Around the World in Eighty Days
SynopsisPlot
One night in the reform club, Phileas Fogg bets his companions that he can travel across the globe in just eighty days. Breaking the well-established routine of his daily life, he immediately sets off for Dover with his astonished valet Passepartout. Passing through exotic lands and dangerous locations, they seize whatever transportation is at hand - whether train or elephant - overcoming set-backs and always racing against the clock.
Story
About this book
Phileas Fogg is a wealthy Englishman whose life runs on strict routine. He leaves his house at the same hours, walks the same paths, and expects absolute precision from everyone around him. One evening at the Reform Club in London, a debate about whether the world can be circled in eighty days leads Fogg to stake half his fortune on doing exactly that. He departs the same night, accompanied by his newly hired French valet, Passepartout, who had been looking forward to a quiet position.
The route takes them east through Egypt, India, Hong Kong, Japan, and across the United States. Along the way they travel by steamer, rail, sledge, and at one point an elephant purchased out of necessity in the Indian countryside. A detective named Fix follows them from country to country, convinced that Fogg matches the description of a man who recently robbed the Bank of England. Each delay, missed connection, and unexpected detour tightens the margin between success and failure.
Jules Verne published the novel in 1873, first as a serial in the French newspaper Le Temps. The story reflects a period when new rail lines and the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 had recently shortened global travel times, making Fogg's wager feel plausible to contemporary readers.
