Around the World in Eighty Days (review)
by Jules Verne
Literary Genre
Adventure Novel.
Plot
Year 1872, Wednesday, October 2: Mr. Phileas Fogg, one of the most unique and well-known members of the Reform Club in London, was patiently awaiting the arrival of his new servant. At 11:30, the new servant named Passepartout arrived; after introductions and delegating tasks, Fogg went to the Reform Club.
Inside the building, he met other members who were discussing a robbery at the Bank of London, concerned about how quickly the thief could cover his tracks with increasingly efficient modes of transportation that could circumnavigate the globe in 100 days.
Mr. Fogg immediately corrected the members and asserted that he himself could travel around the world in 80 days and agreed to a wager of twenty thousand pounds. He then went home and departed with the new servant for the first leg of the journey: Paris.
Meanwhile, in London, a composite sketch of the likely perpetrator of the theft discussed by the club members led to Phileas Fogg; therefore, Detective Fix decided to follow the gentleman in his endeavor. Meanwhile, after crossing Italy, Phileas Fogg reached Suez on schedule. Meanwhile, Passepartout befriended Agent Fix without knowing the latter's intentions and confided in him about his master's endeavor. Arriving in Bombay after crossing the Red Sea aboard the steamer "Mongolia," Fogg and Passepartout took the train to Calcutta, but a few miles from their destination, an unforeseen event stopped their journey: the railway was unfinished. Fogg and Passepartout then had to take an elephant to cross the break in the railway. At night, while resting, Fogg, Passepartout, their guide, and a sergeant traveling the same route encountered natives taking a widow, the former wife of their tribe chief, to a sacrificial site as part of a custom. The men decided to save the woman, and Passepartout took the place of the deceased husband in the coffin and at dawn the next morning, at the appointed time of the sacrifice, he arose, took the woman, and fled with the others. After recovering, the woman gratefully thanked the men who advised her to join them for the rest of the journey. Reaching the continuation of the railway, Fogg gifted the elephant to the Indian guide and continued the journey accompanied by Auda, the woman they had saved.
Arriving in Calcutta, the sergeant bid farewell to his traveling companions, wishing them good luck for the rest of their journey, and they reciprocated the greetings. The others then took a steamer to Hong Kong, still followed by Agent Fix, who reunited with Passepartout, who was very surprised to see him again. Upon arrival in Hong Kong, Agent Fix revealed his identity and mission to Passepartout, who, trusting his master, did not believe what he was told and was then made drunk by Mr. Fix.
The next day, Fogg, not finding Passepartout, missed the steamer to Yokohama but immediately sought another vessel and found one. With the boat ready, Fogg, Auda, and the captain set sail without Passepartout, who, found drunk, was escorted onto the missed steamer by Fogg.
Arriving in Hong Kong, Passepartout sought employment to earn money to return home: he was hired by an acrobat company.
Meanwhile, Fogg and Auda, after enduring a severe storm, arrived in Yokohama and, at Auda's insistence, went to a show where, by chance, Passepartout was performing. After spotting them, he jumped off the stage and hurried to book tickets for the steamer "General Grant" bound for San Francisco. Meanwhile, Fix, very upset over the delayed arrest warrant for Mr. Fogg, also boarded the same ship, where he encountered Passepartout and was pummeled by him.
After a few days, they arrived in San Francisco on schedule, where they took the train to New York. After several days of travel, after speeding across a swaying bridge and fending off an attack by Sioux, Fogg, Passepartout, Auda, and Fix, who accepted Fogg's offer to continue the journey with them, arrived in New York where they, however, missed the steamer to Liverpool.
Again Fogg had to find another vessel to continue towards Liverpool. After several days of sailing, they even burned part of the wooden ship to fuel the boiler due to a lack of fuel. Arriving in Liverpool, on British territory, Fix arrested Fogg for the alleged robbery but released him after a few hours as they had captured the real thief. Then Fogg took the first train and reached London but was five minutes late according to the bet!
The next day, Fogg and Auda decided to get married as a serious friendship had developed between them, and they sent Passepartout to notify the priest. It was then that the servant discovered that they were not late but had arrived a day early due to the time zone difference. Passepartout, running home, explained everything to his master and the two hurriedly headed to the Reform Club, having little time left. At 8:44 and 57 seconds, Fogg appeared before the club members, winning the bet.
Main Characters Description
Phileas Fogg: one of the most unique and well-known members of the Reform Club in London, he put his utmost effort into doing nothing that could attract attention, was about forty years old. This enigmatic character was known only as a true gentleman and one of the most beautiful gentlemen of high English society. He resembled Byron with a mustache, unflappable, he could have lived a thousand years without ever aging. He was tall, with blonde hair and sideburns, a smooth forehead without wrinkles towards the temples, a complexion tending to pale with magnificent teeth.
He was very wealthy but neither prodigal nor stingy. He spoke as little as possible, and his only pastime was reading newspapers and playing whist. He played only for the pleasure of playing.
Jean Passepartout: a young man in his thirties, a good boy with an attractive appearance, slightly protruding lips, a sweet and helpful being, with a round and good head, blue eyes, rather dark complexion, a fairly large face, broad chest, and somewhat rebellious dark hair.
Agent Fix: one of those detectives or agents of the English police; a thin little man with a very intelligent eye, nervous, constantly contracting his eyebrows.
Auda: a young, beautiful woman of Indian origin with a complexion as white as a European's and very penetrating blue eyes.
Argumentative Judgment
In my opinion, this book is very exciting and imaginative.
It is written fluently and simply, making it easy to read and becoming more and more fascinating with each page.
It fully embodies the theme of travel and reflects the life of the second half of the nineteenth century and the transportation used at that time: trains and steamboats; unlike now: airplanes, motorboats, and ultra-fast trains.
Significant Pages
The most significant pages are the initial ones where the writer describes Phileas Fogg's character, his house, and his habits.
Biography of the Writer
French writer, considered the pioneer of science fiction. He studied law in Paris and from 1848 to 1863 wrote as a playwright opera librettos and theatrical texts. In 1863, he achieved his first real success in the literary field with Five Weeks in a Balloon (1869), establishing himself as one of the most prolific authors of popular adventure novels and especially of extraordinary travel stories.
An interpreter of the interest in science and inventions that characterized the reading public in the nineteenth century, he aroused general enthusiasm around his work, captivating both adolescents and scientists. Using accurate documentation in the development of his stories, in his approximately eighty novels, Verne foresaw, with remarkable approximation to reality, numerous scientific achievements and technological innovations of the twentieth century: space travel, submarines, helicopters, air conditioning, remote-controlled missiles, animated cinema. Characters like Captain Nemo and inventions like the futuristic submarine Nautilus are still among the most vivid creations in children's literature.
Among his most famous novels are Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), From the Earth to the Moon (1865), In Search of the Castaways (1867), Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1869), Around the World in Eighty Days (1873), The Mysterious Island (1874), Michael Strogoff (1876), Two Years' Vacation (1888), The Green Ray (1882).
From his knowledge and numerous travels, Verne also drew travel accounts and informative works on history and geography. Many of Verne's works have been adapted into films, starting with the two novels From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon, from which French director Georges Méliès, a true pioneer of science fiction cinema, made the spectacular A Trip to the Moon (1902).
