Abhishek Sharma
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is an iconic work of science fiction, and I think all the beautiful, detailed descriptions in this book about life on and under the seas make it even more fascinating. Verne did an excellent job of rationally explaining the science fiction elements of his story as well as doing a great job developing and describing the undersea world explored by the Nautilus. I really liked the explanation of the electric bullets and the wide variety of foods all harvested from the sea (the nicotine seaweed used in cigars was really cool). As interesting as those elements were, the most interesting and compelling part of the novel was the character of the enigmatic Captain Nemo. He is and remains a cipher. He represents both nihilism and misguided idealism. Nemo wants a perfect world but is reduced to self-exile and perhaps even self-loathing. Nemo is the mirror in which the other character see themselves. He is both one of the most memorable personages in literature yet also one of the most mysterious and perplexing. So Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea remains a wonderful sci-fi adventure tale even taking in its antiquity.
