Specifications
Verne, Jules, Around the World in 80 Days, 1873. The
translator was not revealed, but was obviously English (not
American).
Reading
This was read from 06/01/2007 to 06/16/2007. The book was from my
library.
Note
Jules Verne wrote in French. One result is that the readability
of his story can very much depend on the translator, who is unknown
in this case. This translation is very readable.
Review
This
is about a wager. Phileas Fogg was a member of the reform club. His
life was regulated by the clock. His exactness was such that he went
through butlers regularly. He was a very mysterious man - no one
knew where he was from, or anything about him. His only social
contact was the Reform Club.
One
day he was at the Reform Club (according to his schedule) playing
whist, which was what he did. The other members were saying that it
was possible to take a trip around the world in 90 days, but Phileas
said it could be done in 80 days. The other members said, "no."
They reasoned that something would come up to delay the trip, but
Phileas said that was taken into account. So they wagered that it
couldn't be done, for £20,000.
Phileas took the bet, and told them he would start when the game was
over.
After
the game it was a quarter to nine in the evening. He literally went
home, through money into a bag, told his servant, Passepartout, a
Frenchman, to get ready to leave, and left that same evening.
To add
a bit of suspense, the Bank of England was robbed just before he
left, and a detective by the name of Fix thought Phileas looked like
the robber, so Fix joined the expedition, traveling at a distance, at
the Suez Canal. As they traveled through the British Empire, he was
waiting for a warrant to arrest Phileas for the robbery, but they
were traveling so fast that the warrant couldn't catch them.
In
India, the railroad, which they had been lead to believe went
through, didn't. There they picked up the fourth member of the
expedition, Aouda. She was a young women who had been forced to
marry an older man. He had died, and his family was forcing her to
be burned to death on his funeral pyre. Phileas stopped to rescue
her (although the actual rescue was by Passepartout).
The
Phileas's mystery is heightened by never really revealing his
thoughts or feelings. For the most part, Passepartout has to guess
at his feelings, and his thoughts. It is obvious that he is a good
man - never hesitating to put his bet at risk to help others in
need. After Aouda joins the expedition Phileas is very mindful of
her comfort. It is obvious that she is falling in love with him as
time goes by. Phileas's taciturn nature prevents any observation of
his feelings toward her, but I suspect that he was falling for her as
well. (In the end, they get married, and this save the wager.)
Fix is
similarly portrayed, but that is because he is under cover.
Therefore, he avoids any revalations of his true feelings an nature.
He, too, observes Phileas's good turns, but attributes it to him
attempting to flee the law. That is, he goes off to rescue
Passepartout at one point, so obviously he has decided to run, so Fix
thinks. I suppose that means that occasionally Fix's thought
processes are revealed.
Phileas
makes the trip around the world, but sees nothing, particularly
before Aouda joined them. Once she joins, he see a bit of the world
trying to provide for her comfort.
They
traveled through France (of which nothing is said), Suez (where Fix
joins them), India (where Aouda joins them), Singapore, Hong Kong
(where they hope to leave Aouda with relatives, but the relatives
aren't there any longer, also Fix tries to get Passepartout to
conspire against his master, but he won't), Japan, San Fransisco,
Sacramento, Omaha, New York, Ireland, then London.
He
wins the bet by either twenty four hours, or five seconds depending
how you count the time. Phileas, whose life was run by the clock,
made an error, which accounts for the discrepancy.
In the
end, the statement is made, "What had he really gained by all this
trouble? .... 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 a tour around the
world?"
I
recommend this book highly.
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