Jules Verne is overrated

Ok so I am expecting to be downvoted for this however I need to get this off my chest.

I have just finished reading 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Journey to the Centre of the Earth for the second time. I found Verne’s books hard to stay motivated and needlessly detailed to the point of boring.

Don’t get me wrong, some of his concepts are ahead of his time and quite imaginative which unfortunately, is let down by the pace and overly analytical descriptions.

Take 20,000 Leagues as an example. A 500 page (Penguin Classic) novel. I won’t add any story-related spoilers however suffice to say the first 450 pages are almost exclusively scientific classifications in botany, zoology and geology.

Whilst Verne tries hard to create a detailed landscape, it borders on pretentiousness. He obviously spent a lot of time at libraries researching kingdom/genus/family/species etc because that is 90% of the book.

If I wanted to read an encyclopaedia I would brush off the old Brittanica set.

Now, Journey to the Centre of the Earth is not much different with one exception, it is pleasantly half the length.

I suppose I am being quite critical and one should consider the time period it was written in however I can’t help but think that Verne’s novels could have been so much more interesting and pleasurable to read if he had pulled back on the research-flex and used more of the pages on actual story.

There, i’ve said it. I can put both of his books back on the shelf and pick up something a tad more interesting and exciting to read. A “page-turner” if I can use that phrase. Perhaps some H.G. Wells? I just got a copy of When the Sleeper Awakes and can finally read that now that the Verne chore is over.

Downvote away