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Journey to the Center of the Earth Book Review

Journey to the Center of the Earth is an 1864 adventure novel by Jules Verne. It is one of the most famous works from this author and it’s a classic of the genre.

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“While there is life there is hope“

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It follows an eccentric German scientist and his nephew as they travel to the titular center of the earth. The story, tone and feel of the novel present some of the best cases of why the old-fashioned adventure/fantasy/SF novels remain wonderful to this day and age – this story is simply very adventurous, endearing and enchanting when it needs to be, and all of these qualities are still very much felt by most modern readers.

Personally speaking, I would call this work an adventure novel, not a fantasy and not SF, though Verne very cleverly introduced the time travel element by imagining this prehistoric subterranean world filled with many iconic monsters that had lived millions of years ago. Actually, this part of the novel was the most inferior one to me personally as he threw way too many creatures, monster fights and chaos into the proceedings, albeit obviously this would prove amazing for child readers.

This was the section in the book where Verne abruptly transitioned from this highly realistic, even scientific take on the geology of Earth to the full-on fantasy with a subterranean ocean and the above mentioned creatures. Although for the most part this novel is good as both fantasy fiction and a scientific pamphlet representing the knowledge of the 19^th century, this transition late in the game wasn’t as smooth as I’d personally wished it would be.

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With that being said, I still loved most of the plot. The novel is full of these amazing moments that are instantly iconic and unforgettable. Those include the great hook of a beginning with the research being particularly intriguing, that ending with the volcano was truly epic and suspenseful, the parts describing (a bit harshly) the land of Iceland were also interesting. and of course a lot of the perilous journey beneath the earth was thrilling and quite adventurous. A sense of danger was definitely there, which was important in making you root for the characters and for raising the stakes properly.

This book has very few characters, but they are thankfully very well developed, at least the two main protagonists. Told from his point of view, Axel is very relatable as this anxious, realistic and somewhat scared young man with a pessimistic outlook on life. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Professor Lidenbrock is an optimist, but a reckless and impulsive one. Verne cleverly depicts both of these different personalities in the negative and positive light simultaneously, and the dynamic between the two very different men was quite entertaining to follow. I wish that the other characters were better developed as they proved to be just fleeting presences with Hans being okay, but overly stoic and mysterious.

Thematically speaking, Journey to the Center of the Earth isn’t all that rich, but for an adventure novel intended for younger audiences, it is smarter than usual. The symbols and metaphors all worked while the man versus nature theme was particularly well explored. The juxtaposition of faith and doubt was excellent and the role of science was important.

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Jules Verne had obviously researched the hell out of this task before writing a book about geology, and all the better for it as what we get here is very scientifically sound, at least in the first half of the story. Some of the names felt odd and archaic in terms of the language, but this is otherwise a perfect introduction to the science of geology for kids and adults alike.

More emotion could have been put into the narrative and some parts in the middle were weakly paced and even dragging, but the dialogue, though sparse, is solid, and the descriptions are particularly incredible due to the author’s admirable grasp of language, imagination and world building. Some of the imagery is iconic here and the humor is actually quite good.