Journey to the Centre of the Earth

1864, 1973 Penguin Book edition
Jules Verne
Translated by Robert Baldick
Journey to the Centre of the Earth, originally published as Voyage au Centre de la Terre
No American price listed but $1.50 for Canada, bought used for $1.50 (American)
Roughed up paperback
B+

What a fun page-turner!  I don't read Verne very often, but when I do, I'm always pleasantly surprised at how accessible his fiction is. In this case, part of the secret is the everyman narrator, who gets roped into (sometimes literally) going with his eccentric scientist uncle on the journey of the title.  Nineteen-year-old Axel is understandably skeptical and yet young enough to be swept up in Professor Lidenbrock's enthusiasm at times.  I do have to say that I enjoy the journey to the centre more than the actual arrival, and the escape via a volcano does feel as if Verne wrote the story into a corner (yes, again literally).  I most enjoyed the visit to Iceland, so I'm much looking to Around the World in Eighty Days.

I must note that for a modern reader, the reference to Pluto as a hypothetical "star" is the most dated aspect.  The future ex-planet wouldn't even be discovered till 1930.

And, yes, fewer than 150 years left of this blog.