These days, since bookshelves and television series are absolutely filled with amazing, real accounts of explorations of the earth, the oceans, and space, it's a good idea to pause for a moment before reading Jules Verne's novel A Journey to the Centre of the Earth to ask yourself if this is the account of a real, historical exploration or if it's a fanciful work of fiction. After all, the story starts out with the skeptical...
These days, since bookshelves and television series are absolutely filled with amazing, real accounts of explorations of the earth, the oceans, and space, it's a good idea to pause for a moment before reading Jules Verne's novel A Journey to the Centre of the Earth to ask yourself if this is the account of a real, historical exploration or if it's a fanciful work of fiction. After all, the story starts out with the skeptical characters investigating what they assume is a hoax, just like the guys do on that show MythBusters, which is all real (as far as we know).
However, the novel is fiction: it's not a real story, but a made-up one.
As you start reading, even though the narrator, Axel, describes things in vivid scientific detail as if he's writing for a science journal, you can tell that impossible things start happening. And it's really fun to read about them! Let's list some:
1. While ninety miles underground, the explorers find a sea surrounded by a forest full of ancient plants.
2. They find monsters. (Although, you might prefer to call them animals resembling monsters!)
3. They "ride" a burst of volcanic lava and arrive safe and sound back on the surface of the earth!
All these events and more make the novel a fantastic adventure, but it's definitely not one that could actually happen.
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