MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - MobileRead Discussion: The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne (spoilers)

WT Sharpe · 05-21-2010, 02:57 AM

I didn't enjoy Part I. Part II was slightly better, but Part III was a page-turner. I could see how it could have served as one of the inspirations for the "Lost" series on TV, although the engineer, Captain Cyrus Harding, put me more in mind of the Professor on Gilligan's Island or perhaps MacGyver. He seemed to be a jack of all trades as well as the castaways fount of all knowledge. Was there anything he couldn't do?

Knowing the title of another famous work of Verne's, I guessed the mystery of the Island early on, but it was still interesting to see how Verne arrived at the moment of truth. The one place I felt the book fell down was in the very last chapter, after Lincoln Island exploded. No way! To survive a volcanic explosion that sinks a whole island; then after all those years of not seeing anything but a pirate ship; to be rescued by the Dunbar at that very moment in time strains credulity.

I could understand if the Nautilus had been powered by an Improbability Drive.

05-21-2010, 02:57 AM	#5
WT Sharpe Bah, humbug! Posts: 39,073 Karma: 157049943 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA Device: Kindle Oasis, iPad Pro, & a Samsung Galaxy S9.	SPOILER ALERT! I didn't enjoy Part I. Part II was slightly better, but Part III was a page-turner. I could see how it could have served as one of the inspirations for the "Lost" series on TV, although the engineer, Captain Cyrus Harding, put me more in mind of the Professor on Gilligan's Island or perhaps MacGyver. He seemed to be a jack of all trades as well as the castaways fount of all knowledge. Was there anything he couldn't do? Knowing the title of another famous work of Verne's, I guessed the mystery of the Island early on, but it was still interesting to see how Verne arrived at the moment of truth. The one place I felt the book fell down was in the very last chapter, after Lincoln Island exploded. No way! To survive a volcanic explosion that sinks a whole island; then after all those years of not seeing anything but a pirate ship; to be rescued by the Dunbar at that very moment in time strains credulity. I could understand if the Nautilus had been powered by an Improbability Drive. Last edited by WT Sharpe; 05-21-2010 at 11:09 AM.