Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (Dover Thrift Editions: SciFi/Fantasy)

Many who read this classic, very early work of science fiction will complain about the lists. Oh the lists! The countless words, commas, scientific classifications, and rampant cataloging of sea creatures and sea plants. Yes, Verne occasionally provides some curious and interesting descriptions of these plants and beasts to help paint the setting, but many times he simply lists them in typical travelogue fashion (i.e. I saw this, and then this, and then this, and then we saw this eat that.). I count myself among these nay-sayers--to an extent. I'll admit to having my eyes gloss over the lists.

That said, I also fond myself perusing the internet to look up some of these crazy beasties and subsequently fall into a loop of YouTube videos to see them in action. Verne did that too. And that's good writing--making someone want to learn. Even when Verne got some of the descriptions wrong (though he probably had them right for the knowledge that was available at the time), he still opened up the sea to me, just as well as a fantasy writer might create a new world - except I live this world and these things do exist and I can check them out on the internet (or in person if I ever wanted to go the non-virtual route). So, while I did feel the listing went on ad nauseum- it also drew me in at times.

Verne has interesting characters in his book, which can easily be dismissed as "flat" by the casual reader. Professor Aronnax, the chief protagonist is a true professor at heart. He is drawn into the wondrous scientific adventure unfolding around him and finds it difficult to resist. He's balanced against the other protagonist, a Canadian Harpooner who is a man of action and common sense that prefers to make decisions based on his instincts. In between them is Conceil, Aronnax's agreeable sidekick. All these characters seem to fulfill a role and play to their respective typecasts throughout the story. However, they do grow (albeit slowly), even though their actions and words might seem generic at first. The pieces eventually fall in place, and we see that Aronnax cannot rationalize everything for the mere scientific adventure of it all. Land's cantankerous attitude is fitting, and we watch him struggle when it fully sets in that he is trapped in an environment that stifles his attributes as a hard-working "doer." In fact, Land's bitterness and gut-instincts prove to be the grounding force to which Aronnax must cling when things go bad for the protagonists. Even the reticent and happy-go-lucky Conceil makes a transition by developing a bond with the increasingly disagreeable Land-as if he thinks the Professor might be too far adrift in the sea of academia.

Then there is Captain Nemo. He's the farthest from flat among all the characters in this book. At first, he is a fearless and seemingly unbeatable force of stalwart principle. Admittedly, Nemo is kept in the shadows for most of the book. He is off screen a lot, and when he comes back on stage it is usually with much bravado. Also, he never really fails in what he does. Yet, the little nuggets of insight, which Jules Verne does reveal, tumble out with significance. These short glimpses into this compelling character paint an inner darkness that is interesting and disturbing. The plot of Captain Nemo, in and of itself is excellent and fitting.

It's hard to review this book without at least mentioning how far-seeing Verne was by writing about submarines, tasers, and untethered underwater breathing devices that didn't exist at the time. This is the stuff of "great" science fiction. These elements of hard science and using the minds creativity to go beyond the limits of contemporary advancements are amazing. What a great mind.

Oh yeah, there's adventure too! Verne's hard science is intermixed with a good number of dramatic conflicts. Sometimes they are simply man versus beast. Other times he pits the men against Mother Nature. Then there is the subtle man versus man conflict between Captain Nemo and his uninvited "guests." Some of these scenes are downright tense, and they get better and better as the story progresses.

Captain Nemo's slow but compelling rise to the surface gives this adventure enough buoyancy to savor the flavor of a Victorian travelogue (and early science fiction progenitor).

Verne also had some interesting progressive views going on in this book. For example, the characters make admonishments about over-fishing. Yet, this book is about seamen, so plenty of good fishing takes place. It's perhaps an interesting conflict, yet a refreshingly realistic viewpoint as these types of issues are not often so black and white.

The adventure aspect of this story works too. The oceans come alive. Besides his descriptions of underwater flora and fauna, Verne's description of things like the "Gulf Stream" give you a better sense of the various ecosystems that inhabit this planet and how they fit together--very cool. Like a master fantasy writer, Verne makes the sea seem as foreign and as familiar as a made-up world.

My only regret is that this is a work of translation and apparently, some of the English translations of this book cut out significant portions of the author's original work. I can only wonder how the author's work reads in his native tongue. What did I lose out on? Even still, I enjoyed the work and not just for what it is or given the context of its time. Mostly I enjoyed this story for the traveling undersea adventure that made me want to learn a bit more about the world's oceans.

Podcast: If you enjoy my review (or this topic) this book and the movie based on it were further discussed/debated in a lively discussion on my podcast: "No Deodorant In Outer Space". The podcast is available on iTunes or our website.

There are three significant translations of this book, and amazon's lacklustre book-sorting system creates nothing but chaos when searching for the correct format / translation of this book. I'm here to help!

note: (find the version you are looking for with the ISBN numbers I've provided at the bottom of this review, you can just copy and paste them into the amazon search field and hit GO).

Here are excerpts from the three most common translations:

Paragraph one, translated by Mercier Lewis -
THE YEAR 1866 WAS signalized by a remarkable incident, a mysterious and inexplicable phenomenon, which doubtless no one has yet forgotten. Not to mention rumors which agitated the maritime population, and excited the public mind, even in the interior of continents, seafaring men were particularly excited. Merchants, common sailors, captains of vessels, skippers, both of Europe and America, naval officers of all countries, and the governments of several states on the two continents, were deeply interested in the matter.

Paragraph one, translated by Walter James Miller and Frederick Paul Walter (1996) -
THE YEAR 1866 was marked by a bizarre development, an unexplained and downright inexplicable phenomenon that surely no one has forgotten. Without getting into those rumors that upset civilians in the seaports and deranged the public mind even far inland, it must be said that professional seamen were especially alarmed. Traders, shipowners, captains of vessels, skippers, and master mariners from Europe and America, naval officers from every country, and at their heels the various national governments on these two continents, were all extremely disturbed by the business.

Paragraph one, translated by William Butcher -
The year 1866 was marked by a strange event, an unexplained and inexplicable occurrence that doubtless no one has yet forgotten. Without mentioning the rumours which agitated the denizens of the ports and whipped up the public's imagination on every continent, seafaring men felt particularly disturbed. The merchants, shipowners, sea-captains, skippers, and master-mariners of Europe and America, the naval officers of every country, and eventually the various nationals governments on both continents--all became extremely worried about this matter.

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WHAT a difference! And who to trust?

From wikipedia:
"Many of Mercier's errors were corrected in a from-the-ground-up re-examination of the sources and an entirely new translation by Walter James Miller and Frederick Paul Walter."

So, the modern translation to seek is either the Walter James Miller / Frederick Paul Walter edition, or the William Butcher edition, depending on your preference for the above excerpts.

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And here is how to find them:

USA - amazon.com

Walter James Miller / Frederick Paul Walter
kindle edition ASIN: B004DNWRPQ
paper edition ISBN:1440414262

William Butcher
kindle edition ASIN: (appears to be unavailable at the moment)
paper edition ISBN: 0199539278

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UK - amazon.co.uk

Walter James Miller / Frederick Paul Walter
kindle edition ASIN: B00BIFLLV8 or B00BSK24HI
paper edition ISBN: 1438446640

William Butcher
kindle edition ASIN: (appears to be unavailable at the moment)
paper edition ISBN: 0199539278

Very high-quality book, it comes with a bookmark! Definitely worth the price of $7.00 BUT The seller ripped off a sticker on the cover. :(

The following is a guest review from my eleven year old grandson, Kai O:

What happens when an expedition to kill a giant narwhal is shipwrecked and then saved by the same narwhal? But what if the sea monster is actually a giant submarine? This is what happens to Professor Pierre Aronnax in Jules Verne’s amazing book, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I never read anything like this great book. But early warning...don’t read the summary on the back of the book, it gives away too much of the story and nearly ruined it for me.

When Professor Pierre Aronnax is thrown overboard on the Abraham Lincoln, he is thrown into a undersea adventure with mystery and amazement. The adventure starts when the professor, a whaler named Ned Land and the professor’s assistant, Conseil, are saved by the submarine named The Nautilus commanded by the mysterious Captain Nemo. Soon after they climb inside, they find themselves in a dark room. Later Captain Nemo comes into the room with his lieutenant and attempts to communicate unsuccessfully due to Captain Nemo speaking a wholly unknown language. After being served a meal and now sleeping in a lit room, Captain Nemo comes back now speaking the professor’s language. Captain Nemo explains that the world can not know of his existence, therefore he can’t let them go. On the flipside, Professor Aronnax and his friends are hurled into awe inspiring adventure, including undersea forests and sea monsters.

I really liked this book...it was like nothing that I ever read before. Conversely, this book does have various chapters centered around boring topics; such as, the descriptions of the fish surrounding the Nautilus and their classification. For this reason, I would only recommend this book to the dedicated readers, but it is still a great book to read. Finally, I would give the book four stars because of it’s various boring chapters.

***Note: I have the translated version by Mendor Barnetti.***

The general idea and story behind "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" is fantastic, original (for its time) and complete with mysterious places, vehicles and personalities. But my lord what a bore it turned out to be to read.

There are far too many anguishing sections of incredibly detailed accounts of fish, plants, rocks and other things that should only be found at this level of detail in books specific to those things, or a college textbook - not a novel that has a story behind all the fluff and boring detail. And it's not that Verne talks about these things, it's that he just lists them. Goes on and on, paragraph after paragraph... and my mind drifts away from the story, and I'm reading but not really reading and before I know it I have to find where the florist spewing ended and where the story begins again like a Where's Waldo search.

The story itself is quite good and interesting, and of course Captain Nemo is an interesting character and in my opinion the best part of the book is not finding anything out about him and his crew. This will either make people really hate the book, or be content with it. Same with the ending. Good luck to those who hate the book but press on to finish it hoping for solid resolution...

So, I like this book, but Verne made it far too long. Unlike his Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Around the World in Eighty Days, he produced a novel exceeding the page limit. This would not be an issue if he had not used all those excess pages to merely fill us in on how many scientific fish names he knew. The story, propped up by the fish pages, is quite engaging, with a mysterious and attractive characters. Read it once, and probably never again.

I can see why this has always been considered a classic. Those nineteenth century French writers had imagination plus, plus, plus.

Great!

a Remarkable prediction of both submarines ( and Nuclear Powered ones) written in 1865

My favorite Jules Verne novel. This novel inspired me to write The Coast Guard Oracle