Journey To The Centre of The Earth - Jules Verne

Published by Wordsworth Classics: Great Britain, 2012.
First published in French, 1864.

In terms of science-fiction authors, possibly none is so famous as Jules Verne. Stories such as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea or Around the World in Eighty Days have become so well-known that most people in the West will know of them, even if never having read them. Journey To The Centre of The Earth, while possibly not as well known as the above two titles, is also a fairly well-known work, though one that has not been validated by science in the same way that others of his works have.

Journey tells the story of Otto Liedenbrock and his nephew Axel (our narrator), who, along with their Icelandic guide Hans, descend into a shaft in the crater of the Icelandic volcano Snaefells in order to seek passage to the centre of the earth. They are basing their journey on a hidden message found in an ancient manuscript, which purports to be a message from an early explorer who made the same journey. On the way they encounter various subterranean wonders, including a vast ocean lit with electric light, ancient sea creatures doing battle with one another, and even a glimpse of a giant human or human-like creature (that absolutely terrifies the explorers). 

From Axel's comments during the narrative we know that our heroes will survive, which strips a lot of possible tension from the proceedings. Rather than wonder if anyone will perish, we are instead left simply to wonder what will happen next. This is one of my biggest criticisms of the book; without tension, the book simply drifts along from event to event. 

Books of that era do tend to take their time unfolding the plot, but Journey steps it up a notch from the average. The journey to the volcano itself - aka, the journey on the surface of the earth - takes up almost half the narrative! Jules Verne was known for focusing more on the scientific theories he was exploring than on the story itself, and this is also apparent in Journey, to the occasional detriment of pace.

Overall, Journey To The Centre of The Earth is an interesting read, but not a gripping one.

Completed 5 April 2021.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Various Picture Books

Image
As I said in my review of Peter Rabbit's Storytime Collection , I am wanting to find a way to acknowledge the books I read to Ezekiel without adding individual picture books to my reading list - I feel that would dilute it a bit much. So in this post, I've decided to look at a group of picture books all together. I've picked five picture books that I like (with a notable and noteworthy exception), and also asked Elise for five picture books she is  enjoying reading to Ezekiel. It's interesting (and helpful for this list) that our lists haven't overlapped at all this time around. So, here are ten picture books (plus one bonus 'book') that Ezekiel has been exposed to in the first 7ish months of his life: Karl's List Bunnies on the Bus - Philip Ardagh and (illustrator) Ben Mantle. Published by Walker Books Ltd: London, 2020 (2019). This is one of my favourites among our current picture books. A group of bunnies hijack a bus and hurtle through the town on th
Read more

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Image
Published by Allen & Unwin: Crows Nest, NSW, Australia, 2008. Book snobs, block your ears. *whispers* I think the movie was better. Okay, book snobs, you can unblock your ears now. *waves to get the attention of book snobs* To be honest, a huge reason why I read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society at this moment in time was that I thought it would be funny to have two books with ridiculously long titles appear back-to-back in my list. For anyone who thought that there were super-deep reasons why I picked the books that I did, I hope this helps you see the error of your ways. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (which I am refusing to shorten for the rest of this review) still tells the same story as that in the movie adaptation (also called  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society ), but does so in a less gripping (though still interesting) manner. This is for a few reasons: firstly,  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society book is e
Read more

Words of Radiance - Brandon Sanderson

Image
Published by Tom Doherty Associates Books/TOR Fantasy: New York, 2014. Book 2 in 'The Stormlight Archives' series. Preceded by ' The Way of Kings .' Followed by (spin-off) ' Edgedancer ' and (main series) ' Oathbringer. ' Well, I finally read the second Stormlight book, this one even longer than the last  at a whopping 1080 pages, and once again found myself enjoying Sanderson's world immensely. The plot does take longer than strictly necessary in places - particularly in the storyline following Shallan Davar as she journeys towards the Shattered Plains - but overall is still a page-turner. By the middle of Words of Radiance our three main characters (Kaladin, Shallan and Adolin) are finally in the same location, something that was never achieved in the first book. In keeping them apart for so long, Sanderson is able to give his readers a real understanding of what makes each character tick, and this becomes quite interesting as when these character
Read more