The Mysterious Island

Neb has Stockholm syndrome.

The original (and awesome) illustrations were done by Jules Férat. You can see examples online.

Starting The Mysterious Island made me question whether I could finish it. Stranded on the island, our colonists make impossible gains—each explained with painful detail in page after page of jargon, which make the smatterings of dialog they separate feel just as lost as the book's subjects. Thankfully, the book eventually picks up and, as the characters begin to speak enough to distinguish themselves, one becomes invested in their success on the island. Ultimately, however, The Mysterious Island is propped up by its incorporation of Verne mythology, rather than adding to it.

“Then,” said Neb, “are they  in earnest, my master ? Will we take [the orangutan] as a domestic?”

“Yes, Neb,” said the engineer, smiling. “But you need not be jealous.”

Ugh.

The great trouble was with Top, whose four feet were not intended for ladders. But Pencroff was persevering, and Top at last learned to run up and down as nimbly as his brothers of the circus.

They taught the dog to climb an 80-foot rope ladder.