Around the World in Eighty Days (movie tie-in) [Paperback]

Jules Verne (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 4, 2004

One ill-fated evening at the Reform Club, Phileas Fogg rashly bets his companions that he can travel around the entire globe in just eighty days-and he is determined not to lose. Accompanied by his hot-blooded French manservant Passepartout, Fogg travels by train, steamship, sailboat, sledge, and even elephant to win the extraordinary wager, overcoming storms, kidnappings, natural disasters, Sioux attacks, and the hot pursuit of dogged Inspector Fix of Scotland Yard-who believes that Fogg has robbed the Bank of England. Around the World in Eighty Days gripped audiences on its publication and remains hugely popular, combining exploration, adventure, and a thrilling race against time.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The reason Verne is still read by millions today is simply that he was one of the best storytellers who ever lived.”—Arthur C. Clarke


From the Trade Paperback edition. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

Shocking his stodgy colleagues at the exclusive Reform Club, enigmatic Englishman Phileas Fogg wagers his fortune, undertaking an extraordinary and daring enterprise to circumnavigate the globe in eighty days. With his French valet Passepartout in tow, Verne's hero traverses the far reaches of the earth, all the while tracked by the intrepid Detective Fix, a bounty hunter certain he is on the trail of a notorious bank robber.

Combining exploration, adventure, and a thrilling race against time, AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS gripped audiences upon its original publication and remains hugely popular to this day. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); Mti edition (May 4, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0143034456
• ISBN-13: 978-0143034452
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,470,485 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best and newest translation of the book available., June 14, 2004

By 

Claude Avary "West Coast Reader" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Around the World in Eighty Days (movie tie-in) (Paperback)

Although it has a cover for the 2004 movie version of the book, this translation of "Around the World in 80 Days" ("Le tour du monde en quartre-vingts jours") by Jules Verne isn't just a quickly recycled old edition with a new cover slapped on it. It is a complete new translation by Michael Glencross that fixes the mistakes and sloppy translations found in most others editions -- many of them more than fifty years old and continuously clumped out on the market. Verne deserves better, and here it is. Doing comparisons with some of the other editions that I own shows how superior and well-thought out Glencross's translation is. He includes many pages of endnotes as well. The endnotes are valuable for the modern reader to navigate some of Verne's references, as well as understanding his attitude and his world. The notes also contain information on the translation choices that Glencross made. This edition will immensely increase your enjoyment of one of the most popular and perenially enjoyable stories of adventure and technology ever written.

"Around the World in 80 Days" was first published in book form in 1973, and quickly became a worldwide bestseller. Jules Verne is today considered principally a science-fiction writer, but many of his books were straightforward travelogues. This novel takes the travelogue concept to its extreme, sending the hero on a blistering tour of the world.

And what a hero! Phileas Fogg, a British gentleman and member of the Reform Club, who lives his life in exact measurements, takes a bet at his club that he cannot travel around the world along a designated route in less than eighty days. Fogg takes the bet, and takes along his faithful (and bewildered) French servant Passepartout. Trailing after Fogg is Detective Inspector Fix, who believes Fogg is a bank robber escaping with an extraordinary sum. Along the journey, the beautiful Indian lady Mrs. Aouda joins up with the remarkable Mr. Fogg.

Fogg uses nearly every form of transportation known at the time to make his rapid circumnavigation of the globe: "steamships, railways, carriages, yachts, commercial vessels, a sledge and an elephant." Along the way he has extraordinary adventures: Sioux attacks, collapsed bridges, death cults, nail-biting delays (even one missed connection and the trip will fail), kidnappings, rescues, and some incredibly innovative quick-thinking. And Jules Verne offers us a pretty nifty education as Fogg and Passepartout, along with the Mrs. Aouda and the determined Inpsector Fix, make their tour of the world. Mr. Fogg may not have time to look at the sites, but the reader gets a delightful look at the world of the 1870s, from England, to India, to the Red Sea, to Japan, to Hong Kong, to San Francisco, to the American frontier.

Although "20,000 Leagues under the Sea" is Verne's greatest novel, "Around the World in 80 Days" is his breeziest and funniest. Verne's French wit and observations are sometimes screamingly funny. Take this great deadpan statement from the train trip across the U.S.: "Given the carefree attitude of the Americans, you can be sure that when they start getting cautious, then there really is cause for concern." Even the chapter titles are often hilarious: "Phileas Fogg travels the whole length of the wonderful valley of the Ganges without thinking it worth a look," and "Passepartout receives a lecture on Mormon history while traveling at a speed of twenty miles per hour." In Phileas Fogg, Verne created a wonderful caricature and epitome of the perfect English gentleman. Fogg is one of the great, unforgettable heroes of European literature.

If you're itching to read "Around the World in 80 Days" -- and with all its humor, adventure, romance, and information, you should be scratching yourself like crazy to read it -- or re-read it for the first time in many years, this is the edition to get. Don't let the cover fool you! This is the best translation yet published, and the notes are a great help as well.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Around the world in 80 Days, August 12, 2005

By 

C. Groat "Auburn Fan" (El Paso, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Around the World in Eighty Days (Audio Cassette)

Since I had long ago read this book, I bought its audio version only because Jim Dale is the reader. As he has done with the Harry Potter series, Mr. Dale makes each and every character in the story come alive, presenting you with a delightful mental vision to match the unique voices he provides. Obviously, the story itself is a timeless masterpiece, but Jim Dale is a master performer, both on stage, film, television, AND audio books. Thank you, Mr. Dale! I highly recommend this version of this classic adventure.

3.0 out of 5 stars Around the World in 80 Days, September 30, 2004

By 

Rachel Greene (Knoxville, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Around the World in Eighty Days (movie tie-in) (Paperback)

A journey around the world must be made in 80 days, or else, on December 21st at eight forty-five p.m., Phileas Fogg will lose 20,000 pounds. This doesn't seem at all difficult in modern time, but was terribly hard, probably impossible, in 1872. Around the World in 80 Days is great for fans of historical fiction.
Phileas Fogg sets off from England with a bag full of clothes and his French servant, Passepartout. Phileas Fogg is an odd character, an older man who is very precise and never takes a step more than necessary. He shows no emotion, but is not always cold hearted. Passepartout is loyal, and never questions Phileas Fogg's decisions. The characters are not very clearly described, but their actions are very easy to imagine.
Jules Verne was born in Nantes, France, in 1828. He began his career as an author in 1863, at the age of 35. He wrote man successful books, which were given the collective title " Extraordinary journeys into the Known and Unknown Worlds." Among them are Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, and Around the World in 80 days. Jules Verne continued to write until his death in 1905.
It's an interesting read, because you can compare things to modern day items. If you're confused about what something is, there is a glossary in the back. I personally got slightly board with the repetitiveness of how Phileas Fogg always paid off any obstacles that slowed him down.