Around the world in eighty days
Ratings143
Average rating3.6
I was expecting more action, and although I like the classics, I didn't like this book too much. However, the characters were inusual and interesting.
I read this because I watched a couple of episodes of the BBC version of the book.
It didn't sound very Verne like. It is another case where they took the title and character names and threw out the rest of the original material. The book was tedious as Verne like to list the names of towns they pass through, weather conditions etc. But I enjoyed it overall and don't see that the BBC improved anything with its changes.
Around the World in Eighty Days was my Classics Club spin pick this time. I had never read it before. I had never seen the movie. I actually knew nothing about the story.
The story takes place in the 1870s. Phileas Fogg bets his friends a boatload of money that he can travel all around the world in eighty days. Accompanying him on his trip are his valet Passapartout, a princess from India, and a detective, Mr. Fix. As they travel around the world, they are delayed by troubles on the railroad; a storm; the need to rescue the princess and the later legal difficulties this ensues; an attack by Native Americans; and other problems. But Passapartout is always instructed to reach deep into the money bag and this generally solves most of the problems. Most of the episodes along the way are not intended to be taken as realistic, I think; most of the adventures are simply that, adventures. The ending is quite satisfying, too, if you don't know what's coming.
I also watched the 1956 movie version with David Niven and acclaimed Mexican comic Cantinflas, and that was extraordinarily big, with a huge cast of characters (it's fun just trying to see who is in the movie) and sets and costumes. It won Best Picture and I think it holds up fairly well.
I keep forgetting to add this!
when I was a kid I loved a Great Illustrated Classics version of this that, it turns out, left out a TON OF WACK SHIT, YIKES
Anyway I still kind of like the old timey travelogue of it all, could have done without the racism, also I'm very mad that I had to miss the book club discussion of this because like is Phileas Fogg a sociopath or WHAT???
Книга понравилась больше, чем, например, “Таинственный остров”, но в целом много непонятного. Например, на протяжении всей книги делается акцент на том, что Фогг какой-то безэмоциональный и никогда не нервничает. К чему на это обращать столько внимания, если не будет этому объяснения для меня осталось загадкой.
Кроме того, герои проскакали вокруг света довольно шустро. На мой взгляд, здесь не хватает подробностей. Такое путешествие можно было расписать интереснее. Получается, что книга некий гимн британской транспортной системе и вовсе не о путешествии вокруг света.
Больше всего порадовала развязка и в целом иногда встречаются интересные фрагменты, которые хочется запомнить, что радует.
