You will not regret the time passed on board my vessel. You are going to visit the land of marvels.

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

Spoiler Alert: Plot Poem

We begin with Professor Aronnax
Who is told of an epic monster.
And so he begins at once to make tracks
With Conseil, servant to le Monsieur.

The monster is famous, powerful, huge
Wreaking havoc across the earth
On a ship they follow it, until a deluge
Plunges them into its berth.

An animal with a berth you say?
Not a sea-unicorn after all you see,
But a submarine making its merry way
Across the great and marvelous sea.

Nemo is Captain, in self exile
Offering a place on the sub for their lives
His condition is only they must stay a while
Just for a few hundred thousand dives.

So Conseil, Aronnax, and a harpooner Ned Land
Are politely held hostage on Nemo's Nautilus.
They have adventures, some ever so grand
But they're slightly put off by the lawlessness.

Nemo's unchanging, his offer remains
Stay here or die, what could be more plain?
In the end, they risk it and make their escape
Leaving Nemo his lonely subaqueous landscape.

Spoiler Over: Continue Here

Dear readers, I hope you enjoyed my latest plot poem. Allow me to share my experiences from under the sea with Monsieur Verne. 

On the whole, I think this is a book much like Moby Dick - epic in its own right, but perhaps most stunning in its ability to portray things in advance of its time. As with Moby Dick (which is less about science fiction and more about whaling), the book really thrives on an almost textbook-like energy, sharing pieces of the world that are very real through a lens of slightly magical fiction. I definitely enjoyed reading this, and I think what I enjoyed most was that it made me very envious of the journey, with all its ups and downs. I am in awe of the world and experiences that Jules Verne was able to present, and I almost feel after reading it as if I, too, have made a complete trip around the world's oceans. So read it it if you like, it's not terribly long. It only took me a few days, and you could probably read it in a day if you felt like it. It's a fun ride. 

Here is an incomplete list of some of the things they come across during their 'imprisonment':
- The actual South Pole - they actually burrow through the ice with the pointy end of the Nautilus until they burst through. It's pretty darn cool. The pointy end is why everyone thought it was a narwhal at first, btws.
- Atlantis - yep. Because why not? It's every bit as magical as it sounds like it would be.
- Underwater volcanos - also extremely cool. Nemo has all kinds of cool suits so they can walk around on the bottom of the ocean like astronauts on the moon. Or, I guess, like men at the bottom of the ocean.
- The bottom of the ocean - as in, like, the lowest point of the Earth. Pretty badass, right?
- Sunken pirate ships - also known as Captain Nemo's secret bank. Gotta pay for all his materials somehow, right?

Now a brief portrait of the main characters, of whom there are really just four. 

Professor Aronnax - Lifelong explorer, romantic, not that unhappy about being on the Nautilus, at least until the end when Nemo starts murdering ships and acting extra crazy.

• Either we do know all the varieties of beings which people our planet, or we do not. Isn't this a fascinating statement? So many layers. 

• I passed the evening reading, writing, and thinking. Sounds like a perfect evening to me!

• I wished in no way to shackle the liberty of my companions, but I certainly felt no desire to leave Captain Nemo. Yeah, he's like, Nemo and I are BFFLs! He's not so crazy. 

Conseil - Dedicated manservant to Professor Aronnax, comic relief, deliverer of witty lines. Not super jazzed about the Nautilus, but willing to go anywhere that Professor A goes. 

We now began to climb the blackish rocks, amid unforeseen stumbles, and over stones which made the ice slippery. More than once I rolled over at the expense of my loins. Conseil, more prudent or more steady, did not stumble, and helped me up, saying:
  'If, sir, you would have the kindness to take wider steps, you would preserve your equilibrium better.' lololololzzz. this reminded me of when I snowshoed downhill for the first time and somehow was the only one in my group who faceplanted every other step. 

Conseil: Is what you are reading very interesting, sir?
Aronnax: Very interesting!
Conseil: I should think so, sir. It is your own book you are reading. haghaghaghahgah.

If you, sir, mean to face the sharks, I do not see why your faithful servant should not face them with you.  This line was really adorable. I know that we don't really have dedicated servants in the same way that they did in other times, and maybe that's for the best, what with class equality and all, but there's something so charming about these relationships sometimes. The relationship between Conseil and Aronnax reminded me of Sam and Mr. Pickwick, and when Sam is so devoted to Pickwick that he gets himself thrown in debtor's prison, too, so he can be with Mr. Pickwick. 

Ned Land - Master harpooner, not thrilled about being stuck under the water, mostly wishes he could be out on the sea hunting something. 

• Here are people who come up to the Scotch for hospitality. They only just miss being cannibals. I should not be surprised at it, but I declare that they shall not eat me without my protesting. hagh

• Never will I give my word of honor not to try to escape. Yeah, he's pretty up front from jump that he's not planning to stay. 

• Confound it, why am I bound to these steel plates? 

• Can a whale-fisher ever forget his old trade? Can he ever tire of the emotions caused by such a chase? Answer: no. 

Captain Nemo - Underwater organist, rage-against-the-machiner, this man is an island who is totally over the rest of the world. 

Professor Aronnax: 'You like the sea, Captain?'
Captain Nemo: 'Yes; I love it! The sea is everything.'

• I owe it all to the ocean; it produces electricity, and electricity gives heat, light, motion, and in a word, life to the Nautilus.

• The earth does not want new continents, but new men. So good. So true. 

• Sometimes I heard the melancholy tones of his organ; but only at night, in the midst of the deepest obscurity, when the Nautilus slept upon the deserted ocean. I love this whole Phantom of the Opera vibe I got from Nemo. Like, not only do I live in this tricked out submarine that everyone thinks is a narwhal, but we dine formally at night and when I'm bored I play my organ. Like you do at the bottom of the ocean.

• It was no common misanthropy which had shut Captain Nemo and his companions within the Nautilus, but a hatred, either monstrous or sublime, which time could never weaken. Alas, if only we were to know what this was! I was a little bummed we never got the whole backstory here. 

A word on hunting
There's a lot of it in the book, and while some of it is kind of exciting (and obviously necessary, when one is floating around and needs sources of food) it bummed me out that often they came across these really exotic species and their first instinct was all, great! Let's kill it and eat it! I wanted them to be able to, you know, more like observe the animals, see their beauty, share the earth, etc. etc. 

Speaking of exotic species, now for a special round of... 
I Spy from the Nautilus! 
birds of paradise - a tropical Australasian bird, the male of which is noted for the beauty and brilliance of its plumage and its spectacular courtship display. Most kinds are found in New Guinea, where their feathers are used in ornamental dress.

cachalot - the sperm whale, or cachalot, is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator.


cuttlefish - marine molluscs of the order Sepiida. They belong to the class Cephalopoda, which also includes squid, octopuses, and nautiluses. Cuttlefish have a unique internal shell, the cuttlebone.

euphorbias -  any of a large genus of herbs, shrubs, and trees of the spurge family that have a milky juice and flowers lacking a calyx and included in an involucre which surrounds a group of several staminate flowers and a central pistillate flower with 3-lobed pistils

hecatomb - (in ancient Greece or Rome) a great public sacrifice, originally of a hundred oxen. an extensive loss of life for some cause; alt., an extensive loss of life for some cause

infusoria - a collective term for minute aquatic creatures such as ciliates, euglenoids, protozoa, unicellular algae and small invertebrates that exist in freshwater ponds

milk sea -  luminous phenomenon in the ocean in which large areas of seawater appear to glow brightly enough at night to be seen by satellites orbiting Earth. Modern science tentatively attributes this effect to bioluminescent bacteria or dinoflagellates.

morse - French term for walrus

sago-trees - any of various large pinnate-leaved palms of tropical southeastern Asia and especially one that is the main source of commerically-produced sago

zostera - a species of seagrass known by the common names common eelgrass and seawrack

Last but not least, a few lovely turns of phrase

• Everything was frozen - even the noise.

• Perfume is the soul of the flower, and sea-flowers have no soul.

With that, I leave you, dear readers! I'm off to Jubilee, Georgia, and back to the Civil War. And IRL, I'll be making my way down the eastern seaboard to visit an affiliate for work and see some kiddos learning and teachers teaching. Keep each other safe, keep faith, good night!