Resumen
Resumen de Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea
Para quién es
For readers who love voyages, inventions and strange places, and anyone who wants to see where modern science fiction began.
De qué trata este libro
Imagine a rumor that stirs sailors around the world. In 1866, ships on many oceans report a glowing monster that strikes hulls and vanishes. Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea is the adventure novel by Jules Verne, first printed in installments from 1869. Professor Pierre Aronnax sets out to hunt the beast and ends up a prisoner aboard something far stranger. His captor is Captain Nemo, a brilliant and bitter man who lives in the submarine Nautilus. With Aronnax come his servant Conseil and the Canadian harpooner Ned Land. Together they see the whole world of the sea.
En este resumen
- 1A sea monster alarms the world's shipsFree
- 2The hunt ends in a fall overboard
- 3Captain Nemo sets the terms of their stay
- 4Life aboard the Nautilus and under the waves
- 5Pearls, sharks and a coral trap
- 6Through the Red Sea and into old waters
- 7Ice, the pole and monsters of the deep
- 8Freedom, knowledge and the cost of leaving the world
- 9How Verne tells it: voice, lists and a mystery man
Idea clave 1 de 9
A sea monster alarms the world's ships
In 1866, ships on several oceans report a long, glowing shape, faster than any whale. Some say it has struck them. Newspapers fill with argument.
Professor Aronnax, a scholar from the Natural History Museum in Paris, is in New York. He has published a book on the deep sea, so the press asks his view. He answers that the best explanation is a giant narwhal.
The United States sends a fast warship to hunt the beast, and Aronnax accepts an invitation to join. His calm servant Conseil, who loves sorting animals into classes, goes with him. Verne begins with a puzzle and invites us to solve it with reason.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Professor Pierre Aronnax
- A French marine biologist and narrator, he explores the oceans as Captain Nemo's captive alongside Conseil and Ned Land.
- Captain Nemo
- The secretive master of the Nautilus, he rejects life ashore and keeps Aronnax and his companions aboard.
- Conseil
- Aronnax's calm, faithful servant, he shares his master's adventures and enjoys classifying the creatures they encounter.
- Ned Land
- A skilled Canadian harpooner, he accompanies Aronnax and Conseil but resents captivity aboard Captain Nemo's submarine.
- Commander Farragut
- The determined commander of the Abraham Lincoln, he leads the expedition carrying Aronnax to hunt the supposed monster.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 106,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 7 h 5 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary; paperback, hardcover and large print at cost
- LanguagesEnglish and 14 other languages
Questions about Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea
What is Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea about?
It follows a French professor and two companions who are taken aboard the submarine Nautilus by the mysterious Captain Nemo. They travel the oceans of the world, seeing marvels and facing dangers, while being unable to leave.
Who is Captain Nemo?
Nemo is the secretive commander and builder of the Nautilus. He has cut his ties with human society and lives at sea.
Does 20,000 leagues mean the ship goes down 20,000 leagues?
No. The number is the distance travelled across the seas, not the depth. A league is an old measure of distance, and twenty thousand of them is a journey of about the whole round of the world and more.
Is Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea a true story?
No, it is fiction. Verne wrote it from 1869 and published it as a book in 1870. He used the science and ocean knowledge of his day, but the Nautilus and Nemo are invented.
Is Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea hard to read?
No. The story is easy to start because Professor Aronnax tells it in a warm, curious voice, and it opens with a simple puzzle: what is the sea monster? The voyage brings new places and dangers, like a travel diary.