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Summary: I love everything about volcanoes!
Review: As a person living in a country with about 130 active volcanoes, I like the story about them. I myself like to have a journey to the crater of a volcano. One of the exciting story about volcanoes is this book. Though it is somewhat surealistic, Jules Verne was able to present a life-like story that is able to draw the readers' minds, as if as they were in the story themselves. Through his words, we can feel the beauty of the scenery in Iceland, the suspense and thrill of the characters' adventure, the imagination of the living creatures inside the earth, and the joy of the characters after their success in 'go down to the centre of the earth and back in three pieces (the Professor, Harry, and Hans)'. After all, this book is pleasant to read, especially if you like an adventure story!
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Summary: Journey to the Center of the Earth
Review: As an avid reader of Jules Verne, I enjoyed reading this book very much. I am not much for reading alot of books, but when I do read he is the authur that I choose. I thought that Journey to the Center of the Earth like all of his books was very well writen and very well developed.
I especially like these types of books because, they seem that they could actualy be real and certain places mentioned could actually exist. The book starts off with a young boy telling the story. His name is Harry and he lives in Hanburg with his uncle. His uncle's name is Professor Hardwigg. He is a professor of many different sciences like philosophy, chemistry, geology, mineralogy, and many other sciences. In the beginning of the book the Professor makes a discovery. His discovery is a small piece of paper that is called a Runic manuscript. The hard part was trying to figure out what langauge the paper was writen in, but once it was deciphered it appeared to have directions that lead to the center of the earth. So professor Hardwigg being the adventurer that he was, was ready to set off for Ireland, which is were the paper said to go first. Harry being only 13 had no choice in the matter but to go. They took a ten day trip on a boat to Ireland and when they got there, they were supposed to go to base of a mountain where there was a cave that they would enter that would lead them to the center of the earth. The cave seemed to go down and down forever where it lead them to the very depths of the earth. When they reached the center of the earth they came across a blue sky and an ocean. They built a raft to go across it and in the middle of crossing they ecountered two prehistoric monsters fighting around them. In the story they also encounter living fire. In the center of the earth any wrong step of wrong turn could lead to most certainly death or being trapped down there forever. To find out more details and what happens in the rest of the book, you will just have to read it for yourself.
Like I mentioned before the reading experience of this book was very good. The characters were very well developed, because of the information given about them and also how they were used throughout the story. Professor Hardwigg for example was a great character because he was a very smart man, but also a great adventurer. In the book as soon as the professor figured out what the paper ment he was ready to begin the journey. Harry was another great and well developed character, because of the information that was given in the beginning. Also, who would have thought that a 13 year old boy could have cracked the code before his smart uncle, so he plays a great role in this story.
The plot was very well developed and very well laid out. The story went step by step not leaving out anything and everything was very well explained. In the story they talked about having to learn to repel and in the story it told exactly how and why they did this.
I would recommend this book to anyone with an open mind and to people that think that this could actualy happen. Overall I enjoyed reading this book very much and I hope that this review will help anyone interested in reading it or people just reviewing it.
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Summary: Journey To The Center Of The Earth
Review: A breathtaking fictional journey through the bowels of the planet that we the readers live on and think we know so much about. Cleverly worded, the novel grabs the readers attention from the beginning and doesn't let up until the end. Also Jules Verne's choice of plot scheme made the book a very enjoyable read. In this epic tale, A Greek professor finds a secret parchment stating that another scientist has been to the center of the earth. Taking on the adventure as a number one priority,
He packs his things and literally drags his nephew with him to Iceland, where they are to begin their awesome journey. It seemed to me that everything that took place in the novel took place where it should have, one of the marks of a true author.
Also, the novel was not rushed, which is one of the most common problem with adventure stories. This book made me want to read more of Verne's writting. The novel definitely deserves to be a
classic.
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Summary: Beneath "20,000" Leagues but still a fun journey
Review: Maybe it was the over the top caricatures of Prof. Hardwigg, his "sensitive" nephew and the stoic Hans, but I did not enjoy "Journey to the Center of the Earth" nearly as much as "20,000 Leagues Beneath the Sea". I can't say the characters were any more one-dimensional, but I was put off by the narration and not as involved with the main characters.It still is a fun journey and the strength of Verne's writing is in the copious details he puts into his story. The geography/geology in his description is often infinitely more enjoyable than his characters. I recommnend "20,000 Leagues" first, but if you yearn for more of those 19th century adventure tales, this is not a bad follow up.
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Summary: Prof. Lidenbrock and Company Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone
Review: Read this translation and not the British newspaper serial one. In some of the other Journey editions the names and nationalities of characters are changed and the first chapter reads differently. To check if you have an honest translation, see if the professor is named Lidenbrock (correct) or Hardwigg (fake). The characters on this mission boldly go where no man has gone before. They resemble some of the cast on American space voyage shows of the sixties. The Icelandic guide Hans is like Spock, stoic, unconcerned with ordinary problems and fearless. Prof. Lidenbrock is not really like Kirk, because he is not emotional. He is actually a lot like Spock also. In fact, Hans and Prof. Lidenbrock are both heroic figures. Axel the teenager(?) on the trip is more like Kirk. He feels emotions, often fear or regret. He also never wanted to go on the journey in the first place, and thus has some aspects in common with Dr. Smith of Lost in Space. However, morally Axel is as upright as the others. Verne took great care to place realistic details in his story. The early chapters where Lidenbrock and company visit 19th-century Iceland are not so much science fiction as they are travel literature, and Verne mastered that genre as well.
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Summary: Following elusive,, ancient footsteps!
Review: This early sci fi classic continued Jules Verne's streak of scientifc adventures for his publisher, Hetzel. An amazed and fascinated France eagerly awaited the weekly installments, as the unbounded genius of the young author captured the imagination of Europe and soon the world. Countless boys and even adults were inspired by Verne's ability to grasp the potential of inventions for the future, and to focus serious attention on hitherto unexplored regions of the earth (or beneath it, or the ocean), or over it. Obviously for such literary spotlighting of mankind's present and future endeavors, Verne required a new kind of hero--the Scientist, rather than the swashbuckling romantic of the Romantic era. JOURNEY is admittedly Verne's most improbable adventure, yet readers marvel at his detailed foresight in the provisons required, plus in his ability to insert theories of the earth's formation into the actual plot. Unlike most of Verne's protagonists, this one is neither French, English nor American but German. Young Axel is both orphaned nephew and student assistant to his brilliant geologist uncle, Professor Lidenbrock of Hamburg. When the latter discovers an ancient manuscript in an antiquarian book purchase, he becomes instantly obsessed with its translation and then with the passion to follow in the footsteps of a medieval Icelandic exlporer, Arne Saknussem. Axel is wary of such folly and argues the dangers, but the single-willed professor counters all scientific reasoning with a logic of his own, both before and during their arduous journey. With their stoic but resourceful guide, Hans, the three men undertake to seek the center of the earht, using the Icelandic volcano of Sneffels as their portal to mystery and danger. Is academic fame a sufficient lure for one, or mere weekly salary for another? Axel's own personality (often dreamng of his beloved cousin)
undergoes a true metamorphosis as the result of months of hardship in the bowels of the earth. Still fresh almost 150 years later, this adventure tale is certain to entertain and enlighten. (Ignore subsequent movie versions with change the cast.)
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Summary: Adventurous
Review: This is the most exciting and adventurous story ever written. Here's the deal: you got a bunch of people trying to tkae a walk. Where are they walking, do you ask? Why, only the the center of the Earth. The images that this conjures are just breathtaking and it's full of suspense and edge of your seat excitement. Verne just takes a painting, a masterpiece and depicts a massive underground ocean and a raging storm, all while in the center of the Earth. No, they don't actually make it all the way, but you root and you cheer, crossing your fingers, hoping they don't slip and fall. Then you're sort of disappointed when they don't make it, but who cares, they went on a journey even the slightest fraction of a way through the center of the Earth, it's utterly fascinating.
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Summary: A Must-Read!
Review: Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth is definitely a must read for science fiction aficionados and classic fiction lovers alike. Verne's sense of humor and incredible imagination make for a mostly credible, and quite enjoyable tale of a young man who accompanies his uncle on the journey of a lifetime. For the time in which it was written, it was groundbreaking in citing evolution. Darwin had only published his Origin of the Species 7 years prior to this novel's publication 1867. Verne embraces the theories presented in Origin of the Species, as well as drawing in other discoveries made in scientific circles of the time that support such theories. Verne also takes care to describe and explain many of the other scientific theories and ideas of the age presented in the book in such a way that he ensured Journey to the Center of the Earth will remain a classic for years to come. A wonderful work definitely worth a read.
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Summary: exceeds expectations
Review: This was much better than I thought it would be. I'm not exactly sure what I expected from a novel written so long ago, but I was pleasantly surprised. Verne has a wry sense of humor that keeps this book rocketing along, while maintaining a (somewhat) serious tone at the same time. I thought I was in for a cheesy, unbeliveable story but found that Verne's work is so much more than that. Credited with beinng the father of science fiction, Verne lives up to the hype, especially when you consider that this was written around the time of the Civil War! Without spoiling the plot, let me just say that I very much enjoyed this tale, and I am now in the hunt for more Verne works.
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Summary: Incredibly AWESOME!
Review: This is a great Jules Verne classic. Yet another to add to your bookshelf! Great story about an Uncle and his Nephew who find a secret document hidden in a book which tells them the directions to the Centre of the earth! Awesome book! You don't have to enjoy sci-fi to enjoy this book! It puts you in a different state of mind when you read it. Buy this book, and it will make you look at the ground you're standing on different.
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