Journey to the Center of the Earth
Ratings202
Average rating3.7
Journey to the Center of the Earth is a fun, early science fiction romp. I agree with another reviewer that this short, fast-paced story is akin to a Disney ride. However, I did find that the ending was a bit rushed and wished for another installment of the single-minded Liedebrock's, lovesick Axel's, and stoic Hans' adventures below us.
I won't rehash the novel's plot in this review, but would like to recommend that readers check out a related book I just finished. “Banvard's Folly” by Paul Collins includes a vignette about John Cleves Symmes, whose hollow-earth theories inspired Jules Verne's story. Symmes proposed that the earth's center could be reached via openings at the North and South Poles. According to Symmes, these openings lead to descending concentric spheres eventually bringing one to areas inhabited by pale beings. Verne departed from Symmes' theory by suggesting that volcanic openings were access points, as opposed to the Poles As a side note, the rest of Collin's snapshots of 12 failures are quite enjoyable.
Most of the book described what the explorers saw and was thinking at the time. Not a lot of dialog.
The original idea for the book is probably why it is considered a classic!
Rent the 1959 movie with the same title with James Mason & Pat Boone, Seen it in 59 and still watch it at least once a year. David N.
If I was to compare this to other books of today then I would give it three stars but since it's a classic and usually don't like classics, this is worth 4 stars. If you like adventure, geology, and paleontology then you'll like this quick read. The author was obviously a very smart man as well as imaginative to be able to come up with this story without any books or movies in his time to help give him ideas!
Reads like an ordinary tale of two people going into a volcano which supposedly could give them access to the center of the earth. It may sound wondrous, but it is basically o journal log with detailed descriptions of geology and geography.
This book made me feel agoraphobic...in a good way. Tim Curry's narration was sublime, as usual.
Once again Verne makes use of fainting as a means to gloss over the details of difficult transitions in the action. Oh well, it's still captivating and fun to read.