Reviews

Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne

brishti's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny informative lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

tylerw's review against another edition

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3.0

The strength of this book is the amount of actual science used in this science fiction story. From what I understand, a majority of the scientific terms, reactions, and theories were based in the science of the time, which is certainly to be commended, and a welcome change from the more fantastic evolutions modern science fiction can yield.

The adventure storyline is solid, if a bit lagging in the Icelandic preparation section. The highlight for me is the discovery of life in the center of the earth, and I'd be curious to see that concept shown greater depth and care. The characters are one note, with our narrator constantly whining to return to the surface, his uncle madly ordering them forward, and their guide calmly and quietly tagging along. Very little explanation is given to what motivates his uncle to be this crazy, nor does our narrator often find himself not using clearly outdated info, as if not remembering that what he's citing has been actively disproven by his surroundings.

A solid adventure story providing the opportunity for further depth in adaption, this was an enjoyable read, but not one I would rush to revisit.

markproxy's review against another edition

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3.0

Fascinating to read old science fiction, and a fun read too.

aime_mhlmn's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

manuphoto's review against another edition

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adventurous funny informative fast-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

4.0

Une lecture très agréable, du Verne classique. La structure est commune à celle des autres Voyages Extraordinaires, avec des faits scientifiques mêlés d’exploits et parsemés d’humour bien senti. 

happylilkt's review

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3.0

2.5 / 3 stars

Tim Curry is awesome. This story.... I definitely liked Around the World in 80 Days better. The narrator is such a whiner! His uncle is awesome, tho.

This book is interesting in part because it's a little time capsule of what was believed and speculated about when Jules Verne wrote it. I feel like some of my enjoyment was in thinking about what we take for granted or speculate about now and how dated and strange and wrong it may be in the future. It's good to have a little humility, and still fun to speculate!

I think if I had liked the narrator better I would have enjoyed the book more. But he was prone to hysterics and it was obnoxious. His fiancee Gräuben should absolutely have gone in his place.

owlet's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

2.75

Glad it's over. The book is not even 300 pages long, but it felt like 1,000. The concept is intriguing, however quite misleading, since
they never make it to the centre of the earth!
Also, I didn't care for the characters at all, both the professor and Axel were so very annoying.
One has his fixed idea of travelling to the centre of the earth (no matter what, even without sufficient supplies) and the other is constantly whining that he wants to go home.

dythmo's review against another edition

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adventurous funny informative inspiring lighthearted tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Excellent voyage novel! I enjoyed this book very much, and I want to go to Iceland now to see Sneffels!

noosh's review

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

adrian_1987's review against another edition

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3.0

Potencial desperdiciado

Una vez más he caído en la "estafa" de un clásico de la literatura. No hay mucho de qué hablar pero lo principal es que los únicos personajes que aparecen (más bien los personajes principales) tienen un desarrollo bien precario.

En más de la mitad de libro solo aparecen el profesor Lidenbrock, Axel y Hans, y no sé absolutamente nada de los tres. Entonces, ¿cómo se supone que debo conocer al personaje? TRES, solo TRES personas a las que tenían que hacerles una historia digna para por lo menos saber quienes son pero no tenemos ni eso.

El libro es una completa redundancia. Una y otra vez repitiendo lo mismo y sin salir de ahí hasta que te aburres. Pocas veces he preferido la película sobre el libro y esta es una de esas ocasiones.

Idolatran a Verne como si fuera el máximo escritor y con lo que he leído de sus obras me basta para no querer leer ninguna otra.