Dialogue had been edited down in to mere summaries and much of Verne’s humour was lost in translation. It was widely criticised as being inaccurate, particularly with regards to the extensive scientific research done by Verne in the French original. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea was first translated into English in 1873 by Reverend Lewis Page Mercier, and contained many errors (‘diving apparatus’ became ‘cork-jacket’). The characters within the novel visit actual places as well as fictional, from the Red Sea to Antarctica, and also the mythical Atlantis. Indeed, Nautilus itself was named after one of the earliest submarines, built in 1800. For example, the story contains a character Captain Maury, who is said to be named after real-life oceanographer Matthew Maury. Throughout the novel, Verne plays with mixing reality and fantasy, blurring the lines between the two. The professor and his friends are held captive on Nautilus by the vessel’s commander, enigmatic Captain Nemo.

This transpires to be Nautilus, an underwater, electrically powered sea vessel, not too far removed from a submarine, which for its day, was ahead of its time thus securing Verne’s title as “The Father of Science Fiction”. The three set out to investigate mysterious disappearances at sea and enter in to battle with what they first believe is a sea monster. Written by Jules Verne in 1870, this French novel chronicles the adventures of Professor Aronnax, his faithful servant Conseil, and harpooner Ned Land. If you have any suggestions of novels you’d like us to discuss, or anything to add to the discussion, please leave a comment in the section at the bottom! Him being a surly brawny Navy boy guy would probably increased my experience lol because he's the only guy besides Nemo who is not boring.In this new blog series, we’ll be taking a look at some famous novels which have been translated into and from the English language, beginning with Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. I had always imagined him as a mid-age sailor guy with sideburn and mustache (not sure if he's described that way in the book directly or not). The protag group managed to get out from the eddy, saved by a random fishermen and that's that? No coda? Anything?)Īnd I wish I had seen the movie's portrayal of Ned Land. Verne here had wanted to tell more of the story but decided to fuck it and rushed it with no satisfying conclusion. Moreover, the novel ends in an anticlimactic manner it's like Mr. Keep in mind this book occasionally talks about every damn sea animal and plants the protag encountered, so it's kind of boring in those parts. If there's anything we need more, it's characters with fierce vengeance that cut ties with society, building lifelong machinery creations.

An neatly-written adventure story around the world that my 10-year-old self would probably enjoy.

80 000 leagues under the sea