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    Around the World in Eighty Days
    Around the World in Eighty Days
    Around the World in Eighty Days
    Ebook250 pages3 hours

    Around the World in Eighty Days

    By Jules Verne

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    "All right," said Mr. Fogg; and, turning to the others, he continued: "I have a deposit of twenty thousand at Baring's which I will willingly risk upon it."

    "Twenty thousand pounds!" cried Sullivan. "Twenty thousand pounds, which you would lose by a single accidental delay!"

    "The unforeseen does not exist," quietly replied Phileas Fogg. And with that Phileas Fogg was off on one of the most famous and wonderful adventures of all time. Join him as he has one adventure after another, attempting to do the nearly impossible.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWilder Publications, Inc.
    Release dateJun 10, 2015
    ISBN9781633842991
    Author

    Jules Verne

    Victor Marie Hugo (1802–1885) was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement and is considered one of the greatest French writers. Hugo’s best-known works are the novels Les Misérables, 1862, and The Hunchbak of Notre-Dame, 1831, both of which have had several adaptations for stage and screen.

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    Reviews for Around the World in Eighty Days

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    • 4/5
      A fast-paced adventure dripped with cliches and humor - I listened to the audio read by Jim Dale and it was a lovely way to spend an afternoon.
    • 5/5
      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?
    • 4/5
      This was another very abridged version ( 1-disc audio) of a classic, but fairly enjoyable & not too awfully hard to follow for someone who's not familiar with the story (me). It moves quickly & you have to follow along closely throughout or you'll miss something, but a nice story overall.
    • 1/5
      Fine, if you're twelve years old. Unfortunately, I'm not.
    • 4/5
      Very entertaining, though Verne has a couple of facts wrong- Smith, the founder of the Mormon faith was from NY, not Vermont, and a mango defintely doesn't have white flesh! I love the adventure in this book and the different temperaments of the main characters.
    • 3/5
      This novel is light and entertaining for the most part. A delightful romp around the world, some fantastical adventures, all in the company of Philias Fogg and his valet, Passepartout. Let's see, a maiden snatched from being sacrificed, opium dens in China, daring adventures with Indians in the United States......quite a busy journey. The characters are all stereotyped by ethnicity, even if tongue-in-cheek, and the end was predictable from almost the beginning. It was okay.
    • 5/5
      Reading this as an adult, I realise how oddly written it is. Most of it is told at such a high level that critical scenes are reported to the reader rather than shown. As a result the pace rips along. Sometimes I wanted Verne to slow down and give me more detail, but he never does; everything is sacrificed to pace. It's story story story and you're slightly isolated from the characters. Which is interesting because the characters are all isolated in some way by a lack of communication; Passepartout doesn't tell Fogg about Fix's true identity, Fix isn't who he says he is, Aouda doesn't tell Fogg about her feelings and Fogg hardly says a word to anyone. A most strange book and thoroughly enjoyable.
    • 2/5
      At no point does Phileas Fogg or Passepartout get in an air balloon. Lies, all lies.
    • 5/5
      A super fun adventure. Following dutiful, straight-laces, prompt and no-nonsense Phileas Fogg around the world through exotic and strange places is almost too funny to bear. Amazing, quick, and to the hilarious point. Clever!
    • 5/5
      Jules Verne is considered one of the early authors of the sci-fi genre. While Around the World in Eighty Days may not immediately fit our mold of "science fiction", when you figure that this was originally written in 1873, the science involved is pretty significant even if it is all based on accurate science rather than fanciful imaginations. Prior to reading, I knew the basic story and characters but not much more than that. Eccentric and meticulously orderly Phileas Fogg places a bet with members of his social club that he can travel around the world in 80 days. The date is chosen based on a loose claim listed in the newspaper based on the outlined timetables for trains and ships.The first thing I found interesting was the character of Phileas Fogg. Based solely on my knowledge of the plot, I had expected him to be some wild and crazy madcap character with all sorts of outrageous behavior. Instead, Verne spends the first many pages showing us that Fogg is very much a creature of habit with ordinary behaviors. If anything, Fogg is a bit boring as a character. He has a precise daily and weekly schedule dictating when he wakes, when he sleeps, when he eats and everything he does in between. He doesn't have any extravagant hobbies or pastimes and doesn't do much of anything to engage in social events of the day. His flippant and sudden placing of the bet seems out of character and is quickly followed by quick adaptation to a new schedule as he immediately rushes home from his club, packs a quick bag, grabs his servant and proceeds to his first destination. Even in his quick trip, we seldom see him Fogg rushing or impetuous in any way. He is the picture of calm even as his trip faces adversity.As a contrast to Fogg, his servant Passepartout is a very emotional character full of as much passion and frustration as Fogg is full of calm. Passepartout is stymied by his master's wager but rushes along with him on the adventure, excited to see the world. He is dismayed as he realizes that the whirlwind tour will result primarily in him seeing the cabins of ships or trains and very little of the world they're passing through. With each obstacle that comes their way, Passepartout practically shrieks in frustration and really adds to the sense of suspense and tension in the adventure. He is a great counter to Fogg's character and really helped make the book more entertaining.Beyond the effects of nature or problems with transportation, the main obstacle facing Fogg is Inspector Fix from Scotland Yard. The Bank of England has recently been robbed by a man matching Fogg's description. When set alongside Fogg's erratic change in behavior and his willingness to throw insane sums of money at ship's captains and train engineer's, there is a very strong argument that Fogg could be the thief. Verne very carefully keeps details of the robbery hidden and makes sure that we are closely aligned with Fix's prejudices and beliefs. I had a hard time deciding whether or not Fogg was truly the bank thief or if it was merely an unfortunate coincidence. The interactions with Fix are humorous but distanced. Fix is waiting for his arrest warrant to arrive and until then he tries to stay just out of site of Fogg while also delaying his progress so that the warrant will catch up with them and allow an arrest to be made. The entire situation leads to some rather funny encounters.I really enjoyed the meticulous way in which Verne outlines the voyage. We sit with Fogg as he consults timetables and records his progress. There is a very careful accounting of days, weeks and hours. Alongside this, and usually alongside Passepartout rather than Fogg, Verne presents some fun narrative and adventures that give insight into a variety of different locations and cultures. For the late 19th century this was surely a lot of the novelty and appeal of the story. Even in the 21st century I applaud his presentation of these distant cultures. The technology and ideas are a bit dated, but there is still a sense of wonder, education and enjoyment that goes beyond the years.My biggest complaint comes in the final section of the novel.SPOILER ALERT - this next paragraph contains a spoiler about Fogg's eventual completion of his tripWhen Fogg finally returns to London after overcoming numerous obstacles in amazing ways, he is distraught. Upon consulting his trusty notebook, he finds that he is at exactly 80 days. However, the wager included a TIME of day to ensure the voyage was completed in precisely 80 days of 24 hours. Unfortunately it looks as though Fogg has arrived a few minutes late. Rather than return to the club and consult his friends and concede defeat, Fogg returns home with his companions and goes to sleep. The next day he mopes about most of the day and then later sends Passepartout on an errand. Passepartout returns frantically informing his master that an error has been made and TODAY is the end of the wager and that if Fogg hurries, he can make it to the club in time. Fogg races through the streets to arrive at the club and win the bet. The reason for the miscalculation is presented by Verne essentially as the fact that Fogg traveled Eastward around the globe and crossed the "date line" effectively losing a calendar day and traveling a full 24-hours for free. This is all well and good and scientifically sound...where the problem breaks down for me is the fact that the original bet included a DATE on which Fogg should return. And every leg of the journey, Fogg is consulting time tables many times involving identifying the day and date that a transport will depart. Even as Fogg leaves the East coast of the U.S., day numbers are presented. As such, the exact DATE is perfectly known to Fogg and his companions. Thus, even if he did tally off 81 "days" of 24 hours in his notebook, it would have been VERY clear that they were right on time simply by consulting the timetables, the newspaper or any other item that they frequently looked at. The twist/surprise ending was entertaining but the logic of it fell apart for me.END OF SPOILEROverall I really enjoyed the story. It was a fun adventure with some great details and wonderful characters. The writing was engaging and the plot was a lot of fun. As I mentioned before, even though aspects of the science and technology are certainly dated (after all, you can now travel around the world in a single day), they are a joy to read and make me want to seek out more books from this father of science fiction.*****4.5 out of 5 stars
    • 5/5
      Around the World in 80 Days is Jules Verne’s classic adventure story. One evening at the Reform Club, Phileas Fogg “impulsively” bets his companions £20,000 that he can travel around the entire globe in just eighty days. Breaking the very well-established routine of his daily life (one could say compulsive), the Fogg immediately sets off for Dover, accompanied by his servant Passepartout. Travelling by train, steamship, sailing boat, sledge and even elephant, they must overcome storms, kidnappings, natural disasters, Sioux attacks and the dogged Inspector Fix of Scotland Yard - who believes that Fogg has robbed the Bank of England - to win the wager. The story is simple and fun, though for the modern reader one may be surprised by the bias of the main character—particularly towards the natives of India. In addition I found that the main character for me was Passepartout—a wonderfully funny character—who in many ways really saves the day. But in the end we also see the growth of the character Fogg, who begins to see the importance of friendship and love above his usual concerns of reserve and punctuality. He is willing to lose his bet in order to personally help a friend, and he doesn’t care about defeat because he has won the hand of the woman he loves. I actually listened to the novel being read by Jim Dale (of Harry Potter fame)—which made this novel even more enjoyable. 4 ½ out of 5 stars.
    • 4/5
      FYI, I read this book using Daily Lit. The book was emailed to me in installments.This was a quick and fun read. Unlike many classics, Verne doesn't bother with fat language. The plot moves quickly, the characters are likeable, and the adventure is fun. Recommended.
    • 5/5
      Philease Fogg makes a hasty and rash bet of 20,000 pounds that he can travel around the world in 80 days. He immediately sets off, dragging his newly hired servant Passpartout along for the journey. He meets with many adventures and possible delays that risk preventing him from reaching his destination in time, including Fix, a detective who has mistaken Fogg for a bank robber.The film versions of this books often make this story more exotic and fantastical than it really is, turning Fogg into some sort of an inventor, who sets off in his journey in an air balloon. But Fogg uses regular means of travel in this books, ships, trains, and even on elephant, but there are no balloons. Verne did pen another adventure story, called Five Weeks in a Balloon, in which travels travel across Africa in a hot air balloon (this is on my list to read).That being said, I enjoyed Around the World immensely. Because the book was orginally written as a serial, the chapters are each vignette in which Fogg and his companions meets an obstacle and then over comes it. Verne's characters are something like caricatures, but the have enough depth to be fully entertaining.This is only the second book of Verne's that I have read, but he is fast becoming one of my favorite authors.
    • 3/5
      In what is a very odd case of cognitive dissonance, the plot of the Jackie Chan movie (which bears very little resemblance to the original here) actually makes more sense than the book. However, this is an entertaining travelogue with wacky characters and a crazy plot. Think of it as the "classics" version of a non-sensical thriller.
    • 3/5
      Although I like the premise--going around the world. However, it felt more like Verne portraying England as amazing and everywhere else...not. This includes showing barbaric rituals and getting into fights as soon as he sets foot on US soil.

      I think that might be the only thing I got out of this book: England rocks, English colonies, better than non English colonies but not as good as England itself...and America...really lame.
    • 3/5
      A very fun Victorian adventure - with all the baggage that entails. It's a cliché, but I do wish that I had read this earlier or during a more stressful part of my life. As it was, I didn't really engage with it very well. While it was certainly well executed, I'm still kind of surprised that this one made it on to the 1001. Mostly because when I think of Jules Verne I think of science fiction and this is one of his least scientific works. Of course Verne himself spends this entire book praising the English when he was French. So nothing is quite what you expect.
    • 4/5
      London, 1872Huset, Saville Row nr 7, Burlington Gardens, beboes af Phileas Fogg, esq. En excentrisk, men elskværdig og rig engelsk gentleman med en vældig kapabel og gesvindt fransk tjener Jean med tilnavnet Passepartout. Tjeneren er et nyt bekendtskab for den anden oktober om morgenen afskedigede han sin tjener, James Forster, fordi denne havde bragt ham barbervand, der holdt 80 Gr. Fahrenheit i stedet for 90. Passepartout er på sin side begejstret for at tjene en rolig og systematisk herre som Fogg. Der kommer dog hurtigt noget på tværs.Fogg er medlem af Reformklubben i London og da han er meget vidende om geografi og rejser, roder han sig ud i et væddemål om at rejse Jorden rundt på 80 dage. Anledningen til væddemålet er en diskussion om en gentleman, der har nappet £55000 fra banken og gjort både dem og sig selv usynlig.Fogg holder £20000 på at Jorden er blevet så meget mindre i vor tid at man både i teori og praksis kan nå turen på 80 dage. Fem af vennerne fra Reformklubben: Stuart, Fallentin, Sullivan, Flanagan og Ralph holder tilsvarende hver £4000 imod.Efter at have spillet sit parti kort færdigt, tager Fogg hjem og fortæller Passepartout at de skal på en rejse Jorden rundt og afrejser om 10 minutter mod Dover og Calais. Passepartout pakker som befalet en vadsæk og er klar til tiden. Han har altid sit familieur på sig og insisterer på at det viser tiden rigtigt uanset at tidszonerne skifter under rejsen. Desværre har han også erindringen om at have glemt at slukke gassen i sit kammer, inden han gik ud af døren.En meget nidkær men fantasiløs opdagelsesbetjent, Fix, har sat sig i hovedet at Fogg er identisk med banktyven og rejser efter i håb om at kunne arrestere ham. Rejsen går Fix imod. De kommer omkring Brindisi, Suez, Bombay, Calcutta, Singapore, Honkong, Yokohama, St. Francisco, Newyork, Liverpool, og London, og hver gang er Fix ikke lige i stand til at slå en klo i Fogg. Han gør sig gode venner med Passepartout på vejen til Indien.En del af vejen i Indien er de nødt til at tilbagelægge på en dertil dyrt indkøbt elefant, men undervejs redder de Mrs. Aouda fra enkebrændingens bål.I Calcutta står Fix klar med en anklage, men Fogg stiller £2000 som kaution og tager videre. Fix følger efter og Passepartout får en ide om at Fix er udsendt af Reformklubben for at checke at alt går rigtigt til. I Hongkong toner Fix dog rent flag ved at fortælle Passepartout at han er politiagent, men han drikker ham også under bordet og giver ham lidt opium at ryge oveni!Fogg, Mrs. Aouda og stakkels Passepartout bliver agterudsejlet, men Fogg får fat i en (for lille) båd og stikker til Japan i den. En tyfon hjælper Tangadére på vej mod Shanghai. Imens har Passepartout faktisk skaffet sig om bord i Carnatic, men uden Fogg. Passepartout tager job som fransk klovn, men løber af pladsen, da Fogg dukker op. Via Shanghai har Fogg indhentet damperen til Yokohama og her genforenes han med Passepartout.Yokohama - San Francisco sker med hjuldamperen "General Grant". Fix og Passepartout slutter våbenhvile, for Fix er nu interesseret i at få Fogg tilbage på engelsk jord og vil gerne lette vejen. De tager tog fra San Francisco til New York og når lige over en faldefærdig jernbanebro i bedste stumfilmsstil.En duel mellem en amerikaner, Oberst Proctor og Fogg bliver afbrudt af et indianerangreb. Passepartout er dagens helt og redder alle, men bliver selv taget til fange. Han bliver befriet og via en gang issejllads indhenter de igen forsinkelsen. En Jerndamper "Henrietta" bliver hyret til turen til England og så går turen ellers mod Liverpool efter et lille raskt mytteri ombord. I Liverpool arresterer Fix hr. Phineas Fogg og får ham smidt i fængsel.Det er lidt trist, da man i mellemtiden har afsløret en hr. James Strard som Banktyven. Fogg giver Fix en omgang bank og forsøger at nå til London i tide, men forgæves. Imidlertid finder han og Mrs. Aouda ud af at de vil giftes og undervejs i arrangementet af dette, viser det sig at de har regnet en dag for sent.Alt ender i lykke og gammen.Herlig historie.
    • 3/5
      Finally read this - I think I read it before, many many years ago, but the only thing I remember was the end, not any of their travels. It's mildly interesting, but not much to it - actually, the most interesting part is that the "hero" is not the POV character. We get scenes from Passepartout, a few from Fix, a few from Aouda - but Phileas Fogg is seen only from the outside. The closest we come to knowing what's going on with him is a few scenes where the author "watches" him, recounting what he's doing, and speculating on what he's thinking and feeling - and we never get any idea why he'd make the bet in the first place. A very odd twist. But overall, it reads like the world's longest shaggy dog story - chapter after chapter after chapter just to say "and he didn't know he'd lost a day!" Of course, in reality, he would have noticed the day change as soon as the liner landed in America and he was taking a train. And given they missed the liner from the East Coast by less than a day...the whole last section with burning the ship may have been utterly unnecessary. It's an amusing story, I'm glad I've finally read it, and I see no need to ever read it again.
    • 4/5
      My most recent installment book was Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne which was originally published in 1873 and I think it has definitely aged well. The story is told in a simple straightforward style, and the various global adventures move the story along at a rapid pace. The plot is a little silly yet the book comes together nicely and before too long the reader finds himself involved in the story and rooting for the participants. The characters are distinct and well developed from the routine-obsessed, uptight yet cool main character who travels around the world based on a bet from some of the gentlemen at his club, to the sympathetic French manservant who is loyal, smart and a very good gymnast. Even the lesser developed characters of Aouda, the Indian lady, to Fix, the stalking policeman, are colourful and add to the story. Around the World in Eighty Days is light, fun and makes for great escape reading. A little dated, to be sure, but overall a very good read.
    • 3/5
      Interesting story from a historical perspective. Definitely not something that could be written today.
    • 3/5
      Ok boring at points
    • 3/5
      I have no idea if I’ve read this before – I don’t think so, but it’s hard to tell since I’ve seen versions of the films enough times over the decades to know the story. Except, well, they’re not the story. I don’t think any of the movies I’ve seen – I can think of two, off the top of my head, one starring David Niven and the other Steve Coogan – are at all faithful to the book. Yes, Phineas Fogg accepts a challenge to travel around the world in eighty days. Yes, he thinks he’s failed, only to discover that by travelling east he has gained a day. Yes, he has adventures along the way, and even rescues a young woman who becomes his wife at the end of the book. But in the novel, he meets her in India, when he rescues her from suttee. And I don’t recall a Scotland Yard detective on Fogg’s trail for much of his travels – he believes Fogg stole £50,000 shortly before leaving London. And the final section, in which a desperate Fogg, Passepartout, Fix and Aouda race across the USA to catch a ship to Liverpool… the big set-piece is driving a train over a damaged bridge at high speed so the bridge doesn’t collapse under it. Much of the prose is larded with geography lessons, and while Verne’s didactism is one of the more charming aspects of his novels, here it seems overdone. True, I’m coming at the book more than a century later, as a member of a society considerably better-informed about world geography, and a highly-educated member of that society with an interest in other countries… So much of the exposition was superfluous as far as I was concerned. Further, Fogg’s characterisation as unemotional and po-faced hardly made him a sympathetic protagonist. Perhaps Verne intended this so the reader would indeed think Fogg was the bank robber, but it only made him feel like he had zero depth. Unfortunately, I’m not convinced, from what I remember, that the film adaptations are especially superior. The book is, I suspect, the best version of the story. Which is a bit of a shame.
    • 5/5
      So much fun! Phileas Fogg has definitely become one of my favorite characters of fiction ever, and Jules Verne proves to be far more interesting than I expected. I will definitely be looking into his other Voyages Extraordinaires.
    • 4/5
      As I recall this book was a lot of fun! Oddly enough I have yet to see either of the movies, but the original Mike Todd one is "in my queue." Because of my lack of interest in "hard science fiction" it's the only Jules Verne book I've read, but it appears he was a good storyteller based on that.
    • 5/5
      I love Jules Verne. He's a ton of fun to read. The adventure stuff is fun, of course, but he also creates awesome characters. Nemo's probably his best-known, but the supremely phlegmatic Phineas Fogg of this book is nearly as memorable. His complete disinterest in exploring the places he passes through is sortof anathema to me, but maybe that's what makes him so fascinating; when I think of traveling around the world, it's with the purpose of seeing it, whereas he sees the entire thing simply as a series of obstacles to be overcome. It's remarkable in its pointlessness; at the end of the trip he has gained no money and experienced little of the cultures he's passed through. He made the trip solely to prove he could do it. (Sure, there's that one gain he seems pleased by at the end, but he hardly planned for that, so it has to be removed as a motive.)

      The only thing I remembered about this story was that the climax involves a hot air balloon, which turns out not to be true. So that was a surprise.

      ps phlegmatic is my new word. This book taught it to me. I'm gonna use it all the time. Sweet.
    • 4/5
      Essentially light-hearted tale about a trip taken on a wager. The translation conveyed or possibly enhanced the humour.
    • 3/5
      Jim Dale (narrator of the Harry Potter series) really helped bring to life this classic adventure novel. Admittedly, I've never read the book or seen any of the movie adaptations, so I didn't know what to expect. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that there was no hot air balloon scene?! The most iconic book covers and images have always portrayed Phileas Fogg in a hot air balloon traveling around the world but, spoiler alert, that is not one of the methods used for transportation. While at his gentleman's club Fogg takes a bet that he can go round the world in 80 days. A precise, mathematical, and intelligent man, Fogg has no doubt that it can be done so he bets his life savings. Armed with only a small travel sack and his trusty French manservant, the two of them depart on the biggest adventure of their lives. Exotic adventures await them in China, India, Hong Kong, crossing the oceans, and America. Can Fogg really pull it off? And why is there a British man tailing him on this journey? A fun read for all ages. Admittedly, a little outdated in terms of racism and stereotypes of other religions and cultures, but it must be remembered that Jules Verne was viewing the world the British lens of imperialism at the time.
    • 1/5
      My high hopes for “Around the World in Eighty Days” were dashed in eight chapters or so.Having seen a film of this as a child, I expected a similar amount of fun and adventure, but instead I endured a tedious plot and unappealing characters.
    • 3/5
      Verne's tale of a 19th century Englishman's travels around the world is most notable for its depiction of local cultures now far gone. Often quaint, sometimes humorous and occasionally a bit too dated for the modern reader. Hardly a great work, but still a fun read.
    • 4/5
      I read this classic without actually knowing anything about it other than title and author. The adventure aspect was more or less what I expected, but the humor was quite unexpected, and much appreciated. Passepartout, and to a lesser degree Detective Fix, provide a constant stream of humor throughout the novel.Phileas Fogg has made a bet with the members of his "gentleman's club" that he can circumnavigate the world and be back in the club within 80 days. Setting off with his newly hired valet, Passepartout, he is followed by Detective Fix, who is certain that Mr Fogg has robbed the bank of England and is seeking escape.This is not a classic in the sense of having any profound themes, symbolism or hidden meanings. It is a light, humorous, fun adventure story, well told.(Minor spoiler note: Look at the many cover art options available in Library Thing. Many of them feature balloons... one of the few modes of transport never mentioned in the book at all! The cover that best illustrates the book is actually the Apple Classics children's version for Scholastic.)

    Book preview

    Around the World in Eighty Days - Jules Verne

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