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  • Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

  • Written by: Jules Verne
  • Narrated by: Alan Munro
  • Length: 17 hrs and 57 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (21 ratings)

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Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

Written by: Jules Verne
Narrated by: Alan Munro
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Publisher's Summary

A mysterious sea monster, theorized by some to be a giant narwhal, is sighted by ships of several nations; an ocean liner is also damaged by the creature. The United States government finally assembles an expedition to track down and destroy the menace. Professor Pierre Aronnax, a noted French marine biologist and narrator of the story, master harpoonist Ned Land, and Aronnax's faithful assistant Conseil join the expedition.

After much fruitless searching, the monster is found, and the ship charges into battle. During the fight, the ship's steering is damaged, and the three men are thrown overboard. They find themselves stranded on the "hide" of the creature, only to discover to their surprise that it is a large metal construct. They are quickly captured and brought inside the vessel, where they meet its enigmatic creator and commander, Captain Nemo.

Public Domain (P)2017 Trout Lake Media

What listeners say about Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

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Great

Jules Verne never fails to deliver. Fantastic story, incredible amount of information.
Always amazed when reading or listening to his books.

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narrator will put you to sleep

The narrator has strange pauses in his sentences and tries to (unsuccessfully) add accents to the characters. Nothing will excite him. The way he reads is calming and is great for going to sleep.

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Couldn't get through more than 10 min

I couldn't stand this audiobook. I only listened to about 10 min and had to delete. I will try the story with a better narrator in the future. It's like listening to a monotone version of William Shatner the way he pauses to signify a comma where there shouldn't be one. Several words are either muffled or slurred so badly I hit rewind a few times and still have no clue what word it was supposed to be. Pretty bummed I wasted a credit on it.

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good book but intense

Loved the amount of detail Verne was able to describe the ocean depths with.
I found the narrator a little dry and hard to listen to but considering the extreme descriptive language I was still able to follow and enjoy this version.

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  • Eric
  • 2017-04-15

The Deadpan of Alan Munro

Great novel, always been a favorite and deserving of its status as a classic. This was my first encounter with the narrator, and I have endured him through many since. The novels he narrates are always priced cheap, so if you can tolerate him then it's a good deal.

12 people found this helpful

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  • Merlin S. Hoiseth
  • 2019-10-29

Can barely understand the narator

I'm sure this classic is much more interesting than the narration from Mr. Munro. If you want to be put to sleep, his voice will do it for you.

3 people found this helpful

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  • Craig Hurley
  • 2019-08-05

Good Narrator

A lengthy read and a lengthy listen. Good narrator. I remember reading it in High School. Jules Verne created some memorable characters, but his story skills could have been improved. 99k words without much story arc, lots of experiences played along a 1st person calendar. Still a great book.

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  • William
  • 2019-08-01

Terrible narration of classic scifi

The narrator's delivery is choppy, often unintelligible and ruins this classic scifi masterpiece. Jules Vern must be doing 20,000 RPM's in his grave.

2 people found this helpful

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  • Barbara Abbott
  • 2019-03-17

needs new narrator

the narrator was terrible - bought this audible book for a long trip with my grandson and it was horrible.

2 people found this helpful

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  • Brian Fink
  • 2018-10-13

not what I expected

I had always wanted to read this book. I expected adventure and a great story. what it is, is mostly a listing of all the fish and fauna he sees along the way, a few adventures that were good but overall rather boring. Also not happy with the ending, i would have expected better.

1 person found this helpful

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  • T. Anderson
  • 2017-07-05

Unabridged. So rich in 19th C. scientific detail!

What made the experience of listening to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea the most enjoyable?
Jules Verne was clearly brilliant, captivated by new discoveries and the possibilities chemical and mechanical engineering presented 150 years ago. This work was prescient in many respects, yet full of natural "flaws" from the science of the day. The narrator rolls dreamily through the myriad Latin names for creatures, imparting the character's awe at the wonders of the deep. I loved it.

What about Alan Munro’s performance did you like?
Here's the only fault I found: the volume was insufficient! I had to amplify by connecting my Kindle to my radio. Otherwise, the recording was excellent.

1 person found this helpful

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  • Chase
  • 2017-05-04

Terrible Narration for a Fantastic Story

Would you try another book from Jules Verne and/or Alan Munro?

I couldn't even get through half of this beloved story because of the subpar narration. The narration sounds like they recorded Mr. Munro saying all the phrases in random order and spliced them together haphazardly. He doesn't even sound like a native speaker in this rendition. He breaks sentences at awkward moments and speaks in a dreary monotone the entire time I bared to listen to.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Alan Munro?

Literally anyone else. Gilbert Gottfried. Bob Dylan. Sylvester Stallone.

1 person found this helpful

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  • travis
  • 2017-04-08

a literary classic?

I have to admit I was very disappointed with this book. I have been told what a literary classic it was my whole life, it was one of the most driest books I have ever listened to and the narrator was extremely monotone wich did not help. if you are into identifying and classifying sea species you might like this, if you're looking for a classic action book this is certainly not one.

1 person found this helpful

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  • Peggy Karleskint
  • 2017-03-27

distracting

The narrator had an cadence and I found it distracting. Otherwise, it was a good story, of course!

1 person found this helpful