- a remarkably peculiar man bets his friends that he can make it around the entire globe in 80 days
- readers will travel vicariously through many countries and cultures, including India, Japan, the USA, and more
- convo: alcohol (a few instances of drinking/drunkenness), drugs (especially the opium problem in China), quite a bit of racism (see below), false god worshiping and related pagan traditions, entire chapter focuses on Mormonism including polygamy, mentions murders with some imagery, suicide mentioned but not done, a few mentions of an attraction between woman and man with one long paragraph sensually describing a woman’s body*
- language: retarded (slowed) x2, stupid x1, ass x2
Type: historical fiction chapter book
Ages: 10-15
Author: Jules Verne
*This is in chapter 14 and can be read for free on gutenberg.org if parents wanted to pre-read.
Phileas Fogg is a man of unbroken regularity with perfectionist tendencies and for whom the unforeseen does not exist. He is able to keep cool in every situation–even when all around him are panicking–and he is the epitome of focused determination. When things go wrong on his journey, his calm and collected manner helps him find creative solutions to keep going.
A secondary plot involves a disguised detective who keeps trying to arrest Fogg. He ends up having to travel the entire trip because of various (and sometimes humorous) circumstances. Will he finally be able to formally present his arrest warrant? I won’t spoil it!
Regarding the racism… The book has many occurrences which display the arrogance of the English at this time in history–from remarks on their ability to keep law and order to more penetrating comments such as the locals being “in the lowest scale of humanity.” There is a mention of a black town they pass being miserable, dirty and squalid while the next town–a European town–“presented a relief…” Other comments say things like, “…a territory which is still infested by Indians and wild beasts…” and “The colonizing genius of the English…” Though there is no excuse for one people group to feel/act superior to another, it’s still a good idea to study the context in which an author wrote his story. I encourage you to do a brief search on Jules Verne, the political turmoil that France was for many years of his life, as well as the history surrounding the British Colonial Rule of India–where many of the novel’s racist comments are focused.
All of our main characters learn and change from their experience of traveling the globe–Fogg, his servant, a woman whose life they save, and even the undercover detective. There are admirable traits to admire in each of them, such as honor, faithfulness, honesty, and more. Of course, there are also some bad decisions made, a few suspenseful scenes, and a constant wondering if they’ll make it back to England in time, so enjoy the ride. 😉
Oh, and there are a lot of numbers in the book–distances, hours, days, etc. If that tickles your fancy, it could be fun to map it all out. Additionally, the characters like to play the traditional English card game called Whist. Your family may want to discover a new game! At the very least, this story could certainly spark some good conversations if you read it with others. Hope this review helps!