill. The characters were so obsessed with killing animals and I, again, began to skip these parts.
Overall, the plot and premise were really interesting and the characters were fun enough to follow. The imagery and writing style was great, but I probably wouldn’t read this book again as it hasn’t left me feeling any particular way, nor have I connected with any of the characters.
We follow Professor Aronnax as he joins Captain Nemo in a submarine that tours the waters of the world. The imagery was splendid and there were numerous situations where I felt rather tense and on the edge of my seat. Everything was described exceptionally well and it was easy enough to follow. Consiel was definitely the best character, and I stand by that. I think my love of biology and ecology helped me to get through the book, otherwise I would’ve struggled.
The book could’ve been shorter. The final climax could have been reached much sooner but I did enjoy the tension leading up to it. Nemo was a mysterious character and I enjoyed finding out more about him as the protagonist did. One thing I didn’t like about the book was the descriptions of the native characters on the different islands they visited. It was just uncomfortable to read; I know this book was written years ago but I still didn’t enjoy it. A lot of the book felt like they were aimlessly swimming along and there wasn’t much going on, and there was so much animal slaughter that I just felt ill. The characters were so obsessed with killing animals and I, again, began to skip these parts.
Overall, the plot and premise were really interesting and the characters were fun enough to follow. The imagery and writing style was great, but I probably wouldn’t read this book again as it hasn’t left me feeling any particular way, nor have I connected with any of the characters.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
adventurous
informative
mysterious
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Captain Nemo deserved a better ending though. Like.. after all that mystery and buildup ya just leave em at his organ screaming, and he's suddenly attached to the characters? Make it make sense Jules.
Fun read though, if you can ignore how much he loves to flex his biology and geography knowledge.
Fun read though, if you can ignore how much he loves to flex his biology and geography knowledge.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Animal death
Jules Verne flexing his science knowledge.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Having only read the illustrated classic that was an abridged version of the mangled Mercier translation, I jumped at the chance to read 20,000 Leagues via email, as things happened in the novel. I had vague memories of plot events and was delighted to see what really happened in this delightful story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Wish I could customise the character- or plot-driven response to say “fish-driven.” More lists of fish species than I expected and less plot, though just as much adventure and giant squid. I read it via substack and I think the episodic nature of the novel really lends itself to this serialisation, with the ten month journey taking the full ten months. Sometimes baffling, sometimes delightful, certainly a journey of twenty thousand leagues under the seas.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death