Around the World in Eighty Days (Penguin Popular Classics) (Buch)

Jules Verne's tale of an English gentleman's bet that he can circumnavigate the world in 80 days is a light and readable adventure. Strangely the weakest sections seem to be the actual travelogue descriptions of foreign lands, which tend to be rather dry and uninvolving, and the hero Phileas Fogg manages to solve most of the problems that come his way simply by throwing vast amounts of money at them. What makes the book more enjoyable is the relationship between the archly reserved Englishman Fogg, and his passionate French manservant Passepartout, and Verne keeps a strong vein of humour running throughout the book. I can't in all honesty say this novel has stood the test of time as a brilliant piece of literature, but as a fun little tongue-in-cheek adventure this is still an enjoyable read.

This is a fantastic book spread across the whole world. The characters are in a race against time to travel around the world in 80 days. This is a brilliant book a must read for any fan and a good start to new comers!

Having taken an interest in Michael Palin's documentary series and subsequent book based on this title, I was curious to read the original. This is a fantastic story, much more entertaining than any modern day adaptations, and gripping right to the end. I'd thoroughly recommend this book!

Despite being first published over 125 years ago the book is extremely fresh and suitable for a very wide variety of readers.

The book is centred around a £20,000 bet which takes place between the quintessential Englishman, Philleas Fogg, and his friends at the reform club. The narrative colourfully relates the adventure of how Fogg and his servant, Passepartout, travel in style and use almost all of Fogg's £20,000 travel fund to smooth out the inevitably occurring tricky situations which they find themselves in along the way.

Apprehended throughout his journey by Detective Fix, who has been sent by Scotland Yard due to the journey coinciding with a bank robbery in London, the tone of the story is set.

The book has a lot of twists and turns and is concluded in a dramatic fashion.

Considering this is written by An frenchman it is extremely complimentary of Englishmen. Due to the personality of the main character ( Phileas Fogg ) a great deal of elaboration isn`t needed. Quite lengthy sections of journey can indeed be glossed over in a single page because once the main charater is established you appreciate the fact that there is no need for sentimentalities. The fast pace of the book makes for a fairly short read but also keeps up the suspense right to near the last chapter, for Verne to have elaborated beyond the level he did would have destroyed the continuity of what is essentially a race. This book is most interesting from the point of view of being an accurate account of methods of transport contemporary with the time of writing and there is much to be learnt about the age of steam, an age since superceeded by the jet engine. This book was certainly worth the price I payed for it and its fast pace perfectly suited my attention span.