Product Description

Around the World in Eighty Days (1873) relates the hair-raising journey made as a wager by the Victorian gentleman Phileas Fogg, who succeeds - but only just! - in circling the globe within eighty days. The dour Fogg's obsession with his timetable is complemented by the dynamism and versatility of his French manservant, Passepartout, whose talent for getting into scrapes brings colour and suspense to the race against time. Five Weeks in a Balloon (1863) was Verne's first novel. It documents an apocryphal jaunt across the continent of Africa in a hydrogen balloon designed by the omniscient, imperturbable and ever capable Dr Fergusson, the prototype of the Vernian adventurer.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57760 in Books
• Published on: 1994-02-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Review
An entry in The Whole Story series, this is an annotated edition of the 1873 classic, printed on coated stock and enhanced by both atmospheric new paintings and hundreds of postage-stamp-sized 19th-century photos and prints. The explanatory captions (credited to Jean-Pierre Verdet only on the copyright page) accompanying the latter are largely superfluous, although they do add random snippets of historical background to the journey. It's the views of old ships and trains, of costumed natives, and distant ports of call - from Port Said to San Francisco - that evoke the tale's panorama of the exotic, just as the many lurid Verne trading cards and other spinoffs capture the plot's melodramatic highlights. A good way to put both book and story in context for young armchair travelers. --Kirkus Reviews

Customer Reviews

An enjoyable easy read
What do you do first? read the book or watch the film. In my case I saw the film first, and consequently had the vision of David Niven playing Philious Fogg painted in my mind. This however was not a bad thing as in my opinion Mr Niven plays an excellent Mr Fogg. This fast paced book took a slow reader like myself just two days to read such is its infectious nature. The very 'Englishness' of the leading character made the book all the more enjoyable, as he seemed to apply his principles in the most amazing circumstances when a mere mortal would surely have crumbled. In conclusion relaxing and enjoyable read.