Thursday, the Seventeenth of April

Usually when I finish my work at school, I spend the rest of the day doing Math. Sometimes I don't mind. Other times I'd rather just call it a day and go home. But then, there are the rare circumstances that I have something else to do (that is considered work). That something would be book-reading as a part of an English project. The last week was one of those instances. I'm reading 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.

Don't get me wrong, I love this book- I've read many versions, many times. The total number of times could actually be in the 20,000s (lol?) Obviously, I have a fascination with tales of the sea (care to observe the page your looking at?).

I really don't have an objection to going through it again, every time I read it I find some interesting point that I never noticed before. My problem, then, must be with the fact that I'm reading a special Alpha & Omega edition.

The aforementioned edition leans very heavily toward the scientific side of the story, a side that I guess I either never noticed/didn't care about, or was nonexistent in the many versions I've read. Seriously, I've seen four pages in a row that did nothing but list every fish Pierre Aronnax had classified throughout the first half of the book. With Latin names.

Then there were about three four-page spreads on the history of some foreign country or ancient civilization. The only think I could think about at these instances was how out of place they seemed. I'm thinking "What are you doing in my precious book!"

Even the epic wild squid battle has been tainted; what I remember spanning an entire chapter is now reduced to a mere one and-a-half pages long! Disgraceful! It's like the sense of awe and wonder I used to feel is being eaten by an evil squid of education! No!

But I digress. I guess this is what Mr. Verne originally intended it to be. And hey, It does still beat extra math work.