Vintage, £7.99, ISBN 978-1-784-87466-7
Sci-fi, 2011 (Reissue)
Journey to the Centre of the Earth ranks among the most famous of Jules Verne’s stories—it’s either this or Around the World in 80 Days—and it probably loses the crown to the other story because making movies out of this story will cost more due to all the special effects and props needed. Still, that doesn’t stop people from adapting it for small and big screens, hence its popularity.
The story is well known, and the science looks quaintly wrong by today’s standards, but come on, give this story a break as it was published in the 1860s. Furthermore, if we want to get super pedantic, no one has really ventured into the core of the Earth yet to this very day, so who’s to say that there isn’t an actual prehistoric world beneath the surface?
Okay, okay, it’s unlikely considering that even if things could survive down there, it’s highly unlikely that they would resemble creatures on the surface, given the lack of sunlight and air would drive the adaptive evolution of life in those places into something completely different. Still, I’m just saying: we don’t really know what’s down there.
Most folks would know that this one is about three people making a trip down a Icelandic volcano into the center of the earth.
It’s a hilariously short journey considering the estimated distance today from the surface to the core of the Earth, but hey, this is 1860s sci-fi alright. Also, aside from the guide, the other two are one out-of-shape professor and one young man, both of whom are thoroughly unprepared, physically, to make the long trek. Really, it’s best to not think too much about how these people make no plans on how to get back to the surface or ensure that they have even enough water and food along with them, or we’d still be here nitpicking a few weeks from now.
Anyway, when I read this one as a kid, it actually got me very interested in so many different subjects in one go: geology, cryptography, archaeology, and paleontology.
This is because Jules Verne writes in such a detailed manner, like I share his interest in this and that, that I can’t help but to be intrigued. He’s making things up, yes, but he does it by blending science as they know it at that time with fantastical things that appear plausible that what he writes feels so real and possible to an impressionable mind.
Once Professor Otto Lidenbrock, his nephew Axel, and their hired escort Hans Bjelke descend into the shaft of the volcano Snæfellsjökull, it’s a pretty thrilling adventure from all the way to the end, whether it’s claustrophobia, the threat of dying of thirst, the fear of being eaten by dinosaurs, and more.
Along the way, there are discourses on the properties of magnetism and other fun stuff woven in in a manner that makes the nerd in me very intrigued.
However, the ending feels rushed, as if the author didn’t really know to or lacked the time to close the story properly. Still, there is a bigger reason as to why I don’t rank this one high on my list of favorite stories by this author.
Yes, it’s probably blasphemy to say this, but I don’t like this story much because of one overriding peeve: Professor Lidenbrock.
My god, what a monster. Axel is thoroughly cowed and bullied by this creature, and since he was taken in by Lidenbrock from a young age, the poor lad knows little else and hence perceives this monster as some kind of god-savant.
We’re talking about a selfish POS that thinks nothing of letting Axel and the cook starve because he’s absorbed in his work and hence he isn’t hungry. This monster is hot-headed and bullies Axel hard, forcing the terrified lad to climb up to a high height and look down to “prepare” for the climb up the volcano. When Axel falters, he just keeps pushing them along because everything is about him, him, him.
Then, this guy is responsible for them running so low on empty and other calamities because he refuses to accept that he may be wrong and gets super rude and loud if anyone dared to correct or defy him.
Naturally, he gets rewarded in the end with fame and fortune. Axel marries his god-niece, which means he has two unpaid help around the house to bully and take for granted.
There is really no avoiding this POS, and he stinks up the story so hard that I can’t read this story for too long without wanting to deck his chin hard. Future big and small screen adaptations make this character a far more genial, even likable person, but my god, the original Professor Lidenbrock needs to be cursed so that each time he takes the stand to show off his brilliance, he experiences loud, wet, explosive diarrhea right there on the podium.
All things considered, this one is an imaginative and thrilling ride… but it’s hard to appreciate the finer properties of this thing when there is one odious POS sucking every oxygen molecule in the room in every scene he’s in. I’d say stick to the adaptations and retelling that make this character far more palatable to follow!
