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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
Dustin knew the twist at the end in advance, but I didn't so that was fun. I suspect Verne wrote this entire novel based on thinking of that twist while in the shower one day. :) My one complaint: there was no hot air balloon at all. Every cover of this book ever made has lied to me.
adventurous
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
As a child I avoided a lot of the classics because I felt they would be too dated. I'd go through some, feel completely at odds with the protagonists and the situations, and never want to pick one up again.
As an adult, I have thankfully developed much more of an appreciation of the classic arts, none more so than those belonging to the adventure/sci-fi genre.
'...80 days' is a fun ride, gripping till the end, a proper rollercoaster of high-jinks, betrayals, travelogues and character studies. Our impulsive protagonist puts down a wager to travel the world in 80 days, but comes across far too many obstacles than he expected. Can he make it back home before the deadline?
The story does feel dated, but there's no detracting from just how much fun this story is. It's a quick read because it never stops. The momentum and pace is akin to that felt by the characters as they persevere in their journey. This is one story you can never tire of.
As an adult, I have thankfully developed much more of an appreciation of the classic arts, none more so than those belonging to the adventure/sci-fi genre.
'...80 days' is a fun ride, gripping till the end, a proper rollercoaster of high-jinks, betrayals, travelogues and character studies. Our impulsive protagonist puts down a wager to travel the world in 80 days, but comes across far too many obstacles than he expected. Can he make it back home before the deadline?
The story does feel dated, but there's no detracting from just how much fun this story is. It's a quick read because it never stops. The momentum and pace is akin to that felt by the characters as they persevere in their journey. This is one story you can never tire of.
Well-written but not very engaging. A classic that was brilliant (no doubt) when it was written but that doesn't quite hold up against the test of time. Page after page of travel by train or by boat really isn't that exciting.
I gave it a three because it's a classic and many of the sentences and phrases are like well-crafted works of art but otherwise, definitely not a favourite.
I gave it a three because it's a classic and many of the sentences and phrases are like well-crafted works of art but otherwise, definitely not a favourite.
I loved it. I also adore the game by Inkle based on it, so I had that experience with me as I read, which only increased my enjoyment as it's so clear that the game is a real love-letter to the book.
This is a great book to read in short snippets as it was serialised, so has around 35 chapters which each come to a conclusion. I read it for 20 minutes each morning with breakfast for about a month.
The characters are interesting in that they're not written in a modern style, they're more described bluntly or in terms of their actions. There isn't a huge amount of dialogue where you really get a feel for them, especially Mrs Aouda.
However, it does have real, old-fashioned action and excitement - very much focused around men and brave deeds, but it was written in the 1870s so you can't blame it for being a product of its time (including some rather colonial opinions)
This is a great book to read in short snippets as it was serialised, so has around 35 chapters which each come to a conclusion. I read it for 20 minutes each morning with breakfast for about a month.
The characters are interesting in that they're not written in a modern style, they're more described bluntly or in terms of their actions. There isn't a huge amount of dialogue where you really get a feel for them, especially Mrs Aouda.
However, it does have real, old-fashioned action and excitement - very much focused around men and brave deeds, but it was written in the 1870s so you can't blame it for being a product of its time (including some rather colonial opinions)
adventurous
fast-paced
I loved the writing, but I was not able to follow the story.
Verdict: A sweet and iconic circumnavigation tale, though I can't help but think it's lost something through time and translation.
Lets just get this out of the way; there is no balloon. I don't know if this is one of those common fallacies that proper book people are aware of, but I was caught completely out. There must be a balloon, I kept telling myself as the chapters marched on, why else would it be on the crisps? http://www.phileasfogg.com/ Nevertheless, the crisps (and pop culture in general) are all complicit in a dirty lie and I fell for it hook line and sandbag. Even after finishing the entire balloonless book I still couldn't accept it, theorizing perhaps that I had got my hands on some sort of bootleg knockoff of the original. Eventually Google revealed the truth of the matter (I am completely at a loss as to how humanity functioned prior to the internet search engine) and now I feel rather embarrassed. Please tell me, book people of the net, should I have known about this? Do enlighten me in the comments.
Meanwhile, let's get to the review. (Incidentally, I hasten to assure you that this book doesn't lose any stars over its distinct lack of balloons. It's not like I'm some hard core hot air enthusiast.) I'll say this about Around the World in 80 Days; it does what it says on the label. Phileas Fogg is an Englishman whose stiff upper lip is only matched in vigour by his debilitating OCD. For motives that are still not entirely clear to me he suddenly declares his intention to go around the world in 80 days. For even vaguer reasons he wagers £20,000 against his failure; he'll lose his fortune if he can't make it and gain nothing if he wins. Finally, and rather dishonestly, he drags his newly hired French servant along with him, despite the poor man declaring in the interview he really just wants to settle down into comfortable routine.
Then, with dwindling fortune and growing entourage, they go around the world in 80 days.
I dunno, I suppose the conceit really loses something when you've never known a world without commercial airlines or space travel, for that matter. I floundered in trying to find the point to this book. We've already covered the vague motivation so lets move on to the detached journey. Fogg, by his own imposition, is not a traveller, he is a tangent describing the circumference of the globe. Also he is unflappable. I defy you to flap this man. Finally he has, as we say in the business, 'stupid money.' So that's kinda how we go, transiting from point to point with an emotionless man who can buy his way out of whatever delay is thrown at him.
Other characters are neatly supplied to fill out the drama. There's Fix, a sort of watered-down Javert intent of bringing Fogg to presumed justice to play antagonist. Aouda the Indian Princess joins the improbable gang as an improbable love interest. Most of the work goes to Passaporte, the valet, who has to be comic relief, voice all normal anxieties (money, delays, freeloading detectives, etc) save the day whenever cash won't do the trick and then constantly deride himself for costing Fogg time and money cause that's what servants do. Quite frankly I think he should have got the girl. After all he's the one who actually saved her life. Unfortunately for Passaporte, servants are only allowed to marry Indian Princesses when genies are involved.
The entourage might add some human emotion, but they all also suffer from the curse of vague motivation. Despite flimsy circumstantial evidence Fix believes Fogg's guilt beyond all shadows of all doubts. Despite being retained under false pretences and dragged on a lunatic mission Passaporte adores Fogg with the devotion of a thousand puppies. Poor Aouda never had a chance. As the only woman in the story she had to be offered up as prize to the main character to appease the phallocratic gods of literature.
As I write this review I keep talking myself in and out of liking this book. Let's even the balance with some good points. I liked the snapshots of the British empire at it's height; the descriptions of India, Singapore and Hong Kong under British rule with little British houses and gardens and no need for passports. (Incidentally, I have no time for any critics who might deride Verne's descriptions of native peoples. Chinese people smoked opium. Japanese women with blackened teeth are not attractive. Sioux Indians are f*cking scary. End of. Moving on...) While I was never particularly worried that Phileas wouldn't make his journey in the allotted time (it just isn't that sort of book) the various solutions to delays, though always centred around the basic premise of 'I will give you wads of sterling' get increasingly creative and I quite enjoyed the finale of grand theft ocean steamer. The book in general improved as it went along.
Its not that it got any more exciting or realistic, but I think I rather made my peace with it and enjoyed it for what it was. Maybe it's the effect of a French author, but there's a certain poetic element about Fogg and his journey; his esoteric nature combined with the strange feat of going all the way around our little floating ball of rock and coming right back to where you started. It's a lyrical conceit, both theoretically detached and very physically possible. It gives the whole adventure a fable-ish feel and the conclusion, though perfectly scientifically valid, still has the feel of magic.
Finally, I cannot truly dislike any book which features two things; London and ships. They were certainly present in Around the World in 80 Days and I was finally won over to Fogg on that final leg with the steamer from New York. Not that it made any sense based on what we know of his life and character but nevertheless, I cannot dislike a man who knows his way around boat. If you know what I mean. The balance is therefore tipped into three star territory. Jury is still out on Verne, moving on to Journey to the Centre of the Earth...
If you liked this;
Then I have no idea how you will feel about the 2004 movie with which it shares a title and little else. I found it splendid just because you so rarely get to see Jackie Chan team up with Alan Partridge and share a jacuzzi with the governor of California. To be fair, Jackie alone was enough for me to give it a go. As it turns out, the casting was inspired. He makes quite a convincing Passaporte. Still, won't blame you if you decide to give this a miss. It requires an acquired affinity.
Title: Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
When: June 2012
Why: Wanted to confirm my suspicion that Jackie Chan didn’t feature in the original
Rating: 3
Lets just get this out of the way; there is no balloon. I don't know if this is one of those common fallacies that proper book people are aware of, but I was caught completely out. There must be a balloon, I kept telling myself as the chapters marched on, why else would it be on the crisps? http://www.phileasfogg.com/ Nevertheless, the crisps (and pop culture in general) are all complicit in a dirty lie and I fell for it hook line and sandbag. Even after finishing the entire balloonless book I still couldn't accept it, theorizing perhaps that I had got my hands on some sort of bootleg knockoff of the original. Eventually Google revealed the truth of the matter (I am completely at a loss as to how humanity functioned prior to the internet search engine) and now I feel rather embarrassed. Please tell me, book people of the net, should I have known about this? Do enlighten me in the comments.
Meanwhile, let's get to the review. (Incidentally, I hasten to assure you that this book doesn't lose any stars over its distinct lack of balloons. It's not like I'm some hard core hot air enthusiast.) I'll say this about Around the World in 80 Days; it does what it says on the label. Phileas Fogg is an Englishman whose stiff upper lip is only matched in vigour by his debilitating OCD. For motives that are still not entirely clear to me he suddenly declares his intention to go around the world in 80 days. For even vaguer reasons he wagers £20,000 against his failure; he'll lose his fortune if he can't make it and gain nothing if he wins. Finally, and rather dishonestly, he drags his newly hired French servant along with him, despite the poor man declaring in the interview he really just wants to settle down into comfortable routine.
Then, with dwindling fortune and growing entourage, they go around the world in 80 days.
I dunno, I suppose the conceit really loses something when you've never known a world without commercial airlines or space travel, for that matter. I floundered in trying to find the point to this book. We've already covered the vague motivation so lets move on to the detached journey. Fogg, by his own imposition, is not a traveller, he is a tangent describing the circumference of the globe. Also he is unflappable. I defy you to flap this man. Finally he has, as we say in the business, 'stupid money.' So that's kinda how we go, transiting from point to point with an emotionless man who can buy his way out of whatever delay is thrown at him.
Other characters are neatly supplied to fill out the drama. There's Fix, a sort of watered-down Javert intent of bringing Fogg to presumed justice to play antagonist. Aouda the Indian Princess joins the improbable gang as an improbable love interest. Most of the work goes to Passaporte, the valet, who has to be comic relief, voice all normal anxieties (money, delays, freeloading detectives, etc) save the day whenever cash won't do the trick and then constantly deride himself for costing Fogg time and money cause that's what servants do. Quite frankly I think he should have got the girl. After all he's the one who actually saved her life. Unfortunately for Passaporte, servants are only allowed to marry Indian Princesses when genies are involved.
The entourage might add some human emotion, but they all also suffer from the curse of vague motivation. Despite flimsy circumstantial evidence Fix believes Fogg's guilt beyond all shadows of all doubts. Despite being retained under false pretences and dragged on a lunatic mission Passaporte adores Fogg with the devotion of a thousand puppies. Poor Aouda never had a chance. As the only woman in the story she had to be offered up as prize to the main character to appease the phallocratic gods of literature.
As I write this review I keep talking myself in and out of liking this book. Let's even the balance with some good points. I liked the snapshots of the British empire at it's height; the descriptions of India, Singapore and Hong Kong under British rule with little British houses and gardens and no need for passports. (Incidentally, I have no time for any critics who might deride Verne's descriptions of native peoples. Chinese people smoked opium. Japanese women with blackened teeth are not attractive. Sioux Indians are f*cking scary. End of. Moving on...) While I was never particularly worried that Phileas wouldn't make his journey in the allotted time (it just isn't that sort of book) the various solutions to delays, though always centred around the basic premise of 'I will give you wads of sterling' get increasingly creative and I quite enjoyed the finale of grand theft ocean steamer. The book in general improved as it went along.
Its not that it got any more exciting or realistic, but I think I rather made my peace with it and enjoyed it for what it was. Maybe it's the effect of a French author, but there's a certain poetic element about Fogg and his journey; his esoteric nature combined with the strange feat of going all the way around our little floating ball of rock and coming right back to where you started. It's a lyrical conceit, both theoretically detached and very physically possible. It gives the whole adventure a fable-ish feel and the conclusion, though perfectly scientifically valid, still has the feel of magic.
Finally, I cannot truly dislike any book which features two things; London and ships. They were certainly present in Around the World in 80 Days and I was finally won over to Fogg on that final leg with the steamer from New York. Not that it made any sense based on what we know of his life and character but nevertheless, I cannot dislike a man who knows his way around boat. If you know what I mean. The balance is therefore tipped into three star territory. Jury is still out on Verne, moving on to Journey to the Centre of the Earth...
If you liked this;
Then I have no idea how you will feel about the 2004 movie with which it shares a title and little else. I found it splendid just because you so rarely get to see Jackie Chan team up with Alan Partridge and share a jacuzzi with the governor of California. To be fair, Jackie alone was enough for me to give it a go. As it turns out, the casting was inspired. He makes quite a convincing Passaporte. Still, won't blame you if you decide to give this a miss. It requires an acquired affinity.
Title: Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
When: June 2012
Why: Wanted to confirm my suspicion that Jackie Chan didn’t feature in the original
Rating: 3
Listened to this via libravox. Reader was good. In no way to blame. Story started out good. Phileas Fogg makes a wager with some men from his club that going around the world in eighty days can be done. He heads out with manservant in tow. He is rather boring and stoic. The manservant was obedient and not quite as smart as his master. He would be played up for comedic effect in a movie. Fogg saves beautiful woman who falls in love with him for his ideals. Just don't see anyone giving this cardboard cutout this much devotion. And the ending was an oh no I didn't mean that.
What was interesting was all the modes of travel they had to use because there weren't planes yet.
What was interesting was all the modes of travel they had to use because there weren't planes yet.
By far the best of Verne I’ve read in terms of pacing and character development—it was sort of like a truncated Count of Monte Cristo, or Robinson Crusoe if it was good. Obvious issues of orientalism and appalling characterization of Native Americans.