Around the World in Eighty Days

By Jules Verne

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. Set from the text of George M. Towle’s original 1873 translation, this Modern Library Paperback Classic of Verne’s adventure novel comes vividly alive, brilliantly reflecting on time, space, and one man’s struggle to reach beyond the bounds of both science and society.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Dec 27, 2005
• ISBN: 9780553902211

Jules Verne

Jules Verne (1828-1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. Verne is considered a major French and European author, as he has a wide influence on avant-garde and surrealist literary movements, and is also credited as one of the primary inspirations for the steampunk genre. However, his influence does not stop in the literary sphere. Verne’s work has also provided invaluable impact on scientific fields as well. Verne is best known for his series of bestselling adventure novels, which earned him such an immense popularity that he is one of the world’s most translated authors.

Reviews for Around the World in Eighty Days

[chr0nicxb0red0m · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Having first read Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne, this one started out rather disappointing. Deciding to push through the rough beginning of the book, it proved to be gathering momentum. About halfway through, the book becomes less about character development and travel, and more about adventure. It was at this point which I started to enjoy the read, and found it very difficult to put down for the remainder. Though it started out slow, it had quite an unexpected and exciting finish, earning it my four stars. I would recommend this book.

[trickbooks_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'd listen to almost anything read by Jim Dale. His soothing voice and amazing ability to portray characters makes it a joy.As to the text, Verne's classic tale is somewhat dated and very different from what we've come to expect based on modern film versions. Indeed, despite the cover art, I was surprised to learn the Fogg never travels in a hot air balloon. As an audiobook, this is a gem.

[blenny_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I wanted to like this book more than I did. I was going to give it a rating of two and a half stars halfway through the book, but two thirds of the way through, the excitement was turned up a notch. The story meanders along for a while with peaks and troughs; some phases exciting but some rather dull. It then starts to really pick up and I found myself turning the pages faster and faster as Verne built up the tension in the story. There are some really nice ideas in Jules Verne's work, but he isn't consistent in his storytelling as he tends to get bogged down with small and sometimes insignificant details. A Journey To The Centre Of The Earth is by far his best novel.

[elizajane_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read this book for the first as a read-aloud to my son when he was about 12. We were rivetted, on the edge of our seats. Excitement and humour, a must read.

[ritsumei_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It was a fun read, but the presentation of Mormons is completely inaccurate and misleading.

[missbecki_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book! It was the first Jules Verne book I ever read, and it well deserves to be known as a classic. The characters are silly, but still so human that you can relate to them, and the ending was so exciting that my heart was literally beating faster.

[williamcostiganjr · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Probably a good book for kids, but reading it for the first time as an adult it really doesn't do it. It is SO cartoonish and the characters so outlandish that I stopped after about 40 pages.

[mahmoodaamer · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

excelent book to read i also wish to travel around the world but not only in eighty days

[prop2gether · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great fun to read, although the cover is incorrect (showing camels). Interesting to note because the Barnes and Noble book jackets talks about the "wrongness" of the balloon in the Fifties film version. Fast paced, full of action, and why did I not read it years ago!

[danowins · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A wonderful adventure story. This story, much like many of Verne's others, captures the imagination and lets the reader simply enjoy a good story. Every story might have a little something to teach us, or a little bit of a moral, but the adventures of Phileas Fogg are, to me, nothing more than a darn good story. It reminds me of a time when I could read for pleasure without having to expect a conspiracy, or to discover some hidden truth. Verne tells a story that often includes all the latest in technological advances, as was his style, but he seems to have no other desire but to entertain. It is often hard to read a "classic" due to the tendancy for a "classic" to be rather dated. Thie piece by Verne, though perhaps dated just a bit, is a classic for the best reason: it entertains!

[hamburgerclan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is one of those classics that I should have read, but somehow managed to miss. Set in the 19th Century, it tells the tale of Phileas Fogg, an English gentleman who makes a bet that he can circumnavigate the world in only 80 days. 'Tis child's play in these days, but a major feat back then. Accompanied by his servant, Passepartout, and unknowingly pursued by one Detective Fix, Mr. Fogg makes his way around the globe. The question is, will he finish his journey in time? This one is one that has earned a place on my shelf.--J.

[clurb · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My favourite of all Verne's stuff. Fast paced, funny and exciting.

[soylentgreen23 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

You know the story and so forth, but what you might not know (unless you are psychic or I already told you) is that this book had a life-changing effect on me.One has to read the right books at the right time, especially in childhood. Frankly, one has to read in childhood - this point is critical. I read this beautiful little novel, and for a time the world lay stretched out before me, a perfect little world full of adventure just waiting to be explored.The more I think about it, the more I'm sure that it was this book that caused me to become so obsessed with travel. I've always dreamt of far-away places, and having read this book during my formative years, and having loved every page, there's a strong possibility that I owe Verne my very ambitions. Thank you, sir.

[michael_rose-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If your idea of this story is based on the Jackie Chan bullshit, I feel sorry for you. Even the original film depiction isn't wholly accurate, and misses some interesting parts. As Michael Palin proved, the journey (when limited to the modes of travel then available, and along the same course) is actually possible, if extremely difficult. There were times when I would root for Phileas Fogg and Passepartout, mostly in encounters with dicks like Detective/Inspector Fix. I never looked down upon Passepartout, and his encounter with Mormons was fucking hilarious. Phileas Fogg, however, is snobbish to the extreme, with jingoistic sense of ultra Britishness (though his rescue of Aouda wasn't of that sort, and actually quite brave). He was never a bad person, he just needed to get over himself — which, thanks to Aouda, he starts to do at the novel's end.

[nx74defiant · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Despite the idea of a hot air balloon ride being so associated the story in most peoples' minds there is no hot air balloon ride in the actual book.Phileas Fogg remains completely calm through out the story.His servant Passepartout is the much more emotional. Passepartout is the person I identified with throughout the story.

[kale.dyer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The imperturbable Mr Fogg traverses the world in 80 days all while upholding the grandest tradition of English stiff-upper-lipedness. Not really sure why this is on the 1001 list.

[sarbow · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a fun book filled with out-dated stereotypes, unlikely luck and a kick-ass ending. It should be required reading for travel students everywhere ;)

[kendrarenee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

a great adventure story about one Englishman's journey around the world at a time when only train and ships were available as means of transport.

[jasonpettus · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)A couple of years ago, when I did a write-up of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for the "CCLaP 100" essay series, I heard from a number of his fans that part of the reason I found it rather lackluster was because of the free but ancient translation I had read, and that Verne is one of those cases where it really pays to seek out and even purchase the most recent translations that you can find. And that's because it's only been in literally the last 20 or 30 years, since genre work has really started gaining academic respect, that we've even wanted to go back and explore the beginnings of things like science-fiction or crime novels, and to apply a scholarly eye to such original material; but for a century before that, the dozens of fantastical titles put out by someone like Verne were considered by most to be the literary version of throwaway kiddie shows, pumped out quickly and cheaply to soon part an adolescent from his allowance money at the corner drugstore on a Saturday afternoon, and usually translated on the fly by overworked copyeditors who could care less if they were successfully capturing the subtleties of the original text.So I was glad to recently come across Amazing Journeys: Five Visionary Classics by Jules Verne, a new collection of some of his most famous novels, edited and translated by the quite obvious slavish fan and full-time scholar Frederick Paul Walter, put out in a plain but professional oversized edition and containing all the books' original illustrations. And indeed, as I learned while reading through these 'Anglicized' new translations (i.e. they feature standard measurements and Fahrenheit temperatures), Verne's work at its best contained a kind of dry humor and political awareness that we in the English-speaking world rarely equate with the French speculative pioneer, with dialogue that's not nearly as histrionic as we've come to think of it in books like these, which to be fair really were pumped out originally on a fairly quick basis mostly for the amusement of children and the working class, a series of 54 novels known as the "Extraordinary Voyages" that publisher Jules Hetzel built an entire little commercial empire around, and just like today with most of the duo's revenue coming not from the books themselves but rather the lucrative traveling stage adaptations that were often made of them. And in fact, a full reading of Verne's entire oeuvre remains a personal challenge that I will only tackle much later in life if at all, so I decided not to read even the full five tales collected here, and especially like I said since I had already read 20,000 Leagues and didn't relish the thought of slogging through the entire thing again.So instead I read just two of the titles in this collection, starting with 1864's Journey to the Center of the Earth, one of Verne's first speculative tales after first being an opera librettist for years, while lying to his father the whole time and claiming that he was establishing a fine career in Paris as a young urban lawyer. And indeed, this early thriller shows off what I consider one of the modern main weaknesses of Verne's work, no matter how good the translation; that many of the fanciful scientific theories he proposed in his books have turned out over the decades to be just flat-out wrong, which means that we no longer have the ability to enjoy his work in the same way his contemporary audience did. (Don't forget, readers in the 1800s thought of Verne not so much as a sci-fi author but more like Michael Crichton, a brilliant futurist writing day-after-tomorrow tales about what life would really be like for their children.) Essentially the tale of an eccentric German professor, his nephew assistant and their silent Icelandic guide, as they literally climb down a volcano and discover a vast continent-sized system of caves below the Earth's surface, complete with their own bodies of water and rainclouds, it's hard not to roll one's eyes when watching our heroes stumble across forgotten dinosaurs and house-sized mushrooms, or ride a lava eruption back out to the surface at the end as if they were Victorian surfers; although the story definitely has its charms as well, especially when thinking of it now as pure fairytale fantasy, and with there being lots to enjoy in the cartoonish stereotypes that come with each of our various characters.Ah, but then after that, I skipped straight to the last story in this collection, and undoubtedly the most famous of Verne's career as well, 1873's Around the World in Eighty Days, which has been made into high-profile films several times now over the years, and which turned out to be a much better reading experience. Basically a gentle satire of British stiff-upper-lip determinism in the height of their Empire years, it starts with a group of upper-class gentlemen at a private London club discussing the latest innovations in world travel, with the reclusive and unflappable Phileas Fogg quietly insisting to his peers that a globe-spanning trip could now be realistically accomplished in a flat 80 days, even wagering what today would be two million dollars on the deal and agreeing to leave on such a journey that very night, armed with nothing but an overnight bag and his loyal French butler. And thus starts a rollicking adventure that indeed takes us around the world, spiced up by a British P.I. in Raj India who mistakes Fogg for a fugitive bank robber and tries to trip up his plans the whole rest of the way, and with the incredible journey involving such details as an elephant ride across central Asia, a sudden alliance with Chinese acrobats, a deliberately planned mutiny on a British sea vessel, a shootout with Native Americans on a train ride across the American Midwest, and a whole lot more. (Although let it be noted that the original book features no hot-air balloons, an invention of Hollywood that has become a famous trope of its own by now.)And in fact, I'm sure that a big reason why this succeeds so much more than Journey to the Center of the Earth is that, unlike the outdated speculative nature of the former, Eighty Days is a faithful and now historical look at just what it was like to really pull off world travel in the late 1800s, the first time in history it became commercially viable for anyone besides pirates and explorers to even do so. (And indeed, just a year before Verne wrote his novel, Thomas Cook led history's very first trip around the world designed specifically for tourists, only in their case taking seven months to complete instead of Verne's three.) And that makes the book charming and fascinating instead of eye-rolling, and especially when adding Verne's astutely funny comments regarding imperial aspirations, and of the self-satisfyingly civilized way the British liked to think of themselves during the height of the Victorian Age. (Unlike his reputation in later movies, much of the humor in the original book comes from the conservative, adventure-hating Fogg maintaining such complete composure in the face of such globetrotting chaos, spending the majority of his 80-day trip not enjoying the scenery but playing an endless series of card games with his fellow steamship and railroad passengers.) And that's a delight to read about even today, no matter how dated the actual mechanics of the story itself. (And in fact, gonzo journalists have been recreating the trip in a period-faithful way almost since the publication of the book itself, from an 1889 newspaper reporter to most recently comedian Michael Palin, just a few years ago for a BBC television mini-series.)So it was nice, I admit, to see what all these Verne fans were talking about, as far as the surprising loveliness of his original texts, that for so long have been hidden from us English speakers by shoddy translations; but also like I said, I'm not sure just how much of a general interest I have in Verne even with the new translations, making a sampler like this nearly perfect for the casual fan. It comes highly recommended, but be prepared for it to be one of those volumes you read in little doses here and there for years to come.Out of 10: 9.1

[gabsan_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

“Around the World in 80 days” by Jules Verne is about the adventures of Mr. Fogg’s and his hired, French, hand Passepartout. After making a bet that he, Mr. Fogg, could make it around the world in 80 days he and Passepartout set out to win. I believe that Jules Verne wrote this book to show how anything is possible and even if something might seem ridiculous at first, things can turn out to be quite an adventure.In the book, Mr. Fogg is often ridiculed and questioned. He still keeps going and ends up saving and meeting Auoda, who he will later marry. Mr. Fogg brings joy because of his easiness and his courage to keep going, even though there were many challenges in his way. With his courage he is able to travel around the world in 80 days and do the unthinkable in that time.Another example would be at this part in the book were Mr. Fogg and Passepartout are charged with thievery. While Passepartout is freaking out, Mr. Fogg stays relax and bails them out. Staying calm and relaxed keeps them on their way and adds a new adventure to their trip. Through this all you’re just hoping that they will keep their heads and keep on their way so that they can arrive on time. The last example would be how at the beginning this bet and trip around the world in 80 days seemed ridiculous but later it brought them this new knowledge of the world and plenty new adventures. On just his belief and faith that they could make it around the world in 80 days made the whole trip possible because it brought fierceness into reaching their goal. In conclusion, this book brings a new idea of sticking to an idea and following it through because in the end you will gain new stories and memories. That is exactly what happens to Mr. Fogg and Passepartout, they stuck to this insane idea and in the end got a garden full of memories.

[meyben_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good book. Great way to travel.

[heliotroped · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm not sure which translation I read (it was the free English one on the Gutenberg Project) but I wasn't really engaged by this. I didn't like the characters, save for Passepartout, and the trip didn't have the suspense or creativity I've come to expect from Verne.

[bryjsmi · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The book "Around the World in 80 Days" by Jules Verne is a decent book. It is very slow in the beginning and has annoying old words. As the story progesses it gets a little better, but still not very good. The book is about a guy (Phileas Fogg) who bets he can make it around the world in 80 days. The book is just a boring account of the stuff he does. This book is very slow and boring and is not recommended to read unless you need to.

[tundra_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I adore this book. It is so delightful. How is it I have never read this book until now? How is it that Jules Verne was, until now, only an author mentioned in Back to the Future that I'd never read?

[rakerman_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I actually found this quite boring.

[matteo1121 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Review of Around the World in Eighty DaysThe book, Around the World in Eighty Days, by Jules Verne is a book about a man named Phileas Fogg who claims that it is possible to travel around the world in eighty days. He then gets challenged to do this himself. This book gets more exciting and dramatic every time you turn the page.One of the main reasons this book keeps you on the edge of your seat is that you don't know if Phileas will be able to make the deadline and win the bet of traveling around the world in eighty days. Also, throughout the course of the book Phileas turns from a cold calculative man, to a more outgoing energetic man. “I say, you do have a heart!' “Sometimes,” he replied, 'When I have the time.” This quote shows that the character is still his old self partly, but he has also transformed into a warmer person. Like many adventures, money is something that drives this story, “A true Englishman doesn't joke when he is talking about so serious a thing as a wager.” That wager is something that enhances the story and makes it more exciting.Jules Verne has produced a number of adventure novels, but none quite like this one. This book shows just how mad adventure can be. If you love adventure novels, you should definitely check this book out. Jules Verne makes adventure come to life in Around the World in Eighty Days.

[shannon_klatt_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A classic, with good reason. There was a certain amount of 'Deus ex machina', but it didn't detract from the enjoyment of the book. I found it interesting how Verne subtly brought up Phileas Fogg's despondency, at the end - it was a while before I clued in as to what Fogg was actually planning to do.While the story was delightful, I have a couple of quibbles with this particular edition:1. It doesn't say who the translator was; and2. I found at least 3 typos in the book. Proofreading!I chose this edition because it had interesting cover art and wasn't full of "book club" questions and endless commentary like most of the others - but the typos were disappointing, and omission of the translator's name baffling to say the least. Those things aside, the story was thoroughly enjoyable, and before I'd finished I was already wanting to read it again. Highly recommended - but try a different edition.

[booksfordinner · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fantastic, so much fun. Can't believe it took this long for me to read this!

[wisewoman_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What a fantastic, thrilling, gripping story this is. What a nail-biter! Filled with fun characters, vivid locations, and a sense of desperate urgency, Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne is deservedly a classic. I listened to this on audiobook read by Jim Dale and enjoyed every minute (except the truly nauseating little talk, added by the publisher, at the end. But I will rant about that later). I was surprised to realize that I had probably never read the unabridged version of this story. I have a vague recollection of one of those Great Illustrated Classics, with a truly terrifying illustration of Passepartout in the opium den. Though I'm familiar with many of Verne's plots, I haven't really sat down with one of his books as an adult reader. I see I will have to rectify that. Phileas Fogg is an eccentric English gentleman who has followed an unvarying pattern — to the minute — for most of his life. He is meticulous down to the temperature of his shaving water, and when his manservant brings him water that is two degrees too cold, Mr. Fogg has no alternative but to fire him. We arrive at the house in Savile Row the day the new servant, Passepartout, is to begin work. Passepartout is delighted at the prospect of a well-ordered, established life, but it is not to be. That very night, Fogg makes a twenty-thousand-pound bet at his club that he can travel around the world in eighty days. To the astonishment of his colleagues, who are well accustomed to his precise and unvarying life, Fogg sets out that very evening on his madcap voyage.There is an interesting correlation between this story and that of Les Misérables; though completely opposite in tone and plot, both feature a legalistic, misled police inspector trailing the hero on all his journeys. Both inspectors step in to wreak ruin upon their quarry at the worst possible moment, and both, in the end, are foiled. That is probably as far as the comparison goes, but isn't it interesting? Les Misérables was published in 1862, and Around the World in Eighty Days in serial form in 1873. I love Verne's descriptions; they are often so wryly humorous. Anyone who thinks classics are boring and slow really ought to read this book. He says that Fogg is "like an incarnation of the god of punctuality," and continually calls Passepartout a "dear fellow." Inspector Fix is also a very humorous and yet well-rounded character. Of Mrs. Aouda, alas, we do not see much.I can't praise Jim Dale's reading enough; it was wonderful. His voices for the characters were superb. The only weakness was his voice for Mrs. Aouda, but it seems a common failing among male actors; they never can get the women's voices so well as the female actors can get the men's. But apart from that small quibble, I loved Dale's interpretation, especially of the beloved Passepartout! I will always hear his slightly breathless, emphatic, strongly accented voice in my head when I think of the character. (I should mention that another thing I love about audiobooks is that I learn how to pronounce all the words and names... Passepartout is pronounced "Paspertoo;" who knew?).And now for the banal little talk at the end, given by the son of the man who started the Listening Library company (now owned by Random House). First off, the poor man's voice is not a pleasure to listen to after Dale's warm, rolling tones. It's nasally, effeminate, and just plain annoying. Even had his script been wonderful, it would have been hard to appreciate, read by that unfortunate voice. And what he says is bad enough on its own account. Does Listening Library commend Verne for being interested in other countries and cultures, for opening new vistas to his readers, and demonstrating a vivid curiosity about the fascinating world around him? Do they praise his enthusiasm for the exotic and share his excitement for the geographical limitations that technology was removing? Oh no. Instead, the publishers chose to disparage his work as "unacceptable" by today's standards in its portrayal of "certain social structures" and "other cultures." Verne, they self-righteously sniff, displays a staggering "naivete" and "lack of appreciation and experience" for the various cultures that his characters encounter. Sure, Verne had an imperfect understanding of the many cultures in his book. Do we, in chronological snobbery, really think our appreciation of every culture and "social structure" so perfect? Actually I was rather disappointed that the publisher did not actually mention the specific issues with the story, preferring rather to take the safe route of vague, lofty accusation. It's a good thing readers are generally intelligent enough to pick out these things for ourselves — where, oh where would we be without Listening Library to mold our minds? And there are textual refutations to their sweeping claims, if they would but condescend to play fair and be specific about what's giving them indigestion.I find it absurd and unfair to judge a historical figure by modern standards. I think if any sermon must be made of the book's relative level of 21st-century political correctness or lack thereof (again, assuming we readers aren't astute enough to pick it out for ourselves), it ought to focus on the themes of the story rather than passing judgment on the author. The cover art for this audiobook is further proof of the publisher's cluelessness. It features a large hot-air balloon... which Phileas Fogg never takes. Verne mentions a balloon for about two seconds as a method of travel that would most certainly not work for Mr. Fogg — and then the cover sports one prominently. *sigh*But I don't want to leave you with all this negativity. The rating I am giving is strictly for the book. Random House/Listening Library's hamfisted approach is such a pity, because the actual production was excellent. I enjoyed the ethnic music that opened each new chapter, and of course Dale was great. And I suppose it's good the publishers didn't excise the parts they didn't like; this is unabridged, after all. But it's a 50th anniversary tribute to Listening Library's first audiobook production, which was this book. It might look bad if they interfered with the actual text itself.If you think you are intelligent enough to perceive ideas that are in alignment with their historical setting (and actually, perhaps, ahead of their time) — if you're sure you won't suddenly morph into a bigot under Verne's pernicious influence — you really ought to give this book a try. It's funny, well written, and adventurous, and you'll enjoy every minute of Phileas Fogg's eighty days around the world. I certainly did. Highly recommended!

[albinorhino_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a very suspenseful, exciting book! This was the first Verne book I've ever read, and he is very good at keeping readers gnawing on their nails at the edge of their seats. The story has humor sprinkled throughout it that had me laughing out loud. I loved it; I know I say this about nearly everything I read, but this truly was a wonderful book!