I also read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne.
Apparently I need to keep better records?
Here's how I felt about 20,000. Well... I liked it. I wasn't blown away, but I liked it. The underwater descriptions are rich... plenty of beautiful and interesting images to fill your mind. However, the plot was seriously lacking. He builds this great mystique surrounding Captain Nemo, but it all kind of leads to... nothing, and I hate a flat ending! There was so much potential in the idea of the book and parts were well written and carried out, but I couldn't help feeling that so much more could have been done.
Could it be that modern adventures in print and film spoil these older works? Perhaps if I had read it back in 1870 I would have felt differently. Plausible. Very plausible indeed.
Apparently I need to keep better records?
Here's how I felt about 20,000. Well... I liked it. I wasn't blown away, but I liked it. The underwater descriptions are rich... plenty of beautiful and interesting images to fill your mind. However, the plot was seriously lacking. He builds this great mystique surrounding Captain Nemo, but it all kind of leads to... nothing, and I hate a flat ending! There was so much potential in the idea of the book and parts were well written and carried out, but I couldn't help feeling that so much more could have been done.
Could it be that modern adventures in print and film spoil these older works? Perhaps if I had read it back in 1870 I would have felt differently. Plausible. Very plausible indeed.
2 comments:
i bet if you had written the book, as you suggest, you would indeed feel differently. ha ha. But seriously, I think you're right, it's important to study the historical context of a book like that. Did it have fictional details of underwater life that turned out to be true? Was it the first scifi set underwater?
Anyway, i don't blame you for forgetting you read it, that's why i review as i go. :)
I would go with Around the World in 80 Days...and maybe go with an audiobook. That one got me hooked on Jules Verne (and on the names Phileus and Phineus, before Finn became ever so popular). I think 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea fell a bit flat for me too.
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