Around the World in Eighty Days

1872

I had originally listed The Mysterious Island as my next book, but decided to skip it when I realized that no libraries in Colorado apparently had it in stock. With so many other unread books on my shelf, many borrowed or received as gifts from friends, I am often unwilling to hunt down and pay for more reading material. Somehow I completely missed the fact that Mysterious Island featured Nemo and the home harbor of the Nautilaus! I will be sure to hunt it down when I return to the nineteenth century...

Instead I moved on to another famous Verne novel, Around the World in Eighty Days. This book only garnered three stars in my online review, and only nine words in my comments: "Not Jules Verne's best work, but a fun ride." Not exactly an in-depth analysis of a story, that while light hearted and fun, does hold a place in the lexicon of pop culture and time-stamped the sunset of the British Empire and the dawn of the industrial revolution. I was probably on my lunch break at work.

The only comment some have on this story is that there is no hot-air balloon trip in the novel, whereas the movie added a balloon flight and forever tied the two together. I find this oft-repeated and nearly cliche comment worth mentioning because so much of the fiction written or taking place in this era to be fascinated by hot-air balloons. Verne did write a story earlier about a long trip in a balloon, but in this story the protagonist, Phineas Fogg, writes off the idea as impractical. The most interesting occurance of a balloon flight in my reading takes place in the Riverworld series, flown by Jack London and Tom Mix. I placed that timeline starting at 1890- but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Around the World is not science fiction, but is an obvious celebration of technological advances in travel, namely the transcontinental railroad and the Suez Canal. What makes the story spicy, however, is the intriguing nature of Fogg's gamble, the inclusion of a bounty hunter on his tail, and some very far-fetched stories of Indian tribes, opium dens, mutinies and a battle against Sioux Indians not far from where I live here in Colorado. Whereas Nemo remained dark and mysterious in the fantasy of his world, Fogg is cartoonish throughout his adventures in the "real world". If Verne has a reputation of writing children's books, it's easy to see why from this example.

Around the World in Eighty Days is good fun, easy to read, and fit in well with my timeline perspective. In comparison to the many other things I have read and will read, though, it doesn't come close to the recommended reading list.