A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne

Title: Journey to the Center of the Earth
Series: n/a
Author: Jules Verne
Source/Format: Purchased; Paperback
More Details: Classic; Fantasy
Publisher/Publication Date: First published November 25, 1864

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

This high-tension odyssey follows three men in an awesome search for the mysterious center of the earth-as they risk their chances of ever returning to the surface alive.

I’ll admit it: I actually forgot that Jules Verne wrote a book called Journey to the Center of the Earth. But once I came across it while making a different purchase, I knew I had to get it too. While thinking about the movie that came out in 2008 (the one with Brendan Fraser in it)—which adapted the book but didn’t follow it exactly (as I realized later)—the more I got excited about reading Verne’s story.

This book was kind of great. The beginning was a little slow, but there was the initial discovery and a lot of preparation as well as travel involved before the titular journey to the center of the earth could actually begin. I didn’t mind the pace though, as it gave a chance to see the characters in their normal lives and get a feel for their personalities (as well as two others in the side cast that are otherwise uninvolved with the main story) before plunging them—literally and figuratively—into the unknown. It was a travel book through and through, but it was also a fantastical and perilous journey.