The Mysterious Island Kindle Edition

Published in 1874, the novel is a crossover sequel to Verne's famous Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and In Search of the Castaways. The book tells the adventures of five Americans on an uncharted island in the South Pacific. The story begins in the American Civil War, during the siege of Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate States of America. As famine and death ravage the city, five northern prisoners of war decide to escape by hijacking a balloon. After flying in stormy weather for several days, the group crash-lands on a cliff-bound, volcanic, unknown (and fictitious) island. (Wikipedia) This story is "science-y" fiction with the only "supernatural" force being the mysterious and hidden benefactor that renders assistance at the most opportune times as the five men (considering themselves to be colonists) establish themselves on the island. The colonists not only meet their basic needs of food, clothing and shelter, but due to an engineer well versed in all areas of science, they also produce pottery, bricks, nitroglycerin, iron, and a simple electric telegraph.For me, the most fascinating aspect of this book is that Jules Verne knew so much about science in 1874 that the colonists fantastic feats, although a little far-fetched, are believable in 2015. I found the conversation among the characters about the sustainability of coal energy to be particularly fascinating. How would Jules Verne feel to know that nearly 150 years later, we STILL rely on coal energy! At 500 Kindle pages, this was a lengthy read and at times it felt over-powered with detail. The painstaking process of creating their "Granite House" dwelling includes descriptions of the survey of the island for the best location, the search for the raw materials to make nitroglycerine, the manufacture of nitroglycerine, the preparation of the site, and the creation of instruments and tools to produce bricks and mortar to outfit their home with a hearth, etc. The day-to-day activity of exploring, building, cultivating, hunting, and animal herding is interrupted by a rescue of a castaway from the closest charted island and a battle with pirates.Despite it's length and occasional tedium, I felt compelled to finish the book and stick with the colonists to learn their fate.

As a child I was introduced to , "The Mysterious Island," through a 1961 film complete with giant mutant animals and other horrific dangers. That is not the story Jules Verne wrote.Details of survival and people caring for one another are the mainstay of thus novel, a combination of adventure and gentleness, tensions and success, mysteries and discovery.Jules Verne is a bit of a slow read but I find his work to be satisfying. It is reading a classic. A dictionary of scientific terms in the areas of geography, botany, zoology, and geology seemed necessary at times.People looking for a fairly long yet satisfying read will like this book. It is interesting to note that, in keeping with the moral writing styles of its time, there is no sexual suggestions. Indeed there are no women on this island nor the suggestion that they were even missed!So get in your balloon and escape to "The Mysterious Island," for an interesting and different read.

Oh, Jules Verne.  You would never be published by today's standards.  For your time period, yes, you were brilliant, and ahead of your era, and I'm pretty sure any of your characters alone would dominate Survivor."The Mysterious Island" seemed like Mr. Verne's thoughts of how modern people would colonize if they had every resource available and few limitations.  I'll admit, I had the wrong expectations for the book.  I dug through the book expecting to find twists and adventure similar to that of "Lost," or a more magical "Lord of the Flies."Silly me, I was reading a Jules Verne book.  The plot weighs wholly on the exploration of the island.  Yes, they do compile a little list of "mysterious" events and findings, but I was able to figure out the basic source long before it was revealed.  True, the specific character of the source was a good twist, though it almost felt like Mr. Verne's sequel/redemption of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."It's a classic, and I could tell why, with its geographical, cultural, and intellectual explorations.  It was intriguing to read, but will I plan on reading it again anytime soon?  Not likely.  Though I would suggest it if you're a fan of Jules Verne, want a clean survival book that teaches you things while you read, and don't mind characters with no arch.

I LOVED the Mysterious Island. I wasnt sure if I would or not, because I am not really into science fiction. I was afraid this was a science fiction book, but it really isnt (the movie they made off of the book IS science fiction and it is trash! So dont waste your time on the movie).The book is definitely a page turner and the author did an incredible job building the characters and what they went through as they were stranded on this island. I would highly recommend this book!

This was a great story, long and very detailed. It is not a swash buckling story as some reviewers had wished for, but a great adventure of survival. Some of the feats seem a little far fetched as one of the group is kind of like the professor on Gilligan's Island, but still a great read. You should read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea first to help you understand some strange happenings, especially the end of the story.

The story was interesting and has held up well. Even though the author is famous, this is the first book of his I have read. I guessing the flow of his writing is suffering a bit from a translation from French into English? The other thing that is difficult to believe is so many resources were available to them on the island and that one person could know how to so extensively use them to the exact needs of the castaways. Suspending disbelief, it was an enjoyable read, if somewhat labored by the details of how what they were accomplishing was possible. I may even read the next book in this story which shares further details of the fate of the castaways.

Although a long story, it is an exceedingly good one wherein a small, diverse group of men, plus one dog, manage, not only to survive catastrophe and be cast on an uncharted island, with only the clothes they had on, but through inventiveness and hard work, they prospered.One word of caution though, some of the terminology may upset those of an ardent sense of political correctness, however, the time period of its authorship should be remembered.

This is a lesser known Jules Verne adventure I had not read before, and I feel it should be better known. It develops a sense of anticipation in the reader that grows as unexpected things happen to the American castaways on Lincoln Island, located 'somewhere near New Zealand'. Through the exercise of his scientific knowledge, their leader Cyrus Harding is able to create almost a mini-utopia for the castaways, helped by their willingness to work together and live in harmony with each other - a kind of optimistic antithesis to 'The Lord of the Flies'.Verne being Verne, he supplies an abundance of detail on the flora, fauna, geography and climate of the island that may seem tiresome to the modern reader, but he was addressing a Victorian readership at a time when natural history was a popular subject, with new discoveries regularly made by those exploring the far corners of the earth. If it is to be faulted, it is for some inaccuracies, such as the extreme winter climate (snow on the ground for several months) with vegetation of warm temperate areas on the same latitude, e.g. New Zealand, and some improbabilities, such as jaguars and kangaroos occupying the same (desert) island.This kindle version was a bargain. with only one or two technical/scientific terms that look as if they have been mistranscribed.

I was originally put off by the length of this book, but both the author (Jules Verne) and the price (£0.00) made me give it a read feeling that I would have at least lost nothing if I did not enjoy.The language, despite being written a long time ago, is very easy to pick up and follow. Nothing too heavy to put a casual reader off (I would not have thrown 5 stars its way if that were the case).After reading through I can honestly say I feel bad that I had such pleasure for nothing. It is a lengthy read, but the length is justified. Every page makes the story strong and makes the reader's enjoyment all the more full.The characters are well fleshed out and every one of them is different enough from every other to make the group truly enjoyable to read about. Jules Verne has a talent for making you deeply care about his characters, praise their victories and genuinely feel fearful of turning the page when you know a failure is coming.I would highly recommend reading 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (another Jules Verne classic) as this does have a tie in to that title that will make far more sense if you are familiar with the aforementioned work and its characters/events.I don't think this title got the fame it deserved, I only hope people continue to read it in the modern day. For it is a title that truly deserves a wider audience.

At times I struggled with this book and nearly gave up reading it several times. To the modern reader the writing is stilted and shows little, if any, emotion. The scientific explanations of what the engineer was achieving are long winded and too complicated for an ordinary person to understand and quite honestly, unbelievable. Lots of Latinnames for flora and fauna.However the story is simple. During the American Civil War,prisoners escape in a hot air balloon and crash land on an unknown island in the Pacific. There they set about creating a habitat, cultivating food and making life easier for themselves with the aid of their leader, engineer Cyrus Harding. What he achieves is beyond believable for a castaways.When in dire need at times, something always mysteriously appears or occurs to come to their aid.It was worth persevering but I must admit I did jump whole paragraphs at times.

I found that this started extremely slowly, and probably would have given up on it if I hadn't enjoyed other work I've read by Verne so much. The castaways landed on a deserted island which provided them with an abundance of every resource that they needed. Between the five men they were furnished with every facet of human knowledge available at the time, which meant that they easily overcame every obstacle in front of them.Halfway through the book they had established thriving farms, metalworks, an abundance of tools, explosives and an ocean going vessel. All of this was achieved with little difficulty in about eighteen months. While it was impressive to see all that could be achieved with the right knowledge and industry, at times this read more like and instruction manual than a novel.This all changed in the second half as some genuine threats to their lives emerged and they faced a struggle for survival, while seeking to identify the mysetrious benevolent entity that had supported them throughout. It was great to read once it got going, but for me, that took far too long.