Public reader discussion about Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea in the WeRead Catalog by Jules Verne.
By CarefulKey14
I don’t really think it’s a hot take to say Disney puts out good movies. They’ve been turning out hits for what feels like forever, so it doesn’t seem like luck.
By water84
I just started 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne and I’m a bit past the first dozen chapters. I’m definitely not a math or science person, and I’m nowhere near a sailor, so when Captain Nemo starts laying out the science for the Professor, I honestly don’t have a good way to judge if it’s right. Not sure this is the right place to ask, but does Verne actually match the 19th-century scientific understanding, or is he mostly guessing and making it up? I’m especially curious about the measurements and the physics of the submersible stuff—are those numbers based on real math, or just imagination?
By brokenClock7
Has anyone read both the Penguin version (David Coward) and the Oxford one (William Butcher) of Verne’s *20,000 Leagues Under the Sea*? If so, which do you think is better? I don’t mind the old-school language, and I actually like the more detailed science/tech stuff, so that part doesn’t bother me. Also, I usually prefer British writing, though I know there are exceptions. I already read the Mercier translation (didn’t realize it was missing about 23% of the original at the time) and I still really enjoyed the story, so now I want to get the full, accurate translation. I know there are a few American Frederick Walter versions too—one’s on Gutenberg—but I couldn’t find a solid “standard” print edition with notes/commentary like the Penguin or Oxford editions. And I *think* Walter wrote for an American audience, not a British/international one, so I’m leaning toward one of the other translations.
By vector_wonder2
It’s kind of like sushi—plus French canned fish and those fried things on a stick. I’ve also been getting into mermaids, sea biology, and the Jules Verne/Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea vibe lately. Am I just going to end up worshiping Cthulhu or something?? Oh, and I had this super weird stare contest with a seal at the beach recently.
By bronzepanda
I grabbed an audiobook on Audible, but it turns out it’s the wrong version. Does anyone know where I can find the original audiobook? For reference, the book starts with “The year of grace 1866,” and none of the audio versions I previewed on Amazon had that (or anything close). So I’m kind of stuck and can’t really follow along. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
By Winter40
I picked this up not too long ago and I’m kind of shocked by how boring I’m finding it. I usually like writers from this era, but it feels like every other paragraph is just fuzzy sea creature descriptions sprinkled with a ton of Latin. I was thinking of reading a few more Jules Verne books after this, but are they all this way? And does this one ever get going? Like, is there actually some sort of conflict ahead? Edit: I’m about halfway in now, just got to Part II.
By HardcoverAqua
I feel like 19th-century France was basically the golden era for novels, especially the ones that ran as magazine serials. Authors like Alexandre Dumas, Eugène Sue, and of course Jules Verne were all doing that kind of thing. Anyway, I’m mostly here to talk about Verne’s undersea adventure. The story is told by Professor Aronnax, one of the main characters, and it kicks off when some weird object starts freaking out the oceans and causing panic everywhere. He figures it might be some sort of undiscovered sea creature, so he joins an expedition to track it down. Of course, once he’s out there, things don’t end up being what he thought. They realize it’s actually a submarine, and then they end up taken prisoner by the captain—Nemo—who feels kind of mysterious and unpredictable, like an exile from humanity. After that, they’re stuck going along on this trip that’s both amazing and scary in equal measure. What really gets me, though, is how much research Verne seems to have done while writing. He definitely cared about science, and this book (and maybe others he wrote) feels like it helped set up a lot of what people would later think of as science fiction.
By BalanceCandle14
Thanks for the submission! If you’re trying to send the whole command, can you reply with your job IDs?
By hiddendog
Wait, isn’t there a TV show right now that’s supposed to be based on this book?
By followsCup
I get what he’s saying—if thunder didn’t exist, I feel like people wouldn’t be as scared of lightning. Cool quote.
By dullcougar1993
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Jules Verne) — published way back in 1870 — is one of those classic sci‑fi adventure reads that totally feels like it belongs in the “this stuff started a whole genre” conversation. The submarine is obviously the big hook, there’s all the mock-science jargon, and it keeps circling back to the whole “what happens when humans and tech collide” idea. The setup is basically: Professor Aronnax, Ned Land, and Conseil get taken aboard the Nautilus by Captain Nemo, who’s like, “yeah you’re not leaving” because he doesn’t want his secret ship or his whole life exposed. They’re fine with it at first because it’s basically the ultimate weird world tour and they get into a bunch of adventures, but then they get restless and eventually try to escape. For me, it was a struggle for most of it. Like, the first 4/5 was kind of a slog, mostly because it’s told through Aronnax so you get these long stretches of marine descriptions and cataloging. Some of it was probably amazing back then, but reading it now I was like… okay, yes, cool, but also this is dragging. And some of the animal stuff is just wildly off (30-foot sharks, violent manatees, coordinated octopus attacks… sure). Characters didn’t help much either — they’re pretty much the same people the whole time. Aronnax is the science brain, Ned Land is the angry emotional one, Nemo is mysterious and intense, Conseil is this loyal sad-sack vibe. They don’t really evolve much, so it can feel a little predictable. But the last 60 pages?? Those were genuinely incredible. The ending momentum is awesome, and Nemo especially feels way more fleshed out and less like a generic dark captain. Aronnax/Ned/Conseil also get pushed hard mentally because they’re stuck on the ship, and you can feel more emotion underneath the surface. One theme I noticed a lot is environmental conservation — Nemo talks about whales and how humans are messing things up, and it’s pretty on point for the time. But then right after, he’s ramming the Nautilus into sperm whales because they’re “just” teeth and mouth. So… yeah, the ecosystem logic is a little messy. It’s probably partly because the book is from 1870, but it still made me side-eye. There’s also this conversation where Aronnax basically calls out Ned Land’s sea monster stories as not really true (or not true enough to count), and then he admits there has to be some “ground” for imagination. Which kind of makes me think: Verne is doing his own version of that. Using real life as a starting point, then building these wild fictional possibilities on top of it. It also makes me wonder how people reacted back then — like, did audiences even want science-fiction-ish stuff, or did the realists (Dickens, the Brontës, Melville, etc.) dominate everything? If anyone knows, I’d love to hear. Anyway, I loved a bunch of the lines. Some of them are so dramatic it’s almost ridiculous in a fun way. Overall: it’s a fun adventure with some heavier themes and some super dated/worn bits, but since it’s probably helped invent a lot of what we take for granted now, it also feels kind of like a historical artifact. The ending was fantastic even though it took forever to get there. Definitely worth it, even if it wasn’t smooth sailing.
By SamReads
I read Frank Wynne’s translation (the Penguin one from 2009) and honestly, I’d really recommend it. Also, quick warning: a lot of early “translations” of Jules Verne get messed with—some publishers basically chop out the science stuff and even change names and whole bits of chapters to add more drama. If you want something that’s actually close to the original, the North American Jules Verne Society seems like a decent place to track down faithful versions, though they don’t cover every single translation. Anyway, I feel like people mostly talk about 1800s classics like The Count of Monte Cristo, and maybe Frankenstein or Dracula here and there. But I just finished Journey to the Centre of the Earth and it might be the most fun, can’t-put-it-down 1800s book I’ve read. It’s also genuinely hard-ish science fiction, in the sense that I kept flying through it and then wanting to go back because I was afraid I’d missed a word. Like, the pacing is wild. If you hate rocks/caves/dinosaur fossils, this is probably not your thing. But if those are your people, I think it’s a must-read—even if you don’t usually read “classics.” It’s definitely an adventure, but it also has a ton of science in it. Verne comes off like he did real research and tried to base things on the ideas people were into at the time. In this one he drops references to big scientific names, talks about Iceland and the earth’s crust, and even goes into how the planet formed. The science is obviously “fictiony” by modern standards, but not in a way that felt totally unbearable—more like the same level of suspension of disbelief you’d use for something like Jurassic Park or Project Hail Mary. I wouldn’t take every claim as true (since it’s from 1864), but it doesn’t feel so outdated that it ruins the book. Some of the ideas are still fun and make sense-ish too, like gravity being weaker closer to the core. I’m not really the type who expects to learn stuff from sci-fi—I just want the wonder and atmosphere. And this delivers that hard. He tosses around scientific terms without explaining everything, but it actually makes the whole thing feel like it has flavor instead of turning into a textbook. People might complain about the long scenic descriptions, but I personally loved them and thought his writing was both interesting and kind of pretty. That said, it’s not perfect. The characters are distinct and enjoyable, but they’re not super rounded in a “real psychology” way—this isn’t character-driven sci-fi. Also, it takes a little too long to actually start the descent. The Iceland parts are cool, but you can tell the best stuff is underground. And later on, some twists and coincidences feel pretty convenient, like you’re supposed to just accept them. I was having too much fun to care, but if you’re super picky about believability, you might not love it. This was my first Verne novel (unless you count the abridged “Great Illustrated Classics” stuff I read as a kid, which I don’t really). I’m really glad I picked it. My next guess is either From the Earth to the Moon or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea—though I’m open to suggestions. From what I’ve heard, the earlier books (including this one) are more upbeat about science, and the later stuff gets darker and more dystopian, especially about the dangers of technology. If you’ve read Journey or anything else by Verne, I’d love to hear what you thought.
By BlueRaven60
I’m a submariner, so getting to read the book while we were underway felt like a pretty unique chance. I doubt I’m the first person to do it, but it definitely made me feel like I’m in a pretty small club. I honestly kept forgetting it was sci-fi from 1870, because the Nautilus setup feels so close—like, in practical ways—to a modern sub. Verne was way ahead of his time. Has anyone else gotten to read something in the actual setting it’s about? Did it make it hit differently for you?
By apron-turtle
Just a bunch of different Nautilus designs from over the years, like this: http://www.vernianera.com/Nautilus/Catalog/
By Red_Field
Hey everyone. I’ve been flipping back through Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea again, and I still really love it. I went digging for more info and apparently there are a bunch of different translations, and some people say quite a few of them are pretty rough. I’m trying to figure out what I have, but I can’t seem to find anything. Mine is a 1993 Reader’s Digest edition, translated by Philip Schuyler Allen. From what I can tell, it doesn’t have the big mistakes people usually mention, but there’s this weird thing where it feels like there’s way less dialogue than I remember. Now I’m wondering if what I’ve got is an abridged re-translation… but I honestly don’t know. If anyone happens to know, I’d really appreciate it. I’d be willing to track down a better version if it turns out mine’s cut down. I can share more details about the copy if that would help. Thanks!
By Spring
I read a free Kindle version that was translated by William Henry Giles Kingston back in 1875. It’s split into 3 parts with 20 chapters in each. Lately I’ve been getting my wife into the stories—she watched the Disney take on *20,000 Leagues Under the Sea*, and I talked her into the 1961 *Mysterious Island* movie I remember from when I was a kid. Both were fun, like the movie has everything: giant crabs, attractive women, and just enough sci-fi stuff to keep it moving. Then I went and read the book. Are there spoilers in something that’s like 150 years old? Probably not, but I guess don’t keep going if you’re worried. Big difference though: no giant anything, no women, not much in the way of Nemo—yet it still has a volcano and an orangutan. Honestly, it’s a really great book, like super focused on why practical science and learning matter, and how the characters manage to turn basically nothing into a whole paradise. It’s long and the language is pretty outdated, but it’s still a damn good read.
By nebula_yarn
If I ended up stranded on an island but still had medical help and clean food/water, I’d probably be way more worried about what I could learn from just three books—especially since there’s no internet, no phone, no laptop, nothing like that. Also, I’m not there forever, so I’d lean a bit more practical, but I’m not sure I’d skip stuff that helps you not go crazy mentally. My three picks would be: **1) *Waking Up* — Sam Harris** I read this earlier this year and it really stuck with me. It made me think about how much we just cruise through life on autopilot, like you’re kind of “watching” rather than actually paying attention. It also talks about how emotions like anxiety are just things showing up in your mind, not some permanent truth. I feel like I’d want that kind of reminder if I was ever in total despair or just getting overwhelmed. **2) *The Power of Bad* — John Tierney & Roy Baumeister** I’d bring this mostly for mental wellbeing. From what I understand, it’s about how negativity hits harder than anything positive, and how that’s kind of wired into us. Losses tend to mess with people more than wins do, and the book goes into why that happens and how you can work with it instead of letting it run you. That feels useful when you’re trapped somewhere with nothing to distract you. **3) *How to Stay Alive in the Woods* — Bradford Angier** Okay, so I haven’t actually read this one yet, but I’d still grab it. I’d need real survival basics since I don’t have any real experience outdoors. I don’t just want “inspiration,” I want to know things like how to make a fire, what to avoid, how to build shelter, that kind of stuff.
By ticket-paper
Does anyone know why Bill Homewood’s version is like 19 hours, but David Linski’s is 11? I get that it’s an unabridged translation, but an 8-hour gap seems way too big. If anyone has suggestions for other narrators on Librivox, let me know.
By Verse-Lavender
I finished this a little while back, but I only just joined this place and I’m really into books, so I wanted to toss my thoughts out there. My main takeaway was that Captain Nemo tried to get away from being human by ditching civilization, but he couldn’t fully do it—his crew felt pretty diverse, and even the library kind of proves it. I did like the way it was written overall, even if some of the words were way over my head. What do you all think about the book?
By weather-cougar1982
Wow, that’s insanely beautiful.