Reviews with content warning for Death - Vingt mille lieues sous les mers

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Vingt mille lieues sous les mers by Jules Verne

16 reviews

ran_sophia's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Although the book has an interesting topic I did not enjoy reading it. In my opinion, the story was too descriptive and boring.

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ggcd1981's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

TRIGGER WARNING:

Drowning

Eu não sabia o que esperar ao iniciar Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (Vinte Mil Léguas Submarinas), provavelmente por isso o livro começou forte para mim. A ideia de uma tripulação em um barco do século XIX se juntando para ir em busca de um possível monstro marinho é muito empolgante. A obra possui apenas quatro personagens de destaque são esses: o Professor Pierre Aronnax, o narrador da história; seu leal “servo” Conseil; o lançador de arpão Ned Land; e finalmente o misterioso Capitão Nemo, criador do submarino Nautilus. A medida que eu li o livro, no entanto, a minha “empolgação” inicial foi se ajustando. O livro se mostrou com poucos momentos de ação e me fez sentir em grande parte como se eu estivesse simplesmente observando o dia a dia dos personagens a bordo do Nautilus. Na obra há diversos momentos de mera observação das maravilhas submarinas, dos segredos que o Oceano oculta. Vemos grande parte disso través dos olhos do Professor Aronnax.

Este foi feito prisioneiro juntamente com Conseil e Ned Land ao caírem do barco após a tripulação deste realizar um ataque ao Nautilus. Assim o Capitão Nemo os salvou porem determinou que estes não mais deixariam o submarino. Apesar do ritmo lento houveram momentos de ação, lutas com tubarões, polvos gigantes, culminando na fuga dos prisioneiros em meio a um redemoinho. O aspecto mais interessante da história foi quão intrigante e misterioso o personagem do Capitão Nemo se tornou aos olhos do narrador e também aos meus olhos. Porque ele deu as costas a sociedade? Qual sua história? Qual o real proposito do Nautilus? O que realmente aconteceu enquanto Aronnax, Conseil e Ned Land foram drogados e trancafiados? Nenhuma dessas perguntas foi respondida e isso deixa a obra com um ar mistério. De alguma forma não me sinto decepcionada por não ter descoberto. Acredito que qualquer explicação diminuiria a magnitude do personagem. Como ponto negativo cito o presente racismo e classismo, porém a obra é de 1870 então é esperado que o texto contenha esse tipo de problema. Outro ponto que na verdade apresenta uma dualidade, foi tanto negativo quanto positivo, foi a narração de Aronnax. Essa narração foi negativa por ser desnecessariamente descritiva, o professor descreveu cada planta, peixe, molusco e coral que contemplou, assim como descreveu o funcionamento de todas as maquinas a que teve acesso. Esse elemento deixou a escrita tediosa em alguns momentos, pelo menos para mim. A narração também foi positiva porque o Professor Aronnax passava a surpresa, a empolgação a contemplação maravilhada diante desse novo mundo submarino assim me empolgando também. Achei que a ambiguidade sobre o final de Nemo e do Nautilus foi adequada, teriam eles sobrevivido ao redemoinho ou não? Pergunta cabível para acentuar o ar de mistério sobre o personagem e sua embarcação.

Tirando os pontos negativos apresentados dou a obra um sólido 4.25 estrelas. No momento não decidi se continuarei com a série pois achei a obra satisfatoriamente encerrada.

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nytephoenyx's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is one of my favorite classics.

There’s a bit of nostalgia to it – I remember the first time I picked up the book at my local library as a child. It was a library-bound illustrated classic. It was probably my first true classic and immediately I fell in love with Jules Verne’s science fiction. A couple decades later, I still enjoy it.

That said, it’s a bit difficult for me to explain why I like it so much. Compared to modern books, it’s dense and lacks compelling descriptions. If you hate info dumping, you’ll really dislike Twenty Thousand Leagues. If you really like fish, you may like Twenty Thousand Leagues. Whether it’s a transition issue (the original is in French) or simply the stylistic product of the nineteenth century, there’s not much I can defend about Verne’s writing style. It’s palatable, but it’s flat.

No, for me, I think it’s the adventure.

Verne predicted so many scientific advances in his science fiction, including our flight to the moon and deep into the earth. While submarines aren’t particularly impressive to us in the twenty-first century, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea was written as a serialized tale between 1869 and 1870. In the 1860s and 1870s, submarines did exist, but they were not commonplace. Captain Nemo’s mighty Nautilus is almost certainly inspired by the vessel of the same name designed by Robert Fulton in 1800 while in France. Submarines existed, but to built one in such a way that it could withstand so much pressure so deep in the water… those didn’t exist. They still don’t exist to the extend Verne describes. But oh! Jules Verne makes it seem perfectly logical that the Nautilus could do all these things. When reading Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, you forget the book was written so long ago and are able to immerse yourself in the story. The research is so well done that it still feels real, more than a century later.

Unfortunately, like any classic, this book isn’t perfect. It’s so close to withstanding the test f time except for one chapter. Somewhere along the lines, the Nautilus stops at an island and M. Arronax, Conseil, and Ned Land enjoy the respite. And, on this island, we meet the indigenous people of that area. They are described with most of the tame but still completely atrocious and inappropriate stereotypes of the time, all of which are racist and inappropriate. Whether those words used are in the same spirit as Verne wrote them or if their crudeness is part of the translation, I don’t know. The unfortunate chapter is, nevertheless, there. The book would be fine without it and this is one of those situations where I feel a perfectly good book could be salvaged by cutting a chapter.

All this time later, I think Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea remains a shining example of really good science fiction. Even read today, it holds true as a piece of science fiction, but Verne’s research was so good as to make the whole thing believable. There’s science and mystery and the ever-compelling enigma that is Captain Nemo. I know it’s not for everyone, but I adore Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and am happy to have it in my collection.

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lectrixnoctis's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Jules Gabriel Verne was born in Nantes, France, as the eldest of five children on February 8, 1828. Despite always having a particular interest in literature, he followed his father's footsteps and went to study law in Paris. However, he became involved in an artistic circle and began to write. Up until his death on March 24, 1905, Jules Verne has written over 60 books.

"Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the sea," tells the story of a French marine biologist Pierre Aronnax, his manservant Conseil and Canadian harpooner Ned Land. They are thrown overboard when the monster attacks after joining the hunt for a mysterious sea monster. They find themselves as prisoners of Captain Nemo on the board of the Nautilus, a technologically advanced submarine that was mistaken as the sea monster due to its whale shape. The three companions find themself on the adventure of their lifetime and get to experience the vast and endless beautiful world under the sea.

We follow the point of view of Dr Aronnax, which is highly modelled after Verne himself. Not only do these two share their interest in science. In the first French edition of the novel, Arnnoax illustration was based on Verne himself. The story is parted into two parts. The first one has 24 chapters, and the second part contains 23 chapters. The first-person narrators mostly misread the situation and are therefore unreliable. However, the accurate descriptions of, for example, the sea or the Nautilus are very detailed and lengthy.

One thing that caught my interested the most was Captain Nemo. Like his name, he remains an utter mystery, and we never get to know him and his motives of hatred. The only notable things the reader learns about Nemo is his adoration for the sea and his submarine, which is a prison and also a safe haven for all its passengers. Furthermore, Nemo is a well-read man who enjoys literature, history and even music, and he is stuck in the past despite the technology around him.

Although Verne never got to see the first submarine, he did a beautiful job describing the Nautilus and what humankind could create. Moreover, Verne touches on how humans impact the world environment by mentioning sunken ships and their treasures.

Like many classics, this book does not have any representation of any other than white men. This book has only had four main characters, and all of these are men. When the Nautilus spend some time on the shore of an island, they were attacked by native people called "Savages" in this context. The natives were described as wild and inhuman.

This novel of Jules Verne is one of his most successful works. It is packed with adventure, political commentary mentioning the European Revolution in 1848, and a scientific utopia. Due to its adventurous nature, this book captured me despite its academically and sometimes dry writing style. However, I do not think that this book is for everybody. If you get bored by reading hundreds of temperatures and navigation data, this book will not be enjoyable.

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josefinceh's review against another edition

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adventurous informative slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I like to preface this with noting that I did listen to this as an audiobook, which usually results in me not paying as much attention to the story as I would if I read a physical copy.
I feel like this is a lighter option to Moby Dick as far as how in depth Verne goes with the science fact. The story wasn't held up by the factual notes, and Veren's picturesque description of the world he draws is just as intriguing in this book as with his others. This story had a lot of ups and downs, at some parts it was extremely intriguing, and the rest was incredibly slow and just seemed to drag on.

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bwaymadeline's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

though a bit long winded in its descriptions, manages to hold compelling male characters

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