Manuscript Found in a Bottle

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.