Being a longtime fan of science fiction, reading some of Jules Verne’s works has been on my reading bucket list for quite some time, which is why I decided to add ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’ and 20,000 Leagues under the Sea’ to my reading list. Though I have seen the modern movie adaptation of ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’ I still really had no idea what to expect when I actually read the book. I certainly went into it with no expectations though I knew being an older book it may take some time to get into it.
I had also decided to purchase the audiobook to go with the paperback version I currently own, I thought that it might help me with the older writing style, and I was quite excited because the version I picked out is narrated by Tim Curry. However, I ran into a bit of a problem because clearly the version being narrated differed slightly from the version I was reading. I did listen to a bit of the Audiobook but ended up just reading my paperback without it. Though from what I listened to I will defiantly keep it and listen to it another time, because I thought it was quite entertaining.
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
Now getting onto the story itself, In the introduction included in my paperback copy of the book, it mentioned that this style of writing can be quite longwinded and I defiantly found this to be quite true. At the end of the book, it mentions that though some of the scientific stuff mentioned throughout the book may have been relevant at the time of publishing it has obviously been quite disproven since. Though to me science fiction is just that fiction, does it really matter at all if it is based on actual science, to me it’s about imagining the possibilities even if they aren’t actually possible, if you know what I mean.
The story is written from the perspective of ‘Axel Lidenbrock’ the nephew of ‘Professor Otto Lidenbrock’, who is an eccentric scientist and also Axel’s Uncle and guardian, it is written in part as Axel’s journal entries.
The journey starts with a secret note in an obscure book (left by a long-deceased Icelandic alchemist) that was purchased by the Professor, and after some time they discover a sypher to this note and thus they decide to plan a journey to Iceland so they can climb ‘Sneffels’. Axel is somewhat reluctant for most of the journey, though towards the end I think he quite seemed to enjoy it.
The book follows their travels from Hamburg to Iceland, as well as their journey up the volcano and into. It also shares what they discover below which is possibly the best part of the story and then makes their way back to the surface towards the end. It’s defiantly as I said earlier quite long-winded and the chapters are set out quite differently from the way modern authors typically do, they are quite short in comparison and you can be reading the same scene for up to three or more chapters.
I really enjoyed this pair’s epic adventure to the Centre of the Earth, I would recommend it if you love your science or historical fiction or both. It really is a step back in time that tells of an epic adventure taken by a man and his eccentric uncle.
however I found that most sections of the story could have been quite a lot shorter, and If you are interested in reading this book, just know that there are also a lot of use of Latin and very scientific terms, which was something that I did struggle with. I am glad that I did tick this one off my list because I did in the end quite enjoy it and I could defiantly see myself reading it again. But Maybe next time I will listen to the Audiobook instead.
Have you ever read any of Jules Verne’s work? did you like it or did you find it hard to get through? let me know in the comments.
Until the next one. i hope you all have a lovely day.
Erin
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