Around the World in 80 Days: Jules Verne's Perfect Adventure Story
Published in 1872, Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days is one of those books that sounds like a simple adventure — and delivers exactly that, while also being a surprisingly funny, suspenseful, and moving story about an unusual man and the journey that changes him.
Here's the breakdown.
The Premise
Phileas Fogg is an Englishman of exacting habits. He lives in London. He eats the same meals at the same times. He plays whist at his club every evening. He is precise, methodical, emotionless, and enormously wealthy. Nobody knows where his money came from. He does nothing that appears productive.
At his club one evening, a debate breaks out about whether the newly completed Suez Canal and the American transcontinental railroad have made the world small enough to circumnavigate in 80 days. Fogg says yes. His fellow members say impossible.
He bets twenty thousand pounds — half his fortune — that he can do it.
He leaves that same evening.
The Companions
Fogg has just hired a new French manservant named Passepartout — a cheerful, loyal, slightly chaotic man who wanted a quiet life working for a calm English gentleman. He did not anticipate any of this.
Passepartout becomes the heart of the story. Where Fogg is unreadable, Passepartout is expressive, warm, and constantly getting into trouble for the best reasons. He's the one you root for.
The Pursuer
Meanwhile, a bank in London has just been robbed of fifty-five thousand pounds. The description of the suspect matches Phileas Fogg almost perfectly.
A detective named Fix is dispatched to intercept and arrest Fogg. He follows them around the entire world, waiting for an arrest warrant to catch up with him. He is convinced Fogg is the thief. He is wrong. He is also genuinely dedicated and not entirely unsympathetic as an antagonist.
Fix creates most of the tension in the story — because every time Fogg is about to make a ship or train, Fix is scheming to delay him.
The Journey
Suez → India. The first major stop. In India, Fogg and Passepartout encounter a funeral procession. A young widow named Aouda is being forced to die alongside her husband's body — a practice called suttee. Fogg, completely without fanfare, rescues her. She joins the journey.
This is the moment you realize Fogg is not just a machine. He acts. He doesn't calculate whether saving a stranger fits his schedule. He just does it.
Calcutta → Hong Kong → Japan → America. The journey accelerates. Passepartout gets accidentally left behind in Hong Kong after Fix drugs him (to delay Fogg). He ends up in Japan with a traveling circus. It's as chaotic as it sounds.
America. This section is the most action-packed. The transcontinental railroad. A Sioux attack on the train. Fogg jumping off to rescue Passepartout who's been taken. A journey across frozen terrain on a wind-powered sledge. It reads like a Western.
The Twist
Fogg arrives in London on what he believes is the morning of the 81st day — one day late. He has lost the bet. He has lost twenty thousand pounds. He is ruined.
He accepts it without complaint. He apologizes to Aouda for the financial ruin his failed adventure has caused her. Aouda — who has been in love with him since India — tells him none of it matters and asks to marry him.
Fogg, who has shown almost no emotion across 80 days of chaos, is visibly stunned. He says yes.
Then Passepartout realizes the mistake.
Traveling east — against the direction of the sun — they gained a full day. The date is actually the 80th day. Not the 81st. By winning they are still in time. They've been in time. The whole catastrophe was an error.
Fogg races to his club with minutes to spare. He wins.
What the Book Is Really About
Verne is writing about a man who has reduced his life to perfect routine and perfect control — and who, through a bet taken on impulse, discovers the world is larger, stranger, and more worth experiencing than he allowed himself to believe.
Fogg wins the bet. He also ends up with friends, a wife, and a life. He spends roughly the same amount on the journey as the prize. It was never about the money.
Key Characters
- • Phileas Fogg — precise, reserved, secretly decent. Better than he appears.
- • Passepartout — loyal, warm, hilarious. The soul of the book.
- • Aouda — brave, intelligent, gracious. Not a passive character.
- • Detective Fix — wrong but committed. A good antagonist because he's understandable.
Where to Listen or Read — Free
Free audiobook: LibriVox.org — search "Around the World in Eighty Days." Short novel — the audiobook is around 8 hours. Easy to finish.
Free text: Project Gutenberg — full text, free, multiple formats.
Why Read It
It's short, fast, and genuinely fun. Verne moves the story at a pace most modern thrillers can't match. Each chapter ends pulling you into the next one.
It's also a story about what happens when an orderly person lets the world interrupt them — and finds out the interruption was worth it.
Good book. Read it on a long flight. Fitting.