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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I had to give this a shot because of its role as an early fantasy/sci-fi influence. But...I just wasn't that thrilled. Captain Nemo is like an aloof, overly-posh cardboard cutout of a 'mysterious' main character, who is built up in strength and stature by the weakness and fawning of the main character (this is a strategy for making 'strong' characters that really does bug me, because it's so easy and so common). This book drones on and on about species of fish (by scientific name), and I'm just not a naturalist, so I couldn't get a single image of what they were supposed to look like, which is like sucking the life out of a book (describe so accurately that the reader cannot put a picture to the words...hmm...).
There were some cool things. The descriptions of polar seas were lovely, and I loved imagining an underwater world of ice while it snowed on Seattle outside my window. The technology described is still out of reach today, which made it fun to think about a world where the Nautilus was possible. But overall, it just didn't compare to contemporary stories I've read and loved. It just felt bland.
There were some cool things. The descriptions of polar seas were lovely, and I loved imagining an underwater world of ice while it snowed on Seattle outside my window. The technology described is still out of reach today, which made it fun to think about a world where the Nautilus was possible. But overall, it just didn't compare to contemporary stories I've read and loved. It just felt bland.
Imaginative story. Sadly, most of the subtleties of the history, politics, and marine life were lost on me, a lacking of my eduction and not the author's. Still, a pleasant imaginative imagery heavy story.
adventurous
mysterious
Too descriptive. Must have been an amazing book in its time, but I don't see the point of such length description now.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book is a hard one. Its awesome and then its terrible and all you want to do is get through it. The actual story points are captivating but sometimes it gets lost in all the classifications of fish and plant life. Seriously lost in Latin classifications for pages .... so I don't think I'd recommend it to just anyone but I am glad I read it.
It was good. I'd give it 3.5 stars. Someone described it like you're reading a science journal disguised as a travel novel. The descriptions would be tedious if one actually read them all, but they are really there to enhance the image of this world that Verne created *in 1870* !!!
What would be really great is if a professional fiction author redid this book as a short story.
What would be really great is if a professional fiction author redid this book as a short story.
As a kid I had an amazing "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" pop up book and I watched the 1954 Disney movie many many times, so oddly this story was a big part of my childhood, but I had never read the book until now. It's a great adventure story and intriguingly advanced in its presentation of science/technology - hard to believe it was written in 1870! It bogged down a little in the excessive description and classification of fish throughout, but the crushing icebergs/giant squid/hostile natives/whirlpools/etc make up for it. Anthony Bonner's very adept translation seems to make all the difference, so I'd definitely recommend that version over others (which those in my book club said were very dense and hard to read).
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I love the story and the animated movie of this book was one of my favorites as a kid. Of course I know a lot has been changed for the movie, but the main storyline is the same. However on this book the tempo was so slow and the level of detailed description of different species was a bit much for my patience.