Journey to the Centre of the Earth

This is one of those books that I've been meaning to read since, well, since I heard of it. Jules Verne is one of those authors that you hear a lot about, you either love him or you hate him. He was considered to be a very forward thinking man back in his day. I have read Around The World In Eighty Days, which I enjoyed but I never read his more science fictiony (is that even a word?) works. When I was deciding on which authors that I would read for Celebrate the Author Challenge, I chose Jules Verne.

Professor Von Hardwigg finds a rare manuscript on a Icelandic saga, in that book he find a note that is written in a cryptic way. He gets his nephew Harry to decipher the message. From that note he comes to find out about a way to travel to the centre of the earth through a volcano in Iceland. The Professor, along with his reluctant nephew travel to Iceland, there they find a willing guide to take them to the volcano crater. And that's when the adventure starts.

The way the book is written, like a diary or travel log style was easy enough to follow, but I found certain parts harder to read than other. Some were dry and boring, and others exciting and moving. I didn't care much for the Professor, I found him mean. Harry on the other hand was either a pessimist or a optimist his moods would change all the time, and he also had the knack for getting lost. My favorite part of the book was the way the author described the surroundings. I felt like I was there along with them. He made it so believable, I found that fascinating. I just devoured the book.

My least part of the book: the ending. I didn't care for it! Along the way the story kept on building and I found the ending anti-climatic.

Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne (4/5) Science Fiction; Classic Literature; Published: French (1864), English (1871); 2009 100 + Reading Challenge (18); Celebrate the Author (2); Keeper shelf;