Hoowee was this one a stinker. I think this may be the worst of the 19th century lit I’ve been working my way through yet. You generally have to put up with a lot of bunk science and some pretty terrible social behavior, which in the former is just the state of the world at that time and in the latter is gross as hell at any time. While I wouldn’t necessarily say JttCotE (don’t wanna type it out every time sorry not sorry) is […]

Oftentimes when I read a book of its time I try my best to look past the weirdness that’s built into its age and meet it where it is. Honestly, Around the World in 80 Days isn’t really worth doing that. I’m conflicted about this: this is a very influential work, obviously, but it’s also one where the culture has moved effectively past its influence and the impact is dulled. This means that there’s less payoff than there should be for the racism, sexism, and general […]

This will be a very short one because I’m feeling very lazy. The Mysterious Island is also a movie, with fantastic stop-motion animation by Ray Harryhausen. It’s one of my favorite movies and has been since I was a child. Harryhausen uses incredible techniques, such as manipulating an actual crab shell (purchased at Harrod’s in London) into a gigantic monster crab that the protagonists fight. They also fight a giant cassowary-like bird, giant bees, and late in the movie a horrifying sea monster. The use of […]

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is another classic that I enjoyed much more than I expected to. The style was relatively dry and slow, but the story is compelling enough to keep it going. Captain Nemo in particular is a much more interesting character than I perceived from general pop culture knowledge. He is the last prince of an island nation that was destroyed by “a colonial power” (COUGH BRITAIN COUGH). A mechanical genius, he created The Nautilus, an electric submarine, and proceeds to wage […]