Reviews with content warning for Animal death - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and other Classic Novels

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!

Content Warnings

thomasdj's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Content Warnings

emma_thorne's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

This was a decent enough read. Part two was certainly better than part one, which took me a while to get through on account of the extremely long paragraphs that just listed and classified different marine creatures. (I ended up just skipping these paragraphs in part two).

We follow Professor Aronnax as he joins Captain Nemo in a submarine that tours the waters of the world. The imagery was splendid and there were numerous situations where I felt rather tense and on the edge of my seat. Everything was described exceptionally well and it was easy enough to follow. Consiel was definitely the best character, and I stand by that. I think my love of biology and ecology helped me to get through the book, otherwise I would’ve struggled.

The book could’ve been shorter. The final climax could have been reached much sooner but I did enjoy the tension leading up to it. Nemo was a mysterious character and I enjoyed finding out more about him as the protagonist did. One thing I didn’t like about the book was the descriptions of the native characters on the different islands they visited. It was just uncomfortable to read; I know this book was written years ago but I still didn’t enjoy it. A lot of the book felt like they were aimlessly swimming along and there wasn’t much going on, and there was so much animal slaughter that I just felt ill. The characters were so obsessed with killing animals and I, again, began to skip these parts.

Overall, the plot and premise were really interesting and the characters were fun enough to follow. The imagery and writing style was great, but I probably wouldn’t read this book again as it hasn’t left me feeling any particular way, nor have I connected with any of the characters.

Content Warnings

crowcrow's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

meganpbennett's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

sheila_the_glasser's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous informative reflective slow-paced

Wish I could customise the character- or plot-driven response to say “fish-driven.” More lists of fish species than I expected and less plot, though just as much adventure and giant squid. I read it via substack and I think the episodic nature of the novel really lends itself to this serialisation, with the ten month journey taking the full ten months. Sometimes baffling, sometimes delightful, certainly a journey of twenty thousand leagues under the seas.

Content Warnings

lily1304's review

Go to review page

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

Content Warnings

More...