itshayleytyme7 's review for:

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

2.0

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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.