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Loading... Around the World in Eighty Days (Illustrated First Edition): 100th Anniversary Collection (edition 2019)by Jules Verne (Author)
Work InformationAround the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. A translation of the classic novel. I read it as a child but cannot remember now whether it was the original or a version adapted for children. I've seen the 1960s film version, a cartoon version, and bits of the TV version but I still saw David Niven as Phileas Fogg in my mind's eye while reading. ( ) “But what then? What had he really gained by all this trouble? What had he brought back from this long and weary journey? Nothing, you say? Perhaps so; nothing but a charming woman, who, strange as it may appear, made him the happiest of men! Truly, would you not for less than that make the tour around the world?” Around the World in Eighty Days is one of Verne's best-known and most successful novels. Like Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, it features a journey around the world, although in this case it's not by submarine, but a more conventional trip, mainly by train and steam ship. What is it about?: One night in the reform club, Phileas Fogg bets his companions that he can travel across the globe in just eighty days. Breaking the well-established routine of his daily life, he immediately sets off for Dover with his astonished valet Passepartout. Passing through exotic lands and dangerous locations, they seize whatever transportation is at hand—whether train or elephant—overcoming set-backs and always racing against the clock. This story has been adapted many times, so it's likely that a lot of modern readers know how it ends. At least that was the case for me and anyone else in my generation in Spain, having grown-up with a very popular animated TV show that adapted the story. One would think that the scope of this story, covering a trip around the world, would call for a longer novel, but it's only one volume (unlike Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, which was two volumes). That makes for a fast-paced story, and it works quite well here. The one thing that strikes me about this story is how readable and entertaining it is. It doesn't have the scientific or speculative heft of other Verne novels. It's a very simple plot, mostly involving travel by public transportation, with some entertaining exceptions. But the pressure of the time limit easily maintains a high level of tension, and every element works smoothly to create an appealing story. Events move fast, and there is none of the info-dump or didactic exposition that we can find in some works by the same author. This reads like a thriller. Speaking of this, I had also noticed that in the previous one (The Fur Country) there are very few didactic passages. There are still interesting facts to learn in these novels, but they are integrated in the story in a natural manner. I have to wonder if this was due to the influence of Pierre-Jules Hetzel (Verne's editor), who wanted the writer to concentrate on the adventure elements at the expense of speculative content. Did that include getting rid of Verne's didactic asides? It will be interesting to see if this becomes a trend in the following novels. In any case, this is a very timely story, written at a time when the development of public transportation, the building of transcontinental railroads in the United States and India, and the opening of the Suez channel had just made such a trip possible for tourists in a reasonable time. So, in spite of being a "simple adventure", it is also original. And of course, there's the dramatic turn of events at the end, which I'm not going to spoil if you don't know it already, but which is a very Vernian scientific twist that you wouldn't find in a conventional adventure novel. Once again, Verne writes a really good ending. The main character are Phileas Fogg, the excentric British gentleman; Jean Passepartout, his new valet de chambre (again a French character); Detective Fix, the policeman who follows Fogg around the world believing him to be a bank thief; and Mrs. Aouda, a young Indian widow who was to be burned alive as is the custom of sati. Fogg is a very phlematic person, almost never showing emotion, to the point that a goodreads reviewer calls him "an accurate portrayal of extreme autism". I had thought of him as reserved and undemonstrative rather than autistic, but I have to admit it would fit. The story is also, technically, a romance between him and Mrs. Aouda, but let's say that Verne focuses always on the adventure and not on character development, so don't expect it to read like a romance. However, Fogg is also portrayed as very gentlemanly and generous. Previous Verne novels like Five Weeks in a Balloon or Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas had featured extremely loyal servants. Here, the one who makes a great sacrifice out of loyalty to his servant is Fogg. Passepartout, like is often the case for Verne's French characters, is the soul and comic relief of the group, even if he is not the main hero. He is given more depth thanks to his self-doubt and worries but, in general, his more cheerful and spontaneous personality makes a good contrast with Fogg. He also has his big heroic moment. Detective Fix is a foil (and even sometimes reluctant ally) rather than a villain. This works just fine for this novel. Here this is all that is required as opponent, since the main opponent is the unyielding time limit. Mrs. Aouda is a traditional damsel in distress, instead of an adventurer like Paulina Barnett from The Fur Country. There's no hunting in this one, although as always you shouldn't expect modern sensitivities when portraying native cultures. There are very good set pieces in this novel, taking place at different locations in the world. This is characteristic of Verne's novels, maybe in part as a result of their being serialized before publication as a book. Enjoyment factor: Very high. So far it's the Verne novel with best pace. On the other hand, it's a bit slight when compared to other Verne novels, in terms of how much the author teaches the reader. It's very much an adventure thriller. Next up: The Mysterious Island See all my Verne reviews here: https://www.sffworld.com/forum/threads/reading-vernes-voyages-extraordinaires.58... Jules Verne and his Journey Around the World with Passepartout, The Elephant, Kiouni,and Aouda remains a welcome old world Classic to revisit! Jules Verne, the author, makes a fun appearance in [EIGHTY DAYS], the tale of Nelly Bly and Elizabeth Brisbane and their quest to recapture the moments in LESS than Eighty Days. Belongs to SeriesBelongs to Publisher Series — 45 more Corticelli [Mursia] (26) Dean's Classics (13) Elsevier pockets (JVW11) Grandes Novelas de Aventuras (XXXIV) Die grosse Jules Verne Ausgabe (Band 6) Penguin Clothbound Classics (2021*) Tus Libros. Anaya (37) Is contained inJourney to the Center of the Earth / Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea / Round the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea / The Mysterious Island / Journey to the Center of the Earth / Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne Das grosse Jules-Verne-Buch. Reise um die Erde in 80 Tagen - 20.000 Meilen unter dem Meer - Fünf Wochen im Ballon. by Jules Verne The Works of Jules Verne: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, A Journey to the Center of the Earth, From the Earth to the Moon, Round the Moon, Around the World in Eighty Days, Short Stories by Jules Verne Around the World in 80 Days / A Journey to the Centre of the Earth / Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne Around the World in Eighty Days / From the Earth to the Moon / 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne Amazing Journeys: Journey to the Center of the Earth, From the Earth to the Moon, Circling the Moon, 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas, and Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne JULES VERNE OMNIBUS Around the World in Eighty Days, from the Earth to the Moon, Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, the Blockade Runners by Jules Verne Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea / Around the World in Eighty Days / The Blockade Runners / From the Earth to the Moon and a Trip Around It by Jules Verne Collected Novels: Around the World in 80 Days / The Clipper of the Clouds / Journey to the Centre of the Earth / From the Earth to the Moon / Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne Jules Verne - Romane (Vier Bände im Schuber): 20.000 Meilen unter den Meeren - In 80 Tagen um die Welt - Reise zum Mittelpunkt der Erde - Von der Erde zum Mond by Jules Verne International Collector's Library Classics 19 volumes: Crime & Punishment; Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea; Mysterious Island; Magic Mountain; Around the World in 80 Days; Count of Monte Cristo; Camille; Quo Vadis; Hunchback of Notre Dame; Nana; Scaramouche; Pinocchio; Fernande; War and Peace; The Egyptian; From the Earth to the Moon; Candide; Treasure of Sierra Madre; Siddhartha/Steppenwolf by Jules Verne Is retold inHas the (non-series) sequelHas the adaptationIs abridged inIs parodied inInspiredHas as a commentary on the textHas as a student's study guideJules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Around the World in 80 Days, Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Mysterious Island, Michael Strogoff (Monarch Notes) by Charles A. Raines Has as a teacher's guideAwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
Classic Literature.
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HTML: An unmarried by mathematically precise Englishman dismisses his valet for heating his shaving water two degrees cooler than usual. He hires a French valet to replace him and the two of them set off to travel around the world in eighty days - a supposedly possible feat, now that the Indian railways have been built. If they succeed they will win a fortune off the other members of the Reform Club. .No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)843.8Literature French and related languages French fiction Later 19th century 1848–1900LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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