I found this story delightful. It tells of the eccentric Professor Liedenbrock, who "walked by mathematical strides of a yard and a half" and who was a passionate collector of old books, but not just any old books, just those that "had the virtue of being nowhere else to be found, or, at any rate, of being illegible."
The tale really begins when the learned professor comes upon a book by Arne Saknussemm, which is unintelligible. His nephew, a boy who delights in seeing the great professor stymied in his efforts to translate the cryptic work soon changes his mind when the professor declares that noone in the house was to eat until they had understood the book.
That's enough for the hungry lad, who figures out the code and reluctantly informs his uncle. The book, now deciphered, persuades the professor that its author had made a journey through a volcano in Iceland to the center of the earth. This delights the professor to no end, since he staunchly opposed the idea of a "central fire"--that is, that the Earth's core is hot. A journey to the center of the earth would prove otherwise, and so the professor, as much an adventurer and swashbuckler as an antiquarian and scholar, set out on mad mission to duplicate the feat reported in the book and make it to the Earth's core, dragging his uneasy nephew with him.
So they, along with a laconic and stoic Icelandic guide, made there way into the volcano and set out on an epic and comic adventure, which I will not spoil by recounting any further.
This story was exciting, charming and funny. Professor Liedenbrock was at once ridiculous and heroic. Despite the absurdity of his mission, I could not help getting sucked in and rooting for him. There is no deeper meaning to this book that I can see, except for an underlying passion for science and a joy in exploration. It's just good fun. I can't recall the last time I enjoyed a work of fiction this much.
The tale really begins when the learned professor comes upon a book by Arne Saknussemm, which is unintelligible. His nephew, a boy who delights in seeing the great professor stymied in his efforts to translate the cryptic work soon changes his mind when the professor declares that noone in the house was to eat until they had understood the book.
That's enough for the hungry lad, who figures out the code and reluctantly informs his uncle. The book, now deciphered, persuades the professor that its author had made a journey through a volcano in Iceland to the center of the earth. This delights the professor to no end, since he staunchly opposed the idea of a "central fire"--that is, that the Earth's core is hot. A journey to the center of the earth would prove otherwise, and so the professor, as much an adventurer and swashbuckler as an antiquarian and scholar, set out on mad mission to duplicate the feat reported in the book and make it to the Earth's core, dragging his uneasy nephew with him.
So they, along with a laconic and stoic Icelandic guide, made there way into the volcano and set out on an epic and comic adventure, which I will not spoil by recounting any further.
This story was exciting, charming and funny. Professor Liedenbrock was at once ridiculous and heroic. Despite the absurdity of his mission, I could not help getting sucked in and rooting for him. There is no deeper meaning to this book that I can see, except for an underlying passion for science and a joy in exploration. It's just good fun. I can't recall the last time I enjoyed a work of fiction this much.