Customer Reviews

Around the World in Eighty Days (Bantam Classics)

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For some reason, I always envisioned a hot air balloon when I thought of Around the World in Eighty Days; in point of fact, a hot air balloon is about the only means of transportation not employed by Phileas Fogg in his circumnavigational sojourn (though it is given a fleeting thought by the hero at one point). Fogg is an interesting character, a man who takes punctuality to an unheard of degree. Basically, his whist partners at the Reform Club tell him there is no way to go around the globe in just 80 days, notwithstanding the fact that a detailed itinerary involving specific boats and trains promises to make it possible. Fogg immediately bets half his fortune that he can do it, setting out on his journey that very night. Passepartout, his newly hired manservant, finds himself dragged along on this historic journey. It so happens that someone matching a description of Fogg has just robbed the Bank of England of 55,000 pounds, and a detective named Fix "discovers" his robber when Fogg arrives in Suez. He wires England with the news and asks for an arrest warrant to be issued; before it arrives, Fogg is off again. Fix finds himself joining in on Fogg's epic journey, waiting for the warrant to reach him on his way, then waiting to arrest Fogg when he steps back on English soil. The travelers face many perils and stumbling blocks along their way, many brought about by Passeportout's naivete and later on by his selfless act of heroism. At every turn, Fogg finds himself in need of alternate transportation methods; he employs, among other vehicles, an elephant, a bridge-jumping train, and a wind-propelled sled. A series of uncommon adventures unfold, involving damsels in distress, Indian attacks, matters of honor, etc. All these events come to a climax the day on which he is due back at the Reform Club.

There is not really much science in this fiction; instead, there is a good bit of geography; the stretches of text explaining the route from one place to another is rather boring to me personally. Luckily, most of the book is full of action. Throughout, the interesting Mr. Fogg remains as calm and placid as a cucumber while Passepartout provides some comic relief by continually finding himself in some sort of trouble. Most of the actors come across as rather wooden and artificial, but the story is good and the ending is quite satisfactory. The reading of this book led me to conjecture that this was one of Verne's earlier works because the characters here are rather drab compared to those in From the Earth to the Moon and because the pages are not weighed down by scientific terminology as in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea; actually, it is one of his later novels.

Around the World in Eighty Days would well serve the purpose of introducing a Verne newbie to his writing. If you want to see glimpses of Verne's prophetic scientific ideas, though, this is probably not the book for you; it is best suited for recreational reading.

What more is there to say about a classic?? They are classics for a reason. This book doesn't deal with big issues of humanity. It's just great fun!! It's an old-fashioned adventure tale that pulls you in and keeps you turning the pages. It has all the making of a traditional action story - a race against time, all sorts of dangerous situations, and, of course, a love interest. Who would believe that this was written over 100 years ago? Just more proof that it is a great story that generation after generation will enjoy. Pick it up, read it, then read it with your kids, and their kids, etc. Then read it again!

I was heading off to San Antonio for the weekend and needed a book to read on the plane. I arbitrarily grabbed Around the World in 80 Days and it was a good thing. While everyone around me on the plane and at the airport huffed and puffed about delays, I just sat back, like Phileas Fogg, knowing that things would turn out ok. Around the World in 80 Days is not a novel of depth, but thanks to Jules Verne's immense talent for suspense and detail, he created a tale so soothing and entertaining that all you worry about the next time you travel will seem inconsequential. Always carry a copy with you whenever you go somewhere!

I am 15 and I have to read this version of "Around The World in 80 Days." The plot is a good idea but the book is a little boring. It is easy reading but it doesn't have too many climatic moments so far (I'm on chapter 13). I would reccomend this book only to people who have a lot of patience and like to read classics.

Jules Verne's _Around the World in eighty Days_ (1873) is a brief, brisk, lively adventure that is much concerned with time. In Edgar Rice Burroughs's Pellucidar novels, Burroughs pretends (through a series of rhetorical tricks) that time is nonexistant in his fantasy world. But Verne appreciated something that Burroughs did not. Where there is time, there are deadlines. And where there are deadlines, there is suspense. Will the bomb explode an hour from now? Will the innocent prisoner be executed at midnight? Will the witch kill Dorothy when the sands in the hourglass run out? Will the good news get from Ghent to Aix on time?

The suspense in Verne's novel comes from the question: Will even the ever-punctual hero, Mr. Phileas Fogg, be able to go round the world in eighty days and return to England by quarter to nine on December 21, 1872? While accompanied by a manservant, Jean Passepartout? Especially when there is a detective pursuing him? And _especially_ when Mr. Fogg must constantly choose between doing what is morally right and what is punctual? We watch as the days and then the hours are eaten away.

Some readers have complained that the characters in _Around the World..._ are cardboard. Well, perhaps. But they are well enough drawn for the purposes of the story. There is Fogg-- English, precise, punctual, closemouthed, cool (some would say cold), and lucky. And here is Passepartout-- French, easygoing, slightly tardy, garrolous, amiable, and unlucky. They are perfect foils to one another. Later, there is the Princess Aouda, who is lovely and plucky-- a good traveling companion, and the perfect wife for Phileas Fogg. And finally, there is the aptly named detective Fix, who wants to arrest Mr. Fogg and stop his journey.

Much is made in the novel about how Mr. Fogg is so intent on his schedule that he pays no attention to the wonders around him. But watch closely. Even if Mr. Fogg isn't paying attention, that does not mean that Verne is doing so as well. He makes sure that we see many of the sights along the way, frequently through the eyes of Passepartout.

Perhaps I should close with a few notes on the edition of the novel that I am reviewing. It is the Bantam Classic, which uses the 1873 translation by George Makepeace Towle. As a rule, the reader of Verne should be cautious about old translations. There were a staggering number of them that cut and mangled Verne. But Towle was considered one of the better Verne translators of his day. So I believe that we can say that this translation is, if not exceptional, acceptable. And besides, there is that one translator's note that reveals a dry wit. At one point, late in the novel, Verne writes that when Mr. Fogg stepped off the train "all the clocks in London were striking ten minutes before nine" (153). Towle's comment: "A somewhat remarkable eccentricity of London clocks".

Jules Verne was a great writer. Many examples of his talent are widespred in literature. He got to wake up the taste of books in many teenagers and even in children, writing about adventures. And "Around the World in 80 days" perhaps it's the best ever written. This was the second time I read this book. And I think I will read it again very soon...

Jules Verne has created another immortal masterpiece that will fullfill every reader's imagination. The plot is creative. The story itself is bold and daring, as a wrongly accused bank robber and his companions (male & female) try to make it around the world and deceive a zealous detective--in eighty days

This book is filled with adventure, daring, and wit.