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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
I love a good adventure story, but like so many of the classics, this one suffered from a severe lack of characterization. I got bored about 1/3 of the way through and gave up.
Le livre est un classique, qui a sûrement fait pas mal d'heureux à sa date de sortie. L'histoire est bien, même assez moderne pour l'époque. L'idee globale me plaît, mais j'avais l'impression de lire un livre axé vers la géologie et la vie sous-marine. Beaucoup trop de détails sur les poissons, sur les endroits où ils se trouvaient dans leur périple.
Malheureusement, je ne le relirais pas.
Malheureusement, je ne le relirais pas.
Honestly the only reason I was interested in this book was because of Jim Tierney. My interview with him about the Jules Verne covers he designed for his thesis was the first interview I had on my blog and I've follow his work ever since. He finally got to design some Verne covers for print and I bought both as soon as I found out about them. (Learn more about Jim here: http://www.tobeshelved.com/search/label/Jim%20Tierney)
When I started this book I didn't think I would like it but then I couldn't put it down. Verne really surprised me. I would have liked to give it 3 1/2 stars but that's not really an option. I would give it four but I had hoped for a more exciting ending.
Also I don't know why this says 256 pages. My copy is only 164.
When I started this book I didn't think I would like it but then I couldn't put it down. Verne really surprised me. I would have liked to give it 3 1/2 stars but that's not really an option. I would give it four but I had hoped for a more exciting ending.
Also I don't know why this says 256 pages. My copy is only 164.
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
