hjb_128's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0


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natashalg's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

The book was slow for me. There wasn't a lot that happened in the story, and it was incredibly science forward. I found it interesting, but at times it did see to drag on with explanation/descriptions of scientific topics. 

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sea_sea's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A thrilling classic! It was very exciting and interesting. The depiction of sperm whales was far from accurate, but, oh well, it was written in 1870.
Captain Nemo was such a fascinating character! His motivations and background are a complete mystery and you only piece together fragments along with the main character. His love for the sea is truly unparalleled. Mr Aronnax (mc) and him share a really unique bond through this feeling. It is really interesting. 
(Also Captain Nemo and Mr. Aronnax definitely had a bit of queer tension ;> ) 

I also just loved all the parts where Jules Verne described all the different marine creatures! 

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thomasdj's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25


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donxmore's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0


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crowcrow's review against another edition

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adventurous informative mysterious
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Captain Nemo deserved a better ending though. Like.. after all that mystery and buildup ya just leave em at his organ screaming, and he's suddenly attached to the characters? Make it make sense Jules.

Fun read though, if you can ignore how much he loves to flex his biology and geography knowledge.

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meganpbennett's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Having only read the illustrated classic that was an abridged version of the mangled Mercier translation, I jumped at the chance to read 20,000 Leagues via email, as things happened in the novel. I had vague memories of plot events and was delighted to see what really happened in this delightful story. 

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lily1304's review

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slow-paced
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

The main character is not interested in:
- figuring out what secrets Captain Nemo is keeping, or his apparently tragic backstory
- talking to literally any of the crew, or even learning their names
- planning an escape (another character does that for him)
- considering the ethical implications of the Nautilus and Nemo's labor

The main character IS interested in:
- describing every plant and animal he sees, describing how someone killed it, and then describing how it tastes

Also, it annoyed me to realize that "20,000 leagues" refers to the distance they traveled underwater, *not* how far underwater they are - and that's dumb

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prufrockpreptooth's review against another edition

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adventurous informative slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.25

J'ai lu plusieurs Jules Verne que j'ai adoré - alors je ne me suis pas méfié en me penchant sur celui-ci. Quelle erreur ! C'est long, mais long, mais long, avec des descriptions, même pas des mers ou du Nautilus, non, mais des classifications de centaines d' espèce qui sont d'un ennuie à lire quand on en a rien à faire de la taxonomie... J'imagine que quelqu'un qui aime ce point, adorera peut-être cette ouvrage, bien que l'histoire a aussi terriblement vieillie et nous offre un personnage principale qui se sent particulièrement au-dessus de tout le monde en tout temps, devant pour moi absolument insupportable plus le roman avancé (et c'est le narrateur !) 
Bref, il y a tout de même des bons points, les premiers et derniers chapitres sont prenants, et sûrement qu'une version abrégée aurait été plus adaptée au type de lectures que j'apprécie 

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melancholymegs's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

I had picked up this book due to its method of story telling via a travel log/diary, because i had enjoyed Bram Stokers “Dracula”, (5⭐️) which makes use of the same format.  Curiosity to read more literature that takes place in the sea/ocean was also a factor when i picked up this book.  However, if you are expecting lush descriptions of the sublimity of the sea and its creatures, you will be disappointed.
Trudging through the mass amounts of scientific terminology as well as maths was not worth the pay off. The vaguely hinted at end reward would have been more impactful had more description and build up been provided; instead you get a bunch of anticlimactic explanations dumped into the last 20-30 minutes of the book.
I definitely can see why this book is enjoyed by many people.  It does present the interest of sea travel, specifically submarine travel, during the 19th century, as well as giving insight into the scientific idiosyncrasies of various forms of sea life.  However this book simply was not enjoyable to me🙃

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