The Mysterious Island

By: Jules Verne

Narrated by: Berny Clark

Length: 19 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

Based on the true story of Alexander Selkirk, who survived alone for almost five years on an uninhabited island off the coast of Chile, The Mysterious Island is considered by many to be Jules Verne’s masterpiece.

“Wide-eyed mid-nineteenth-century humanistic optimism in a breezy, blissfully readable translation by Stump” (Kirkus Reviews), here is the enthralling tale of five men and a dog who land in a balloon on a faraway, fantastic island of bewildering goings-on and their struggle to survive as they uncover the island’s secret.

Public Domain (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

A Classic

While there are some portions that have perhaps not aged quite well, this still holds up as a Jules Verne classic.

A classic

I had forgotten how much I enjoyed this book. I had not read this story in 50 years and it was great to relive this classic.

Love this story

This is my favorite Verne novel. It amazes me the level of detail he goes into. Berny Clark was the perfect narrator for this story. Great pairing! Highly recommend listening to this story.

Great from first to last.

Very interesting and captivating story. Great performance by Mr. Clark. I recommend reading 20,000 leagues under the sea, before you get to this
book.

Excellent adventure story

Enjoyable action and thrilling adventure.
Kept me on the edge of my seat. Very well read version of a classic.

Excellent!!!!!!!!!!!!! 10/10

I had read all of the major works by Verne except this one. It was the last in line. I was quite curious as I had read somewhere that some consider The Mysterious Island his magnum opus. I doubted that before, but now… it just may be. It just may well be his best work!

Everything about this book was terrific!! The story (from start to finish) was excellent. The plot was exciting. The characters were developed quite well. They were all lovable and easily gained your support throughout.

I was thoroughly captivated throughout the entire story. It just kept getting better and better as the book progressed. I was afraid that the ending wouldn’t be good but that was not the case.

I am frankly surprised this is not even more popular than it is. The Mysterious Island will go on my “read (or listen) to it again” pile without question.

10/10, Highly recommend!!!!!!!!

A look back of almost 150 years

I have always enjoyed the novels of Jules Verne. While not a scientist by training, his writing includes enough technical detail (perhaps too much, at times) to make the story very believable. What I enjoy is being able to listen or read stories from this era. I feel it is important to keep the story in context. Although published nearly 20 years after the U.S. Civil War, Verne does a good job of portraying the public face of civil behavior at the time. The caring yet always appropriate relationship between the main characters does not fit well in a RAP society where caring has lost its meaning to many.

Having said all that, Verne's story lines can become tedious when he does into detail on botanicals and phylogenetic classifications. Even so, that is his style and his work influenced many scientist.

As for Mr. Clark, the narrator, I felt he did an admirable job considering that Verne's writing (originally in French), is a struggle in translated works.

I read this book several times in the past and was curious how it would work as an audio book. I enjoyed it -- more than I thought I would.

Nice reading of this great classic

Would you consider the audio edition of The Mysterious Island to be better than the print version?

If the narrator is good then the audio edition is pretty much always better. In this case, the narrator was very good and I liked it.

Any additional comments?

I finally read/listened to this book last month and enjoyed every chapter. It shows how they managed to survive on the island by making tools and items in their cave. This book is by far one of the best "stranded on an island" books you could hope for. It is probably one of Jules Verne's best. The inhabitants of an island are banded together and when they get into a tight spot, there is a mysterious force that always helps out. This force is not revealed until nearly the end. I highly recommend it to everyone.

Thoroughly enjoyable

I read most of Jules Verne's fictions when I was young (a long, long time ago). I particularly remembered that I had enjoyed Mysterious Island though I remembered little about the plot. I came across this in Audible and it was on sale so I took the plunge. It was a lot of fun, not too deep or complex, just a good story about a group that get stranded and use their wits and their absolute commitment to one another to survive, and survive well. If you've read any of his stories, you know they can get bogged down in details now and then and the language is stilted at times, but the story is very well done. And most important, for me anyways, is that I love how it ends. The trails they face are believable, complex, and make the last couple of hours very suspenseful. For those that remember the movie (which was ridiculous in my opinion) and have not read the book, it is nothing like the movie, which is a good thing.

The narration was good, not great, but good. Nice job with the various characters on the whole.

Not the best book I've listened to, but I thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless. Great for young adults...

Berny Clark brought it to life

Would you listen to The Mysterious Island again? Why?

Mr. Clark brought each character to life and made the listen so enjoyable. I will look for more from him.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Penncroft, human and a good sort.

Which scene was your favorite?

in the balloon

Any additional comments?

A classic and deservedly so.