Book-a-book of the Month Club discussion

The characters - favorite, least favorite, who you relate to, who you despise, etc.

Narrator - Wow! This guy whines a lot! Throughout the book anytime anything happened, whether it seemed like a big deal or not, he would respond like it was the worst thing ever and death was sure to follow. After a short period of time I wanted to reach into the book and smack him!

The professor - One weird thing of note. On their way to Iceland, he was incapacitated with seasickness. On the underground sea - which sounded much rougher and which they were on for much longer, not the slightest mention of gastro-intestinal discomfort. I thought this to be a rather major oversight.

I have to admit, I'm struggling with this book. The characters are kind of annoying to me. I agree, the narrator is a bit of a complainer. The professor is a good example of the absent minded professor. He seems so caught up in the mission and the science that he's leaving out a lot of practical considerations of embarking on a journey...like taking water with you.

It was tougher than I expected. The fact that I didn't really like the characters (except maybe Hans - and he didn't say much) probably didn't help. I did enjoy the book, but I don't think I would recommend this to others in the future.

I am not sure if you ever saw the 1950's movie with James Mason and Pat Boone. They change the story a lot and the characters are much more likeable (except maybe the professor). Also, they have a woman join them and there is a nemesis trying to beat them to their goal and throwing obsticles in their way. A much more Hollywood version!