The Ultimate Jules Verne Quicklet Bundle [NOOK Book]

This is a discounted bundle featuring Quicklets on 2 of Jules Verne’s most important books, including:

-Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
-The Mysterious Island

Here are brief product descriptions for each below. Buy them together and save over 50% off the combined price!

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From the Quicklet on Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea:

Given the very long shadow it has cast on culture and pop culture since its initial publication in 1870, it’s difficult to overstate just how indelible and long-lasting the impact of author Jules Verne’s seminal seafaring epic Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea has been, both upon the literary world and the world at large.

With its meditations on evergreen themes such as man, nature, and the inherent conflicts therein, and its depiction of new technologies decades before their eventual invention, Twenty Thousand Leagues remains an unquestionable classic of modern literature and has also transcended the page to leave a mark on a variety of other media.
My first encounter with Verne’s story happened at the ripe old age of seven, when I had opportunity to watch Richard Fleischer’s 1954 film adaptation for producer Walt Disney, starring legendary screen star Kirk Douglas as the stolidly heroic Ned Land and featuring a haunting, unforgettable turn by James Mason as charismatic anti-hero Captain Nemo.

The film’s grand scale and memorable set pieces, including the elegant depiction of Nemo’s mighty Nautilus submarine designed by Harper Goff, was all it took for me to hungrily seek out and dive headfirst into the original text. This in turn allowed me to discover firsthand the magnificent undersea world Jules Verne imagined for us during a time when the very notion of travelling under the sea was as much of a fantasy as the idea of travelling in space.

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From the Quicklet on The Mysterious Island:

For his voyage series, Verne had wanted to create a newer, modern version of Robinson Crusoe or deserted island-inspired piece. However, according to www.unmuseum.org, this “major novel had a rough start,” and “his first attempt, Uncle Robinson, was flatly rejected by his publisher Hetzel,” questioning the novel’s lack of science and suggesting a complete start-over. Sure enough, Verne’s second draft proved favorable for publishing.

True to the Robinsonade literary style, The Mysterious Island chronicles the adventures of 5 castaways stranded on a deserted island. The castaways basically start off with nothing but soon learn to master their environment, yet eventually notice that mysterious things are happening on the island.

The castaways first write it off as “divine guidance,” but as the help given becomes increasingly more scientific in nature, the novel’s adventure starts to take form and the mystery is eventually resolved. By using this dual imagery—mysticism vs. science—Jules Verne could have been highlighting the way both God and science help people in trouble, since he was both a man of faith and a science enthusiast.