Have I read this before: Indeed! In high school, I think? I can’t remember exactly.

Review: Good lord, I love this book. Jules Verne’s characters are always awesome, but not a single one of them is more awesome than Phileas Fogg. I think he is my favorite literary character (with the possible exception of Captain Queeg).

“He was so exact that he was never in a hurry, was always ready, and was economical alike of his steps and his motions. he never took one step too many, and always went to his destination by the shortest cut.; he made no superfluous gestures, and was never seen to be moved or agitated. He was the most deliberate person in the world, yet always reached his destination at the exact moment.”

“…Mr. Fogg stopped him, and, turning to Sir Francis Cromarty, said, ‘Suppose we save this woman.’
‘Save the woman, Mr. Fogg!’
‘I have yet twelve hours to spare, I can devote them to that.’
‘Why, you are a man of heart!’
‘Sometimes,’ replied Phileas Fogg, quietly; ‘when I have the time.'”

How can you not love a character like that, seriously?

As for the plot itself, it’s pretty much classic Verne. I love how he’s always throwing his characters into seemingly impossible-to-remedy situations and then he’s like “AND SUDDENLY AN ELEPHANT” or something else and it saves the day. I reiterate from past blogs: Verne is awesome. And this is my favorite of his books (though re-reading 20,000 Leagues made me realize just how badass that one was, too).

Favorite part: “Stop the train, we need to have an emergency duel!” Nothing says “defending your honor” like wanting to use a brief stop at a train station to duel to the death. And, failing at that, nothing says “no seriously, I gotta defend my honor!” like ushering passengers out of a train car so that you can utilize said car for a duel to the death. Oh, Jules.  

Rating: 9.5/10