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eagleshouse's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
The story itself is great - the premise is incredibly interesting, the characters are complex, and the mystery that continues throughout the entire book left me wanting more.
HOWEVER - this book has taken me 6 entire months to finish, oftentimes leaving me in a reading slump. Whilst the story is great, and the prose is of its time yet easy to read and understand, half of the book was literally just the main character rambling about every single sea creature he could see. I understand it's because it's his character describing what he would have written down for scientific purposes, but genuinely, this book would be less than half the size and much easier and enjoyable to read without it, or perhaps just cutting down on the descriptions.
TLDR: the story is incredible and left me wanting to read the next book in the series, but unless you're happy to read entire 20 page chapters just analysing random fish, then I would perhaps steer clear!
HOWEVER - this book has taken me 6 entire months to finish, oftentimes leaving me in a reading slump. Whilst the story is great, and the prose is of its time yet easy to read and understand, half of the book was literally just the main character rambling about every single sea creature he could see. I understand it's because it's his character describing what he would have written down for scientific purposes, but genuinely, this book would be less than half the size and much easier and enjoyable to read without it, or perhaps just cutting down on the descriptions.
TLDR: the story is incredible and left me wanting to read the next book in the series, but unless you're happy to read entire 20 page chapters just analysing random fish, then I would perhaps steer clear!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement
Minor: Colonisation and Racism
meganpbennett's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
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: Grief, Murder, Kidnapping, Death, Confinement, Animal death, Gore, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
tiredcreature's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
slow-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
3.0
Much longer than it needs to be, but so it goes with serialized magazine novels.
Nevertheless interesting if one is curious about 19th century marine biology (if nothing else, then to compare and contrast what was already known and what wasn't), and the history of science fiction. Annotated edition recommended
Nevertheless interesting if one is curious about 19th century marine biology (if nothing else, then to compare and contrast what was already known and what wasn't), and the history of science fiction. Annotated edition recommended
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Racism and Racial slurs
Period-typical racismlily1304's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
The main character is not interested in:
- figuring out what secrets Captain Nemo is keeping, or his apparently tragic backstory
- talking to literally any of the crew, or even learning their names
- planning an escape (another character does that for him)
- considering the ethical implications of the Nautilus and Nemo's labor
The main character IS interested in:
- describing every plant and animal he sees, describing how someone killed it, and then describing how it tastes
Also, it annoyed me to realize that "20,000 leagues" refers to the distance they traveled underwater, *not* how far underwater they are - and that's dumb
- figuring out what secrets Captain Nemo is keeping, or his apparently tragic backstory
- talking to literally any of the crew, or even learning their names
- planning an escape (another character does that for him)
- considering the ethical implications of the Nautilus and Nemo's labor
The main character IS interested in:
- describing every plant and animal he sees, describing how someone killed it, and then describing how it tastes
Also, it annoyed me to realize that "20,000 leagues" refers to the distance they traveled underwater, *not* how far underwater they are - and that's dumb
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Animal death, and Confinement
Moderate: Grief and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Racism, Colonisation, and Cannibalism
Scene of near-suffocation due to lack of oxygen in the airatalea's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-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
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Xenophobia, Classism, and Animal death
taylorlanxon's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, and Confinement
prufrockpreptooth's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.25
J'ai lu plusieurs Jules Verne que j'ai adoré - alors je ne me suis pas méfié en me penchant sur celui-ci. Quelle erreur ! C'est long, mais long, mais long, avec des descriptions, même pas des mers ou du Nautilus, non, mais des classifications de centaines d' espèce qui sont d'un ennuie à lire quand on en a rien à faire de la taxonomie... J'imagine que quelqu'un qui aime ce point, adorera peut-être cette ouvrage, bien que l'histoire a aussi terriblement vieillie et nous offre un personnage principale qui se sent particulièrement au-dessus de tout le monde en tout temps, devant pour moi absolument insupportable plus le roman avancé (et c'est le narrateur !)
Bref, il y a tout de même des bons points, les premiers et derniers chapitres sont prenants, et sûrement qu'une version abrégée aurait été plus adaptée au type de lectures que j'apprécie
Bref, il y a tout de même des bons points, les premiers et derniers chapitres sont prenants, et sûrement qu'une version abrégée aurait été plus adaptée au type de lectures que j'apprécie
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Kidnapping
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Medical content, Murder, and Racism
Minor: Grief and Injury/Injury detail
melancholymegs's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
I had picked up this book due to its method of story telling via a travel log/diary, because i had enjoyed Bram Stokers “Dracula”, (5⭐️) which makes use of the same format. Curiosity to read more literature that takes place in the sea/ocean was also a factor when i picked up this book. However, if you are expecting lush descriptions of the sublimity of the sea and its creatures, you will be disappointed.
Trudging through the mass amounts of scientific terminology as well as maths was not worth the pay off. The vaguely hinted at end reward would have been more impactful had more description and build up been provided; instead you get a bunch of anticlimactic explanations dumped into the last 20-30 minutes of the book.
I definitely can see why this book is enjoyed by many people. It does present the interest of sea travel, specifically submarine travel, during the 19th century, as well as giving insight into the scientific idiosyncrasies of various forms of sea life. However this book simply was not enjoyable to me🙃
Trudging through the mass amounts of scientific terminology as well as maths was not worth the pay off. The vaguely hinted at end reward would have been more impactful had more description and build up been provided; instead you get a bunch of anticlimactic explanations dumped into the last 20-30 minutes of the book.
I definitely can see why this book is enjoyed by many people. It does present the interest of sea travel, specifically submarine travel, during the 19th century, as well as giving insight into the scientific idiosyncrasies of various forms of sea life. However this book simply was not enjoyable to me🙃
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Racism, and Confinement
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Death, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Child death, Animal death, and Grief
apersonfromflorida's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Confinement
Moderate: Death, Racism, and Violence
Minor: Blood, Grief, and Gore
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Death and Colonisation