Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

This is a beautiful cover sleeve for this book! My husband asked for the classic books for Christmas and he loves them all!

20,000 leagues under the sea was a great book. I would recommend it if you have Kindle unlimited jewels Vern does a great job in this book

I can still remember reading 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA for the first time as a kid. I was fascinated by submarines and captivated by the story of this wonderful ship, capable of making all my dreams come true. I wanted to dive beneath the waves and accompany Professor Aronnax on his incredible journey. Reading it again after many years, I find that I am still impressed by the story. Not only is it quite prophetic for its day & age, the fact that the story is STILL captivating after all these years just goes to show that great literature is timeless. In what follows, my comments shall refer to the Bantam version of the novel, translated by Anthony Bonner. This translation (or another suitably modern translation) is critical to getting the most out of this novel, as I will touch upon later.There is something for everyone in this book. On the one hand, the reader is treated to a very scientific (at times, "too" scientific for many readers) tale of undersea exploration, mixed with a tale of adventure and intrigue. The Nautilus carries us to every ocean of the world, exploring the South Pole, the lost city of Atlantis, shipwrecks, a mysterious tunnel between the Arabian and Mediterranean seas, and so much more. On the other hand, Jules Verne has also managed to flesh out a human story, one focused on Captain Nemo and his mysterious past and hatred for Western civilization. While the "kid" in you will have your eyes fixed on the Nautilus's glass portal that reveals the wonders of the deep, the "adult" in you will be rapidly trying to figure out exactly "who" this captain is and why he has built this ship, capable of removing him permanently from society.Many have complained about Verne's tendency to lose the story for endless lists of scientific classification. It is not hard to see their point. Verne does go on and on about species of fish in a manner that loses the reader's interest after a short while. But there is nothing to prevent you from skimming over these passages and moving onto the story. That's what I do and I don't think I've sacrificed a thing in doing so. Moreover, I would recommend that you keep an atlas or wold map handy when you are reading. It is much more fun to read this novel if you can actually track where they are at each point in the novel.Those coming to this novel from the movies will either be happily impressed or disappointed. While the films borrow heavily from the novel, they tend to focus on certain elements of the story (enhancing the action) while forgetting about others. This is not the tale of a madman, destined to hunt and destroy ever ocean-going vessel he comes across. It is so much more than that. In fact, my only complaint (and I have similar complaints for many authors) is that Verne seems to have been at a loss for how to end the novel. Therefore, he hands us a "deus ex machine" ending, of gigantic proportions. However, despite this minor flaw, the novel still holds up to modern scrutiny and remains enjoyable throughout.While this translation is much, much better than the cheap translations you find from the "bargain" publishing houses, I have heard that the recent, fully-annotated version is even better. Make sure that, when searching for a copy, that you get one of the modern translations (like the Bonner) and stay away from "quick & dirty" versions that you can find for a couple of dollars. Many of these cheap translations omit a full quarter of the novel and contain numerous errors. Additionally, they render the French into archaic English, ensuring that you will not enjoy the novel as much as you could. So, my advice is to stay away from the "bargain" versions-they aren't a bargain at all. But do read 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA. You'll be happy you did.

I could not believe this version of 20,000 leagues under the sea. I learned so much from this book. All the other movies and stories that I heard about Captain Nemo were not even close to all the adventures that he goes on in this book. When I think about the movie by Walt Disney and then remember the book I realize that the movie was about 1/4 of the books adventures.All the adventures that I never heard about before like the hunt on the sea floor with the electric bullets, the Arabian tunnel under the sea, Santorin Island the Grecian Archipelago, the volcanoes of the Mediterranean, the Bay of Vigo with all the treasures, the size of the mountains in Atlantis, the adventure at the South Pole, the fight with all the sperm whales, his home Island and the production of salt to run his electric engines.There is so much more to this story than what I have heard before and in this edition the foot notes are excellent. I especially like the story of Arachne and how the name of Arachnid came to mean spiders. The footnotes explain all the literary references which are helpful to understanding the characters. There is so much information here about the sea world in an adventure that makes each moment exciting.Verne must have done so much research for this book to get all the scientific information correct. I never thought they knew all those things about the sea at that time.I was surprised by the character of Nemo who never seemed to go after anyone unless he was attacked. The whole idea that he chased after all forms of warships was something made up in Hollywood. Nemo never seemed to want to even deal with people. The story of Nemo's life at the end of the book explains many of his behaviors.The description of all the types of food that they were constantly eating was interesting you never knew what they were going to catch in the Nautilus' nets.I thought the adventure at the South Pole was the best of all with the predicament that they got into. It was the most adventurous and had the most suspense.I do not know why a book like this is not required reading for high school kids they would learn so much as well as adults. There is so much science geography, ichthyology, astronomy practical uses of physics etc.I would recommend this book to everyone who likes science and adventure.

This story is one of the classics and for those ready for the journey one that is certainly worth a read.A word of warning to those thinking that is resembles a Walt Disney film, the book is far more of a biologist saga rather than an outright adventure although it is that too.Very prophetic in so many technical ways even when compared with to today.Most people know that basic story and it is of course a great one.

Buen libro, contento con la compra

Condition of the paperback- 10/10About the book- this is by Jules Verne, perfect to gift to those who are into classics and science fiction.

The book is very small, I should have searching more about that, because it have ONLY 56 pages! However, the figures is very beautiful, what turns to be out of great help to those one who want a immersive visual experience.

面白く、英語のお勉強になりました。