Audible changed their membership benefits. Instead of selecting two audio books of selection of nine each month it contains quite a few free books you can add to your library. I assume those will disappear when you end your membership. One of those books is Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. It is not huge spoiler to say this book tells about Captain Nemo and his submarine Nautilus. In the beginning narrator is hunting weird monster which turns out to be Nautilus. People know Nemo and Nautilus even if they haven’t read or listened the book. I knew him even before The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie. I just don’t remember where I knew him.
Book was originally serialized between March 1869 and June 1870 but it doesn’t feel that old. You could say it is timeless. Some parts remind book’s age but mostly you don’t remember the age. Story is told like explorer’s diary. There are no huge story arcs or big themes. It is like explorer told his journey. I would put this into hard science fiction category. I don’t think there wasn’t anything which wasn’t in possible near future technology at the time of writing. Today’s technology is far beyond of what is in the book. Can’t remember anything which isn’t done better today. Sites they visit and routes they take are not always real but this is science fiction.
Book concentrates on telling fantastic journey under the sea. There is very little anything else. It is narrator wondering what he experiences. Narrator and two other survivors of his ship are taken to Nemo’s submarine. Narrator wants to stay there when other two want to escape. That is pretty much the conflict. Most interesting part is when everyone on Nautilus is in danger. Rest of the book is basically narrator wondering life on submarine.
Classics are classics for reason. Sometimes the reason doesn’t last ages. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea doesn’t have same impact now it have had older times. It is bit like those effect heavy movies which lose their impact when movies with better effects come around. Having more character development would have helped. Having said that I don’t regret listening the book. It is always good to experience classics to know what they are. What was good enough for 1869 and years after that may miss something in year 2020 to have same impact. It is still worth experiencing though.