This was a book I 100% only read because of bingo. I’m not sure it would have crossed my radar to read otherwise, what with the plethora of material out there. So there’s that. If you’re tempted to go for it, let me from the get-go recommend the audio book. It’s read by Tim Curry, y’all. That’s right. Dr. Frankenfurter, Long John Silver, is there narrating your Jules Verne. It’s wonderful. And it’s perfect for some 1.25x speed.
When I went to look for an older book to satisfy CBR Bingo, I’ll admit it was Hollow that stuck in my head – the selection of this particular older book was largely inspired by the more contemporary novel about a man seeking the center of everything. I’m as surprised as you are that that one stuck with me. Such is life, I suppose.
Anyway. This book is more than a century old, we all know the basic gist. Our primary narrator is a young man who goes with his brilliant if horrible uncle, a professor and mineralogist, on a quest to follow a previous explorer’s footsteps into what might not be the molten core of the earth. You’re stuck with three characters – narrator, uncle, and their guide – and two of the three are utterly insufferable (and the third doesn’t speak English). Reading A Journey to the Center of the Earth really just made me grateful I’m of the age I am and have the diversity of options available to me that I do.
Bingo Square: This Old Thing