Jules Verne’s famous book Around the World in 80 Days is truly a timeless classic. Detailing the exploits of Phileas Fogg, an eccentric Englishmen whose punctuality is famed and his impassiveness legendary, and his new valet, French former Acrobat Passepartout, who only wants a quiet life to forget his turbulent past. With Fogg’s fabled routine-driven life that you could set you clock by, peace and quiet for Passepartout seems assured. Until, that is, his new Master returns home to announce that, as a result of a wager at the Reform club, of which Fogg is a patron, he finds out that he has twenty minutes to get things ready for a trip – across the globe… in just 80 days.
Adding to the general chaos of the proceedings (though Fogg himself is never chaotic or even slightly perturbed by any delays, much in contrast to the excitable Frenchman), a robbery at the Bank of England along with a description of the robber very similar to Fogg’s description leads Detective Fix to conclude that he is the robber, and that the whole journey around the world and the wager that prompted it is a clever rouse to allow the robber to escape the country without being suspected. The fact that Fogg has vast sums of money at his disposal (of which nobody knows the origin) seems to add weight to his suspicions. But, the arrest warrant not arriving in time, Fix is obliged to follow Phileas Fogg around the world…
Characters
Of Phileas Fogg:
”He was one of the most prominent members of the London Reform Cub, though he never did anything to attract attention; an enigmatic character about who little was known except that he was a polished man of the world. People said that he resembled Byron – at least that his head was Byronic; but he was a bearded, tranquil Byron, who might live on a thousand years without growing old.”
Of Passepartout:
”As for Jean, also known as Passepartout, he was a true Parisian of Paris. For the five years he had lived in England, taking service as a valet, he had in vain searched for a master after his own heart. … His brown hair was somewhat tumbled; for while the ancient sculptors are said to have known eighteen methods of arranging Minerva’s tresses, Passepartout was familiar with but one of fixing his own: three strokes of a large-tooth comb was enough to complete his morning rituals. … Passepartout has been a sort of wanderer in his early years, and now yearned for peace. ”
Of Detective Fix:
”… [a] small, thin man, with a nervous, intelligent face and bright eyes peering out from under eyebrows which he was incessantly twitching.”
There are several other interesting characters in the book, including a damsel in distress who is saved by Fogg and Passepartout, but I won’t go into any detail about them or it might spoil the book for you.
Writing
Verne’s writing, always intriguing and often witty, really comes alive in this book. He exhibits a knowledge of the world and its various peoples, customs, and transport systems that is truly amazing (and would be impressive even today with the information so freely available on the internet) and a writing style that flows much more readily than in some of his more scientifically-minded books. The various jibes made at the expense of different nationalities (and some of the observations that aren’t intended to be funny) would probably be considered extremely politically incorrect by some people today, if taken as part of the cultural atmosphere of the time (the book was first published in 1873) are extremely funny / interesting. (The funniest were the observations about Americans, especially in chapters 28 and 29 – “In which Passepartout does not succeed in making anyone listen to reason” and “In which certain incidents are narrated which are only to be met with on American Railroads”. ”It may be taken for granted that, rash as the Americans usually are, when they are prudent there is good reason for it. … “I afraid! Very well; I will show these people that a Frenchman can be as American as they!”) The story moves along at a jolly pace and never threatens to become too slow, while the characters are developed well (despite occasional changes of heart that aren’t really explained very well). As with any book there are things that could be criticised about it, but all in all this is a wonderful read and doesn’t really seem to have suffered at all with the passage of more than a century, notwithstanding the obvious technological advances that have been made in transportation in the meantime.
A wonderful book, a true classic, and a book that several films /. TV series have been made of, none of which are even remotely true to the book!! (If ever one did appear that stuck faithfully to the novel, it would be a tremendous film.) Thoroughly recommended.
As with other Penguin Popular Classics, the production quality and binding is workmanlike but quite acceptable, and there is a 2-page introduction with biographical notes.
Note – Epinions have it listed as “Juvenile Fiction”, which is… strange. This is certainly a book that everyone can enjoy, and I strongly suspect that adults more than adolescents will appreciate it.
Other Penguin Classics:
Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne.
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathon Swift.
And finally, one of the least faithful film productions, 2004’s Steve Coogan / Jackie Chan version… incredibly cheesy, but a lot of fun, and the BBC Mini-Series, also not very authentic!
Recommended:
