Before I get into this book itself, I’m going to give
A Quick
Summary of My History with Jules Verne
When I was
around 7 and 8, I read many of Jules Verne’s stories in the Children’s Classic
Editions (classic books abridged and re-written for
children).
I also was
a big fan of movies based on Jules Verne’s books. (Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for example.)
Around 5th
grade or so, I read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (the
unabridged version) and really struggled with it. I found it boring, confusing and just hard to
get through. My mind kept wandering as I
tried to focus on the page. In the end I
forced myself to finish it. (Partly
because we were at family camp that week, and I didn’t have any
other reading material with me.) But it
put me off Jules Verne for years.
But that
was back in 5th grade. I’d
like to think I have matured slightly as a reader since then.
And so, I
decided to give Jules Verne another try, and I picked up Around the
World in Eighty Days. (I have actually
read a children’s version of this book once, but I don’t remember it at all,
and so the story was more or less completely fresh to me.)
The Review
Well, after
avoiding Jules Verne for the past 20 years, the good news is that this little
book was totally readable. Charming,
funny, easy to read, less than 200 pages, and I finished it off within a week.
It wasn’t exactly
what I was expecting, but that’s ok. It
would be a boring world if everything was exactly what you were expecting.
I was
expecting an “exotic-adventure-in-foreign-lands” type book, but this book is
more of a comedy than an adventure story.
And even then, the comedy centers on the various eccentricities of the 3
main characters, and the different countries they travel to barely get a
mention. (One of the re-occurring jokes
is how little interest Englishman Phileas Fogg has in any of the places he
visits. He simply wants to stay in his
compartment on the train or boat and play cards at each place he travels
through.)
The premise
of the book locates it very nicely within the time it was written. In 1872, when it was published, it was a big
deal that it could only take 80 days to travel around the world.
The story
is started by a report in the Daily Telegraph, which announces
that with the completion of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, it is now theoretically
possible to travel around the world in only 80 days.
Phileas
Fogg, who acts as the stereotype of the phlegmatic Englishman
throughout the book, causes great irritation to his cards partners at the
reform club by insisting stubbornly that it is possible in practice as well as
in theory, and refusing to take seriously their objections. This conversation, which starts out
innocently enough, ends with Phileas Fogg announcing he will travel around the
world in 80 days just to prove a point.
The passage
in which this conversation takes place is typical of the humor of the book.
“Be so good
as to play, Mr. Stuart,” said Phileas Fogg.
But the
incredulous Stuart was not convinced, and when the hand was finished said
eagerly: “You have a strange way, Ralph, of proving that the world has grown
small. So, because you can go round it
in three months--.”
“In eighty
days,” interrupted Phileas Fogg.
“That is
true, gentlemen,” added John Sullivan. “Only eighty days, now that the section
between Rothal and Allahanbad, on the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, has been
opened. Here is the estimate made by the
Daily Telegraph:--
[…]
“Yes, in
eighty days!” exclaimed Stuart, who in his excitement made a false deal. “But that doesn’t take into account bad
weather, contrary winds, shipwrecks, railway accidents, and so on.”
“All
included,” returned Phileas Fogg, continuing to play despite the discussion.
“But
suppose the Hindoos or Indians pull up the rails,” replied Stuart; “suppose
they stop the trains, pillage the luggage-vans, and scalp the passengers!”
“All
included,” calmly retorted Fogg; adding, as he threw down the cards, “Two
trumps.”
Stuart,
whose turn it was to deal, gathered them up and went on. “You are right theoretically,
Mr. Fogg, but practically –.”
“Practically
also, Mr. Stuart.”
“I’d like
to see you do it in eighty days.”
“It depends
on you. Shall we go?”
“Heaven
preserve me! But I would wager four thousand pounds that such a journey, made
under these circumstances, is impossible.”
“Quite
possible, on the contrary,” returned Mr. Fogg.
“Well, make
it then!”
“The
journey around the world in eighty days?”
“Yes.”
“I should
like nothing better.”
“When?”
“At
once. Only I warn you that I shall do it
at your expense.”
“It’s
absurd!” cried Stuart, who was beginning to be annoyed at the persistency of
his friend. “Come, let’s go on with the game.”
“Deal over
again, then,” said Phileas Fogg. “There’s
a false deal.”
Stuart took
up the pack with a feverish hand; then suddenly put them down again.
“Well, Mr.
Fogg,” said he, “it shall be so: I will wager the four thousand on it.”
“Calm
yourself, my dear Stuart,” said Fallentin. “It’s only a joke.”
“When I say
I’ll wager,” returned Stuart, “I mean it.”
“All right,”
said Mr. Fogg; and, turning to the others, he continued, “I have a deposit of
twenty thousand at Baring’s which I will willingly risk upon it.”
“Twenty
thousand pounds!” cried Sullivan. “Twenty thousand pounds, which you would lose
by a single accidental delay!”
“The
unforeseen does not exist,” quietly replied Phileas Fogg.
“But, Mr.
Fogg, eighty days are only the estimate of the least possible time in which the
journey can be made.”
“A
well-used minimum suffices for everything.”
“But, in
order not to exceed it, you must jump mathematically from the trains upon the
steamers, and from the steamers upon the trains again.”
“I will
jump—mathematically.”
“You are
joking.”
“A true
Englishman doesn’t joke when he is talking about so serious a thing as a wager,”
replied Phileas Fogg, solemnly.
(pages
12-14)
As you can
imagine from the terms of the bet, our hero can afford to take very little time
for sight-seeing, and must simply hop from one train to the next. But Phileas Fogg is described as someone who
hates sightseeing anyway, and is just undertaking this journey to prove a point
to his friends at the Reform Club.
Phileas
Fogg is accompanied by his French servant Passepartout.
They are
also trailed by the English detective Fix, who is convinced that Mr. Fogg is a
bankrobber trying to flee the authorities by travelling around the world.
One or two
small mishaps and adventures occur, and there are some brief descriptions of
foreign lands, but on the whole the book is simply about catching the next train
or boat, and the humor is mostly just based on the 3 eccentric main characters.
So,
although the characters travel through Egypt,
Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Yokohama, they interact very little with each of these places. Some adventures occur in India, but the place where the characters have
the most adventures is actually the United States. (About a 4th of the book takes
place within the boarders of the US).
If you’re
from America (as I am) you may not think of America as a particularly exotic
place, but doubtless from the perspective of 19th Century Europe the
American West probably seemed just as exotic and dangerous as India, and so it
is interesting to see America as viewed through the eyes of these European travelers. Mormonism is evidently one of the things that
attracted Jules Verne’s interest, because the Mormon settlement in Salt Lake City is one of
the few places where the book devotes some attention to the culture and history
of its inhabitants.
A lot of
fun is also had making fun of national characteristics of the British, French,
and Americans respectively.
Although
Jules Verne is a Frenchman himself, he uses the character Passepartout to make
fun of a lot of stereotypical French characteristics.
Americans
are repeatedly described as being rash and imprudent. When the Frenchman Passepartout discovers
that an English steamboat is going too slow because some steam is hissing out
of the valves, he exclaims, “The valves are not sufficiently
charged! Oh, these English! If this was an American craft, we should blow up,
perhaps, but we should at all events go faster!” (page 83).
Later, when
an American train comes to a stop because of a faulty bridge, the narrator
comments, “He [the signal
man] did not in any way exaggerate the condition of the bridge. It may be taken for granted that, rash as the
Americans usually are, when they are prudent there is good reason for it.”
(Page 146).
[Sidenote:
I wonder, is this still the way the rest of the world views us, or in 2012 is
the more common stereotype of the American as fat, lazy, and sedentary?]
Other Notes…
Racism?
I don’t
like to make racism accusations frivolously, but it is worth noting that the
non-white races in this novel are not always portrayed in the best of terms.
The
subcontinent Indians come off mixed. Some
of them are portrayed in very positive and noble terms, some of them are
portrayed as savages.
The
American Indians are described simply as savages.
The Papuans
(of the Islands near the Bay of Bengal) get a
brief one sentence remark: “the savage Papuans, who are in the lowest scale of
humanity, but are not, as has been asserted, cannibals” (page 74).
On the
other hand, given how Jules Verne also makes fun of French, English and
American national stereotypes, maybe we should just call him an equal
opportunity offender and cut him some slack on this?
I don’t know.
This Book as History
It is
interesting to read this book as a time piece. There were a few things that
caught my eye.
One of the
main plot points of the book is that English detective Fix is trying to arrest
English citizen Fogg, and must do so on British soil. What’s interesting about this time period is
just exactly how far British soil extends.
Fogg travels through India,
Singapore, and Hong Kong, and is on British land the whole time. Only once he finally sails from Hong Kong does Fix lose his opportunity to make an arrest
on British soil. Times have changed now
of course.
Also
apparently at this time, neither bananas nor mangos were available in Europe. Or at
least so I’m guessing, because Jules Verne feels the need to explain to his
reader exactly how what these fruits taste like when his characters eat bananas
in India and mangos in Singapore.
When
traversing the American plains on a sledge…
Sometimes
flocks of wild birds rose, or bands of gaunt, famished, ferocious
prairie-wolves ran howling after the sledge.
Passepartout, revolver in hand, held himself ready to fire on those
which came too near. Had an accident then happened to the sledge, the travelers,
attacked by these beasts, would have been in the most terrible danger (Page
166-167).
In reality,
there has never been a reported case of a healthy wolf attacking a human being
in North America. (I know this is a work of fiction, but after
all these years of constantly bringing this fact up, I would be
remiss if I didn’t point out it again here.)
Hot Air Balloons (or the lack thereof….)
Another
surprising thing—absolutely no hot air balloon journeys occur in this
book. For some reason I totally thought
hot air balloons would be in this book.
Actually Wikipedia
even cites this as one of the most common misconceptions about this book.
Although a journey by hot air balloon has become one of the images most strongly associated with the story, this iconic symbol was never deployed in the book by Verne himself – the idea is briefly brought up in chapter 32, but dismissed, it "would have been highly risky and, in any case, impossible." However the popular 1956 movie adaptation Around the World in Eighty Days floated the balloon idea, and it has now become a part of the mythology of the story, even appearing on book covers
Although a journey by hot air balloon has become one of the images most strongly associated with the story, this iconic symbol was never deployed in the book by Verne himself – the idea is briefly brought up in chapter 32, but dismissed, it "would have been highly risky and, in any case, impossible." However the popular 1956 movie adaptation Around the World in Eighty Days floated the balloon idea, and it has now become a part of the mythology of the story, even appearing on book covers
In fact the
edition I read, Bantam Classic, re-issued in 2006, even has a hot air balloon
on the cover. Indicating perhaps that
Bantam Classics is not even bothering to read the classic books they are
re-printing.
The whole
point of the book is that the 80 day time estimate around the world is made
using conventional scheduled public transportation—boats and trains. So hot air balloons wouldn’t really fit the
theme anyway.
Although,
when this book was first in 1872, it was only one year after Paris made great
use of hot air balloons to defy the Prussian siege during the Franco-Prussian
War, (a story Alistair Horne tells very well in his book The Fall of Paris.) So after having been in the public
consciousness so much at the time, it is almost a bit surprising hot air
balloons wouldn’t have been in Jules Verne’s mind. But whatever, I’ll stop talking about hot air
balloons now…..
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne: Book Review (Scripted)
2 comments:
So far as hot air balloon is concered, it is indeed referred to...even if in passing
" Chapter XXXII : IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG ENGAGES IN A DIRECT STRUGGLE WITH BAD FORTUNE
...
Still, some means must be found to cross the Atlantic on a boat, unless by balloon—which would have been venturesome, besides not being capable of being put in practice."
An oversight on my part--thanks for the correction. No hot air balloon journeys occur in the book, but I guess they are indeed mentioned at least once.
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