Its episodic chapters may not appeal to some, but as a beach read, Twenty Thousand Leagues is the perfect book to pick up and put down. I've read Twenty Thousand Leagues multiple times and Nemo's madness still scares me. Later, when Aronnax literally crawls across the salon floor in complete darkness, desperate to avoid the sobbing Nemo who is playing his organ in the same room, my heart was pounding thrillingly hard. The two men watch in silence as the drowning sailors sink into an ocean crevasse like 'a human antheap caught out by the invasion of the sea', and everyone finally understands that Nemo will never let his captors live.

At the climax when Nemo finally attacks a ship with Aronnax on board, the reader, Aronnax and the 'archangel of hate' Nemo reach a satisfyingly simultaneous understanding. Ultimately it is Aronnax's transition from admiration and envy to complete fear that makes Twenty Thousand Leagues so eerie and exciting. Nemo becomes increasingly sinister despite Aronnax's romanticised eye: he drugs his captives, refuses to explain the violent death of a crew member and alternates between sorrowful melancholia and cold fury. Meanwhile, Nemo revels in showing off the Nautilus's capabilities to someone who understands them, taking Aronnax on little field trips to hunt sharks, visit the South Pole and explore the underwater city of Atlantis. Aronnax is thrilled by the unexpected luxuries of the Nautilus, with its world-class collections of underwater treasures, inventively cooked seafood dishes and unending supply of seaweed cigars. Initially, both of them delight in finding another academic mind. The relationship between Aronnax and Nemo is an intriguing dance between understanding and uneasiness. He is an intriguing, Byronic figure, unmatched in depth of character even today. His appreciation for human achievements, seen in his collection of art, books and music, clashes with his furious hatred of civilised society. The devil in the deep blue sea, Nemo lives in stasis in his metal cocoon, roaming the oceans to leer at wreckages and attack ships.

Without a doubt, Nemo is what elevates Twenty Thousand Leagues above the rest of Verne's work. Their captor is the mysterious Captain Nemo, an intelligent, quiet man who hates all who live on land (for reasons mostly unexplained, unless you read Verne's The Mysterious Island). Aronnax, along with his faithful servant Conseil and the boisterous harpooner Ned Land, are kidnapped by their target, a horned submarine called the Nautilus. The narrator, oceanic scientist Professor Pierre Aronnax is on a mission to determine the animal (or otherwise) nature of an unknown being attacking ships around the world.

20 thousand leagues under the sea