Around the World in 80 days

By Jules Verne

This has to be one of my favourite classic reads. When I was a kid there was a cartoon version of this tale entitled "Around the World with Willy Fogg". It got me hooked. There have been several versions of movies through the years but I have always enjoyed reading the book. I was gifted a version of the book in my Grandfather's estate when I was 13 and as a result I've always treasured the adventure. As part of this second year of blogging I've decided to revisit some of the stories I've read and enjoyed all those years ago. Starting right now with this.

Synopsis

One ill-fated evening at the Reform Club, Phileas Fogg rashly bets his companions £20,000 that he can travel around the entire globe in just eighty days - and he is determined not to lose. Breaking the well-establised routine of his daily life, the reserved Englishman immediately sets off for Dover, accompanied by his hot-blooded French manservant Passepartout. Travelling by train, steamship, sailing boat, sledge and even elephant, they must overcome storms, kidnappings, natural disasters, Sioux attacks and the dogged Inspector Fix of Scotland Yard - who believes that Fogg has robbed the Bank of England - to win the extraordinary wager. Around the World in Eighty Days gripped audiences on its publication and remains hugely popular, combining exploration, adventure and a thrilling race against time.

Author

Jules Verne was born to bourgeois parents in the seaport of Nantes, where he was trained to follow in his father's footsteps as a lawyer, but quit the profession early in life to write for magazines and the stage.
Verne has been the second most-translated author in the world since 1979, ranking between Agatha Christie and William Shakespeare.

Novels

Five Weeks in a Balloon (1863)
A Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864)
From the Earth to the Moon (1865)
In Search of the Castaways (1868)

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870)

Round the Moon (1870)

Around the World in Eighty Days (1872)

The Mysterious Island (1874)

Master of the World (1904)