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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
To be honest I manly read this for the cozy vibe(which it past the vibe test for sure) so if you are looking for something with depth, to be frank this is not it but it is a vibe for sure.
Warning the “a” word was mentioned a couple of times
Warning the “a” word was mentioned a couple of times
Surprisingly modern for its time, and more innovative than our current zeitgeist. Though I'm normally a sceptic when reading books from a bygone era, or otherwise stamped as "classics", this one was thoroughly enjoyable. It made a Jules Verne fan out of me.
Better than I expected. Could have been Jim Dale’s narration. Despite book cover though, no hot air balloon was used.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I listened to the audiobook performance by Jim Dale on the way to Arkansas. This was a fantastic way to read this story! The music and sound effects brought the tale to life. I loved the names Verne gave his characters, the geographical tidbits, the ridiculous cultural descriptions, and the crazy adventure moments. What a fun audiobook experience!
So, interestingly enough, immediately after finishing Treasure Island, I decided to jump into another adventure classic. this one being the 80 days book by jules verne.
The only version i ever saw of this story was the animated series "Around the world with willy fog" and I have to say, the series was pretty close to the book. Sure there were a few differences (they made 2 cops following Fog instead of 1, they made Passeporte have a little companion, and they created a villain called "Transfer" that was hired by the guy who made with bet with Fog, they also had a chapter about mormonism that totally didn't make it into the show) but overall, the story was the same.
I definitely enjoyed the story and some of the characters were better in the book than the series. I found myself liking Fix, the detective a lot more in the book as he had to figure out his character as he went through. he was sent by scotland yard to basically arrest Fog because they think he robbed the bank of england. He's not a villain, he's just doing his job, even though throughout the book he gets to know what kind of person Fog really is.
That's something else i enjoyed about this book. There's really no "Villain" persay. in the series there was an obvious villain, but in the novel, the only real villain is the actual issue you'd have with traveling around the world in 80 days. Sure Fix does a few things to try to trip Fog up, but he stops after a while and then becomes a reluctant ally to get Fog back to England.
So yes, the short version is, guy makes a bet to travel around the world in 80 days, grabs his new butler and they head off. They save an Indian princess along the way and have to get past all sorts of natural phenomenon and things like missed trains, weather problems, etc. And yes, as you might have heard, there's no hot air balloon anywhere in the book. Found that weird that isn't in the book being so prevalent when it comes to this story.
If i had to make a nitpick complaint it would definitely be that while i understand what he was trying to do, there's a lot of "Travelogue-y" stuff going on in this story. like he'll talk about Fog going on his journey but Verne will stop and go "you see, the great lakes are very expansive. people came here in 1743 and blah blah blah" where it will basically bring the story to a halt. I get why he did it. I do. in 1884 i'm sure nobody really knew much about these landmarks around the world, but for a reader reading now it just grinds the story to a halt and i found myself skipping pretty much every description. Important and relevant at the time, but "eh" now.
The characters were all fine in this, although passpourte did get a little too Fog cheerleader in the story and it got a tad irritating at times. Aouda (the princess) was fine as was Fog himself. and like i said before, i thought Fix was a fine character too.
All in all, i really did enjoy this story as it took you across the entire world seeing some interesting sights and meeting some interesting people. Definitely better than Treasure Island and i think i would like to read another Jules Verne at some point. If it wasn't for the lengthy descriptions of the locations that stopped the book (including that weird chapter about mormonism) i would have given it even higher. as it is, Still really good book.
4/5.
The only version i ever saw of this story was the animated series "Around the world with willy fog" and I have to say, the series was pretty close to the book. Sure there were a few differences (they made 2 cops following Fog instead of 1, they made Passeporte have a little companion, and they created a villain called "Transfer" that was hired by the guy who made with bet with Fog, they also had a chapter about mormonism that totally didn't make it into the show) but overall, the story was the same.
I definitely enjoyed the story and some of the characters were better in the book than the series. I found myself liking Fix, the detective a lot more in the book as he had to figure out his character as he went through. he was sent by scotland yard to basically arrest Fog because they think he robbed the bank of england. He's not a villain, he's just doing his job, even though throughout the book he gets to know what kind of person Fog really is.
That's something else i enjoyed about this book. There's really no "Villain" persay. in the series there was an obvious villain, but in the novel, the only real villain is the actual issue you'd have with traveling around the world in 80 days. Sure Fix does a few things to try to trip Fog up, but he stops after a while and then becomes a reluctant ally to get Fog back to England.
So yes, the short version is, guy makes a bet to travel around the world in 80 days, grabs his new butler and they head off. They save an Indian princess along the way and have to get past all sorts of natural phenomenon and things like missed trains, weather problems, etc. And yes, as you might have heard, there's no hot air balloon anywhere in the book. Found that weird that isn't in the book being so prevalent when it comes to this story.
If i had to make a nitpick complaint it would definitely be that while i understand what he was trying to do, there's a lot of "Travelogue-y" stuff going on in this story. like he'll talk about Fog going on his journey but Verne will stop and go "you see, the great lakes are very expansive. people came here in 1743 and blah blah blah" where it will basically bring the story to a halt. I get why he did it. I do. in 1884 i'm sure nobody really knew much about these landmarks around the world, but for a reader reading now it just grinds the story to a halt and i found myself skipping pretty much every description. Important and relevant at the time, but "eh" now.
The characters were all fine in this, although passpourte did get a little too Fog cheerleader in the story and it got a tad irritating at times. Aouda (the princess) was fine as was Fog himself. and like i said before, i thought Fix was a fine character too.
All in all, i really did enjoy this story as it took you across the entire world seeing some interesting sights and meeting some interesting people. Definitely better than Treasure Island and i think i would like to read another Jules Verne at some point. If it wasn't for the lengthy descriptions of the locations that stopped the book (including that weird chapter about mormonism) i would have given it even higher. as it is, Still really good book.
4/5.