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Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (Captain Nemo, #2)

Jules Verne

Why we're reading this: #37 on NPR's Top 100 SF/F novels of all time (2011 poll) http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/1390858...

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[close] #37 on NPR's Top 100 SF/F novels of all time (2011 poll) http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/1390858...

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Jun 08, 2010 Jason Koivu rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, classics

For years this is what Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea meant to me...

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I know, I know...That's just not what Jules Verne intended. Hey, Disney tried and it was fun when I was about 7 or 8, but back when Vernes wrote this, he was writing a true thrill ride!

The story is of an underwater mission to seek and destroy a sea monster. That premise is turned on its head and the story takes a more scientific and character-based slant. Verne takes his readers on a trip to new worlds, som ...more

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Jun 21, 2015 Bobby Bermea rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: visions-of-tomorrow

20000 Leagues Under the Sea is as thrilling an adventure story as you're likely to come across, with an unexpected political bent that only adds to its richness. (Unexpected by me, at any rate.) Surprisingly, I never read this book as a kid and was delighted to find myself instantly engrossed. From the mystery of the narwhal to the enigmatic figure of Captain Nemo himself, to one fantastic expedition on board the Nautilus after another, 20000 Leagues Under the Sea constantly delivers thrills and 20000 Leagues Under the Sea is as thrilling an adventure story as you're likely to come across, with an unexpected political bent that only adds to its richness. (Unexpected by me, at any rate.) Surprisingly, I never read this book as a kid and was delighted to find myself instantly engrossed. From the mystery of the narwhal to the enigmatic figure of Captain Nemo himself, to one fantastic expedition on board the Nautilus after another, 20000 Leagues Under the Sea constantly delivers thrills and enchantment.

Most enchanting of all is Verne's sense of wonder. His narrator, a scientist named Aronnax, is justifiably enthralled with every encounter, every different sea, every different sea creature and the Nautilus itself. The effect is that we are amazed by a world that is somehow both very far from our everyday life and very close, but that we know very little about, AND we are amazed by the accomplishments of humankind. When Aronnax is stunned by the news that the Nautilus is run on electricity, it helps me to remember that electricity is not something that I should take for granted. It's actually super cool and 99.9 percent of human beings that have ever existed never got to live with it. We live in a world of magic and science fiction. We (some of us) can explain it all but that makes it no less wonderful.

Captain Nemo himself is a fascinating central figure and of course, he's the real engine that drives the book. Brilliant, intractable, obsessive and ultimately sorrowful many of his views are surprisingly progressive. He rails against oppression, colonialism and the slaughtering of animals for sport. He feels very contemporary both in attitude and execution. Verne, like Aronnax, has a very complex relationship with Nemo. For both, it is only the captain's teetering on the edge of madness that makes him any less than epic hero of epic possibilities.

As opposed to say, Aronnax and his faithful servant, Conseil. What this relationship is or why its attractive is something that is very hard to relate to in the context of today's culture. However, Conseil himself is so charming and so delightful, he makes the discomfort a little more palatable.

I have seen critiques that didn't like the listing of the different types of marine life that Aronnax encounters. I loved it. This is a scientist and he's in the ocean, observing things that most of us will never get to see. Give it all to me! This gives the undersea world of Captain Nemo its richness and gravitas. If anything, it points up just how narrow and limited the vast majority of world-building fiction actually is. With Tolkien, we have these variations on humans, really (hobbits, elves, dwarves, orcs) and then like, horses. With Herbert, it's people, people, people, people who live in the desert and giant worms. Star Trek and Star Wars go from one variation of life on Earth to another and another. Now, I love The Lord of the Rings, Dune and those two franchises, I am merely pointing out the complexity of the world that Verne doesn't create but reveals. It's very exciting.

As are all the adventures that Nemo, Aronnax, Conseil and harpooner Ned Land have aboard the Nautilus. The one we've all heard about was of course, the encounter with the giant squid, which actually turned out to be squid(s) but that is only one. They hunt sharks, find gold in underwater shipwrecks, come across the remains of Atlantis, and get trapped under the ice under the South Pole. Among others. 20000 Leagues Under the SeaS (apparently its proper title but the translation thing is a saga unto itself) was, for me, surprisingly fantastic. But it was in fact, fantastic and I highly recommend it. ...more

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