Review: Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne

in a sentence: a professor and his nephew chance upon the directions leading to the center of the earth...so of course they have to check it out!

i was not sure what to expect at all with this book. and for the record, the cover image i have used for this post is not the version that i read (i wish), but i thought it looked pretty cool and spelled centre the way it did on my puffin paperback copy.

the writing style, though obviously dated to the time it was written (1860s), was easy to read and follow. having never read another jules verne book, i was a bit apprehensive of reading something that was a classic such as this one. would i appreciate it enough? would i even enjoy it? if i didn't enjoy it, would i have the guts to admit it? bizarre, i know, but true. in any case, i did enjoy it, which was an especially pleasant surprise after my previously stated anxieties.

especially with the new movie coming out so recently, i expected a heart racing adventure from start to finish...not the case. however, it was the fact that it was a paced and intentional journey that i really liked. the title is not misleading - it is not "the outrageously explosive and ridiculous journey", but rather "the journey". from the konigstrasse back in Hamburg to the inner depths of the earth, Verne does an amazing job of keeping the novel paced and interesting. he also has a desire to make sure that what the professor, Axel (the nephew) and Hans (the guide) encounter are scientifically possible...i'm not entirely convinced it was necessary for the story but it was interesting none the less.

the simplistic yet vivid descriptions from Axel, the narrator, added to the paced and intentional telling of this story. i appreciated Verne's balance of detail and plot - never too heavy on either side.

without throwing in any spoilers, let me say that the book is well worth the read - just don't expect something like you've seen from the recent previews (and be glad for it). the title is totally self explanatory, so much more summary from my part would be spoiler heaven. i should also note that i have not seen any movie version of this book, and would be super apprehensive to do so in a comparative sense. it would seem to me that there is too much temptation to turn the journey into something Verne did not intend it to be.


fave quotes: (not related to the actual journey at all...)"Oh how hard it is to understand the hearts of girls and women. When they are not the most timid of creatures, they are the bravest. Reason has no part in their lives" (44)
(resonated most with me as a reader) "Since the beginning of our journey I had had so many surprises that I might be forgiven for thinking myself immune to astonishment and incapable of amazement" (255)

fix er up: Hans seemed to me at times like a deus ex machina, which i am not the hugest fan of.

title: Journey to the Centre of the Earth
author: Jules Verne
genre: Classic, Adventure