Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World

Jules VerneProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.4
Word count
844K words
Chapters
85

Tags

English Originals Science Fiction Undersea AdventureOcean WondersScience EnlightenmentScience FantasyTech ImaginationSea AdventureRevengeCuriosityAdventure NarrativeScreen Adaptation

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World by VerneAuthor: Verne, Jules, 1828-1905,Language: English, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Jan 1, 2001

Editor's review

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas is one of Jules Verne's most representative science-fiction adventure novels. Narrated by the naturalist Aronnax, it tells of his voyage with Captain Nemo aboard the submarine Nautilus around the undersea world. The book offers detailed descriptions of marine life, currents, and seafloor landscapes, and also reflects on freedom, revenge, and scientific ethics, combining knowledge with storytelling. Under the technological conditions of the nineteenth century, Verne constructed a complete picture of submarine navigation; his method of balancing imagination with rigorous observation keeps the novel appealing to readers today. This edition is a public-domain English eBook provided by Project Gutenberg, convenient for reference and parallel reading at any time. It is suitable as an introduction to science fiction, as extended reading in marine science for young readers, or as material for English learners doing close reading of long-form narrative. While reading, pay attention to the portrayal of Captain Nemo and the narrator's scientific observational perspective; the tension between the two is precisely what makes the book rewarding to read.

Who it's for

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Reading tips

  1. First read through the whole book to grasp the main line of the voyage, then return to the chapters describing marine life and geography for close reading.
  2. While reading, note Captain Nemo's words and actions as they occur, and after finishing, sort out the multiple facets of his character.
  3. English readers can read chapter summaries before the original text to reduce the difficulty posed by long sentences and proper nouns.
  4. Read it alongside other works by Verne to appreciate the common features of his science-fiction conceptions.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67
  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
  74. 74
  75. 75
  76. 76
  77. 77
  78. 78
  79. 79
  80. 80
  81. 81
  82. 82
  83. 83
  84. 84
  85. 85

FAQ

Is this book in English or Chinese? This entry is a public-domain English eBook released by Project Gutenberg, and the main text is in English. If you wish to read in Chinese, you can find a Chinese translation for comparison, or use it as long-form English reading material.
Can I understand it without a science background? Yes. The scientific descriptions in the book serve the story and do not require professional background. When you encounter terms from marine biology or geography, a brief lookup is enough; it will not affect your understanding of the main plot and character relationships.
Is it suitable for children to read independently? Older teenagers can read it independently, while younger children are better suited to parent-child reading or adapted versions. Some plot elements involve shipwrecks and revenge, so parents may wish to learn about them in advance and guide discussion appropriately.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Jules Verne Author · French · 1828–1905

Jules Verne (1828–1905) was a French author born in Nantes and died in Amiens, and is regarded as one of the founders of modern science fiction. He excelled at combining scientific knowledge, geographical exploration, and adventure narratives, drawing readers with precise detail and imaginative journeys. His representative works include Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, Around the World in Eighty Days, and From the Earth to the Moon, with themes such as submarine voyages and global travel enjoying wide circulation. The library holds 141 of his works, reflecting the sheer volume and reach of his writing. His novels often center on exploring unknown worlds against the backdrop of nineteenth-century scientific progress, and have had a profound influence on later science fiction and adventure literature.