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cecinamo's review against another edition
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
5.0
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, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Kidnapping, Violence, Blood, Murder, Classism, and Grief
thomasdj's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Gun violence and Animal cruelty
Minor: Slavery, War, and Death
emma_thorne's review against another edition
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
2.5
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
crowcrow's review against another edition
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
4.0
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.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
sheila_the_glasser's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
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
lily1304'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