Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
When Professor Aronnax is asked his opinion on a number of shipwrecks that have been caused by something a great deal larger than a whale, he comes to the conclusion that the mysterious creature must be a narwhale of gigantic proportions, due to the strangely shaped holes inflicted upon the wrecked vessels. Soon, he is invited aboard the Abraham Lincoln, a frigate preparing to track down and destroy the unknown creature. But, when the ship is struck itself, Professor Aronnax is thrown overboard only to discover a great secret that would change the scientific world forever.
I think I like this book best of all of Jules Verne’s that I have read. He captures the magic of the underwater world with great ease. The only warning I have is that, on occasion, the plot becomes a bit bogged down with a veritable encyclopedia of scientific names, which are usually unpronounceable and rather meaningless unless you have a great knowledge of marine classification. However, the rest of the book is very enjoyable and I recommend it highly.