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jimbowen0306's review against another edition
1.0
I’m not going to lie, this book irritated me. It’s a sort of mix of a travel guide, biology textbook, and adventure story, and sees a French biologist-cum-sort of anthropologist be asked to try and kill a sea serpent that is attacking shipping. While he is doing this, he’s captured by what turns out to be a submarine, and spends most of the rest of the book going on underwater experiences, while being driven round the world on the sub.
The attempts to catch the sub were good, but once on the boat, it turns into a really, really dull travel guide, and biology textbook, as he describes where his characters go, and what they see. It might be worth reading an abridged version of the book, because you might end up thinking “Oh for God’s sake, get to the point” less often.
The attempts to catch the sub were good, but once on the boat, it turns into a really, really dull travel guide, and biology textbook, as he describes where his characters go, and what they see. It might be worth reading an abridged version of the book, because you might end up thinking “Oh for God’s sake, get to the point” less often.
story_singer_101's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
3.75
rosemary_for_remembrance's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
It's always interesting to read some science fiction from the era when electric stoves were almost unimaginably futuristic, Antartica had yet to be discovered, and we had absolutely no idea about plate tectonics or how volcanos worked. Quite a lot of the science + futurism (apart from the interminable fish classification) has dated interestingly even if it's pretty far off the mark from what we understand today (can we get some of the Nautilus's batteries for modern use, please?). Also, I get that they have awesome diving suits, but why the heck do they keep parking the sub and then hiking for hours along the ocean floor?
It's also fascinating to see Verne referencing the imminent extinction of sea otters, whales, manatees, etc as a rebuke to the more typical 19th century attitude that natural resources are inexhaustible and killing any quantity of animals is totally fine. (Hilariously, it is claimed at one point that killing all the manatees caused an outbreak of yellow fever! Because of miasmas caused by the uneaten seagrass, of course) But then he turns around and has his characters engage in the same behaviors themselves. I think this is supposed to be problematic aspect of especially Ned but also Nemo's character, but I don't entirely understand it—the scene where Nemo draws a bright line between the innocent, overhunted right whales and the evil, verminous sperm whales is extremely baffling to me. Verne also plays the "hunting a dangerous animal" trope straight in the giant shark fight and the giant octopus fight, presumably because his audience was getting bored of FishFacts™️ and he needed to inject some excitement. So there's some tension there, and I'd kinda like to know about the general mood of the era and how this sort of nascent environmentalism clashed with the traditional "god will provide" perspective. This book absolutely must be in dialogue with a bunch of other works, and I want to read that essay.
Anyway, this is a fairly long book, it does get dull in places (especially when he's channelling his fish encyclopedia), and the scenes that were probably the most exciting when first published mostly fell flat to me. But quite a few of the jokes still hold up, and I really did enjoy the period-futurism as well as the delightful ways he got things wrong (bless Verne's determination to always show his work!).
Anyway, this is a fairly long book, it does get dull in places (especially when he's channelling his fish encyclopedia), and the scenes that were probably the most exciting when first published mostly fell flat to me. But quite a few of the jokes still hold up, and I really did enjoy the period-futurism as well as the delightful ways he got things wrong (bless Verne's determination to always show his work!).
jgurniak's review against another edition
5.0
I devoured this in one sitting, and at a young age too. This is a fabulous story, a work of art.
rainjrop's review against another edition
2.0
Is it bad that I hoped everyone would get crushed by an ice burg or eaten by giant cuttlefish just to make things interesting? Unfortunately, only one guy got eaten by a giant cuttlefish.
Captain Nemo: bitter af
Dr. Main Character: fish nerd
Angry Canadian: quite upset
Conseil: perfect servant
Trap all these people in a submarine for ten months and what do you get?
Uh, observations about fish. Motivations that are barely explained. Weird Moby Dick parallels. So little plot that Where's Waldo has more suspense.
The last 20 pages were the most interesting, but even then, the conclusion was unsatisfying and rather abrupt.
On the positive side, well, the prose was good enough that I didn't notice it one way or another. Some of the descriptions were pretty. I now know what a cuttlefish looks like. They're sort of like compact, backwards squids.
Jules Verne, I give you the side eye. I saw some of what you were doing with Nemo's hatred of humanity and rather underdeveloped revenge quest, but you leave something to be desired. I will think twice before picking up another one of your books
Captain Nemo: bitter af
Dr. Main Character: fish nerd
Angry Canadian: quite upset
Conseil: perfect servant
Trap all these people in a submarine for ten months and what do you get?
Uh, observations about fish. Motivations that are barely explained. Weird Moby Dick parallels. So little plot that Where's Waldo has more suspense.
The last 20 pages were the most interesting, but even then, the conclusion was unsatisfying and rather abrupt.
On the positive side, well, the prose was good enough that I didn't notice it one way or another. Some of the descriptions were pretty. I now know what a cuttlefish looks like. They're sort of like compact, backwards squids.
Jules Verne, I give you the side eye. I saw some of what you were doing with Nemo's hatred of humanity and rather underdeveloped revenge quest, but you leave something to be desired. I will think twice before picking up another one of your books
_carolina_'s review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75