I re-read Journey to the Center of the Earth because I told my son he absolutely had to read it before we went to see the 2008 movie version (woot Brendan Fraser! And tiny pre-Hunger Games Peeta!). I remembered loving this book when I was younger, although honestly, I couldn’t completely remember why.

I think a lot of it had to do with where my brain was as a kid. I was super interested in caves and underground worlds back then, and I still thought digging to China was probably a real thing people could do (Did I try, you ask? Of course I did. Didn't YOU?). So naturally, this book felt completely plausible to me. Hidden oceans under the Earth? Giant mushrooms? Lost monsters? Sure, why not.

Reading it as an adult though... yeah, I had to lower my rating a bit.

The beginning is honestly pretty great. The mystery with the Icelandic runes pulled me in right away, and Professor Lidenbrock and Axel figuring out that someone else had already made the journey was genuinely exciting. I also loved all the weird obsessive academic energy at the start (which sounds sarcastic, but I mean it affectionately). Then they pick up Hans, who becomes the best character in the entire book by simply being competent while everyone else loses their ever-loving minds.

But once they actually start climbing down into the Earth, the story kind of slams into a wall. I mean... I get it... there are only so many exciting ways to describe some dudes walking downward through rocks. Verne tries very, very hard though. There are endless descriptions of descending. Endless. At some point it starts feeling less like an adventure novel and more like a geology lecture delivered while trapped in an elevator (maybe even being given by Ferris Bueller's teacher).

But then they discover the underground ocean, and honestly, those scenes still rule. The giant cavern world and prehistoric creatures are exactly the kind of stuff that made me love this book as a kid. You can absolutely see why Verne became such a huge influence on science fiction writers later on.

The ending, though, is kind of hilarious. After naming everything they see after themselves and wandering around underground forever, they basically get blasted back to the surface by a volcano only to realize they weren’t even going the right direction half the time. Amazing. Absolute clowns.

I still have a soft spot for this book because of what it meant to me growing up, and parts of it are genuinely imaginative and fun. But re-reading it as an adult made me realize that my younger self did a lot of heavy lifting here. Still, it was worth revisiting (and honestly, worth it just to get hyped for Brendan Fraser fighting dinosaurs underground).

I loved this book so much as a child. As a kid, it was the beautiful illustrations that first drew me in more than anything else (especially Kindle and Furze), but I always loved the story too. I still own my copy and reread it regularly (and have introduced so many kids to it).

Years ago, I read a review criticizing the book because the king does very little himself to earn his kingdom. According to that reviewer, he simply orders his six friends around and lets them complete the challenges for him. But I think that interpretation misses one of the book’s most important lessons for children:

The king earned his six friends.

They were never his servants blindly obeying commands. They were his friends because he had already shown kindness, trust, and loyalty to them. As a child, that message stayed with me: you have to be a friend in order to have friends. I also learned that when you show up for people-- especially when they are alone, overlooked, or in need-- those relationships become the kind that sustain you later in life (I've been called a "foul-weather friend more than once. I suck at the day-to-day (I work a lot) but when I'm needed, I show up. The people I love know for sure that they can count on me).

Maybe that sounds overly optimistic or even a little Pollyanna-ish, but this book genuinely helped shape my outlook on friendship and human nature. It taught me optimism. And for a children’s book to leave that kind of lasting impression is something truly special.

Jean: "You bastard!" Locke: "Gentleman bastard"

A good swashbuckling romp.

This one was nice to see just how thoroughly Locke and Jean have each other's backs. Plus there were PIRATES! LADY Pirates!! And VERY important CATS!!! But overall, it wasn't as fun as the first one, and I don't feel like it did anything I haven't seen before.

Locke being incompetent at some of the stuff he tries to pull off, and absolutely being called out on it was fun.

I'll read the next one. But I hear there are seven books planned for this series and I can't imagine how it will avoid becoming formulaic and bland, since this one was already pretty predictable.