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Summary: to bring down the average
Review: without having read this book, I can only say that I hate Jules Verne and can't believe that he could write anything worthwhile...this review is only meant to lower the rating of this book from it current 5 star rating!
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Summary: Great Novel Is A Sequel To Two Other Great Novels
Review: The Mysterious Island is a sequel to two other novels by Jules Verne: Captain Grant's Children and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Not only the Mysterious Island shares the same characters with the two novels mentioned above, it also tells what is left untold in those novels. Therefore, if you have not read either 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea or Captain Grant's Children prior to reading the Mysterious Island, you may not understand where certain things originate in the Mysterious Island. Luckily, the Mysterious Island and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea are readily available in bookstores and libraries. However, that is not the case with Captain Grant's Children. Therefore, I am urging publishers to start publishing it, so people can enjoy another classic by Jules Verne and follow the thread of events in all three novels.
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Summary: Do NOT use this book as a survival manual...
Review: Right, now that we have that straightened out...what a book! I write this review with tongue in cheek, just as the author must have written this book. Why? well... Five Union prisoners of war escape Richmond, VA in a Rebel spy balloon, and a mere five days later end up on a remote island in the Pacific. Being very resourceful (not to mention absolute geniuses) they do what anyone stranded on a deserted island would do: they forge their own iron and steel tools, make glass, an elevator, nitroglicerin, and even a telegraph using 100% natural materials (think the professor from Gilligan's Island). But in the course of their struggle against nature, strange incidents convince them that this island may not be as deserted as they thought...(insert ominous music)... Be prepared for a kicker ending that will leave you chocking on your lithodomus!
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Summary: Is Mysterious Island Verne's best novel?
Review: Many of Verne's novels have become cultural icons for Americans though Verne was French and we read him in translation. Nevertheless, his philosophy that enlightened good will and scientific advancement would save society is so close to American idealism, he seems much more American than almost any of his contemporaries. Everyone is familiar with Around the World in 80 Days and 20,000 Leagues. For some reason, The Mysterious Island is not read as widely. Yet, in my opinion, it is Verne's best and most rewarding novel. The opening of Myserious Island reads a bit like a serious version of "Wizard of Oz." Cyrus, Pencroft, Herbert, and Gideon, and a dog named Neb make a daring escape from a Civil War prison in a balloon, but the balloon is blown way off course to an uncharted volcanic island. These men are worthy souls; Captain Cyrus is an inspiring leader, Pencroft, an earthy but hardworking sailor. Gideon is kind of a "everyman" -- observant, strong and resourceful and loving, and Herbert a young, knowlegeable naturalist. These men and their dog Neb conquer the island's challenges and make the very best out of their isolation on the small island. But are they prepared for the surprises the island has for them--and the ultimate surprise in the second half of the book. The suspense keeps the reader turning the pages through a great deal of descriptive information about nature, chemistry, physics and engineering. This is classic Verne and what really put the Science in Science Fiction. One reason Mysterious Island may not have developed the strong audience of the other Verne novels is that there is so much detail and scientific discussion. That is rough going if you have little interest in such subjects. There are abridged versions that cut a lot of the description, but frankly, the science is what I love best about the book. How Cyrus and company make nitroglycerin and use it to reshape their island home is one of my favorite chapters in sci-fi literature. If you liked Swiss Family Robinson as a child, you would surely enjoy Mysterious Island. It's one of Verne's best works and deserves to be read.
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Summary: A new translation of "The Mysterious Island"
Review: Jules Verne is a literary monument, his books are still read and popular a century after his death, and it is not too difficult to predict that this state of affairs will prevail as long as books are read and civilization does not cut its roots off. Nowadays, whenever one hears that one book or another is labeled as science fiction, images immediately come to mind - space stations, aliens, whatever. More than one and a half a century ago, however, when the Western world experienced industrialization at an exponential rate, and when literature peacefully embraced a new form of expression, the novel - science entered the literary world, and widened its scope, to immediately possess the minds of creative individuals. It is a fact that come the second half of the XIX century, the fast pace of scientific discovery influenced writers, but what is even more important, is that the visionary concepts embedded in the science fiction literature of the time in turn influenced the men of science. Verne initially embraced the idea of technological progress, and ventured into lands thus unknown with a long series of modern novels, which were both educational, and conceptually adventurous, not to mention the fact that the pure thrill of adventure emanating from his books arrested the hearts of his contemporaries, and generations to come. Later in his life, Verne again prophesied the future, having observed that the enormous technological leap can not only benefit the society, but also hamper the fast-growing civilization, causing dangers of utmost importance to be reckoned with. Accordingly, his novels of late became grim, destructive, and dangerous from the point of view of progress and its public relations, as we would say today. Despite the fact that he was the most popular novelist of his time on the Continent, he did experience problems with censorship, which was his constant source of frustration. Even his most revered literary achievement, "20.000 Leagues Under the Sea", was denied publication unless he removed the political context. Astonishingly, even a hundred years later the original text was not restored. Only in recent decades we had the opportunity to read his masterpieces of adventure as they were originally written. "The Mysterious Island" was first translated into English still in the XIX century, and until last year, that was the only translation available. The morose fact is that the translation in question deviated substantially from the original. In this was the Anglo-Saxon readers were at a slight disadvantage compared to readers from the European Continent, where translations were faithful, and who could also read Verne in the unhampered original. Anno Domini 2001, as irony would have it, two new English translations appeared in print, both of which claim to restore the authoritative text of Jules Verne. What a treat! If you spent many an hour in your youth reading "The Mysterious Island", I heartily recommend this new, updated translation. If you have not had an opportunity to discover the hilarious world of adventure by Monsieur Verne, it's high time you started. Depending on the edition, "The Mysterious Island" is published in several volumes, or in one thick hardbound volume. It might be interesting to note for the newcomer, though, that this novel is a part of interconnected set of masterpieces of adventure, which may be read independently with no harm on the part of the reader, but the best experience is to be achieved if the novels are read in the order Verne intended, that is, "20.000 Leagues Under the Sea" as a first entry, then "The Mysterious Island", and finally "The Children of Captain Grant". "The Mysterious Island" would be a classic robinsonade, if not for its scientific bent of positivism, a trend strongly present in most works of fiction by Jules Verne. Several individuals are cast away on a lone island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Of course, they do not let themselves fall into despair, but instead they start building the society anew. Although full of technical elements, "The Mysterious Island" is primarily an exotic mystery, where the unprecedented flavor of adventure overwhelms the reader for days to come. I heartily recommend this novel to all young people of both sexes, the sooner they discover Jules Verne, the better, for they will never forget that experience, nor will they ever part with the exquisite fiction of Jules Verne.
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Summary: Interesting Adventure
Review: I think that The Mysterious Island was a pretty good book to me. It is about five men and one dog who were flying in a balloon during the civil war. They were caught by a storm, and they landed on a helpful island. Since no one had ever seen or heard of the island that they were on, they decided to civilize it, and name it after their discovery. Pretty soon, when everything seems to be going well, many mysterious things start to happen on the island, which they name Lincoln Island. And animal mysteriously dies while attacking Top, their dog and they discover a bullet in a pig, that no one put there. While they learn to survive on the island, they ultimately learn the secret to the heart of the island.
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Summary: ¿« An adventuresome sci-fi
Review: A sci-fi book you could never forget. Five pasengers and a dog aboard a hot air balloon, escaping from a prison camp encounter an outrageous storm and end up on an uncharted island. ... The best science fiction book I ever read. This is a book you won't put down until you're finished. ...
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Summary: Hope + Ingenuity + Teamwork = HIT
Review: This book showcases some of the best qualities of mankind. In a situation in which it would have been easy to give up hope, to lay down and die, this book's characters decided to struggle to survive. Faced with problems which seemed far too complicated to solve, they mustered the ingenuity to solve them. Composed of personalities from widely differing cultures, they dismissed these differences and formed a cohesive, harmonious team.
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Summary: A deserted island survival manual
Review: This novel read more like a short story. Its saving grace was that it was written in 1870. Verne spins a fanciful tale of 5 survivors of a balloon trip of a few thousand miles during the Civil War. They are marooned on a deserted island after traversing half the Pacific ocean. They proceed to overcome every possible obstacle thrust in their way using scientific ingenuity and create a utopia. Outside forces help them along the way which we discover are manufactured by none other than an aged Captain Nemo. Verne's knowledge is very impressive for the time. However the book reads more like a summary of every clever idea Verne conjured up in his mind tied together by a predictable plot.
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Summary: Execllent book
Review: From the beginning this book will capture you attention. From the escape from Richmond (during the American Civil War) in a hot air ballon. Blown off course five castaways (and a dog) find themselves thrown upon an uncharted island in the Pacific. They are forced to use their ingenuity to survive on the island. Intervention of a mysterious stranger ( aka Captain Nemo) saves the castaways and provides for their needs on numerous occasions . In the end it is Captian Nemo's intevention that saves the castaways from death when their island is destroyed by a volcanic eruption. I would recommened this book to anyone who is looking for a good story.
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