Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

The Tor Classics edition (cover: two men in diving suits with a treasure chest and a giant octopus behind) uses the original 1873 English translation, which is abridged. Several phrases sound a bit clumsy but not enough to be unpleasant. Worse is that it cuts out much of Verne's original (e.g. descriptions of paintings in the Nautilus which help characterize Capt. Nemo & the protagonist's interpretation of Nemo's personal motto). This abridged version was the standard English translation for decades, though. The story contains many 'facts and figures' passages (e.g. dimensions of the submarine, the volume of water on Earth, lists of sea creatures), but they aren't excessively long or frequent. The mysterious Capt. Nemo is the focus of much of the story; character isn't completely neglected for the sake of adventure. There is an atmosphere of wonder throughout. Electricity features as the main science fiction element. A good 19th century adventure story.

The original story is lush with great vocabulary and detailed description, a little work, but well worth it. I'm reading it aloud to my 10, 9, and 6 year olds. The DK illustrated abridgement is a good supplement too.

This is without a doubt the best translation of Jules Verne's 1870 science fiction classic "Vingt mille lieues sous les mers" ("20,000 Leagues under the Sea"). This translation by two Verne scholars, Walter James Miller and Frederick Paul Walter, takes all the knowledge available on the book and its author to not only make an accurate and readable complete text (early versions often omit a full quarter of the French original) that fixes the many errors of earlier translators, but also purges the text of many mistakes that were made by the original French compositors. The research and work that went into this translations is really quite stunning, and the result is a text that really lets Verne's genius shine: "20,000 Leagues under the Sea" is not only a brilliant piece of scientific prophecy, but also a thrilling story with superb, subtle characterizations.The plot is familiar: Captain Nemo, an enigmatic figure who has withdrawn himself from the world, tours the oceans in his submarine called the Nautilus. We see this journey of 20,000 leagues (approx. 43,200 miles) through the eyes of Professor Pierre Aronnax, a scientist who is both Nemo's guest and prisoner. Also aboard with Aronnax are his manservant Conseil and a gruff ship's harpooner, Ned Land. The Nautilus encounters many wonders and obstacles on its long voyage: underwater forests, giant clams, attacks by huge squid, imprisonment in ice at the South Pole, monster storms, a war with a pack of sperm whales, and the discovery of the lost continent of Atlantis. But as something deep and destructive gnaws away at Captain Nemo, his prisoners seek a way to escape from the miracle ship.In the English-speaking world Jules Verne has rarely received in the praise he truly deserves as a writer. People applaud his scientific foresight (while criticizing him for errors that were usually the fault of the translators), but shrug off his writing as inconsequential, with cardboard characters and plotless stories. If only these critics would read this translation of Verne's best novel...they would have to re-think their position on the great French writer! His genius for blending adventure, comedy, and psychology burst through in this translation. The book does veer into lengthy descriptions of marine life in places, and modern readers are likely to skim these parts (Verne even provides clues in the text to indicate when he's about to digress), but as a whole the novel is absolutely engrossing, throwing one stupendous adventure after another at the characters, while developing a mystery around Captain Nemo and increasing tension onboard the Nautilus so that the many different incidents hold together as a single plot. Even though submarines are commonplace technology today, Verne infuses his story with such awe-inspiring wonder that you can't help but feel the same sense of amazement as Professor Aronnax when he finds himself cruising the depths of the world's oceans. Real wonder never gets stakes, and no o

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.

M. Arronax and his two companions, Ned Land and Conceil, are taken captive on board the Nautalis. They see many magnificent sites. These sites include the lost contanent of Atlantis, huge clams and pearls, sunken ships, the inside of a volcano, and much more.They also hve many adventures. I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes sci-fi and adventure stories. I do recommend reading it when you are in high school. Read it and Check it out!