Number Three: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne really was a fascinating book.  When I read this book around four years ago, I found it to be quite enjoyable despite a relatively slow moving storyline.  This book was full of amazingly real and complex characters and a wonderful story describing the wonders of the world under the sea.
When I read this book, I found the character of Captain Nemo to be fascinating.  He was an extremely well educated man who loved science, literature, and music, but he was also an extremely troubled man who harbored many demons.  This man truly loved his men as if they were his children, but he also ruthlessly hated those who lived on land.  Throughout this book, he used his vessel to explore the world of science in ways in which they had never been explored before, but he also used the same vessel to end the lives of many people.  In the end, Nemo sailed his submarine into a whirlpool where it was likely destroyed.  Without question, Captain Nemo is one of the most complex characters I have discovered in literature.  With amazing characters like Captain Nemo, this book couldn't help but be good, but this book also contained several good life lessons.
There were only two issues that I had with this book.  The first is a relatively minor problem, and this problem was the scientific nature of the writing.  Clearly Verne had a great love for science which he put very prevalently in this book.  Throughout the narrative, there were many pauses in which the author explained the many different scientific principles of the submarine or explained the various life forms which the crew were studying.  This type of writing could be extremely interesting to some people, but I didn't exactly love these breaks in the narrative.  The other issue that I had was the lack of really heroic characters.  There were a plethora of interesting characters throughout this book, but there were none who were really heroes.  To me, a book without true heroes cannot truly be considered great.
My conclusion: this was a really good book.  It wasn't the best book I have ever read, but it was certainly far from the worst.  I wouldn't necessarily suggest if for a younger audience, but for people who are old enough to understand the scientific and psychological studies which are explored throughout this book, I would definitely say that its worth reading.

Hoping that you are out there reading these books for yourself,
Jodath