Segundo livro que leio do magnífico Jules Verne e devo dizer que não fiquei deveras decepcionada, entretanto devo dizer que foi um tanto quanto maçante ler todas as classificações das espécies de peixes, moluscos e etc; o que eu até entendi já que a profissão do protagonista exige que ele tenha esse tipo de conhecimento então foi uma forma de ver como a cabeça de um classificador funciona, como o do Professor Aronnax e Conseil.

Sinceramente o livro em si poderia ter ganhado mais estrelas se tivesse me prendido, senti falta de mais cenas entre os protagonistas. Conseil logo de cara me ganhou por seu estoicismo e fidelidade inabalável ao seu mestre! O Professor Aronnax foi cativante, mas era muito sonhador e senti que ele tinha leve sinais da síndrome de Estocolmo. Ned Land, desde a sua primeira aparição até a derradeira, fiquei extremamente apegada e apaixonada pela personalidade caótica e inconsequente desse caçador/marinheiro canadense, ele esteve envolvido nas cenas mais engraçadas do livro. Capitão Nemo ainda é uma incógnita para mim, porém pretendo ler "A Ilha Misteriosa" o próximo volume da coleção, ao que parece continua a jornada a partir do ponto de vista do capitão e seus tripulantes. ( )

When I started reading this, my expectations were very different from what I found. I have never seen any of the film adaptations of this novel, but still, there must be some cultural heritage that planted images in my head that made me expect a novel full of adventure and excitement. Instead, I found a Victorian travelogue chronicling fish and other marine life, days at sea, and an exciting incident only from time to time. I struggled to continue. While I see its worth (the topics of ecology and humanity, Verne's inventive mind, the question of abandoning the world), I was still bored for long stretches and only found it to be a really engaging read for the last 20% or so, mainly the chapters in Antarctica and the ending.
This novel was published first in serialized form and I think that then it might have felt less repetitive and more exciting. I tried reading one chapter at a time myself, but it didn't work because I simply forgot to pick it up or was more eager to return to my main read. Another thing I tried to keep in mind was that it must have had much more impact on its contemporary audience who did not know submarines, who had not seen documentaries of marine life, who had maybe not even seen the sea and who had no access to snorkeling equipment or glass bottom boats. It was another time and the novel must have been marvelous to them.
So while reading it was hard for me, I am glad I did not give up. ( )

A dramatised audio of the novel - it was a lot of fun - maybe one day I'll read the whole novel. ( )

Boring ( )

This is the book [b:Moby Dick|153747|Moby-Dick or, The Whale|Herman Melville|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1284311527s/153747.jpg|2409320] should have been. The two novels have quite a bit in common, just in different proportions. Here, for instance, there are whole paragraphs given over to descriptions and classifications of sea life. I skipped a lot of those. That's better, however, than the WHOLE CHAPTERS I blew by in Melville's book.

Beyond that, though, the book reads largely like a travelogue. Albeit, we're talking about a journey on the world's first submarine. It really is amazing just how prescient Verne was with this technology. He covered everything from the ballast tanks to scuba to the shape of the machine. He got a lot wrong too, of course, like sailing to the South Pole. It's hard to hold that against him, however.

The best part of this book, by far, is Captain Nemo. He is a character of depth and dire internal conflict. The great tragedy of this book (aside from its rushed ending) is that Nemo spends so much time off stage. The Captain disappears for long stretches, and since the first person narrator, Professor Aronnax, rarely seeks him out, there's nothing to be done. I so wish Verne had spent less time on the marine depths and more time sounding out this wonderful character.

It's worth nothing that while I started reading the version above, I finished with this version. The latter was much more readable. ( )