Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: I think this is the best book Verne has ever written. It has adventure, mystery, suspense, survival, and science fiction all mixed up into one book. It is about Cyrus harding, the engineer, Neb, his loyal servant, Gidion Spilett, the reporter, Jack Pencroft, the spontaneous sailor, Herbert, a 13 year old boy, and the faithful dog Top, who get dropped in a hot air ballon on a remote island. The soon begin forming there own "mini-america" on the island. But strange things start happening - like when top is almost killed my a strange animal, but the animal suddenly dies from a knife wound, and when Pencroft finds a bullet in a wild pig. Who did these things appear on a uninhabited island? Hint- Read 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea first
Rating:
Summary: Not So Mysterious Thanks To Caleb Carr
Review: I had never read Jules Verne's wonderful book, The Mysterious Island. I was delighted that there was a new translation available, so I happily bought a copy and dove into it. Imagine my shock and disappointment to find, in reading Caleb Carr's introduction, that he tells me the secret of the island! I could have reached through the pages and slapped him silly! My heart just sank. It was like reading a movie review of the Sixth Sense that flat out tells you the twist in the story! Thus, all through the book, I knew what the colonists did not. I felt cheated. Even in the short introductory piece on Jules Verne there is vital information given that is best avoided unless you have already read the book. My advice to you is to go straight to Chapter 1 and skip all the preliminaries until you have finished the book. With that caveat, I just loved the book. Jordan Stump's translation is breezy reading, which makes this 600+ page book just glide by. The colonists, which is what they become after crash landing on the island, are all "upright, energetic, and bound by brotherly affection". These are not a bunch of modern hunky narcissists or brooding, introspective hand-wringers, my friends. These are men of good cheer who, with faith in one another and a healthy respect for the Almighty, turn this most fascinating (and surely improbable) island into a new land. This takes place in a time when the world itself still held mystery and adventure, and there was a boundless optimism in what man could achieve when honest and civilized men pooled their efforts and added a little scientific knowledge to their endeavors (well, a lot, actually). Most certainly, because of the time in which it was written, it is not politically correct. The "negro" Neb, though a free man, still calls Cyrus Smith "Master". However, there is every indication that Neb was given equal and fraternal treatment and was respected by all, blunting somewhat the inherent offensiveness of such a situation to modern readers. In the end, this is a rich and wonderful story that, with this new translation, is a joy to read and a treasure to keep. Caleb Carr does deserve a trip to the woodshed, however.
Rating:
Summary: Gordon is a moron
Review: I found this book so enthralling that every time I read it I have to read it in one sitting. A couple of reviews below some idot gave this great book a bad review because he thought it copied from a silly 60's movie of the same title and premise. Newsflash: this book was written in 1886, more or less when the story takes place; and, in actuality, that 1961 film was based on his book. This gordon carachter seems to be under the impression that Jules Verne is a contemporary author. I can assure him that Jules Verne died long before that movie was even made.
Rating: 
Summary: The Mysterious Island
Review: In the book The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne, four men, Cyrus, Pencroft, Herbert, and Gideon, and a dog named Neb, are in a hot air balloon during a huge storm. The balloon was punctured, and they found themselves stranded on an uncharted island. They named it Lincoln Island after the president at the time. But this book is not called The Mysterious Island for nothing! During the years that they inhabited the island, strange miracles happened, and their goal was to find what was really going on.
In general, I thought that this was an outstanding book. It was so suspenseful that every night my parents would have to wrestle it out of my hands. Jules Verne's style of writing is very effective. Another thing that I liked about this book was that there was a lot of loyalty present. The dog Neb was a major part of the book. For example, at the beginning of the book, Cyrus gets lost, and is swept up on shore away from the camp that the group of settlers were in. The dog found him, and went back to bring the group to him. Also, the book had many issues going on at the same time. This made me constantly worry about what was going to happen. For example, there was a volcano on the island. They thought that it was not active but after a while, they saw smoke rising from the top! Was the volcano active again? What would happen?
I would recommend to anyone who is uncertain about reading this book to not think about it anymore, and read it. You won't regret it, because I guarantee, that you will be on the edge of your seat the whole time. It is full of excitement, mystery and I promise you that you will enjoy it! So go to the library right now, and pick up
The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne.
Rating:
Summary: Great Classic Adventure Book!
Review: It is unfortunate that an opinions of such "reviewers" as Gordon Ehrensing might actually be published on Amazon.com. These clueless "breed of men" educate themselves by reading (if ever!) Readers Digest's adapted-for-4th-graders versions of classics, by watching Disney's 1993 interpretation of Three Musketeers (the book is probably too thick for them), and comics. They learn history from "Xena, the Warrior princess" and "Gladiator".
"The story.. was written in 1961 by John Prebble.. as a screenplay", he writes in his "review". Oh, man, go back to the school you drop out from and learn that Verne was born in 1828 and died in 1905 (60 years before the movie you keep refering to was created), that Alexander Dumas (the author of The Count of Monte Cristo and Three Musketeers and not a screenplay writer!) was born in 1824 and died in 1895, that Arthur Conan Doyle was born in 1859 and his Sherlock Homes doesn't have anything to do with a character in "Shangai Nights" movie. One advice for people like you: less watch TV and read more. Educate yourself and you won't be looking as stupid as you are now. As for the book, inspite of Gordon Ehrensing's opinion, it will remain to be a classic adventure book for kids of all ages, along with "20 leagues under the see" and "In 80 days around the world". Time proven.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Solid Adventure
Review: The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne is a story of the escape of five prisoners in a hot air balloon. The prisoners are all Union men being held by the Confederacy in Richmond. After they escape in the balloon, they get caught in a great storm and are wrecked on an unknown island in the Pacific Ocean. They start with absolutely nothing, but they manage to build a comfortable life with their knowledge. The members include an engineer, his servant, a journalist, a sailor, and a boy. The engineer is the main hero. It is his knowledge which helps the party to build their perfect little world. Without him, the party would probably perish. The sailor serves as comic relief. He is always making funny remarks. Basically they enjoy their life on the island, but they face some crises, and receive help from a mysterious source. As the book progresses, the mysterious coincidences build up. This is a good book for survival fans. It's interesting to see how they are able to build their mini civilization from nothing. If you're not interested in island survival though, you may get bored with the details on how to make a pottery kiln, or building a blacksmith's forge, or the search for edible plants. One point I didn't like very much was the character of the servant. As an African-american, he's a little too subservient--a kind of Uncle Tom type who lives to serve his master. That's really out-of-date now, which is why this is not one of Vernes better works. If you haven't read any of Verne's works, I recommend 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Journey to the Moon instead. If you've read a lot of Verne, this is a solid book, but not his best.
Rating:
Summary: A classic adventure tale
Review: In this Classic Adventure tale written in 1870, Verne tells the story of some castaways who are stranded on a deserted island after escaping from a town under seige in the Civil War. Now, reading this book well over a century after it was written, many would have cause to scorn the book because of the simplistic science presented, along with all the mistakes and misconceptions of it's time. Let us not take for granted that now basic knowledge of geology, botony, and biology are common knowledge, not requiring a scientist or professor to understand. Much of the book is the story of the castaways turned colinists who build a home, manufacture explosives, keep animals, and suffer through hardships. Throughout thier stay on the Island, they come across mysteries they cannot explain, being saved in the nick of time, and at the end, they finally discover the identy of that one who has watched over them and provided help in cognito. Certainly a classic adventure tale, that, while not up to modern standards of science and suspence, is an excellent way to get aquainted with times past.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a substitute for the film
Review: This book is on par with other mediocre Verne novels whose ideas have been stripped directly from classic films and superficially deepened. The true story as it was meant to be told was written in 1961 by John Prebble and Daniel Ullman - as a screenplay for the successful action/adventure movie of the same title. This movie was highly successful for it's appeal to a number of disparaging genres, from war flicks to romance, mystery, fantasy, and science fiction all at once. As soon as the picture opens, you're thrown into the siege of Richmand in the American Civil War - where Union soldiers are planning a jail break. Before you know it, they are flying far above the country in a hot air balloon headed for a deserted island in the South Pacific Ocean. In this film, you will find characters in a land of bizarre gigantism, where they crawl around in honeycombs the size of buildings, and eat raw oysters the size of bowling balls. You will see them battle pirates and monsters and discover two beautiful female castaways. You will see them travel on the ocean floor and use unbelievable technological weapons of an intrepid genius. But you aren't watching that movie. You're not actually watching anything. You're reading "The Mysterious Island" - which, despite the title, is not nearly as suspenseful as the original film. Verne here takes the barebones story of Cyrus Harding and his compatriots and retells it in the most unoriginal manner of a Robinsonade, using all of the knowledge available to him of the sciences to methodically describe the taming of what he redubs "Lincoln Island" - a 30 sq. mile island of ridiculous geological and biological diversity. This isn't to say that the original movie's perspective was altogether realistic, but then again it never gave such pretenses. Verne's story is holistically too detailed and exactive to supply a sense of unabashed fantasy. Additionally, the time frames described in this book are greatly extended in comparison to Endfield's film, since Verne wishes "his" characters to create everything from pottery to boats to nitroglycerin completely from scratch. These descriptions, alone being so detailed as to flag the interest of most readers, have swelled to the forefront of the novel's intent, as if Verne is attempting to give real maroons a survival guide to Untamed Paradise. The means by which our protagonists acquire such knowledge is by fundamental revampings of character personality. Perhaps Mr. Verne believes Union soldiers are too unlearned for his tasks, for Capt. Smith has been transformed into a brilliant Renaissance man and engineer. Various others, such as the Confederate soldier turned seasoned sailor Pencroft, have their own lesser skills, but it is Smith that possesses the unparalleled judgement and encyclopedic knowledge to civilize their surroundings. To my continued amazement, Verne in his need has concocted an idiotic premise to explain the variability present on his island, as stated through the unquestionable mouthpiece of Cyrus Smith. When the earth was young, reasons Verne, our planet had a great deal of "internal fires" by which land masses were formed of erupting earth through expansion zones and volcanos. Now that the earth has become much cooler, however, volcanism is on the decline, and of course the continents are sinking back underwater. The island upon which they are stranded is one such sunken continent, which once spanned the whole of the Pacific. As it sank, he reasons, its inhabitants floral and faunal were forced to move closer and closer together. How Verne attributes geological diversity to this theory, I still am not clear. Personally, I favor Prebble and Ullman's explanations, as well as their creatures. Altogether, this adaptation is unthrilling and unsuccessful. If Verne wished to tell his civilization story, he could have done so in a much simpler manner, without borrowing elements from Endfield's classic film, and without inserting his resentful old Captain Nemo into yet another book. Two stars, and just for the efforts he took. Go back to somewhere more familiar, Verne - try the center of the earth, or how about 20,000 leagues underwater.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome book!!!
Review: This is one of the best books I have ever read. It was very well written, and was absolutely amazing the knowledge Verne had to have to be able to write something like this. All the men in that book do all these amazing things and seem to know everything about everything, which might make them seem to be living encyclopedias, but when you think about it, Jules Verne, had to have a ton of knowledge about what he was writing to be able to give so much detail about all the things they did. What was also cool about this book is that in most "surviving on an island" stories (e.g. Swiss family Robinson, and Robinson Crusoe) they have a whole ship to pull supplies from and build with, so when you read those books, you think "well, if I had an entire ship to work with, I could survive too". In "The Mysterious Island", they have nothing but a notebook, pen, and the collar from there dog. (later they do find the material from the balloon, but that was only after they had already made felt clothing. They basicly bring the island to civilization, with telegraph wires, and almost everything you could think of, in about 2 years. This is an inspiring book, and is hard to put down. If I could have one book while being on a deserted island, this would be the one to have!
Rating:
Summary: Great book - Do not read the forward by Asimov......
Review: Great book.. I cannot put it down.
I just started the book but I already know the mystery. Asimov lets the secret out in his forward. It is too late for me but I suggest you skip the intros and read the story first.
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