Customer Reviews

Journey to the Center of the Earth

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Maybe it was the over the top caricatures of Prof. Hardwigg, his "sensitive" nephew and the stoic Hans, but I did not enjoy "Journey to the Center of the Earth" nearly as much as "20,000 Leagues Beneath the Sea". I can't say the characters were any more one-dimensional, but I was put off by the narration and not as involved with the main characters.

It still is a fun journey and the strength of Verne's writing is in the copious details he puts into his story. The geography/geology in his description is often infinitely more enjoyable than his characters. I recommnend "20,000 Leagues" first, but if you yearn for more of those 19th century adventure tales, this is not a bad follow up.

Reading this book is an amazing adventure, as evidenced by a century of avid readers. I picked it up on a lark and decided to read the first five or ten pages to see if it was my type. It was easy to read, enjoy and visualize, and I quickly finished it.

The story revolves around a young man and his uncle, who is a scientist. They discover a route to the center of the earth (hence the title), and the novel is about their journey. Once you get 100 pages into this book, you aren't able to stop. The things they find boggle the mind, but seem so real.

100 years from now, people will still be enjoying Jules Verne, because he captures the imagination of the young explorer.

Jules Verne is one of the fathers of modern science fiction and fantasy. Which is why I wanted to give the story a try. If you are the type of person who shy's away from classic literature due to it's heavy subject matter or outdated stories and concepts. I can assure you that you have no fear of that with Journey to the Center of the Earth.

Forget for a moment that we are in the era of space travel for rich space tourists, satellites and space stations circling the earth. Think to when this book was written, no cars, no planes, people traveled by steam engine and sailing ship. It's the context of Jules Verne's real world of the 1800's that makes this story all the more impressive.

I found the first ten pages difficult to get into because of the language structure. People spoke and wrote differently over 120 years ago however, as I was drawn into the story I no longer took much notice of this.

Journey to the Center of the Earth has a wonderful innocence about it. The gentil love affair between Axel and his betrothed, the stoic strengh and determination of the guide and the wonderment exhibited when they make their underground discoveries.

I can say that you will not be dissapointed by this book. I think it would also be great for young readers (12-13). It has drama, excitement and romance all without being too long. Well worth my $4.00

I bought this book thinking it would be some fluffy kids story, but found I was completely wrong! After reading the introduction by Jane Smiley I was taken in immediately. Frank Wynne's translation is superiour and the notes by Peter Cogman are both interesting and informative. I'm happy I got to read this book at 47 rather than 7, as the version in my childhood days was heavily edited and not the real story as Jules intended. There are many copies of Journey to the Centre of the Earth out there, however I was really surprised how well Penguin Classics did on this edition. I will be reading this one again for sure, 5 stars all the way!

As a person living in a country with about 130 active volcanoes, I like the story about them. I myself like to have a journey to the crater of a volcano. One of the exciting story about volcanoes is this book. Though it is somewhat surealistic, Jules Verne was able to present a life-like story that is able to draw the readers' minds, as if as they were in the story themselves. Through his words, we can feel the beauty of the scenery in Iceland, the suspense and thrill of the characters' adventure, the imagination of the living creatures inside the earth, and the joy of the characters after their success in 'go down to the centre of the earth and back in three pieces (the Professor, Harry, and Hans)'. After all, this book is pleasant to read, especially if you like an adventure story!

As an avid reader of Jules Verne, I enjoyed reading this book very much. I am not much for reading alot of books, but when I do read he is the authur that I choose. I thought that Journey to the Center of the Earth like all of his books was very well writen and very well developed.
I especially like these types of books because, they seem that they could actualy be real and certain places mentioned could actually exist. The book starts off with a young boy telling the story. His name is Harry and he lives in Hanburg with his uncle. His uncle's name is Professor Hardwigg. He is a professor of many different sciences like philosophy, chemistry, geology, mineralogy, and many other sciences. In the beginning of the book the Professor makes a discovery. His discovery is a small piece of paper that is called a Runic manuscript. The hard part was trying to figure out what langauge the paper was writen in, but once it was deciphered it appeared to have directions that lead to the center of the earth. So professor Hardwigg being the adventurer that he was, was ready to set off for Ireland, which is were the paper said to go first. Harry being only 13 had no choice in the matter but to go. They took a ten day trip on a boat to Ireland and when they got there, they were supposed to go to base of a mountain where there was a cave that they would enter that would lead them to the center of the earth. The cave seemed to go down and down forever where it lead them to the very depths of the earth. When they reached the center of the earth they came across a blue sky and an ocean. They built a raft to go across it and in the middle of crossing they ecountered two prehistoric monsters fighting around them. In the story they also encounter living fire. In the center of the earth any wrong step of wrong turn could lead to most certainly death or being trapped down there forever. To find out more details and what happens in the rest of the book, you will just have to read it for yourself.
Like I mentioned before the reading experience of this book was very good. The characters were very well developed, because of the information given about them and also how they were used throughout the story. Professor Hardwigg for example was a great character because he was a very smart man, but also a great adventurer. In the book as soon as the professor figured out what the paper ment he was ready to begin the journey. Harry was another great and well developed character, because of the information that was given in the beginning. Also, who would have thought that a 13 year old boy could have cracked the code before his smart uncle, so he plays a great role in this story.
The plot was very well developed and very well laid out. The story went step by step not leaving out anything and everything was very well explained. In the story they talked about having to learn to repel and in the story it told exactly how and why they did this.
I would recommend this book to anyone with an open mind and to people that think that this could actualy happen. Overall I enjoyed reading this book very much and I hope that this review will help anyone interested in reading it or people just reviewing it.

As an avid reader of Jules Verne, I enjoyed reading this book very much. I am not much for reading alot of books, but when I do read he is the authur that I choose. I thought that Journey to the Center of the Earth like all of his books was very well writen and very well developed.
I especially like these types of books because, they seem that they could actualy be real and certain places mentioned could actually exist. The book starts off with a young boy telling the story. His name is Harry and he lives in Hanburg with his uncle. His uncle's name is Professor Hardwigg. He is a professor of many different sciences like philosophy, chemistry, geology, mineralogy, and many other sciences. In the beginning of the book the Professor makes a discovery. His discovery is a small piece of paper that is called a Runic manuscript. The hard part was trying to figure out what langauge the paper was writen in, but once it was deciphered it appeared to have directions that lead to the center of the earth. So professor Hardwigg being the adventurer that he was, was ready to set off for Ireland, which is were the paper said to go first. Harry being only 13 had no choice in the matter but to go. They took a ten day trip on a boat to Ireland and when they got there, they were supposed to go to base of a mountain where there was a cave that they would enter that would lead them to the center of the earth. The cave seemed to go down and down forever where it lead them to the very depths of the earth. When they reached the center of the earth they came across a blue sky and an ocean. They built a raft to go across it and in the middle of crossing they ecountered two prehistoric monsters fighting around them. In the story they also encounter living fire. In the center of the earth any wrong step of wrong turn could lead to most certainly death or being trapped down there forever. To find out more details and what happens in the rest of the book, you will just have to read it for yourself.
Like I mentioned before the reading experience of this book was very good. The characters were very well developed, because of the information given about them and also how they were used throughout the story. Professor Hardwigg for example was a great character because he was a very smart man, but also a great adventurer. In the book as soon as the professor figured out what the paper ment he was ready to begin the journey. Harry was another great and well developed character, because of the information that was given in the beginning. Also, who would have thought that a 13 year old boy could have cracked the code before his smart uncle, so he plays a great role in this story.
The plot was very well developed and very well laid out. The story went step by step not leaving out anything and everything was very well explained. In the story they talked about having to learn to repel and in the story it told exactly how and why they did this.
I would recommend this book to anyone with an open mind and to people that think that this could actualy happen. Overall I enjoyed reading this book very much and I hope that this review will help anyone interested in reading it or people just reviewing it.

A breathtaking fictional journey through the bowels of the planet that we the readers live on and think we know so much about. Cleverly worded, the novel grabs the readers attention from the beginning and doesn't let up until the end. Also Jules Verne's choice of plot scheme made the book a very enjoyable read. In this epic tale, A Greek professor finds a secret parchment stating that another scientist has been to the center of the earth. Taking on the adventure as a number one priority,
He packs his things and literally drags his nephew with him to Iceland, where they are to begin their awesome journey. It seemed to me that everything that took place in the novel took place where it should have, one of the marks of a true author.
Also, the novel was not rushed, which is one of the most common problem with adventure stories. This book made me want to read more of Verne's writting. The novel definitely deserves to be a
classic.

Jules Verneï¿s classic novel Journey to the Center of the Earth is a must read for any science fiction book lovers. I rate this book four stars because this book has great imagery and is very believable considering the fact that this journey never took place.
This book deserves four stars because Verneï¿s imagination makes this book an easy read with his use of vivid descriptions of the journey. The journey starts off with a scientist who finds a map to the center of the earth. Himself, his nephew, and a guide journey down an old volcano towards the center of the earth. On their journey they find all kinds of, thought to be extinct, animals and cavemen.
Although the three men find many exciting things they also encounter many hardships. The men are suffering from lack of food because they are miles from the surface of the earth, and they lack water because there are no water sources nearby. The men somehow find a river that is boiling hot due to the fact that they are inside a dormant volcano. When they find the underground world they also get food from the wild plants growing around them.
In my opinion this book is one of the greatest science fiction books that I have read. Jules Verne is an excellent writer who wrote many great books. This book is about three men who go on an expedition to the center of the earth. The question that you have to ask yourself before you read this is will they make it out alive. Well you will have to find out yourself by reading this great novel.

Jules Verne's classic novel Journey to the Center of the Earth is a must read for any science fiction book lovers. I rate this book four stars because this book has great imagery and is very believable considering the fact that this journey never took place.
This book deserves four stars because Verne's imagination makes this book an easy read with his use of vivid descriptions of the journey. The journey starts off with a scientist who finds a map to the center of the earth. Himself, his nephew, and a guide journey down an old volcano towards the center of the earth. On their journey they find all kinds of, thought to be extinct, animals and cavemen.
Although the three men find many exciting things they also encounter many hardships. The men are suffering from lack of food because they are miles from the surface of the earth, and they lack water because there are no water sources nearby. The men somehow find a river that is boiling hot due to the fact that they are inside a dormant volcano. When they find the underground world they also get food from the wild plants growing around them.
In my opinion this book is one of the greatest science fiction books that I have read. Jules Verne is an excellent writer who wrote many great books. This book is about three men who go on an expedition to the center of the earth. The question that you have to ask yourself before you read this is will they make it out alive. Well you will have to find out yourself by reading this great novel.