Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (Wordsworth Classics)
1 journaler for this copy...
Found it in a cheapy book store as a four for £5 promotion. As it is a classic, I think I should read it.
Warning: A kinda spoiler near the end of my review.
Well. I bought this book back in 2005 and registered it on BookCrossing. I started reading it, and remember disliking every single person in the book so much, I wanted to slap them all. I managed precisely 42 pages, below my normal 50 page cut off. I queried my reaction on BookCrossing, and more than one person suggested I set it aside for a while and try it again later. Only for that reason did I not dispose of the book then. (Although quite a few people said I should ditch anything I don't enjoy, simply because there are too many books that could be enjoyed instead.)
A few of my friends on facebook posted a New Year's reading challenge, which listed about ten different categories of books. One of those categories was a previously abandoned book, and this one immediately sprang to mind. I decided to give it another go.
This time the book wasn't quite as annoying. I didn't feel like slapping anyone. However, I can't say I enjoyed much of the book. The narrator, M. Arronax obviously thinks he is superior to most people. He has a loyal servant who is more than 30 years old. He persists in calling the servant "boy" throughout, and the fellow always calls him "master" and is so subservient, it is difficult to stomach. At some point Arronax falls overboard in the Pacific near Japan. The servant promptly throws himself overboard, into certain death, because he says he belongs with his master.
Long tracts of this book are given to the description of various sealife that M. Arronax sees. After a couple of such passages, this grows very tedious.
The story is divided into two parts, and the second part is more interesting than the first. There seems to be more action, and less of the let-me-show-you-how-very-intelligent-I-am bits - although there are still very many such passages. Also, Verne seems to have suddenly gotten tired of his story and very, very quickly wrapped it all up.
Arronax never knew exactly how many people were aboard the submarine he was on, although it was at a minimum close to 30. Here come some spoilers!!! So, at some point (very, very near the end of the book), Arronax and two companions manage to escape, and they do not know the fate of the submarine. At the very end, he claims that only he and the captain could have the **right** to answer a question about what is under the sea. He completely ignores the fact that at least two dozen other men were on this voyage, and at least two of those have also survived (indeed, he doesn't know if the captain has). This arrogance abounds throughout the book, and is a massive turn-off in my eyes.
This is the second Jules Verne book I have read. I did not enjoy Journey to the Center of the Earth, either. I think I will pass on reading any more books by this author.
Well. I bought this book back in 2005 and registered it on BookCrossing. I started reading it, and remember disliking every single person in the book so much, I wanted to slap them all. I managed precisely 42 pages, below my normal 50 page cut off. I queried my reaction on BookCrossing, and more than one person suggested I set it aside for a while and try it again later. Only for that reason did I not dispose of the book then. (Although quite a few people said I should ditch anything I don't enjoy, simply because there are too many books that could be enjoyed instead.)
A few of my friends on facebook posted a New Year's reading challenge, which listed about ten different categories of books. One of those categories was a previously abandoned book, and this one immediately sprang to mind. I decided to give it another go.
This time the book wasn't quite as annoying. I didn't feel like slapping anyone. However, I can't say I enjoyed much of the book. The narrator, M. Arronax obviously thinks he is superior to most people. He has a loyal servant who is more than 30 years old. He persists in calling the servant "boy" throughout, and the fellow always calls him "master" and is so subservient, it is difficult to stomach. At some point Arronax falls overboard in the Pacific near Japan. The servant promptly throws himself overboard, into certain death, because he says he belongs with his master.
Long tracts of this book are given to the description of various sealife that M. Arronax sees. After a couple of such passages, this grows very tedious.
The story is divided into two parts, and the second part is more interesting than the first. There seems to be more action, and less of the let-me-show-you-how-very-intelligent-I-am bits - although there are still very many such passages. Also, Verne seems to have suddenly gotten tired of his story and very, very quickly wrapped it all up.
Arronax never knew exactly how many people were aboard the submarine he was on, although it was at a minimum close to 30. Here come some spoilers!!! So, at some point (very, very near the end of the book), Arronax and two companions manage to escape, and they do not know the fate of the submarine. At the very end, he claims that only he and the captain could have the **right** to answer a question about what is under the sea. He completely ignores the fact that at least two dozen other men were on this voyage, and at least two of those have also survived (indeed, he doesn't know if the captain has). This arrogance abounds throughout the book, and is a massive turn-off in my eyes.
This is the second Jules Verne book I have read. I did not enjoy Journey to the Center of the Earth, either. I think I will pass on reading any more books by this author.
