Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

By: Jules Verne

Narrated by: Aria Mia Loberti

A luminous new recording of Jules Verne’s modern classic read by Aria Mia Loberti, star of Netflix’s limited series adaptation of All the Light We Cannot See

“The year 1866 was signalized by a remarkable incident…Vessels had been met by ‘an enormous thing,’ a long object, spindle-shaped, occasionally phosphorescent, and infinitely larger and more rapid in its movements than a whale.”

When French scientist Professor Aronnax agrees to investigate a series of attacks by a mysterious sea monster, he begins an incredible underwater journey, taking along his loyal assistant Conseil and master harpooner Ned. They eventually join Captain Nemo and traverse a distance of thousands of leagues throughout many seas, finding exotic settings, surprise encounters, and unforeseen dangers in their epic adventure, a tour-de-force of imagination.

Jules Verne was remarkably successful in foretelling the wonders science held for the future. This, his most famous novel, earned him the title of “Father of Science Fiction.”

Originally published in 1870.

Public Domain (P)2023 Blackstone Publishing

Marvelous performance

Ms. Loberti’s performance brought this classic to life. Her characterizations were spot on, and she handled all the scientific terminology as if the words were part of the common vernacular.

Two very minor observations: I think another round of “editing” could have taken care of the very few instances when a voice was inconsistent in tone quality (Nemo) and the few occasions when the rhythm and flow of the words were a bit hesitant. I suspect these are things that most editors and directors fix in nearly every production.
I’m glad I chose this performance to be my long overdue introduction to this classic.

A classic, poorly read and edited

I had read the story before. It sometimes goes on for too long on marine biology, but is a great tale.

But the narration does not do it justice. It sounds like it's read by a Victorian child. Sometimes ot feels as if the 1st-person character is looking up at Captain Nemo, jaw dropped, with tears and amazement in his eyes, and holding his wooly hat in his hands.

There is even at least one flagrant editing error, where a misread passage was left in (chapter 26), including the many repetitions of the word until it comes out right.


I love the story and was looking forward to listening to it. But now I'm reluctant every time I'm to resume it, and will finish it just for the sake of completion.