20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Paperback)

~ (Author), Walter James Miller (Afterword), Mendor T. Brunetti (Contributor) "THE YEAR 1866 was marked by a strange occurrence, an unexplained and inexplicable phenomenon that surely no one has forgotten..." (more)
Key Phrases: worthy lad, submarine craft, sea unicorn, Captain Nemo, Ned Land, Monsieur Aronnax (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 4-8-Performed in radio theatre style, this audio version is a fine retelling of the Jules Verne classic. The St. Charles Players, composed of four actors, play a variety of roles with hammy gusto, although the dialogue is a bit rushed in the opening sections. This adaptation by Jeff Rack does a good job of capturing the feel of Verne's sprawling epic tale. The story is told by Professor Aronnax, who agrees to investigate a series of attacks by a mysterious sea monster. He joins the crew of the ship Abraham Lincoln. The men encounter what they believe is the monster, but turns out to be a large, state-of-the-art submarine, the Nautilus. Aronnax and a hot tempered harpoonist, Ned Land, are imprisoned on this vessel, captained by the misanthropic recluse, Nemo. Nemo takes them around the world. Verne's descriptions of the underwater world, with its exotic creatures and sunken ships, shine thanks to clear narration and evocative sound effects. As the journey continues, becoming monotonous, the program's midsection sags a bit. It picks up steam again with sequences involving a monstrous octopus and a storm. While not an essential purchase, this is an impressive attempt to adapt a classic.

Brian E. Wilson, Oak Lawn Public Library, IL

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Review

Novel by Jules Verne, first published in French as Vingt Mille Lieues sous les mers in 1869-70. It is perhaps the most popular book of his science-fiction series Voyages extraordinaires (1863-1910). Professor Pierre Aronnax, the narrator of the story, boards an American frigate commissioned to investigate a rash of attacks on international shipping by what is thought to be an amphibious monster. The supposed sea creature, which is actually the submarine Nautilus, sinks Aronnax's vessel and imprisons him along with his devoted servant Conseil and Ned Land, a temperamental harpooner. The survivors meet Captain Nemo, an enigmatic misanthrope who leads them on a worldwide, yearlong underwater adventure. The novel is noted for its exotic situations, the technological innovations it describes, and the tense interplay of the three captives and Nemo (who reappears in The Mysterious Island). -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Signet Classics (November 5, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451528190
• ISBN-13: 978-0451528193
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (189 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #257,467 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Original Jules Verne Novel, January 26, 2004

By	Gary F. Taylor "GFT" (Biloxi, MS USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Bantam Classics) (Paperback)

If you want to read the novel itself rather than a "version" based upon it, I recommend the relatively inexpensive 'Bantam Classic' edition of 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA. Although the foreword by Ray Bradbury is negligible, the Anthony Bonner translation is a graceful compromise between the 1870 French and modern American English, catching the flavor of the period without burying the reader in pseudo-Victorian turns of phrase.

That said, readers who come to LEAGUES from either text, audio, or film adaptations of the novel are likely in for a shock, for the original novel is quite different. Some basics, however, remain the same: Professor Arronax, his valet Conseil, and harpooner Ned Land are coaxed into assisting the United States in a search for a sea monster said to be terrorizing shipping lanes--but the monster is not flesh and blood. The three soon find themselves in the hands of the mysterious Captain Nemo, who has created a machine that glides beneath the surface of the ocean: a submarine named Nautilus.

But there the similarity ends. While there are very clear similarities between the novel and the various adaptations it has spawned, the Verne novel is less concerned with story, characters, and adventures than it is in creating a plausible vision of something that simply did not exist at the time Verne wrote: a fully functional submarine capable of navigating even the most treacherous waters. Consequently, the bulk of Verne's text is concerned with detailed descriptions of the Nautilus and the sealife it encounters.

Many modern readers may find it uphill work, particularly when Professor Arronax determinedly notes the sealife he sees to the point of scientific classification. But even so, and while it may not reach the level of "great art" literature, LEAGUES is a fascinating novel to read--fascinating as much for itself as for what it tells us about the world of the 1870s and what was believed to be possible. The vision that Verne had would indeed come to pass: there would be submarines, and they would strong enough to brave the polar seas. It is an impressive accomplishment--and a tremendously fun read.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't buy this book!, February 9, 2006

By	J. M. Margot - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Tor Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

If you're going to read one of the great classics of literature-and you should-don't pick up this edition. It is a reprint of a version that dates back to the 1870s and was exposed more than 40 years ago for cutting nearly one-quarter of Verne's story and mistranslating much of the remainder. Its reappearance in this edition is all the more amazing considering Tor's status as a leading science fiction publisher, and the company's willingness to perpetrate this fraud on is many readers is truly stunning. If you want to truly get to know Verne's novel, pick up the elegant Naval Institute Press edition, in a modern, complete, updated translation, with commentary by the leading American Verne expert today, Walter James Miller. That book also comes with many of the artistic engravings that illustrated the original French first edition (no illustrations are to be found in the B&N Mercier reprint). Less attractive but more academic is the Oxford Classics version of Twenty Thousand Leagues. This review is posted on behalf of the North American Jules Verne Society by Jean-Michel Margot, president NAJVS.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Classic Sci-Fi, May 20, 2003

By	Christopher B. Jonnes "author of BIG ICE and... (Stillwater, MN United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Tor Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is Jules Verne at his best, creating the enigmatic character of Captain Nemo.

The setting is the mid-nineteenth century. Deadly and mysterious calamities continue to befall ocean-going vessels, with wild reports by survivors that the culprit is a sea monster large enough to ram and sink ships. French professor M. Aronnax finds himself aboard the Abraham Lincoln, a ship charged with finding and destroying the beast. Accompanying him is his loyal servant, Conseil. The ship succeeds in locating the leviathan, but it, too, falls victim to a deadly attack. Aronnax, Conseil, and a Canadian harpooner named Ned Land are the sole survivors--rescued by none other than the "monster" itself, which turns out not to be flesh and bone, but the world's largest and most technically advanced submarine.

They meet Captain Nemo, the owner, inventor, and sovereign leader of the flag-less ship, Nautilus. He explains that they're now his prisoners for life, though they will be treated well and are free to roam the ship. Thus begins an underwater tour of the planet, narrated by the fascinated Aronnax. With today's knowledge of the seas, some of the action is laughable, but at the time this was leading-edge science fiction. Verne's vision of submarine technology, the use of electricity, scuba operations, and various other things is uncanny and typical of great science fiction writers' ability to foretell the future. The ridiculous episodes include traversing an underwater tunnel beneath the Suez to the Mediterranean; a visit to Atlantis; and a trip to the South Pole under the ice, where they break through the surface for a look-see. This would be difficult, considering that the ice is more than a mile thick with a continent of solid rock below. But remember that when Verne wrote the book in 1869, Antarctica had not been explored and remained a virtual myth.

The enduring lure of 20,000 Leagues, though, is Verne's Captain Nemo. It takes the entire book (and then some) to learn who this genius Nemo really is. What horrible ordeal has produced such a cynical man, one driven to build the self-sustaining Nautilus, to swear off all contact with the "civilized" world, never to touch land again, and to ruthlessly and brutally defend himself against any perceived threat? At one glance we see a maniacal scientist worthy of a James Bond thriller. But at closer inspection, Verne has captured the timeless personification of angst over the errors and excesses of Man's interminable war against Nature and himself. Aspects of this same character can today be found in political and environmental activism throughout the world. Actually, it strikes a cord with us all; everyone wants at some time to build what today would amount to a spaceship and shove off from this screwed up planet, saying, "Adios, idiots. It's your mess now." --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Big Ice.