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Journey to the Centre of the Earth: Play (Take Part) Review

When I was a kid, I used to read lot of Jules Verne. In those days I couldn't read neither English, nor French so I was destined to use translations which were few and of varying quality. Nevertheless, I think I'll always remember captain Nemo and his mysterious ship, his exile on the island and his death. Stories of Jules Verne always stirred my fantasy, and I guess that he should be blamed, together with Poe and Tolkien, for me entering the world of SF&F and staying there for a long time.
Today, I'm much more cynical, writer of literary criticism in my own language, somewhat versed in few branches of Theory, result of which is, however paradoxical that may sound, growing inability to read and enjoy books from my childhood memory. Only thing that I'm capable of is sort of a nostalgic remembrance, which overlooks the style of ages, straightforward ideology, and overpopmpousnes of Verne's work. And this is a bad thing, 'cause my intellect shows me the drawbacks of this book, but my memory says otherwise. Balancing those two, I'll give in to the memory and say that "Journey to the center of the Earth" is a fantastic novel of mysterious nature and adventuring in the dark. It is a part of Fantastic voyages series, written by Jules Verne, series that tried to explain geographical and topological characteristics of various places on Earth by using latest scientific discoveries and presenting them in form of a novel. To reader of today, Verne's style may be troublesome, and many a young reader because of it will probably put book aside not feeling drawn enough into it's story, and being attacked by the language of mid 19th century sure won't help in those feelings. Today, when modern fiction has covered almost every aspect of adventure, having in it's pages every imaginable mystery solved, written in contemporary language, it is hard to imagine someone willingly taking Verne's work and reading it (unless he also feels nostalgic or has a school paper to hand in). And you couldn't blame them for that. Strength of Verne's work comes from mystery and unknown, mainly of scientific nature (psychological readings of captain Nemo I should put aside for now), mysteries which are far better explained in contemporary prose, with greater ability in novel writing and various other things.
Verne's time has passed and today we may only look upon him as a pioneer of SF adventure, or as a fond memory from our childhood. Sure, we could apply modern Theory on the text and see with what we'll come out, but in a long run it won't help. One can't fool the reader so easily.
"Journey to the center of the Earth" will remain fond memory but nothing more than that.

Journey to the Centre of the Earth: Play (Take Part) Overview

Through the eyes of young Gilbert, a peasant boy who Robin takes under his wing, readers will meet the world's most famous outlaw as he does battle with the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham and his evil friends.

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Customer Reviews

how ifeel about this book - -
this was the first book i bought using my kindle and i am happy to say the i made a fine choice by buying this book. it made me feel like i would want to do that for a job.

Allegory of man and man's technology vs. nature - S. Lear -
Why take a journey into space, when you can take a journey to the most mysterious place on earth. Actually it isn't on earth...but in it. Looking back 100 years, Journey to the Center of the Earth can be seen as an allegory of man and man's technology set against the awesome power of nature. In Jules Verne's 1864 iconic book Journey to the Center of the Earth, an unconventional professor and his nephew find an ancient book and a riddle on parchment that leads them on the strangest expedition. Upon solving the riddle, their findings lead them to a remote mountain in Iceland, where they enter an extinct volcano into the bowels of the earth. When entering the mysterious realm of the earth they are confronted by prehistoric animals and numerous natural hazards produced by the parallel environment. However, the explorers try to overcome their challenges with the use of their technology, which proves to be more useless than beneficial. Do the heroes survive by their own wits or the charity of nature?
Journey to the Center of the Earth, is one of the first of its kind in the genre of modern science fiction, which was revolutionized by Jules Verne. His revolutionary writings brought about many ideas explaining the unknown of the day that has just recently be proven wrong. That being said, this novel is a scientific masterpiece that would be enjoyed by all sci-fi fans young and old. "Science, my lad, is made up of mistakes, but they are mistakes which it is useful to make, because they lead little by little to the truth"--Jules Verne. Jules Verne was a product of his times. In the mid-19th century, European civilization believed it could achieve any goal by application of modern technology.

Fast paced, exciting, original and charming - Dianne Telfer - New York, USA
I think that this book is excellent. This story is fast paced, exciting, original and charming. When I read this book I it was very simple for me to imagine the pictures that were describing in this book. As a matter of fact, this book is outstanding because it was written in 1864 and at that time, it was impossible to imagine a journey to the center of the earth, so this book is really cool. Therefore, we can understand how far ahead of his time Jules Verne was in comprehending science.

Before reading this book, I have not ever thought that inside our planet may be something like a hidden world with oceans and ancient animals, but now it is not very hard for me to imagine this. Consequently, this book has changed my imagination and understanding of the world in general.

When I try to place myself on the place of one of the characters and imagine myself deep under the Earth, my heart sinks and I am starting to understand feelings of Harry who was alone in the heart of the planet. And I also think, that this book shows very well the deep knowledge of sciences of the author who wrote this excellent book. When you read it, you learn a lot of new information about geology and physic.

I have a very good impression of this book because I have learn't a lot of new information about world, I read about national traditions of people who live in a mountain of Iceland. And it was also very interesting to read a story that was written more then hundred years ago. Therefore I want to advise everybody to read this book.

There is also a hard cover version of this title: A Journey to the Center of the Earth (AD Classic)

An Indiana Jones Adventure Unfortunately with a Real SOB - Austin Somlo - Vincentown, NJ
One thing I did not realize about the book Journey to the Center of the Earth was that it was originally written in French by Jules Verne. This book is my first reading of any of his works, and after reading Journey to the Center of the Earth, I am somewhat apprehensive but feel confident in reading more of his other books. The story of Journey to the Center of the Earth is started out beautifully à la in the prose of John Steinbeck, and I thought I was going to be taken on a great ride. Somehow, I was getting more disappointed as the more I got to know to Professor Lidenbrock, who of course influenced the creation of the Doc character from Back to the Future, because he is such a hard-headed a-hole. I just didn't like the one-dimensional mindedness that he carries along with his absolute pedantic method that makes me want to punch his nose every time he goes on his "I am right, and you are wrong" argument. Therefore, I felt sorry for the nephew who had to put up with him. In the meanwhile, the journey to the center of the earth begins in Iceland which influenced me greatly to look up the internet the history of the country and the pictures, so anytime I think of the book, Iceland will come to my mind, or vice-versa. Of course, the feeling of the adventurous trip is much akin to Indiana Jones movies except the sacrilegious fourth part. Before that journey was embarked, I just can't help but feel how utterly stupid the idea is and the nonsensical undertaking is. Then again, I have to remind myself that the book is purely science fiction. I want to make two points of mention from early chapters of the book. The nephew is right in calculating the number of combinations twenty letters can make but only twenty distinct (no repeats) letters. How the math is done is that it is 20 times 19 times 18 times 17 times...3 times 2 times 1 letters (multiplication format, as I mean). Actually, this is not a combination but rather a permutation. So, that's a small change in the wording but a big difference because the ordering of the words does not matter at all during combinations yet the nephew is concerned about putting the words in an order which is exactly the definition of permutation. The next point which I think the uncle made a serious error when it came to calculating the temperature of the center of the earth. He said that the radius of the earth is over 4,000 miles and to go to the center, it takes one degree for every seventy feet below. In end, he calculated the temperature of the center to be over two million degrees. Whether that is in Centigrade, Fahrenheit, or Kelvin, he doesn't say. There are 5,280 feet in a mile, so in 4,000 miles, we have 2.1 x 10^7 feet (or 21 billion feet) and then to divide that by 70 feet, we get 301,714 degrees. If that is in Centigrade, then it is 543,117 degrees Fahrenheit. If it's the other way, then it is 167,601 degrees Celsius and also 167,874 Kelvins. So, the uncle is wrong, wrong, wrong! Of course, he goes further with more techno babble elsewhere in the book that I can't really say if he is right or not because I have zero expertise in geology. In short, a guy like Andy Dufresne would immensely enjoy reading Journey to the Center of the Earth, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if that book influenced him to take up geology. On a second thought, as for myself, I think I will do so the same and credit the book for sparking my interest. As for the reading of the adventure to the end, I think Jules Verne has really captured my attention because of the rush and tension that came with the journey, but too bad that every chapter was spoiled by its heading. For example, Chapter 22 is the search of water, and the next Chapter kills the suspense with its heading "We Find Water." Another is Chapter 28 where the nephew is in the dark the whole time and is completely lost and I wonder if he gets rescued. The next two chapters come with the heading "I Hear Voices" and "Saved." Hey...thanks a lot...way to go...lovely....really lovely. Of course, during the trip, I can't stand the uncle and was dying to finish the book and be done with it because of him. All in all, Journey to the Center of the Earth is a great read that is suitable for all ages although a great deal of suspension of disbelief is required, and I only ask for the uncle to be replaced with somebody else with a better personality.

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Sep 07, 2010 13:37:06

Children's Books

Tuesday, September 7, 2010