Around the World in 80 Days
Book Information
Author:
Jules Verne
Date:
1873
Genre:
Action
May 25, 2009
by Martin Kerby - Head of Information Services
In the days before DVD players and Pay TV, movie buffs were generally confined to Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons for their fix of classic movies. One of my favourites was the 1956 version of Jules Verne's classic Around the World in 80 Days. Starring David Niven and Shirley MacLaine, the movie was nominated for 8 Oscars, a critical and commercial success which did much to resurrect Niven's faltering career. It would eventually win five of the much sought after statuettes, including the one for best picture.
Given how much I loved the movie, it still surprises me that it was not until last year that I actually got around to reading the novel. An old copy picked up at a flea market had sat on the shelf for over ten years, and it was only a lazy Sunday afternoon which necessitated its eventual appearance. Written by Jules Verne (1828-1905) in 1873, although my copy was a much later and cheaper edition, it was one of a number of timeless classics written by the French author. His CV is remarkable, including as it does Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1864), From the Earth to the Moon (1865) and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1869-1870). Though its author is considered one of the founders of science fiction, Around the World in 80 Days is actually the exciting story of English gentleman Phileas Fogg and his French valet Passepartout who circumnavigated the world in 80 days in order to win a twenty thousand pound bet. It is a timeless classic, evident in the fact that there have been a number of film adaptations other than Niven's 1956 triumph - a silent film in 1919 and a more modern, though far less faithful adaptation in 2004 starring Jackie Chan. Even the Three Stooges had a go at the story in their 1963 movie The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze.
The colour and excitement of Phileas Fogg and his companions circumnavigating the world can be enjoyed by any student with an ID card! Having read this classic, students might like to follow it up with one of Verne’s other stories, or the newly arrived King Solomon's Mines by H Rider Haggard which is part of a five part collection entitled Classic Tales from the Golden Age of Adventure.