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Book Reviews of Journey to the Center of the Earth

Journey to the Center of the Earth
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Author: Jules Verne, Robert Baldick (Translator)
ISBN-13: 9780141305424
ISBN-10: 0141305428
Publication Date: 6/1/1999
Pages: 291
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Rating:
  • Currently 4.2/5 Stars.
 3

4.2 stars, based on 3 ratings
Publisher: Puffin Books
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

18 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

abbykt avatar reviewed Journey to the Center of the Earth on + 113 more book reviews
A great adventure. It made me feel a little suffocated though, thinking that I was under all the earth. The adventure is very vivid.
reviewed Journey to the Center of the Earth on + 272 more book reviews
A good classic story.
reviewed Journey to the Center of the Earth on + 62 more book reviews
this is a complete and unabridged version! awsome classic!
reviewed Journey to the Center of the Earth on + 21 more book reviews
A classic adapted for the younger reader to enjoy.
reviewed Journey to the Center of the Earth on + 11 more book reviews
The book is written mainly for young children, the print is very large and there are many illustrations. I would not recommend it for adults - it can get kind of annoying when reading it. However, it is still a great book.
reviewed Journey to the Center of the Earth on + 22 more book reviews
I really cherished reading this book. It was great fun for children.
hardtack avatar reviewed Journey to the Center of the Earth on + 2686 more book reviews
This novel contains one of the great adventures of all time. Numerous movies were made based on its premise of a world within a world. The novel also spawned countless copies of its plot.
reviewed Journey to the Center of the Earth on + 111 more book reviews
It was a secret message by an ancient alchemist, found on a crumbling scrap of parchment. And if Saknussemm was right, then every theory about the molten core of the earth is wrong. Prof. Otto Lidenbrock has to learn the truth. So Lidenbrock, his nephew Axel, and the Icelandic hunter Hans climb down the cone of an arctic volcano and into...

A realm of awesome mystery, weird beauty--and deadly peril. Where vast caverns and endless mazes lead to an underground ocean, living fire, and prehistoric monsters. But where any wrong turn, any misstep, can leave the explorers forever trapped in the eternal darkness of a planet-sized tomb...

Buried alive at the heart of the world....
AimeeM avatar reviewed Journey to the Center of the Earth on + 124 more book reviews
This is one of Verne's best!
There is not a TON of action, but there are chapters that keep you reading!
Verne did a good job in this story of not getting too scientific. he gives enough detail to make you understand the surroundings, without boring you to tears.
Tori3 avatar reviewed Journey to the Center of the Earth on + 50 more book reviews
Great book. Good way to introduce kids to these types of stories.
lazerus avatar reviewed Journey to the Center of the Earth on
A good kid version. Lots of typos. I hope the editor was fired.
reviewed Journey to the Center of the Earth on + 14 more book reviews
This popular classic is presented here with beautiful illustrations and a note about the author on the last page.
AimeeM avatar reviewed Journey to the Center of the Earth on + 124 more book reviews
I love this book! It is amazing how entertaining it really is!
This is one of the novels Verne tried to make both scientific, yet warm. The characters are very lovable.
The action, though mild, will still entertain you. Well worth reading!
Alameda avatar reviewed Journey to the Center of the Earth on + 336 more book reviews
Classic Jules Verne
Complete and Unabridged
Cissy33 avatar reviewed Journey to the Center of the Earth on + 11 more book reviews
Hardcover edition, complete text, from Readers Digest.
nurse avatar reviewed Journey to the Center of the Earth on + 221 more book reviews
On the back of this new book: Join ProfessorHardwig ,his nephew Harry and their Icelandic guide Hans in their daring quest down a volcano and toward the center of the earth. Guided by an ancient parchment filled with a mysterious Runic code, the three explorers encounter tumultous storms,wild prehistoric animals. vast underground seas and fierce cavemen. Will they complete their quest? Will they reach the center of the earth?
perryfran avatar reviewed Journey to the Center of the Earth on + 1221 more book reviews
I remember seeing the 1959 movie version of this as a kid. The movie starred James Mason and Pat Boone and included scenes of dinosaurs which to my mind then couldn't get any better. At the time in the 50s and 60s, Verne's novels were adapted into several films including Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Around the World in Eighty Days, Master of the World, Mysterious Island, In Search of the Castaways, and Journey to the Center of the Earth which was always my favorite. Not long after seeing the movie, I read the novel probably when I was in the 6th or 7th grade and thought it was fabulous. I also read Hector Servadac, a lesser known Verne novel, about that same time. Most of his more famous novels I have read since then and usually enjoyed them.

This reading of Journey was instigated by an article from Forbes magazine that I happened upon on the internet called "The Geology Of Jules Verne's Journey To The Center of the Earth." The article discusses the influences on Verne and that "many geologists at the time believed that volcanic conduits, empty once the volcano erupted, connected a volcanic crater to magma chambers deep underground. Today we know that such conduits are far too small (and obstructed by solid rock) for humans to move through." But the article goes on to say that Verne was right about gigantic crystals growing underground.

This edition of the novel is based on the 1877 translation by Malleson which is more faithful to the original than an earlier 1872 translation. I know the story is somewhat preposterous but it still makes for a really good adventure novel, taking the reader to a place where no one had gone before. I remembered most of what happened in the novel from my previous read but I didn't remember that Verne described an early man who was herding a group of mastodons in the story. The introduction to this version states that this text was added to the 1867 edition of the novel to reflect discoveries about Stone Age humans. So I think Verne was trying to include in the novel the most up to date geological data at the time but the whole idea of a hollow earth and underground sea were definitely outside the realm of scientific fact. However, that idea still can be fascinating. Edgar Rice Burroughs used this premise for his Pellucidar series of novels that I read and enjoyed back in the 70s. I also read an interesting book titled The Hollow Earth back in high school that put forth the theory that the earth is hollow with large openings at both poles. This theory dates back to 17th century.

Anyway, I'm glad that I finally reread this classic. Overall, I thought it was a fun and enjoyable adventure.
eadieburke avatar reviewed Journey to the Center of the Earth on + 1638 more book reviews
I loved this book as it was full of excitement and adventure, with slight hints of humor and slivers of suspense. Verne is so creative and imaginative, yet so descriptive, that you feel as if you are there with the trio as they make their journey. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves adventure.