Not for every reader, this book has some long monologues. However, the complex characters provide philosophical insight and it's very interesting to see Russia in the 1860's. Besides the plotline of murder, there are other issues of family, society, desire, loathing, and pure humanity. I was so immersed at some points that I completely lost touch with my actual surroundings. If you aren't feeling captivated by this book, you might put it down and try it at another point in your life. This is a great book.

Jules Verne's vision of space travel is recounted in two works, "From the Earth to the Moon", and his sequel "Around the Moon". Happily, the e-book available here includes both. (The sequel is available as a separate download, but does not seem as complete a translation as this double-version, which I also recommend for the better translation of humor.)

Verne shows great imagination and precise scientific principles of his day--it's spooky to read the calculations and physics that are amazingly similar to the Apollo moon missions, and also entertaining to see his imaginative yet inaccurate bits (vegetation and water on the far side of the moon?)! The first book deals with engineering an enormous cannon to shoot a space capsule to the moon, and the second part chronicles the journey. Some of the scientific description may be dry for some readers, but humorous and endearing characters are well-developed throughout. Thank you, Jules Verne!