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Monday, August 2, 2010

Book summary and review of 20,000 Leagues under the sea

Summary

20,000 Leagues under the sea

Professor Monseiur, a French, his servant Conseil , who was an expert at the classification of animals and plants,and Ned Land, a harpooner, set sail in the Pacific Ocean in a quest to find a monster that had sunk ships recently and kill it if possible. One night, Ned Land spotted the monster which they suspected as a huge whale. Ned Land fired his harpoon towards the creature which was phosphorescent but was surprised when his metal hit it with a metallic sound instead of sinking into flesh. Then, the creature came and attacked the ship when Monseiur was flung into the dark sea when the ship was attacked. He called for help but could not be heard as the ship moved away. Fortunately, his servant Conseil, who was faithful towards his master, came with him, and then they met Ned Land who was standing right on top of the creature ,which was actually a submarine , and they managed to find a hatch to enter the submarine before it submerged. Inside they were kept in a cell where a few moments later were introduced to the creator, engineer and designer of that marvellous invention, Captain Nemo. Captain Nemo did not intend to take them as prisoners on board the submarine. He granted them freedom in the submarine, however, since they have already discovered his invention, they must remain in the submarine forever so that its secret would not be revealed to Men on land. Captain Nemo led Monseiur into a kitchen, a library and a museum that showcased marine organism that Monseiur had never seen before. Then, he showed him the control room and explained in a detailed way. Captain Nemo said that the secret to this submarine was “electricity” which enabled the submarine to dive at depths more than ten miles, surface to the water to replenish its oxygen supplies, travel at speeds faster than the fastest ship at that time or move in any direction. Besides those, Captain Nemo told him how he was able to navigate while submerged, how he was able to see through the darkness underwater and showed him guns that could be used in water terrains which consisted of electric bullets. Time and again he marvelled at the great invention he was standing in. The submarine started its journey towards the Indian Ocean, their submarine once ran aground a reef en route, then to the Red Sea where the Suez canal were to be built and there they found an underwater and underground tunnel that linked the Red Sea to the Mediterranean discovered by Captain Nemo. Having stayed in the submarine for months and prevented from returning to inhabited lands, Ned Land could bear no more and planned in vain for an escape at that night while they were in the waters of Europe. One of the most mysterious legends was uncovered! They arrived at the lost continent of Atlantis. They headed south to the South Pole which at that time no one had ever reached and met the Great Ice Barrier which was impassable and the reason many did not make it to the South Pole. Thus, the Nautilus, as that was the name for the Submarine, plunged into the great depths and emerged to find a land inhabited by flora and fauna with an active volcano. By looking at the shape of the disc of the sun, they confirmed that they were in the South Pole.After a few days, the Nautilus dove back into the waters but this time there was an accident. The Nautilus arrived into a tunnel with thick layers of ice on all sides except the entrance which was later accidentally closed by ice , causing the Nautilus to be immobile as the ice got narrower and narrower each day. The whole crew on board the submarine had to dig manually a trench beside the submarine for thirty feet where at the end they would find water as detected by the use of sounding and the submarine would be able to dive,surface and replenish their oxygen supply which was at a dangerous level while the diggings went on and more oxygen was used up again. Luckily, Captain Nemo thought of using heat to melt the ice and so they were saved.

Then they continued on towards the southern tip of South America and turned back towards the Atlantic Ocean, came across the Gulf Stream and met up with giant squids which were horrifying enough to take away one of Captain Nemo’s crew while they sliced off their tentacles. Captain Nemo was extremely sad after that. The Nautilus was then attacked by a ship with cannons. Captain Nemo was infuriated and sunk the ship by piercing through its bottom with the submarine spur. Monseuir was terrified at such a scene but could do nothing to save the drowning people. The Nautilus then headed north and it was there where Monseuir, Conseil and Ned Land finally escape with the dinghy of the submarine, which was covered and floated up to the surface of the sea and then opened, while the submarine was amidst a maelstrom which was so strong that it overcame the Nautilus. None was known about the fate of the submarine.

Review
Even though it may seem absurd for the machines to appear at the era this book was written, the author is able to elaborate logically and sensibly rather than just justifying the machines and the way they work in a way with which science fictions usually employ. Thus, this is a genuinely interesting and thoughtful book. The storyline is clear and simple but I face a lot of difficulties as there were innumerable scientific jargon used, making me hard to feel the beauty of the underwater world that the author is trying to create. Its an intriguing book that caught my attention very much.

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