After watching Around the World in 80 Days starring Jackie Chan with my children I thought it would be interesting to read the book. The book by Jules Verne is a whirlwind trip across the globe.

In this book Verne chronicles the journey of Phileas Fogg and his servant Passepartout across the world from London and back again. The story is entertaining even though it is outlandish at times.

When learning that Fogg is about to try and travel around the world in 80 days Passpartout “mechanically set about making the preparations for departure. Around the world in eighty days! Was his master a fool? No. Was this a joke, then? They were going to Dover; good! To Calais; good again!”

To add an element of complexity to the story Verne introduced the character of Mr. Fix who is a British Detective trying to arrest Fogg who has been described as a suspected bank robber.

The book does not provide much detail about Fogg at the beginning and I expected to learn more of his backstory as the book progressed but never really got the details I was hoping for. The interactions between Fogg and Aouda are also lacking. My favorite interactions were between Passpartout and Fix.

Overall the book missed an opportunity to allow the reader to connect with Fogg and his relationship with Aouda. The book was probably about 50 pages too short to build up the main characters in more depth. As a result it is just a quick whimsical read. I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars.