Vingt Mille Lieues sous les Mers

I was somewhat disappointed in 20,000 leagues. It was much more hard science fiction and not so much action adventure. Nothing particularly against hard sci-fi its just not so much my preference. I'm also disappointed not in Verne by any means, but in the public libraries that keep putting these very much adult oriented books in the children's section because they are "classics" which I guess is their way of saying kids should read the classics. returnreturnThis might be two classic audiobooks in a row that I think the movie was better. Like Black Beauty, the Disney version of 20,0000 Leagues was a childhood favorite of mine. Though I've probably only seen this one a dozen times. In the film it always felt like a surprise around every corner, while in the book it was a scientific discovery. While that's certainly a kind of surprise, it's not giant monster attack.returnreturnI am sure at its time it was a amazing, but in the 21st century nothing to write home about.

A classic adventure tale cataloging every fish, seaweed, and coral in the various oceans. Some of them are real.

As adventure tales go, particularly from this classic era, it's pretty good. I read it as a young teen and remember it fondly, although perhaps my fondness comes from the Classics Illustrated comic as much as from the actual text.

In honesty, it doesn't bear up as well as I'd hoped. Nemo's unexplored misandry against the M. Arronax's relentless intellectualism left me with too little satisfaction to give the story more than four stars.

Recommended, if only for the picture of what early science fiction looked like post-Frankenstein and pre-War of the Worlds.