Review: Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne

What can I say about Jules Verne that I haven't already said in November after reading "A Journey to the Centre of the Earth ?"  Jules Verne is a master of adventure, something that would amaze you as a child and hopefully kindle your passion for books and stimulate your imagination.  As an adult, the adventure still captivates me but I have discovered that I learn quite a lot about what was happening in history at the time.

This novel is about the adventures of Phileas Fogg who attempts to travel around the world in 80 days in order to win a bet of 20,000 pounds sterling.  The proposed route is London to Suez to Bombay to Calcutta (now Kolkata) to Hong Kong to San Francisco to New York to London.  The trip takes every form of travel known to man, but I was surprised that this did not include a hot air balloon, as many versions of the novel have a picture of one on the cover.

As I try to think about the moral of such a journey, I want to say that the reward for taking a journey is not what you get out of it in the end but of the journey itself.  However, it seems that the end makes a case that the only reason why the journey was a success was due to the love of a good woman.  Fogg in his travels cared very little about actually viewing the changes of scenery because his goal was only 'to be victorious' and not necessarily go on an adventure.  Maybe there was something I missed, but the moral of the story wasn't my cup of tea... I would be curious to know a woman's take on this.

The novel was full of dated material including opium use in China, racial slurs ('coolies', 'negroes', etc).  There were interesting discussions on Mormons as well as their history including the Church of Latter Day Saints (I had recently read an article in National Geographic about this).  I also enjoyed when buffaloes stampeded and stopped a train for several hours considering Americans nearly killed all that remained of the creatures.  Their numbers are still recooperating centuries later.

What I didn't expect to find was the comedic content which included elections for a Justice of the Peace ending in a fight.  Another piece of humour I noted was the following quotation from Chapter 12:

"Mr. Fogg stopped him, and, turning to Sir Francis Cromarty, said, "Suppose we save this woman."

"Save the woman, Mr. Fogg!"
"I have yet twelve hours to spare; I can devote them to that."
"Why, you are a man of heart!"
"Sometimes," replied Phileas Fogg, quietly; "when I have the time."

I found that fairly humorous, especially given the ending.  In chapter 15 there was a trial that was held in such a rapid fashion, that I had to laugh on how much we have regressed despite the 'advancement' of our society.  In addition, when Verne talked about how fast the railroad was build in America, I laughed thinking about how long such a job would take today with unions and general laziness of people.

As I read I tried to think if Jules Verne had anything to say about globalization and the only thing I really took from it was that the English had made their stamp all over the world and had a large effect on the culture of the major port cities.  This was discussed as if were an advancement of inferior societies, but with hindsight comes a different viewpoint altogether.

As always, I wrote down quite a few terms and learned a few words which I will probably never use again... but hopefully I will detail a few in the coming days.

All in all, I hope to eventually read at least one more work of Verne's: "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."  Despite Verne's material usually being dated, the sense of adventure and interesting take on history and science really intrigues me to him... but I find I must read this other work before I can truly comment, as it is well-known as his greatest book (and one of the 100 Greatest Books Ever Written by the Easton Press).

Book Beginnings: Around the World in Eighty Days

After reading "A Journey to the Centre of the Earth" last month, I really wanted to read some more Jules Verne.  Sure, there was a fair amount of un-realism (I'm making up this word because I think it should exist), but Verne has a great way of taking you to places around the globe and making you feel as if you're on a journey.  In addition, he manages to bring in a lot of history from these places which intrigue me and usually cause me to do further research.  My version of "A Journey to the Centre of the Earth" happened to contain another book... "Around the World in 80 Days", so it was a natural progression for me to read this one next.

I'm still in the middle of it right now, but I wanted to share the opening line "Mr. Phileas Fogg lived, in 1872, at No. 7, Saville Row, Burlington Gardens, the house in which Sheridan died in 1814."  Very historical and factual based.  It sets a physical scene, but other than the really great name, it doesn't do much for me.  What do you think of it?

Review: A Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne

I wish that after reading "The Hardy Boys" in my youth, someone would have introduced me to Jules Verne.  As a kid in the 90's, I was introduced to Jules Verne from "Doc" in "Back to the Future III" who said he grew up reading stories about Jules Verne.  He met a woman in the wild west who also really liked the author and he fell in love with this woman.  Anyway, the point of all this is... I should have listened to 'Doc' and investigated Jules Verne when I was a youth.  I wonder how much my perspective would have changed reading this work during that time in my life.

"A Journey to the Centre of the Earth" was a great story filled with adventure and a lot of science - some made up, but much of it rooted in the truth.  I learned a lot as an adult and came out with tons of words I had never heard of and the feeling like I had just been through a great, admittedly far-fetched, adventure.  Had I read this as a kid, it probably would have stimulated my natural love for rocks and geology (I took a two-term course in university, just for fun). Part of the annoyance for me is that there were a few things that could go either way and I wasn't sure whether they were fact or fiction.  Part of me says 'who cares?' because the book was just so entertaining.

Having been to Iceland, I was happy to find out that the journey began in Iceland and that Professor Hardwigg and Harry tried to go to the library to find out more about a famous Icelandic explorer.  This took me back to a trip I took a few years ago to Iceland, where I did a ton of research on distant relatives (I'm part Icelandic). 

The prose in the novel was more sophisticated and fluid then I anticipated, which made me forget I was reading a novel that was most likely intended for children.  Since this was a book club book, I'm interested in finding out what the ladies in the group thought of this work.  I wonder if it is more geared to the male sense of adventure or if it applies to all with a love of science and discovery.  Time will tell.

This was the first thing I have read by Jules Verne, and it was the second book he wrote in 1864, preceded by "Five Weeks in a Balloon."  I will definitely give some of his works more of a go, probably delving into "Around the World in Eighty Days" and "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" first.  The latter is better known as his greatest work of all time, and made it to the 100 Greatest Books Ever Written by the Easton Press.

If you've ever read Jules Verne, I'd love to hear from you... especially those who have read his works both as a child and as an adult.