June 20

‘Around the World in 80 Days’ by Jules Verne

The novel that I will be talking about is called, ‘Around the World in 80 Days’, and was written by Jules Verne. The book was set in London, England, in 1872. The story begins at the Reform Club that one of the main characters, Phileas Fogg, regularly goes to. It is at the Reform Club that Mr Fogg places a wager of £20,000 on him being able to travel around the world in 80 days. Because of this wager and the adventure that Mr Fogg and his new servant, Passepartout, go on, the setting changes continuously. The pair visit places such as Paris, Suez, Bombay, Calcutta, Singapore, Hong-Kong, Yokohama, San Francisco, New York, Liverpool, and London.

There are four major characters: Phileas Fogg, Jean Passepartout, Mr, Fix and Aouda. Phileas Fogg is a rich man who is very punctual and has very high standards, which is shown as he fired his butler because he brought Mr Fogg’s shaving water in at a few degrees colder than he likes it. Jean Passepartout is Fogg’s butler, who is loyal to Fogg and always does as he is told. Mr Fix is a detective who suspects that Mr Fogg stole a lot of money. Aouda is a young woman from India who Mr Fogg and Passepartout rescued before she was sacrificed.

The four main characters go on an adventure that has many ups and downs. After Mr Fogg makes his wager, he and Passepartout start on their journey around the world only to be followed by Mr Fix. The characters travel through Europe and Eastern Asia only to make it to India to find that the rail line hasn’t been built yet. Mr Fogg then buys an elephant for them to ride on to keep their journey moving forward. It is also during their time in India that Mr Fogg and Passepartout rescue a girl, Aouda, from being sacrificed and she joins them on their journey. Passepartout and Mr Fogg are separated by Mr Fix in Hong Kong but they meet up in Japan before they head off to America. In America, the characters are travelling by train when it is attacked by Native Americans and Passepartout is captured. Mr Fogg then goes to rescue him. This meant that they miss their train to the East Coast, so the pair travel by sledge instead. They then miss their boat but Mr Fogg was able to take control of a small vessel to make the trip home across the Atlantic. Mr Fogg is arrested by Mr Fix in Ireland but is later released when the real criminal is arrested in London. Mr Fogg marries Aouda and ends up arriving a day early, winning his wager and the £20,000.

Overall, I would rate this book a 1/10 because I personally didn’t enjoy it because it isn’t the type of book that I like to read. The way the author wrote the book didn’t make much sense to me as it was written in ‘Old English’. I didn’t feel any emotions when reading this book, therefore, I would not recommend this book to my friends.

By Preston D., Year 8

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Posted June 20, 2017 by marjk in category Adventure stories, Student Reviews

About the Author

Teacher-librarian at Aquinas College, Southport, Gold Coast, Australia

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