A cute, silly adventure of a rich British gentleman (Phileas Fogg) and his French valet (Passepartout), in 1872, trying to win a bet that they can circumnavigate the world in 80 days.
This adventure has them traveling by boat, train, and even elephant (but, curiously, not hot air balloon, despite the commonly associated image) across Europe, India, China, and the US. The writing isn’t great, and some aspects haven’t aged well (especially discussions of “natives”), but it’s short, sometimes exciting read that lets you see how Fogg is able to overcome obstacle after obstacle to keep make the trip in time, and it’s entertaining to see what the world looked like to Jules Verne in the late 19th century (especially what he thought of Americans!).
Rating: 3 stars
Yevgeniy Brikman
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