Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

Hardcover - USA - 1st edition.

Author Jules Verne Published 1870-??-?? Type Fiction Genre Science Fiction Themes Adventure, Science Fiction Age Group Adult

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is an early science fiction novel written by Jules Verne, originally written in French, and published as a serial from March 1869 to June 1870, then as a full book late in 1870. It is the sixth book in Verne's Extraordinary Voyages series.

In the novel, a huge sea monster threatens ocean-faring ships and a team of sailors, with help from naturalist Pierre Aronnax, set out to kill it only to discover that it's actually a highly advanced submarine. Aronnax, his servant, and a harpooner end up as prisoners on the submarine led by Captain Nemo, a rich genius who has denounced the human race and is now exploring the depths of the ocean. The book is now in the public domain.

Personal

Own?	No.
Read?	Audiobook read by unknown reader.
Finished	2022-07-14.

I remember seeing the Disney film adaption when I was quite little, though I don't remember much of it, and occasionally seeing the book mentioned in a variety of other media. As an adult, I started reading Verne's more popular novels, and, while I didn't much care for the first two, I felt like I should read this one as well since it's such a seminal work. As expected, I didn't care for it either.

Review

Overall:

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• Like good science fiction, Jules Verne takes something that was on the bleeding edge of science and technology at the time, and fleshes it out into a complete fictitious idea.
• Captain Nemo is an interesting and complex character who is a collection of contradictions. He finds enrichment in learning, but he constantly has to brag about how intelligent he is. He collects and appreciates natural beauty, but he hordes it for himself. He's a pacifist, but angrily hunt and kills the animals he doesn't like, and frequently has to "defend" himself with violence. He claims to not care about money, but the Nautilus is decked out with all manner of excessive finery.

Bad

• Other than Captain Nemo, I didn't find any of the characters to be interesting. Professor Pierre Aronnax is more interested in marine biology than his own freedom, Conseil is eager to be a slave, Ned Land is an oaf, and the other shipmates are merely window dressing. And, to be fair, Nemo isn't all that great. Despite claiming to be above other mortals, he's very egotistical, needing to put his name on everything, and, rather than use his great intellect and wealth to advance humanity and solve what he perceives to be societal ills, he cowers at the bottom of the ocean keeping his technology a secret. Near the end, he even abandons his beliefs and tries for a mass-murder/suicide.
• The Nautilus is a technological marvel over 100 years ahead of its time. While this may excite some, to me it just felt artificial and required the suspension of disbelief.
• Verne's science speculation is well-off. Not having access to the models for Pangaea or continental drift, he uses the, now discarded, deluge model. He also assumes that one could reach the South Pole in a submarine despite it later turning out to be a huge landmass, and that the myth of Atlantis was real. I don't fault him for not getting future science right, but it's important to point out his failures lest someone take the book's "facts" as genuine.
• I know it's about a sea voyage in a time when women were rarely allowed on ships, but there isn't a single woman even mentioned in the entire book!

Ugly

• Like much of Verne's other works, this book is very racist. The natives living on various islands are referred to as "savages," "cannibals," and even, "worse than apes." Also, Conseil has a near slave-like devotion to Professor Pierre Aronnax, always eager to risk his life to save his "master." I know that Verne is a product of his time, but that doesn't make it any less terrible.
• Much of the book consists of long dull explanations of engineering, long dry recounts of history, and long boring descriptions of biology. I like each of these topics, but none of them are presented in an interesting manner.
• The book pushes the Exodus myth as fact and Nemo even claims to have found evidence of the parting of the Red Sea. In reality, there isn't any historical evidence that Hebrews were enslaved in Egypt, that they fled, crossed the Red Sea, or wandered in the Sinai Peninsula.
• Everyone in the book is extremely eager to kill animals, including endangered species. Even Captain Nemo, a pacifist, and professor Aronnax, a naturalist, have no qualms about wiping out the very last living species of multiple animals. This is a sad reminder of just how recent of a belief it is that we need to preserve nature.
• The ending, in which there is no comeuppance for the criminal, is rather abrupt and awful.

Media

Covers

• 

  Hardcover, USA, first edition.

• 

  Hardcover, USA, second printing.

Representation

Strong female character?	Fail
Bechdel test?	Fail
Strong person of color character?	Pass
Queer character?	Fail

Adaptions and Mentions

• 1954 - Disney released a film adaption, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
• 1979 - The Neverending Story (both the novel and subsequent film) briefly mentions the book.
• 1990 - Back to the Future Part III has Dr. Emmett Brown mentioning that he loves the book, and later names his two sons "Jules" and "Verne."
• 1999 - The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (the comic and subsequent film) includes Captain Nemo as a character.
• 2003 - The name of the titular character of the Finding Nemo series.

Quotes

— This section contains spoilers! —

• What use are the best of arguments when they can be destroyed by force?
• If there were no thunder, men would have little fear of lightning.
• We may brave human laws, but we cannot resist natural ones.
• The human mind delights in grand conceptions of supernatural beings.
• Nature's creative power is far beyond man's instinct of destruction.

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