Published in 1870 in France
The tale of Captain Nemo's voyages under the sea in his submersible ship have delighted readers for over a century. Proffessor Arronox is taken aboard the ship after being tossed from his own alongside his manservant Conseil and a Canadian Harpooner named Ned Land. The three are captive as Nemo refuses to let them see shores again after being aboard the Nautilus.
I think Jules Verne must have wanted a way to tell people about fish. Perhaps he was a junior ichthyologist because his descriptions of the flora and animals under the sea prove to be extremely detailed and occasionally extremely boring. At times the plot of the story seems to disappear entirely for a few pages just so he can describe some more fishes, sharks, algae, phytoplankton, etc.
I understand that this book was a real page turner when it first debuted, unsurprising since submarines had not yet been inverted and yet, Verne was already describing a machine so amazing it could travel the seas without much notice. And with all the trips the party makes it is still a fun book. I just wish that Verne had described their jaunts a little more, and the fish a little less.
Quotes:
"I ask no more than to live a hundred years longer, that I may have more time to dwell the longer on your memory"
"there was unusual life and vigour: this was truly living light! In reality, it was an infinite agglomeration of coloured infusoria, of veritable globules of jelly, provided with a threadlike tentacle, and of which as many as twenty-five thousand have been counted in less than two cubic half-inches of water."
"Nature's creative power is far beyond man's instinct for destruction."
"whatever the motive which had forced him to seek Independence under the sea, it had left him still a man, that his heart still beat for the sufferings of humanity, and that his immense Charity was for oppressed races as well as individuals."
Rating: ** (just not for me I guess)
