Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea cover art

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

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Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

By: Jules Verne
Narrated by: Peter Husmann
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About this listen

Jules Verne’s classic underwater tale.

A mysterious sea monster, theorized by some to be a giant narwhal, is sighted by ships of several nations; an ocean liner is also damaged by the creature. The United States government finally assembles an expedition to track down and destroy the menace. Professor Pierre Aronnax, a noted French marine biologist and narrator of the story, master harpoonist Ned Land, and Aronnax's faithful assistant Conseil join the expedition.

After much fruitless searching, the monster is found, and the ship charges into battle. During the fight, the ship's steering is damaged, and the three men are thrown overboard. They find themselves stranded on the "hide" of the creature, only to discover to their surprise that it is a large metal construct. They are quickly captured and brought inside the vessel, where they meet its enigmatic creator and commander, Captain Nemo.

Public Domain (P)2012 Trout Lake Media Classics Science Fiction

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I say dated not just because many of the core concepts have been realised and surpassed, but because the vivid descriptions of marine life themselves have also become somewhat common place in the light of documentaries. I'm not saying there is no place in literature for descriptions of the mundane, daffodils are common place and yet Wordsworth managed to do them justice :) However, the descriptions here are of a scientific nature, not a poetical one.
Having said that, the character of Nemo is still enigmatic and there is some enjoyment to be had from that, but overall, I felt the book could have been shortened to half it's length and still held all of it's enjoyment for me.

Well written but dated

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I have read this and didn't remember the long lists of creatures and the classifications.. or all the position coordinates... I must have sped over them when reading... you can't do that with this medium..

It makes you appreciate the way it was written better..

To me the narration seemed very good. Not flat like some can be nor over the top..

worth the listen

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Would you try another book written by Jules Verne or narrated by Peter Husmann?

I would try a book narrated by Peter Husmann again. I read Around the world in 80 days which was fine, but this one was mostly long lists of things.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I would cut down on some of the lists of things.

What three words best describe Peter Husmann’s voice?

Smooth level. Steady

Was Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea worth the listening time?

No but once started I wanted to get to the end. I don't like giving up on a book. I couldn't recommend it in any way.

Twenty thousand reasons to be stunned into boredom

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I confess I've not yet finished the book. but five hours and 16 chapters in I've lost patience with it. detailed descriptions are all well and good. but when a good five minuets or more is spent on describing almost every single item that falls into his line of vision.
almost 10 full minuets are spent on a conversation between Consail and Ned land as they discuss the classification of fish and describe the selection of fish to be seen from the submarines windows. no character development, very little character interaction a whole lot of talking and explaining about the ship. (which if your into the nitty gritty details of how things work might be for you) and No events of real interest.

The performance was good, no complaints there.

heavy going

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Did Peter Husmann do a good job differentiating each of the characters? How?

yes

Any additional comments?

o for seemingly the last year I've been listening to the audio book 20000 Leagues Under the Sea.... walking round the shops. At lunch time . Driving my car. ..I thought it would never end!! But it has..just now!!! I've learnt a lot about classifying fish. And how to sink boats and kill whales (often for fun) I found Professor Arronax deeply irritating and his man servant Conseil equally so. However it is a classic.

hard work

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This was a cheap buy - and I can see why. The reader's delivery grates on the ear and becomes annoying after a very short time. I think the main problem is that his style is to over-emphasis just about everything he says, and his voice goes dramatically up and down during every sentence. I'm going for a refund!

The reader's style and delivery is annoying

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