20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ~Jules Verne

It is the year 1866. Captain Nemo has shunned life on land and opted for a continual life at sea aboard his amazing submarine the Nautilus. Unfortunately he takes on board 3 prisoners, and they join him for almost a year under the ocean; observing the strange and fanciful flora and fauna that exist under the waves.

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Jules Verne must not have employed an editor. This book was basically a glorified science book. Two-thirds of the story consisted of Verne describing the various fish and plants he thought existed in the oceans of the world. The other one-third was actual story-line. The story itself was alright. It’s written from the point-of-view of one of the captured prisoners, and obviously adventures do take place aboard the Nautilus. But those adventures are written in a manner that makes them less thrilling than they could have been in more capable hands.

I had two versions of this story: and abridged edition and the original full-length text. If you are at all interested in this book I would highly recommend reading the abridged version as it sticks with the story itself and doesn’t include the majority of the sea-life descriptions.