Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

Publisher's Summary

A mysterious sea monster, theorized by some to be a giant narwhal, is sighted by ships of several nations; an ocean liner is also damaged by the creature. The United States government finally assembles an expedition to track down and destroy the menace. Professor Pierre Aronnax, a noted French marine biologist and narrator of the story, master harpoonist Ned Land, and Aronnax's faithful assistant Conseil join the expedition.

After much fruitless searching, the monster is found, and the ship charges into battle. During the fight, the ship's steering is damaged, and the three men are thrown overboard. They find themselves stranded on the "hide" of the creature, only to discover to their surprise that it is a large metal construct. They are quickly captured and brought inside the vessel, where they meet its enigmatic creator and commander, Captain Nemo.

Public Domain (P)2017 Trout Lake Media

The Deadpan of Alan Munro

Great novel, always been a favorite and deserving of its status as a classic. This was my first encounter with the narrator, and I have endured him through many since. The novels he narrates are always priced cheap, so if you can tolerate him then it's a good deal.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

not what I expected

I had always wanted to read this book. I expected adventure and a great story. what it is, is mostly a listing of all the fish and fauna he sees along the way, a few adventures that were good but overall rather boring. Also not happy with the ending, i would have expected better.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Unabridged & so rich in 19th C. scientific detail!

What made the experience of listening to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea the most enjoyable?

Jules Verne was clearly brilliant, captivated by new discoveries and the possibilities chemical and mechanical engineering presented 150 years ago. This work was prescient in many respects, yet full of natural "flaws" from the science of the day. The narrator rolls dreamily through the myriad Latin names for creatures, imparting the character's awe at the wonders of the deep. I loved it.

What about Alan Munro’s performance did you like?

Here's the only fault I found: the volume was insufficient! I had to amplify by connecting my Kindle to my radio. Otherwise, the recording was excellent.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

a literary classic?

I have to admit I was very disappointed with this book. I have been told what a literary classic it was my whole life, it was one of the most driest books I have ever listened to and the narrator was extremely monotone wich did not help. if you are into identifying and classifying sea species you might like this, if you're looking for a classic action book this is certainly not one.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

needs new narrator

the narrator was terrible - bought this audible book for a long trip with my grandson and it was horrible.

Hard to stay interested

if you're an enthusiast in marine science, thisbook is for you. I had ahardtimestaying interested

Fun but slow

Slow, because this is a very long book, full of elaborate made-up science. I guess that is the point but it was kind of plodding, I couldn't finish it. I loved Around the World in Eighty Days, which, although also very long, is much faster paced and has some humor.

That sinking feeling

Wow, this was, awful. I have been reading through some of the classics, last year I read War and Peace” and there is no comparison. Was War and Peace long? Was it boring in some parts? Sure. But this book was worse by leaps and bounds.

Here’s a “short” list of all the problems with this book:
1. The concept of the ship is beyond words amazing. The tech described in this show the workings of a mind far beyond the 1800’s. With that said how the hell do you rap it in a burrito of boredom smothered in Ultra Weak Bland Sauce (low fat). The story would drag on until it got to an interesting part then rushed through it quickly to go back to boredom.

2. The narrator drones on so badly that in some countries they may use recording of this on patience to put them under for surgery. This is the first book I ever increased the speed (1.25x) just to get through it.

3. Kingdom. Phylum. Class. Order. Family. Genus. Species. Ok. I. Get. It. Please. Stop. I can’t believe not one person told Jules that you need to either write a biology book or a novel, but it can’t be both. Look, I have no idea how many fish are in the sea, but you don’t have to break down the taxonomy of every god damn one. There are points when the professors man/boy/servant would see a school of fish and I had to fast forward until he stopped talking. I jumped two to three min at a time.

4. Now, I can’t be sure you’re familiar with the phrase “get to the mother****ing monkey” or not. (Watch Peter Jackson’s King Kong and you’ll get it). But it took until the last two hours of the book to get “interesting”. There was no sense of danger, or adventure that you wanted to see. Up until the two hour mark any problems they ran into we “no match for my Nautilus”. It was like Superman stopping a convince store robbery, nothing phased it and it always had a new ability to come through unscathed.

Honestly, after reading this I cannot imagine how Emmet Brown and Clara Clayton could possibly romanticize over this book.

hard to stay awake

great story, but the reader had such a monotone voice it was hard to stay awake too. I would suggest this book but just not this one read by this guy.

Moby Dick Lite

This book was probably a great descriptive odyssey of the unknown ocean in 1870, but the content today just seems so outdated and already known. The memoir writing style and lack of inter-character dialog makes for a boring book. Alan Munro has a slow choppy drawl, so much that I speed up the audio 1.5x just to get to flow better.

my first audio book 20000 Leagues Under the Sea

the audio book of 20000 Leagues Under the Sea was very captivating most most rememberable moment was about sea creatures being described very interesting to listen about the battles Wars Islands visited in all it was a captivating the narrator was very strong voiced in his Reading kept me interested and I finished the whole book very good I reckon thank you very much audible

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great reading, strange book

The book contains many many lists of sea creatures and Latin names, which can get a bit long. Read very well, the narrator's voice suits the story style

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

loved this version

This was a well read version. The narration was colourful so much as not to send you to sleep as some narrations do. Just hope you enjoy like I did .

Painful narration

A classic ruined by very poor choice of narrator. I found this painful to get through and only persevered due to it being one of my favourite tales from childhood. The narration reminded me of Captain kirk's stuttering delivery with emphasis on every.... other.... word. The narrator abandons the written grammar and inserts his own pauses every couple of words, which loses the impact of the writing. Top that off with his dry monotone voice with very little expression, and you have a very painful listen.
I increased the speed to 1.3 as this helped reduce the length of the many unnecessary pauses and made it just about listenable.
Such a wasted opportunity to make a classic come to life.

Fascinating novel, banal narration

The book is riveting if you are a Victoriana/Steam Punk fan yet Alan Munro’s narration is the most monosyllabic, inexpressive voiceover I have ever heard. It’s a crying shame.