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

by Jules Verne (Author) "In the year 1872, the house at number 7 Savile Row, Burlington Gardens - the house in which Sheridan died in 1814 - was lived..." (more)
Key Phrases: Phileas Fogg, Hong Kong, Sir Francis Cromarty (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Walt Disney’s star-studded motion picture based on Jules Verne’s classic novel hits theaters in June 2004. Verne’s comic high adventure featuring the exploits of reserved Englishman Phileas Fogg and his hot-blooded manservant Passepartout combines exploration, adventure, and a thrilling race against time—and to this day remains hugely popular.

Jules Verne (1828-1905) was the author of Journey to the Center of the Earth, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and other scientific adventures.

About the Author
Jules Verne (1828–1905) was the author of Journey to the Center of the Earth, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and other scientific adventures.

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: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,481,513 in Books (See Bestsellers 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	Ryan Harvey "Wolf Shadow" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

3.0 out of 5 stars I read this book in 80 days...not really., January 19, 2005

By	Student "Bob" (Cedar Rapids, IA) - See all my reviews

Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne is about a man living in London named Philears Fogg. In the book he makes a bet to go around the world In 80 days. The book tells a lot about his adventures and how he has obstacles in his way. Sounds like fun right? Well if you like TONS of info on everything and moving through the book like an INCH WORM... then this book is for you. I didn't like it that much. The story was fine. I thought it was too long. The book was slow paced, but well thought out. When they got to a new city they never stayed there for long. Verne would tell you a lot about the place and he would leave as soon as he got there. It was also kind of hard to understand because it was written in a context that was a British like.

The book takes you to lots of places and you meet new people. There is an arrest warrant out for Mr. Fogg because of he's wealth. A man by the name of "The Fix" has to try to capture him, so it makes it a fun story. In conclusion, I would have to say I thought the book was fun and detailed but I would not read it again. Maybe if the book was written in the way we talk today I would have enjoyed it more. So out of 5 stars I give it 3.

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

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.