This book tells us about english engineer Fileas Foat and his servant Passpartu. Engineer made a bet for 20,000 pounds that they will travel around the world by 80 days. It was impossible to that time, so everyone thought that Fileas Foat will lose. But they won.
This is quite possibly my favorite of Jules Verne’s work. There weren’t many technical aspects to bog down the actual adventure and excitement, and I felt that Mr. Verne was finally able to stretch out and write the adventure I’d been waiting for in all of his stories so far. It also serves as a good foundation of knowledge for anyone wanting to join the steampunk community, as the details of travel for people living in the 1870’s are quite thorough and informative. The story does have a case of shuffled feet syndrome, where it takes its sweet time getting through certain areas of the plot, and some of the side characters seemed so token and throw-away that I felt there could have been more opportunity to demonstrate the dangers of travel in history through their struggles. Though Around the World in 80 Days is one of Jules Verne’s better works, it still falls short of some of the more modern historical fictions I’ve read in the past.
