Best of: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
I have only just finished this interesting and great book and I think it would be important if I highlighted three of my favourite parts.
The first part I enjoyed was when French scientist Pierre Annorax, his apprentice Conseil and famous harpooner Ned Land disembark with the US Abraham Lincoln to search for an unidentified object in the sea, believed to be a creature of immense dimensions. But at first the search proves fruitless, with no sightings being reported. Then, as the Abraham Lincoln is cruising in the Japanese sea, Ned Land spots the unknown monster. The ship immediately starts to chase the mysterious being, yet is unable to catch up, as the monster keeps pace. The ship finally gets within Ned’s throwing range and he throws his harpoon at the monster. But to everyone’s astonishment, the harpoon bounces off the hide of the mysterious being.
The being then rams the ship’s rudder, sending the professor, Conseil and Ned into the water. Unable to respond to their calls, the Abraham Lincoln drifts away, leaving them with the monster. The three adventurers manage to climb onto the monster, only to find out that the monster is in fact an underwater submersible called the Nautilus and is owned by the mysterious Captain Nemo, who takes the three into his custody. The three are not kept in prison and they have the freedom to wander over the craft and use its utilities. Yet that certain sense of not being in complete freedom stays.
I think another part I enjoyed was when the three adventurers, using Captain Nemo’s diving apparatus, visit the pearl farms off Burma. There they take a look at a huge pearl that Captain Nemo is growing. A pearl worth ten million francs. On their way back, they spot a Burmese man diving for pearls. It is then that a huge tiger shark closes in on the poor diver and Captain Nemo immediately goes to rescue him. There ensues a fight, where the tiger shark is finally killed by Ned. It is here that Captain Nemo is shown at his kindest, for he gives the Indian a bag of pearls after they revive him.
Thirdly, I liked the contrast between the two main characters. Captain Nemo is a highly intellectual gentleman but his unpredictable mood, driven by some injury committed against him from an unknown source, makes him mad. This is expressively contrasted against the personality of Professor Annorax, who is also highly intellectual, yet his sanity is not like that of Captain Nemo.
To conclude, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea was an enjoyable and good read and I am glad that I read it.
Samuel's Essay Blog 