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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
Cool submarine and Captain Nemo is a great character, but I don't need the taxonomy of every single fish and slug and plant in the ocean!! And the exact lat and long of every location he visits. What was Verne thinking??
3.5 I enjoyed the imagination, all the references to geography, animals and so on, and the descriptions of life under sea. Disappointed with the ending though. It felt too rushed after all the time invested reading the book and getting to the characters.
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is our last Jules Verne novel, and I'm sad because I think he is my favorite classic author. He is a great combination of sci-fi, science, and old timey adventure.
A mysterious glowing "narwhal" that's messing up ships on trade routes. So Professor Aronnax is requested to go on the hunt for this narwhal as he is an expert on sea life and this is a good research opportunity. So he, and his man servant Consiel, join a crew to hunt this terrible creature.
Surprise! It's not a narwhal at all! It's an almost indestructible submarine. During the commotion Aronnax, Consiel, and a Canadian harpooner named Ned Land get chucked off the boat. It's a good thing that narwhal is a submarine at this point.
Aronnax and co. get scooped/held captive by the Nautilus and her captain, the mysterious and prone to deep depression, Captain Nemo.
At no point do they actually descend twenty thousand leagues under the se, but they do travel a span of twenty thousand leagues from point A to point B. I feel slightly misled.
A mysterious glowing "narwhal" that's messing up ships on trade routes. So Professor Aronnax is requested to go on the hunt for this narwhal as he is an expert on sea life and this is a good research opportunity. So he, and his man servant Consiel, join a crew to hunt this terrible creature.
Surprise! It's not a narwhal at all! It's an almost indestructible submarine. During the commotion Aronnax, Consiel, and a Canadian harpooner named Ned Land get chucked off the boat. It's a good thing that narwhal is a submarine at this point.
Aronnax and co. get scooped/held captive by the Nautilus and her captain, the mysterious and prone to deep depression, Captain Nemo.
At no point do they actually descend twenty thousand leagues under the se, but they do travel a span of twenty thousand leagues from point A to point B. I feel slightly misled.
I've read a few classic sci-fi novels and, on the whole, enjoyed them. This, however, was slow and the ending somewhat abrupt. It's more of a description of the sea (a good one, don't get me wrong) than an actual story. Pages at a time do nothing more than list underwater species which gets quite tedious.
Some nice historical / scientific facts thrown in but overall I just finished it through sheer bloody-mindedness, not because I was enjoying it.
Some nice historical / scientific facts thrown in but overall I just finished it through sheer bloody-mindedness, not because I was enjoying it.
Captain Nemo and the Nautilus. Prof. Aronnax is the narrator, a naturalist called upon to aide in the search for the "monster" terrorizing the seas. Not a monster at all, but a submarine. Aronnax, his assistant Conseil, and Ned Land are taken aboard for an amazing journey to Atlantis, the South Pole, and all over the globe. But Capt. Nemo has an agenda--only partially revealed. From his self-imposed exile, he attacks and sinks ships--yet he helps a drowning diver. Quite the paradox. Aronnax and his friends are able to escape when the Nautilus gets caught in a maelstrom.
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-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:
Yes
Jules Verne was spitting with this one
I wish I had done more research about translators before starting (I just picked up a copy I had on hand). Mine was translated by Philip Schuyler Allen.
I would like to give this book three and a half stars. The various locations visited around the world are fantastic -- I spent a lot of time looking up their history, which was fascinating. I could have done without the seemingly endless taxonomy and inventory of sea creatures.
I would love to read some literary analysis of the parallels to the Odyssey, as well as character development/foils. And of course what drove Nemo to choose his life away from civilization.
I would like to give this book three and a half stars. The various locations visited around the world are fantastic -- I spent a lot of time looking up their history, which was fascinating. I could have done without the seemingly endless taxonomy and inventory of sea creatures.
I would love to read some literary analysis of the parallels to the Odyssey, as well as character development/foils. And of course what drove Nemo to choose his life away from civilization.
As this is a classic I had a bit of a tough time really getting into it. It was a little dense and at times went into long scientific/marine biology passages. If you are into marine biology or a bit of a science buff then this book might be more enjoyable for you than it was for me. Overall, it was an interesting story with compelling characters. Who knew that Captain Nemo means Captain Nobody?!?!
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea alternates between positively boring and absolutely fascinating.
First the boring. Aronnax is a biologist and Conseil is gifted at classification and they are both entranced with all the fish and sea creatures they see. So, we get lists and lists of shells and fish, genus and species. If I had been reading the book in print, I maybe could have skimmed them, but on audio, I listened to each and every one. I get it: the enormous variety, the beauty, but it just got too tedious. On the other had, I loved seeing Atlantis, shipwrecks, underwater volcanoes. There were definitely thrilling bits too, the fight with the herd of squid, the trip to the south pole.
Aronnax and Conseil don't really have much personality. Aronnax is a scientist and would almost be content about the submarine for ever. Consiel is his too faithful servant, always calm, always putting Aronnax first. Conseil himself says he thinks what his Master thinks and goes where his master goes. Ned Land is louder, but not very complex. He wants to hunt, and eat meat, and escape. Nemo is the only truly interesting character, only because we know little about him. We know he has removed himself from civilization and would presumably be putting himself in great danger should he reemerge on land. He's one of the big villains, and I'll grant you he does blow up one boat and keeps our three prisoner, but overall he just doesn't seem like a bad guy. He's seems to be a champion of oppressed people, he cares about his crew.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is interesting, and the oceans are amazing, but it sometimes gets caught up in detail.
First the boring. Aronnax is a biologist and Conseil is gifted at classification and they are both entranced with all the fish and sea creatures they see. So, we get lists and lists of shells and fish, genus and species. If I had been reading the book in print, I maybe could have skimmed them, but on audio, I listened to each and every one. I get it: the enormous variety, the beauty, but it just got too tedious. On the other had, I loved seeing Atlantis, shipwrecks, underwater volcanoes. There were definitely thrilling bits too, the fight with the herd of squid, the trip to the south pole.
Aronnax and Conseil don't really have much personality. Aronnax is a scientist and would almost be content about the submarine for ever. Consiel is his too faithful servant, always calm, always putting Aronnax first. Conseil himself says he thinks what his Master thinks and goes where his master goes. Ned Land is louder, but not very complex. He wants to hunt, and eat meat, and escape. Nemo is the only truly interesting character, only because we know little about him. We know he has removed himself from civilization and would presumably be putting himself in great danger should he reemerge on land. He's one of the big villains, and I'll grant you he does blow up one boat and keeps our three prisoner, but overall he just doesn't seem like a bad guy. He's seems to be a champion of oppressed people, he cares about his crew.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is interesting, and the oceans are amazing, but it sometimes gets caught up in detail.