Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days is a rip-roaring adventure story set, in the first place, in Victorian England, but which ranges throughout the world following its protagonist Phileus Fogg. Written with a cosmopolitan and open view of the world, and with a boy's own spirit of adventure, Around the World in Eighty Days is a brilliant exponent of its genre.
Vivid in its descriptions, and putting forwards Fogg, a cold, brittle man, who slowly shows that he does have a heart as the apogee of what it is to be an Englishman, Around the World in Eighty Days both wonderfully captures a spirit of adventure that was bubbling around the turn of the century, and a book impossible to put down.
The story begins in London where the reader is introduced to an incredibly precise and controlled man by the name of Fogg. Fogg lives happily, although a little mysteriously, for no-one knows the true origin of his wealth. He goes to his gentleman's club every day and it is there that he accepts a wager to travel around the world in eighty days. He packs his things and, along with his manservant, Passepartout he sets out on his journey.
Early on in his voyage, a police inspector begins to trail him, because he believes Fogg is a bank robber. After getting a reasonably uneventful start, difficulties emerge in India when Fogg realities that a train line he was hoping to take has not be entirely finished. So, he takes an elephant instead.
The story begins in London where the reader is introduced to an incredibly precise and controlled man by the name of Fogg. Fogg lives happily, although a little mysteriously, for no-one knows the true origin of his wealth. He goes to his gentleman's club every day and it is there that he accepts a wager to travel around the world in eighty days. He packs his things and, along with his manservant, Passepartout he sets out on his journey.
Early on in his voyage, a police inspector begins to trail him, because he believes Fogg is a bank robber. After getting a reasonably uneventful start, difficulties emerge in India when Fogg realities that a train line he was hoping to take has not be entirely finished. So, he takes an elephant instead.
This diversion is fortunate in one way, for Fogg meets and saves an Indian woman from a marriage to which she did not consent. On his journey Fogg will fall in love with Aouda and, on his return to England will make her his wife. In the interim, however, Fogg faces a number of challenges, including losing Passepartout to a Yokohama circus and being attacked by Native Indians in the American Midwest who carry off the perennially unfortunate Passepartout.
During this incident, Fogg shows his humanity by going off personally to save his manservant, despite the fact that this could well cost him his bet. Finally, Fogg manages to get back onto British soil (albeit by leading a mutiny aboard a French steamer) and seemingly in enough time to win his bet.
At this point, the police Inspector arrests him, delaying him just too long to make his bet. He returns home saddened by his failure, but brightened by the fact that Aouda has agreed to marry him. When Passepartout is sent to arrange the wedding, he realizes that it is a day earlier than they think (by traveling East across the International date line they have gained a day), and so Fogg wins his bet.
During this incident, Fogg shows his humanity by going off personally to save his manservant, despite the fact that this could well cost him his bet. Finally, Fogg manages to get back onto British soil (albeit by leading a mutiny aboard a French steamer) and seemingly in enough time to win his bet.
At this point, the police Inspector arrests him, delaying him just too long to make his bet. He returns home saddened by his failure, but brightened by the fact that Aouda has agreed to marry him. When Passepartout is sent to arrange the wedding, he realizes that it is a day earlier than they think (by traveling East across the International date line they have gained a day), and so Fogg wins his bet.
Around the World in Eighty Days: The Human Spirit of Adventure
Unlike many of his more science-based fiction, Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days is interested in the capabilities of technology in his own time, and the things that human beings can achieve armed only with a sense of adventure and an exploratory spirit. It is also a brilliant dissection of what it is to be English in the time of empire.
Fogg is a brilliantly drawn character, a man who is stiff upper-lipped and precise in all his habits. However, as the novel goes on the very icy man begins to thaw. He begins to place the importance of friendship and love above his usual concerns of reserve and punctuality. In the end, 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.
Although it perhaps doesn't have the great literary merit of some of the other novels written around the same time, Around the World in Eighty Days certainly makes up for it through its vivid descriptions and the vitality of its characters. Undoubtedly a classic story, peopled with people who would be long remembered, it is a breathtaking roller-coaster ride around the world and a touching view of an older and better time. Filled with the thrill of adventure, Around the World in Eighty Days is a wonderful story, written with skill and no short order of panache.
Unlike many of his more science-based fiction, Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days is interested in the capabilities of technology in his own time, and the things that human beings can achieve armed only with a sense of adventure and an exploratory spirit. It is also a brilliant dissection of what it is to be English in the time of empire.
Fogg is a brilliantly drawn character, a man who is stiff upper-lipped and precise in all his habits. However, as the novel goes on the very icy man begins to thaw. He begins to place the importance of friendship and love above his usual concerns of reserve and punctuality. In the end, 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.
Although it perhaps doesn't have the great literary merit of some of the other novels written around the same time, Around the World in Eighty Days certainly makes up for it through its vivid descriptions and the vitality of its characters. Undoubtedly a classic story, peopled with people who would be long remembered, it is a breathtaking roller-coaster ride around the world and a touching view of an older and better time. Filled with the thrill of adventure, Around the World in Eighty Days is a wonderful story, written with skill and no short order of panache.
