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20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
A retelling of Jules Verne's classic story about a French scientist taken hostage aboard a strange submarine in the year 1867 features contemporary colloquial language and full-color illustrations
- GenresScience FictionClassics
48 pages, Library Binding
First published January 1, 1869
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 29, 2019
There's so much that's good and fun about this novel, and so much that's incredibly boring.
We get it: there are billions of species of fish that the characters were seeing for the first time. We don't have to read the names of them all.
And we get it: they went around the globe. We don't need to know the exact latitude and longitude every step of the way.
These kinds of unessessary details kept the otherwise action-packed novel moving at only a snail's pace. But it's really the story that's the most captivating anyway. Just when you think you have Captain Nemo figured out, he surprises you again and again. And even though submarines aren't new, cutting-edge technology today, it's fun to step into the wonder of those who were experiencing them for the first time.
One thing I greatly appreciated was how a theistic worldview was weaved throughout the narrative. Faith and science are not opposites, but can actually consistently coexist. And not only that, they must coexist, because there would be nothing to study scientifically if not for God creating it all. While I would question some of the professor's scientific beliefs, I liked that God was not ruled out de facto as so many "scientists" do today.
It's said that Jules Verne was a deist. Perhaps. But I also hold out hope that, being raised Catholic, he worshipped Jesus, who is the true God who created all of the beauty in this world, both on land and under the sea.
We get it: there are billions of species of fish that the characters were seeing for the first time. We don't have to read the names of them all.
And we get it: they went around the globe. We don't need to know the exact latitude and longitude every step of the way.
These kinds of unessessary details kept the otherwise action-packed novel moving at only a snail's pace. But it's really the story that's the most captivating anyway. Just when you think you have Captain Nemo figured out, he surprises you again and again. And even though submarines aren't new, cutting-edge technology today, it's fun to step into the wonder of those who were experiencing them for the first time.
One thing I greatly appreciated was how a theistic worldview was weaved throughout the narrative. Faith and science are not opposites, but can actually consistently coexist. And not only that, they must coexist, because there would be nothing to study scientifically if not for God creating it all. While I would question some of the professor's scientific beliefs, I liked that God was not ruled out de facto as so many "scientists" do today.
It's said that Jules Verne was a deist. Perhaps. But I also hold out hope that, being raised Catholic, he worshipped Jesus, who is the true God who created all of the beauty in this world, both on land and under the sea.
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August 28, 2022Overall this book was kinda boring but it wasn't a terrible book
December 13, 2019
This was a teen adaptation; but it was the first time I had read this book. Easy read and super neat to read about the underwater adventures that were written about so long ago before we had the advanced technology it talked about.
September 4, 2014
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
The central message in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is no matter how smart, crazy, good, or evil anyone is they are still only human. 20,000 Leagues under the Sea takes place in 1866, all over the world, on tropical islands, and underneath the churning waves of the ocean. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is written from the point of the protagonist M. Arronax, a French scientist always trying to find a logical conclusion to all problems. Other characters include Conseil, a loyal servant and friend of M. Arronax, Ned Land, a tightly wound harpoonist, and Captain Nemo, the passionate, smart, crazy, defensive, arrogant captain of the Nautilus. The book starts with M. Arronax and Conseil getting invited to embark on a voyage to kill a supernatural narwhal. On the voyage they befriend Ned Land. When their ship finally comes across the narwhal the narwhal rams their ship and M. Arronax, Ned Land, and Conseil fall overboard. After swimming for quite a long time they come across a submarine boat. When they enter they meet Captain Nemo. This exciting book will tell you about these character’s adventures beneath the sea.
There is a moment in the book where M. Arronax is called in to see Captain Nemo and when he walks in there is a man whose head is bleeding. Captain Nemo asks M. Arronax if he will be okay and M. Arronax say that the man won’t survive long and so captain Nemo sheds a tear. As a reader I drew from this moment the fact that even though someone who is somewhat unlikable or is different in one way or another still have feelings, and friends, and families which make us all a little more alike. I enjoyed this book because throughout the entire book the reader is trying to figure out who Captain Nemo is as a human being and it’s never fully revealed and so the reader must inference based on other knowledge of this character. A strength of this book is that there is a lot of action, and also a lot of more philosophical moments. A weakness of the book is that Jules Verne will often go into very lengthy descriptions of different scientific terms that are sometimes difficult to understand. I would say that if you enjoy a good read with some different angles to it then this is a great book.
The central message in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is no matter how smart, crazy, good, or evil anyone is they are still only human. 20,000 Leagues under the Sea takes place in 1866, all over the world, on tropical islands, and underneath the churning waves of the ocean. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is written from the point of the protagonist M. Arronax, a French scientist always trying to find a logical conclusion to all problems. Other characters include Conseil, a loyal servant and friend of M. Arronax, Ned Land, a tightly wound harpoonist, and Captain Nemo, the passionate, smart, crazy, defensive, arrogant captain of the Nautilus. The book starts with M. Arronax and Conseil getting invited to embark on a voyage to kill a supernatural narwhal. On the voyage they befriend Ned Land. When their ship finally comes across the narwhal the narwhal rams their ship and M. Arronax, Ned Land, and Conseil fall overboard. After swimming for quite a long time they come across a submarine boat. When they enter they meet Captain Nemo. This exciting book will tell you about these character’s adventures beneath the sea.
There is a moment in the book where M. Arronax is called in to see Captain Nemo and when he walks in there is a man whose head is bleeding. Captain Nemo asks M. Arronax if he will be okay and M. Arronax say that the man won’t survive long and so captain Nemo sheds a tear. As a reader I drew from this moment the fact that even though someone who is somewhat unlikable or is different in one way or another still have feelings, and friends, and families which make us all a little more alike. I enjoyed this book because throughout the entire book the reader is trying to figure out who Captain Nemo is as a human being and it’s never fully revealed and so the reader must inference based on other knowledge of this character. A strength of this book is that there is a lot of action, and also a lot of more philosophical moments. A weakness of the book is that Jules Verne will often go into very lengthy descriptions of different scientific terms that are sometimes difficult to understand. I would say that if you enjoy a good read with some different angles to it then this is a great book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 5, 2015
Say what you want about The Complete Notebooks of Leonardo Divinci being the original futurist, Jules Verne gives the Italian a run for his lira. Jules predicts the nuclear powered sub, the glass bottom boat and the giant squid back in 1869. He takes you to the South Pole, the Caribbean and the mythical (one who took geography in an American school assumes) land of Norway all in one section of a novel. Yes, his Captain Nemo character does not seem to a consistent set of motivations and often seems to do things for no discernible purpose. Yes, one wonders how Nemo keeps his extremely advanced technology ship-shape given the entire globe at the time lacks spare parts he can use to repair giant squid damage. Yes, Jules either didn't know any women or didn't think it was acceptable to have them as fictional characters (must a been some lonely nights on the Nautilus). And yes, 60,000 leagues translates to 52,139 nautical miles or 52,132 miles further than the real most abysmal part of the ocean at the Challenger Deep. In short, despite some flaws, the book still holds up fairly well as an adventure story.
April 29, 2015
Ok. So I've given this book a 4 star rating because I enjoyed all of it, but the ending. The main plot of the story is told underwater aboard the Nautilus and I really enjoy reading from M.Arronax's point of view.
But I still feel like there is something missing from thwe ending. It all finishes pretty abruptly and I feel like the reams of plantology could have been missed out, but all n all, I found that this was a really great book.
The one thing that I don't like is how people always say either"don't read it, it'll be oring because it's a classic" or "why are you reading a book that was wriitten so long ago?". My answer to those two statements are "I can read what I want" and "why not give classics a go?,not everyone only wants to read books that have just come out".
Basically, I really enjoyed this book and I think that if people stopped thinkng it'll be boring because it's a classic and just sat down and tyred to enjoy it, they would.
But I still feel like there is something missing from thwe ending. It all finishes pretty abruptly and I feel like the reams of plantology could have been missed out, but all n all, I found that this was a really great book.
The one thing that I don't like is how people always say either"don't read it, it'll be oring because it's a classic" or "why are you reading a book that was wriitten so long ago?". My answer to those two statements are "I can read what I want" and "why not give classics a go?,not everyone only wants to read books that have just come out".
Basically, I really enjoyed this book and I think that if people stopped thinkng it'll be boring because it's a classic and just sat down and tyred to enjoy it, they would.
December 29, 2014
Just finished Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and I must say it has been quite a bit spoiled for mr by having first seen in my childhood the Classic Disney movie version. Whereas the usual experience of books translated into movies rarely matches the author's writing, this was an exception. Rather long and tedious passages describing in detail many hundreds of creatures of the sea became beautiful images in the movie, proving moving pictures are worth many thousands of words. A number of famous Hollywood actors in the film breathed much more life into the novel's characters too. Lastly, the movie added or altered the book's plot elements to make it more interesting and dramatic. So I say you can read Verne if you are a purest in wanting to experience the original of this popular sea tale he invented, but watch the Disney adaptation for the most fun.
June 21, 2015
"At ten o'clock in the evening the sky was on fire. The atmosphere was streaked with vivid lightning. I could not bear the brightness of it; while the captain, looking at it, seemed to envy the spirit of the tempest."
A disappointment, albeit one with some treats. The book is slow and wilfully digressive (all those fish), but in its characterisation of Captain Nemo it is superb: a man who would shut himself off from the world but is too angry to leave it alone; frustrated by the fact his anger does not mean more, using his grief to justify a position of moral arbiter despite his obvious crimes. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a terrific character study entombed in an almost interminable record of imagined oceanography.
A disappointment, albeit one with some treats. The book is slow and wilfully digressive (all those fish), but in its characterisation of Captain Nemo it is superb: a man who would shut himself off from the world but is too angry to leave it alone; frustrated by the fact his anger does not mean more, using his grief to justify a position of moral arbiter despite his obvious crimes. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a terrific character study entombed in an almost interminable record of imagined oceanography.
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September 2, 2014This is not the edition my family listened to on a road trip this month. We listened to the 1998 audiobook by Recorded Books, read by Norman Dietz. An excellent reading - highly recommended. My 8 year old loved the book, and you bet he's way too young to have read the text. I wish I'd read this years ago - great story, and very telling as to the growing fascination with the emergence of oceanographic science, biology, evolutionary understanding, and world exploration in it's (1875) time.
August 28, 2014
A classic in science fiction. I quite enjoy Verne's writing for an easy action packed read. I would have given 3.5 but the classic nature bumped it to 4.
This would be a great book for younger readers looking for some PG adventure that can handle a more eloquent English than what we speak now.
This would be a great book for younger readers looking for some PG adventure that can handle a more eloquent English than what we speak now.
Want to Read
March 3, 2012Treasury of Children's Classics hardback. Sub with squid wrapped around it on cover.
June 25, 2014
He had a good imagination. Lots of science terms. Have a map or Google Earth to look up the locations he mentions. I also used Google to help me look up the animals mentioned in the book.
May 3, 2016
Great classic. Wasn't sure for a while if the author was Nemo's prisoner...
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews