The classic "Around the World In Eighty Days" is written by Jules Verne.
This story revolves around an English tycoon named Phileas Fogg who is a member of a gentleman's club in town and also a bachelor. He has just hired a French servant, Passepartout, and on that same day, he and his fellow club members had a heated argument over an article in the newspapers which stated that one could circumvent the world in eighty days following the opening of the Suez Canal in Africa, a shortcut from Europe to Asia. While the others believed that no one could ever perform that feat, Fogg begged to differ . He wagered with his other friends 20,000 pounds that he could accomplish that feat within the same number of days. From there, he embarked on his perilous and arduous journey along with his servant. His entire fortune was hanging by a thread.
However, an earth-shattering bank robbery had occurred that time and wads of bank notes totaling to an astronomical amount had simply vanished from the counter of the Bank of England. Everyone was hunting for the thief in pursuit of a cash reward, including a detective called Fix. He had his suspicious piqued on Fogg and thus decided to track him down to prevent him from getting scot-free and if possible, to nail him.
In the course of his journey, Fogg travelled from different corners of the world to the others from France as far as Japan, and encountered many obstacles and problems that had hindered his progress, but Fogg was willing to attend to them at the expense of his trickling time. He said that he had already foreseen all these and that they were of no obstruction to his journey. When he reached Bombay, India, he missed his steam train in order to find his servant which was roaming about the city and was thus delayed. He thus decided to traverse through Northern India to get to Calculta. It was during this journey when he and his servant unearthed a inhuman custom practised by North Indians, that is suttee, whereby the wife of man will be burnt to death following her husband's death. They met a woman named Aouda, who was the wife of a king of a kingdom. By the time Fogg first saw her, her husband was dead and she had been doped and was being carried to a prison to be arranged for her execution in the following day. Strong feelings and sympathy welled up in Fogg, Passerapout and the guide they employed to herd their elephant. They hatched a intrepid plan to resucue the woman who was ensnared in the pagoda. That night, Passerapout managed to slip through the defence unscathed and released Aouda. Fogg then decided to bring Aouda to Hong Kong, another British colony. as she had no relatives or family members in India and it was also too dangerous to allow her to linger alone in that treacherous land.Aouda's relatives were also thought to be in Hong Kong. However, when they ultimately reached The Eastern Pearl, there were no signs of them.So, Fogg allowed Aouda to follow them for the rest if the journey, after which Fogg would place her in Netherlands. They went to China where Passerapout stumbled onto trouble again. He was drugged by Fix while drinking wine in a shop. Fix was bent on separating Passerapout with his master as the former supported the latter, and this would hinder him from nabbing Fogg. Passerapout was thus left behind. After waiting for a few hours and was late, Fogg decided to carry on his journey without Passerapout. Unfortunately, Fogg received the wrong information that the steamer, Yokohama, had already departed for Japan and leased another boat. When Passerapout finally came round and realised that he had been lost with his master, he immediately rushed to take the Yokohama to Japan, hoping to catch up with his master in time. His attempt was successful when his master found him while he was frolicking around the streets of Tokyo.
The last lengthy stretch beset with difficulties that lay ahead of them was the voyage to America. Amidst the rough journey, choppy,mountainous and turbulent waves loomed over them, just like the Saxons that swept over North America. They raided every single train travelling in the area, including the one that Fogg was in. Fogg and Passerapout had another close shave with death when they went on to pit the invaders and rescue two hostages taken by the Saxons.
The conclusion of the story is a rather compounded. Two days before Fogg arrived back at Britain, the culprit behind the bank robbery had already been brought to justice.However, to Fogg, his arrival was dismal. According to his time, he was already late over the stipulated time. It was then that Aouda and Fogg both confessed their affection for each other which they had grown during the journey and decided to marry each other. As Passerapout hurried to arrange their marriage, he learnt from a pastor that Fogg was still a few more minutes on time for his pact because timezones change while Fogg was travelling from West to East and scientifically, this means that time in the East is ahead of that in the West. Fogg and his servant had brought along a watch that showed the time in the East which nearly ruined them. Fogg then zoomed down to the club at that precise juncture, giving his fellow club members a staggering surprise. So, Fogg did not lose a single cent of his bet, but his expenditure on the trip had taken a big bite from his fortune. He returned gloriously in the limelight as a hero of the country to write history.
Jules Verne wrote about space, air, and underwater travel before navigable aircraft and practical submarines were invented, and before any means of space travel had been devised. Consequently he is often referred to as the "Father of science fiction", along with H. G. Wells, Hugo Gernsback and Edgar Allan Poe.
My favourite character in this book is definitely Fogg as I am amazed at his composure, his wit and his wisdom when stumbling upon any adversities and would hope to learn from him.This book has provided me with immense pleasure, satisfies my curiosity towards the world,lifts away my imagination and sends adrenaline and fear rushing through me as I read it. I myself bases my interest in exploration, thus the story captivates me when I first noticed its title and after reading its content, my interest in this aspect was piqued even higher as I felt myself as an imposting Fogg ,immersing in and savouring every moment of that travel. This experience is beyond description, and I am glad to have read and been mesmerized by such a classic which is the fruit of one's boundless imagination.
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