~Around the World in Eighty Days – A Review

The Author:
Jules Verne was born in February in the year 1828 to French parents Pierre and Sophie Verne. The oldest of five children, Mr. Verne began writing plays as a young man instead of studying to become a lawyer like his father. He married a widow who had two daughters, and the couple had a son in 1861. Known as “the father of science fiction”, Mr. Verne’s first book Five Weeks in a Balloon was published in 1863. Other works by Jules Verne include: Journey to the Center of the Earth and Mysterious Island. Mr. Verne died in March of 1905.

Technical Details:
Around the World in Eighty Days was published in 1873. This book has 37 somewhat short chapters and contains 210 pages. The edition that I read, was published by Dalmatian Press in 2004, a part of a currently unavailable series called Great Reads.

The Story:
Phileas Fogg, a highly predictable and rather eccentric bachelor living in London in 1872, believes that a man can travel completely around the world in 80 days. His friends disagree, saying that such an enterprise is impossible to accomplish. Intent on proving the validity of his assertion, Phileas Fogg suggests a wager with his friends – a bet of twenty thousand pounds, that he can make a journey around the world in 80 days. After some hesitation, his friends agree and Mr. Fogg sets out immediately, accompanied by his man-servant, Passepartout. Traveling by nearly every available means including by train, boat and riding on an elephant, Mr. Fogg tries to prove the possibility his theory. Picking up other travelers on the way, separations and a heroic rescue make the trip more adventurous than the two men expected. In addition, unknown to them, a detective is bent upon arresting Mr. Fogg, believing that he is responsible for a large theft committed in London. Will Mr. Fogg make it home in time to win his wager or will the weather, the detective or one of his adventures make him lose? Will he find something that is even more important than the wager during his trip around the world?

The Writing Style:
The writing style of this book, seems a little stiff and is very focused on descriptions of people, places and things. The descriptions were, in some places, very detailed and I enjoyed “seeing” the world as it was in the second half of the nineteenth century. Dialog, while not at a bare minimum, did have a lesser part in this book than in most fiction that I have read. I did, however, enjoy the style. There were a few minor points that I found tiresome, but not enough to deter me from reading other works by Jules Verne.

The Characters:
The part of the servant, I enjoyed. Though perhaps a little simple minded and a bit silly, his character was well developed and enjoyable to read. Phileas Fogg on the other hand, was not your typical hero. His character, though honest and upright in nearly every way, comes off as too stiff and rigid to truly claim the reader’s sympathy. I found it difficult to maintain the affectionate opinion of his closest friends. The other two main characters were well written and fairly well developed.

I’m not sure I had a favorite character in this book. Mr. Fogg was, by far, the most intelligent, and always ready to do what he believed was right. I may perhaps have preferred Aouda though… she was a pretty picture of womanhood.

Conclusion:
I enjoyed Around the World in Eighty Days. I might even read it again sometime. While perhaps not the best book I ever read, it was clean, well written, and full of information about the different countries visited by Phileas Fogg and his servant.

Interesting note:
While I have yet to watch any film adaptations based upon this book, I have been told that Mr. Fogg uses a hot air balloon as a means of transportation in at least two versions. In the book, Phileas Fogg considers the use of a balloon, but says it is not a feasible way to reach his destination.

To the KING be all the glory!