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balletbookworm's review against another edition
fast-paced
3.0
Eh.
Read as part of the book club choice in Hedda's Patreon. I am far more familiar with the David Niven movie (I read like a Junior Illustrated Classic edition as a kid, the little square paperback one that had a line drawing opposite a block of text on every 2-page spread). This is fine. It's a product of it's time (cf. xenophobia and racism). I had to laugh that the Frenchman-writing-a-stereotypical-Englishman. I was surprised at 1) how the movie did stick primarily to the book for the majority of the plot, swapping out the "sailing" scene for hot-air ballooning (also, the DRAMA of getting to the Club and Sir John Mills having the hiccups is not in the book) and 2) speaking of hot air balloons, that is NOT a method of transportation in the book but WOW did it get into all of the marketing and book covers.
This is narrated by Jim Dale - who continues his streak of just not having a reading voice I jam with. Listened on 3x speed and I didn't miss anything.
Read as part of the book club choice in Hedda's Patreon. I am far more familiar with the David Niven movie (I read like a Junior Illustrated Classic edition as a kid, the little square paperback one that had a line drawing opposite a block of text on every 2-page spread). This is fine. It's a product of it's time (cf. xenophobia and racism). I had to laugh that the Frenchman-writing-a-stereotypical-Englishman. I was surprised at 1) how the movie did stick primarily to the book for the majority of the plot, swapping out the "sailing" scene for hot-air ballooning (also, the DRAMA of getting to the Club and Sir John Mills having the hiccups is not in the book) and 2) speaking of hot air balloons, that is NOT a method of transportation in the book but WOW did it get into all of the marketing and book covers.
This is narrated by Jim Dale - who continues his streak of just not having a reading voice I jam with. Listened on 3x speed and I didn't miss anything.
ays2974's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
blogthatbook's review against another edition
4.0
Well, if ever a book could be classed as 'non-stop' this has to be included.
Things get up and running pretty much right from the start, and events simply don't stop until the end. And even at the end, when you think it's all over, there's a final burst of activity. And even though you have worked out the ending and are expecting it, that certainly doesn't detract from the read at all.
I really enjoyed the quintessential Englishman in Fogg, the bullish Frenchman in Passepartout and the misguided devious villain in Fix, not to mention all the other characters we meet along the way. Even the exaggerations and over embellishments in procedures gave cause for a smile rather than criticism. Although, the miraculous appearance of $60000 to purchase the Henrietta, when there should have been next to no money left in Fogg's pocket, did irritate more than a little bit.
I feel like a lot of the classic language structure of the time was lost, possibly in the book's translation, which was a shame and something I really look forward to in classics of the 19th century. If you read French I suspect that would give you the most out of this story. But still worth a read nonetheless.
On a personal note, I felt like a lot of this book to be more of a geography lesson than a fictional tale. The story itself I really enjoyed, the overabundance of location detail not so much, but that's just me.
Things get up and running pretty much right from the start, and events simply don't stop until the end. And even at the end, when you think it's all over, there's a final burst of activity. And even though you have worked out the ending and are expecting it, that certainly doesn't detract from the read at all.
I really enjoyed the quintessential Englishman in Fogg, the bullish Frenchman in Passepartout and the misguided devious villain in Fix, not to mention all the other characters we meet along the way. Even the exaggerations and over embellishments in procedures gave cause for a smile rather than criticism. Although, the miraculous appearance of $60000 to purchase the Henrietta, when there should have been next to no money left in Fogg's pocket, did irritate more than a little bit.
I feel like a lot of the classic language structure of the time was lost, possibly in the book's translation, which was a shame and something I really look forward to in classics of the 19th century. If you read French I suspect that would give you the most out of this story. But still worth a read nonetheless.
On a personal note, I felt like a lot of this book to be more of a geography lesson than a fictional tale. The story itself I really enjoyed, the overabundance of location detail not so much, but that's just me.
tumormozgowicz's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
festibal's review against another edition
adventurous
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
ayereads's review
3.0
The amount of praise this book had for the British, it almost read like a satire.
I always find these books kind of funny, where we get the colonizer's POV and what was going on in their minds. I just look at this 'the sun never sets on the British empire' type of stuff and I am immediately pissed and this book wasn't even subtle about it.
Anyhow, the book was lowkey funny. That's why it's getting three stars. Mr. Fogg was such a cutie, this man will be facing the greatest crisis and his reaction would've been
""Ah!" Mr. Fogg said in a soft voice."
Can't believe Fix followed a random man around the world but my idea is that he just needed a little vacay.
I always find these books kind of funny, where we get the colonizer's POV and what was going on in their minds. I just look at this 'the sun never sets on the British empire' type of stuff and I am immediately pissed and this book wasn't even subtle about it.
Anyhow, the book was lowkey funny. That's why it's getting three stars. Mr. Fogg was such a cutie, this man will be facing the greatest crisis and his reaction would've been
""Ah!" Mr. Fogg said in a soft voice."
Can't believe Fix followed a random man around the world but my idea is that he just needed a little vacay.
smellie's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
larathewolf's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
hummingbee11's review
adventurous
challenging
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5