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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
adventurous
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
inspiring
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Ever since living in Nantes, Verne's hometown, I have been meaning to read some of his work. In many ways it is a product of its time, revelling in descriptive adventure episodes that were probably a lot more exciting to kids in the nineteenth century who probably had never encountered any of these places or ideas about the world. While there's definitely some ideas that are disproven by our modern scientific knowledge, there is a clear intention to being a hard-science encyclopedic account of the oceans.
The protagonist, Dr Arronax, is not much of a character, but rather a passive observer swept up in someone else's adventure. There's definitely a parallel to Ishmael and Ahab, but in Moby Dick Ishmael is much more developed as a character, even if he is relegated to a secondary narrative role. It's actually quite striking here how little control the three castaways have over the events of the story- they merely observe and react to where the Nautilus takes them. Paradoxically, Nemo is the only real character of the book despite being shrouded almost entirely by mystery. The glimpses we get of him are fascinating- his enormous library, museum of treasures of the deep, portraits of John Brown and other anti-imperialist revolutionaries. It really makes sense how we gets characterized by Alan Moore in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, as a sort of super-terrorist of the high seas.
The protagonist, Dr Arronax, is not much of a character, but rather a passive observer swept up in someone else's adventure. There's definitely a parallel to Ishmael and Ahab, but in Moby Dick Ishmael is much more developed as a character, even if he is relegated to a secondary narrative role. It's actually quite striking here how little control the three castaways have over the events of the story- they merely observe and react to where the Nautilus takes them. Paradoxically, Nemo is the only real character of the book despite being shrouded almost entirely by mystery. The glimpses we get of him are fascinating- his enormous library, museum of treasures of the deep, portraits of John Brown and other anti-imperialist revolutionaries. It really makes sense how we gets characterized by Alan Moore in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, as a sort of super-terrorist of the high seas.
adventurous
medium-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
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
I feel like everyone read a different version than me. Take heed, this SUCKS! Yes, Mr. Verne, I’m looking at you. This book is primarily hunting innocent animals and it’s hard to reconcile the amazing premise of the book to what it truly is. It is very of its time, so the industrialist, utility-only, emotional masculinity of the late 1800s mars my enjoyment of what I had hoped to be a big, splashy, thoughtful adventure epic underseas.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death
This book is very interesting, yet I was prone to confusion when I read it. It is about a man and his two friends who end up traveling the ocean on a massive submarine piloted by Captain Nemo. The main character is very interested in marine biology, so his voyage under the sea is exciting, yet his friends are getting antsy, because the Captain is denying them freedom. The adventures of the three companions are entertaining, and I think the characters are very unique.
Often, Jules Verne will describe all the sea creatures that are seen from the submarine. I found this interesting and informative at first, but it eventually began to bore me as I questioned its accuracy. Towards the beginning of the book, there was some information stated about a narwhal, and in a footnote it said that information was an exaggeration. This led me to wonder if all the other information that constantly surfaces in the book was accurate. Although this book was not meant to be a non-fiction work, I would like to know how accurate the descriptions about the sea life were.
Overall, the story was very entertaining. I enjoyed all the parts with Captain Nemo, and there were times when I was unable to put this book down. I thought the characters were very unique, and could be interpreted differently by different readers. The three companions in the book have many different sides, and I enjoyed watching them unfold. There were times when the story seemed to stop, when the many fish swimming alongside the submarine were described. Sometimes these descriptions took up entire chapters. The scientific names of the species were hard to pronounce. The book was entertaining, but the pace was probably accurate in terms of the story, but it did not bode well with me.
Often, Jules Verne will describe all the sea creatures that are seen from the submarine. I found this interesting and informative at first, but it eventually began to bore me as I questioned its accuracy. Towards the beginning of the book, there was some information stated about a narwhal, and in a footnote it said that information was an exaggeration. This led me to wonder if all the other information that constantly surfaces in the book was accurate. Although this book was not meant to be a non-fiction work, I would like to know how accurate the descriptions about the sea life were.
Overall, the story was very entertaining. I enjoyed all the parts with Captain Nemo, and there were times when I was unable to put this book down. I thought the characters were very unique, and could be interpreted differently by different readers. The three companions in the book have many different sides, and I enjoyed watching them unfold. There were times when the story seemed to stop, when the many fish swimming alongside the submarine were described. Sometimes these descriptions took up entire chapters. The scientific names of the species were hard to pronounce. The book was entertaining, but the pace was probably accurate in terms of the story, but it did not bode well with me.