Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne

*There will be spoilers in this review, they are labeled*

Since 2016, I've started off my reading for the year with a Jules Verne novel. There's something about beginning the year with a grand adventure that just seems fitting to me. It feels like good luck for the year ahead--like anything is possible. I continued on with that tradition this year with Around the World in Eighty Days, a novel that, as it turns out, I was woefully underestimating.

I went into my reading thinking that I'd probably enjoy the book overall, but would dislike the following:

1. Over-long descriptions of world geography instead of plot development
2. Racism towards citizens of non-European countries
3. Lack of female characters
4. Long, boring stretches of flying in a hot air balloon 

 I'll begin by saying that I was wrong on (almost) all accounts. But let's start at the beginning.

The plot of Around the World in Eighty Days concerns Phileas Fogg, a wealthy and respectable man living in London. He spends his days following the exact same schedule of events, with mathematical precision. He's described as quite an eccentric gentleman, who must have everything planned out and implemented down to the scheduled minute. One evening, during his regular game of whist at his club, the conversation falls to the recent completion of a railway line in India. The completion of that line means that, for the first time ever, it is possible for one to travel all the way around the world using a combination of boats and trains quickly and in relative comfort. Fogg asserts to his friends that a trip around the entire world could be completed in only eighty days. His friends disagree, saying that while Fogg's timeline is theoretically correct, common delays, such as bad weather or technical malfunctions, would invariably cause the journey to take longer.

Fogg continues to disagree, saying that even with routine delays, the journey could still be completed in just eighty days. Completely confident in his assertion, he makes a wager with the group. He bets them £20,000 that he can make the trip himself within the eighty day time limit. At first, his friends try to talk him out of making the wager, saying that they are sure he will lose and don't want to see him ruined financially. However, Fogg continues to press the issue, and they eventually agree to the bet. Fogg leaves immediately, stopping at home to pack a bag and collecting his servant, a Frenchman named Passepartout, who will accompany him on the trip.

As Fogg and Passepartout prepare to embark on their journey, another story is taking shape in the background. A bank in London has just recently been robbed of £55,000. A Scotland Yard detective named Mr. Fix has been assigned to solve the case. A description of the robber given by a witness vaguely resembles Fogg, and Detective Fix becomes certain that Fogg is the man he is looking for. When he hears about the £20,000 wager, and the trip around the world that Fogg is leaving on, he is convinced that this is all an elaborate cover he's concocted to flee the country with the stolen money. Determined to catch this brazen "criminal," Fix follows Fogg on his journey, hoping to make an arrest.

From this point forward, the story becomes a true race around the world, with Fogg and Passepartout hopping from trains to ships and back again as they travel from country to country. Fogg maintains a calm and cool exterior for the duration of their travels, keeping track of their itinerary in his notebook and figuring out solutions to all sorts of travel problems as they occur. He barely even looks out the windows along the way; he is all business. Conversely, Passepartout wanders through each country they enter wide-eyed and incredulous. He's not the most intelligent man, and his blunders throughout the journey frequently put them in danger of not making the time limit. The group travels through Egypt, India, Hong Kong, Japan, California, and New York before circling back to London, and they have several adventures as they go. In one notable incident, they rescue an Indian princess, Aouda, from a group of Brahmins that would have forced her to commit suttee, and she ends up accompanying them for the rest of the trip. Fix is a constant presence in the background as well, keeping an eye on Fogg until the arrest warrant he has ordered finally catches up with him. The group has been traveling so fast that he can't manage to get the warrant in his hand and he can't arrest his suspect without it. His attempts to delay Fogg add additional suspense to the story, as they put his ability to finish the race in time in jeopardy.

*Spoilers start here*

In the end, despite several unplanned adventures, setbacks, and dangers along the way, the group manages to finish their trip in just the right amount of time, with Fogg bursting in on his club at the exact eighty day mark. He wins the £20,000, which doesn't really make that much of a difference to his life, because he ended up spending about £19,000 pounds making the trip. His name is also cleared from the robbery, with Detective Fix discovering upon his return to London that some other detective had already arrested the real robber while he was abroad. Everything ends happily, and Fogg resumes his previous life with one notable exception-- he marries Aouda, the Indian princess he rescued, and in so doing becomes the happiest of men.

*Spoilers end here*

I was really surprised by how much I loved this novel. It was genuinely exciting, suspenseful, and funny, and I was completely engaged the whole time I was reading. I raced through the story in just a couple of days, and that's not something I often say about reading classics. The characters were unique, the adventures were daring, and the omnipresent eighty day deadline created just the right amount of pressure to keep things interesting. This book was better than both Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Journey to the Center of the Earth by a mile. It is definitely my new Jules Verne favorite.

Now, let me get back to the misconceptions I had prior to reading:

1. Over-long descriptions of world geography instead of plot development

Nope. The were certainly descriptions of different countries present, but the passages were well-written and short. Plenty of attention was paid to the overall plot and character development. This is vastly different to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Journey to the Center of the Earth, which were plagued by scientific descriptions that went on for pages at a time. Around the World in Eighty Days struck a good balance between the educational/travel elements of the story and the actual plot elements.


2. Racism towards citizens of non-European countries

Kind of. It is clear that Verne was in favor of British Imperialism, and described several times how England had vastly improved and modernized its colonies in India and Asia. Some of the people in India and China aren't described in the most flattering of terms. However, I've read much worse in other novels from this time period (like The Jungle Book, for example). On the whole, Verne shows a fascination for and appreciation of different places in the world. It was not as bad as I thought it would be in this respect.

3. Lack of female characters

Stop the presses, because there's a GIRL in this one! The princess Aouda doesn't have a whole lot to do plot-wise, but she is shown to be a kind, intelligent, and capable traveling companion throughout the journey (and she is present for most of it). The love that blossoms between her and Phileas Fogg was quite sweet. I appreciated seeing a female character get to take part in the fun, rather than just wait around at home for the men to get back.  

4. Long, boring stretches of flying in a hot air balloon

Okay, are you sitting down? There is no hot air balloon in the entire novel. I started reading thinking that the whole journey was going to be by balloon and I was totally surprised that it wasn't there. There was actually a hot air balloon on the cover of my novel, so I don't think I was being crazy to expect one to be in the story. After a bit of research online, I learned that this is a common misconception people have about the novel, because the film version from 1956 (which won the Academy Award for best picture that year), used a balloon. Go figure.


It's one of the best feelings in the world to be surprised by a book, especially a classic novel that you suspect might be boring. Around the World in Eighty Days was anything but. Charming, funny, and exciting, this story has become a new favorite for me and definitely my favorite Jules Verne novel overall. If it's good luck to start the year off reading about a fantastic adventure, then how lucky is it to discover a five-star novel on top of that? I think it means that I'm destined to have a very good year of reading indeed.

*Spoilery quote below!*

"Phileas Fogg had won his wager, and had made his journey around the world in eighty days. To do this he had employed every means of conveyance--steamers, railways, carriages, yachts, trading-vessels, sledges, elephants. The eccentric gentleman had throughout displayed all of his marvelous qualities of coolness and exactitude. But what then? What had he really gained by all this trouble? What had he brought back from this long and weary journey? 

Nothing, say you? Perhaps so, nothing but a charming woman, who, strange as it may appear, made him the happiest of men!

Truly, would you not for less than that make the tour around the world?"

Challenge Tally:
Back to the Classics (a classic travel or journey narrative): 1/12
Classics Club (#92 on my list): 21/100

Total Books Read in 2018: 1