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20,000 Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

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In a specially adapted version for young readers by Malvina G. Vogel.

Three men in search of a giant sea monster suddenly discover that their monster is really a remarkable steel-plated submarine. Taken prisoners by the mysterious Captain Nemo, they begin a series of exciting ad ventures that take them 20,000 leagues under the oceans of the world.

187 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1977

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921 people want to read

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Malvina G. Vogel

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5 stars
1,435 (42%)
4 stars
1,126 (33%)
3 stars
620 (18%)
2 stars
119 (3%)
1 star
38 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 153 reviews
Profile Image for Ammit P Chawda.
123 reviews36 followers
April 13, 2024
4.50 �

GENRE - FICTION / KIDS CLASSIC / DRAMA.

20,000 Leagues under the Sea the title never seemed to intrest me I have owned this book since childhood but today I finally decided to read it.

It's a Tale of adventure about 3 men who go on search mission to catch a giant monster end up discovering that their monster is really a remarkably built steel plated Submarine.
They are later taken as prioners by a mysterious captain of the Submarine by the name Nemo,they begin a series of exciting adventures that takes them 20,000 leagues under the oceans of the world.

It a very interesting and well written book and if you love to read something that involves adventure than please definitely go ahead and read this Book.

Thank you �
Profile Image for Nu Jahat Jabin.
149 reviews239 followers
October 23, 2016
আমার পড়া সবচেয়� প্রিয় ভার্নে� বই� <3
এই বই পড়ে জীবন� যে কত্ত এডভেঞ্চারে� স্বপ্ন দেখেছি�
নোটিলা� কে ভালবেস� ফেলেছিলাম। যদিও প্রথমদিক� জাহা� ধ্বং� কর� জিনিসট� ভা� লাগে নি�

ক্যাপ্টে� নিমো তা� নোটিলা� এর জন্য শুধু� ভালবাসা। ভার্নে� কল্পনা শক্ত� সত্যিই অসাধারন। একটা বন্ধ ঘর� বস� এত বিস্তৃ� ভাবে কে� এডভেঞ্চা� লিখত� পারে -ব্যপারটা� সত্যিই অসাধারন।
Profile Image for Adelina.
275 reviews9 followers
September 10, 2018
Venice read this one at school, and insisted I must read it too. She lent me her copy, and then pestered me until I was finished.
I really enjoyed this book, and was probably more excited that my 11 year old had found a book to enjoy so much she would share it with me.
Profile Image for Chance.
35 reviews
March 20, 2009
A decent read.

Starts out as a sort of mystery story, but evolves into more character-centric story.

The downsides:
- The incessant scientific descriptions of the fauna. I mean seriously, telling me a fish's full scientific classification doesn't really do anything for me.

- Pacing is a bit weird.

- Ending felt abrupt and didn't really add to the story. It felt like Verne just got tired of writing and quickly thew together a "conclusion".

- The book's protagonist is easily the second most boring character.

- I really liked where he was going with Captain Nemo, but at the end he just...stopped. I wanted to know more about that enigmatic figure.

The upsides:

- The adventure was pleasantly more diverse than I had anticipated.

- Captain Nemo was actually a pretty interesting character to me...although he wasn't fleshed out well enough, in my opinion.

- Descriptions of the tools, technology, equipment, etc were always cool. Hello Steampunk!

- I liked Ned Land. Dude wants to wreck some shit!

(Listened to it via librivox.org)
Profile Image for Natalie Nimmers.
68 reviews1 follower
June 1, 2023
The kids and I loved this one! They kept asking for another chapter. It was a fun read and I’ll be excited to read the full version with them someday.
Profile Image for Chris.
50 reviews3 followers
March 2, 2022
Technically 4.5 stars. I read it, with minor abridgments, to my six year old, who gave it 5 stars and then some.
Profile Image for Matt.
20 reviews6 followers
October 6, 2015
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, is a great book with Juicy Details. I love how the seamen journey for the majestic Narwhale. The adventure they take is a thrill for me. The description of how this Narwhale looks like was vivid! As they found more places like the Lost City of Atlantis it made me excited what was next.I recommend this to Adventure Readers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Aj.
55 reviews
July 5, 2008
Awesome!! I loved this book.
31 reviews1 follower
May 13, 2016
The book is about sorta about pirates and the first submarine. I liked the book because I like the classics. I would recommend this book to Edgar and Seth because they like reading books.
Profile Image for Deedeebear3!.
81 reviews
August 15, 2021
So I had to read this for school and was not excited to read it, but it wasn't that bad. I wish it got more into Captain Nemo's back story, but we got to know some of it. I was so mad at Aronnax for wanting to stay on the Nautilus. I agreed with Ned pretty much the whole time about wanting to escape. I would too if I was taken prisoner in submarine and would never see any my friends or family again. Not to mention never setting foot on land again. I didn't like the end though. It was so much danger and hype and it looked impossible to survive, and it was just 🎶"Oooh, I'm unconscious! Wait, I'm still alive! Let's never explain how I'm still alive!"🎶 (Not a real song) I don't know it seemed like anytime there was impossible odds and no chance of survival, Aronnax fell unconscious, and everything was fine when he woke up. It seemed like an excuse for the author not having to write a conclusion to the problem. Like how on earth did they live through that deadly whirlpool?!?! It just seemed to far fetched at that point in the book. Maybe the ending was cut short cause this edition is abridged or something. But the book was good except for its lack of explanation. Overall, 2 🌟.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Kevin Findley.
Author14 books12 followers
April 12, 2019
This adaptation for younger readers keeps the sense of adventure and wonder from the original novel. That is very difficult to do with an author like Verne, but Ms. Vogel does an excellent job with it here. The story has been adapted into film at least three or four times, but this telling of Professor Arronax, Conseil, and Ned Land has a charm all of its own.

Their encounter and forced journey with Captain Nemo is legendary in science fiction. If you haven't read any version of the book before, this is a good place to start as a quick read for adults and an excellent story for kids.

Find it! Buy it! Read it!
18 reviews
February 9, 2021
I think I've learned more about the ocean and certain sciences from this book than my entire time in modern education so far.
Profile Image for Kait Bricker .
55 reviews2 followers
March 31, 2022
What a brilliant story. While I can’t speak to the accuracy of Verne’s facts throughout the story, it was told with such conviction I believe every word.
Profile Image for Jessica Tracy.
467 reviews
September 30, 2023
In my opinion, the illustrated classics version of this book is the better version. It's condensed and simplified yes, but I think it makes the story flow at a pace that is more engaging. I'm reading the original version now and keep thinking how much better this one is!
Profile Image for J.
3,664 reviews28 followers
July 4, 2017
What is there not to say about a Jules Verne book? The guy has a wonderful imagination and yet he does a great job in balancing out his stories so it doesn't lean too much into disbelief that the reader is just lost in the sci-fi aspect of it. In this particular case the ballast on this particular book are the "marine" facts that are provided by the protagonist.

Like most of the older books that are considered there isn't much build-up of the characters, especially when it comes to the secondary characters. There always seems to be the ambivalent protagonist, his always loyal servant/friend, the one guy who can never be happy how he is treated and the bad guy who may actually not be so bad after all. And then of course the collection of secondary characters that are used for bait.

Unfortunately for me I didn't like the idea of the crew of the Nautilus going after the sperm whales even if they were to save the black whales (and from what I could find when looking up I haven't seen sperm whales attacking any other type of whales except orcas which prey on them). But then the type of information they had back then isn't what we have now and for the author to have claimed a giant narwhale had caused the damage was laughable but understandable in a sense to their eyes.

With this particular book there is something for everyone - adventure/action, nostalgia, wonder-inspiring fantasy, sci-fi and good old fighting if you are into the type. Even so I would suggest that this book is for older readers and up to parental discretion since there are some gruesome scenes found within the pages. Yet all in all it is a wonderful read....

~A Book With A Number In the Title~
Profile Image for Melissa Mahle.
Author5 books22 followers
March 27, 2014
The hallmark of a classic story is to be able to enchant readers across generations. Verne has certainly achieved this with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I never read this book as a child (or even saw any of the movies). I suspect I would have found the vocabulary too difficult, especially the names of all the marine life. The characters are all so very interesting. I particularly am inspired by Conseil, the role he plays as Aronnax's sidekick...respectful, helpful, but a lot too him beyond that of Aronnax's foil. Lots to learn here in terms of writing craft. Captain Nemo's character is masterful. Unpredictable, forceful, provocative.
204 reviews1 follower
August 5, 2022
Classic, Adventure

I really don't remember much about reading this book.
-July 2022
Profile Image for Diego Valenzuela.
37 reviews
May 6, 2016
This book is about three men that get captured by captain Nemo, they did most things in the sea but the men were planning to escape sooner than later. This book was amazing because of the part where they were inside Captian Nemo's submarine. I would recommend this book to someone who is interested in captain Nemo
14 reviews
May 20, 2014
This book is about these three man that are on a mission to kill this unknown creature. Then a incident that the men go over bored. They get saved by a mysterious person. Now the three men decides to stay with him and now they go on the best adventure of their life.
Profile Image for Nicki.
47 reviews6 followers
July 2, 2020
Good version for children
Profile Image for Benjamin Guldager.
26 reviews
February 1, 2021
Jules Verne was certainly ahead of his time.

Join Doctor Pierre Aronnax, his fateful loyal servant Conseil, the easily red-tempered Ned Land, and the mysterious Captain Nemo and company, in a voyage under the sea - 20.000 leagues long!
Loveable characters, who all intrigue the reader, in a plot nothing more than adventurous and fascinatingly interesting!

However, as good as the characters and plot might be, there are still some downsides, which makes the story a relatively difficult, at times tedious, read. It feels like almost a 3rd of this book is classifications of literally every animal and organism from the sea, and even some from the land as well! Surely, if you are a naturalist like the main protagonist, it is an excitingly accurate description of the teeming life of the sea! If you are not, it is awfully uninteresting � or at least, a prolonged experience of dull Latin classifications. The theme also seems to be relatively repetitive: go under sea, see some fish, go above sea to get some air, something extraordinarily happens, repeat. Unfortunately, the ending is also quite abruptly ended, and the reader is left with many questions unanswered.

Nevertheless, a very charming read with an abundance of different events and adventures! Steam-punk futuristic and the inspiration for many sea-like stories since, such as Disney’s “Atlantis�, the video game “BioShock� � and more!
Profile Image for KJ.
19 reviews
February 1, 2022
I was really disappointed in 20,000 Leagues under the sea because it was so bland. I have to say at first the book wasn't that bad, but it got really bland shortly after the beginning. It barely talked about being 20,000 Leagues Under the sea because most of the story THEY WERE IN A TIN BOX and no I'm not joking most of the time they were actually in this tin box. There were only two parts of the book they were actually in the water. The first part is where they had harpoons and was killing fish to eat and second was when they were in a glacier stuck and water was starting to rise and even then, there not even in the sea THEY'RE IN A GLACER. They should change the title of the book Lost at Sea or Survival Under water. If they changed the title, then I could respect it better. the title of the book and the story itself feels like YouTube click bait. Thats what I think about 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
Profile Image for Cari.
399 reviews3 followers
May 21, 2025
This is a rollicking good adventure that deserves all its fame and accolades. Jules Verne’s facility with science - real and fiction - are on full display. In fact the long lists of marine life, frequent discussions of longitude and latitude, and detailed explanations of how the Nautilus functions at times got a little long. But when I imagine reading this book back in 1870 I can only imagine the awe it inspired. I had to go ask the internet what was fact, prediction and fiction. So glad to finally understand all the references to this amazing novel that formed the foundation of great science fiction.
Profile Image for Chad Rexin.
184 reviews2 followers
March 23, 2021
Fun book to read. It is amazing how much the book covered in world geography, oceans, science, and the struggles people and countries face all on a submarine that had technology not seen till much later than when the book was written. We may have more modern technology now, but the world and oceans await all of us with great adventure to be found even if we are reluctant to go along with it. I like the style and narrative tale and while Captain Nemo is one of the key characters, he is also an enigma and holds secrets.
Profile Image for Greg Hovanesian.
119 reviews2 followers
November 13, 2023
Reading Jules Verne was very 'meh' for me. On one hand, he wrote interesting adventure stories, and he is one of the most important figures in the creation of science fiction. On the other hand, the tone of his was very colonialist, and in my opinion, often destructive towards nature, though he probably didn't mean it that way. But almost every person in his books who isn't European is a murderous 'savage', or, even worse, a 'cannibal.' And sharks are seen as monsters who are only good if they are dead. I just had a bad taste in my mouth from this.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 153 reviews

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