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Around the World in Eighty Days From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

內容

Plot summary ...... 2 Background and analysis ...... 3 Origins...... 3 Literary significance ...... 4 Adaptations and influences ...... 4 References ...... 5

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Around the World in Eighty Days (French: Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours) is a classic adventure novel by the French writer , published in 1873. In the story, of London and his newly employed French valet Passepartout attempt to circumnavigate the world in 80 days on a £20,000 wager (roughly £1.6 million today) set by his friends at the Reform Club. It is one of Verne's most acclaimed works.

Plot summary

The story starts in London on Tuesday, October 1, 1872. Fogg is a rich English gentleman living in solitude. Despite his wealth, Fogg lives a modest life with habits carried out with mathematical precision. Very little can be said about his social life other than that he is a member of the Reform Club. Having dismissed his former valet, James Forster, for bringing him shaving water at 84 °F (29 °C) instead of 86 °F (30 °C), Fogg hires a Frenchman by the name of Jean Passepartout as a replacement.

At the Reform Club, Fogg gets involved in an argument over an article in The Daily Telegraph stating that with the opening of a new railway section in India, it is now possible to travel around the world in 80 days. He accepts a wager for £20,000 (equal to about £1.6 million today) from his fellow club members, which he will receive if he makes it around the world in 80 days. Accompanied by Passepartout, he leaves London by train at 8:45 P.M. on Wednesday, October 2, 1872, and is due back at the Reform Club at the same time 80 days later, Saturday, December 21, 1872.

The itinerary London, United Kingdom to Suez, Egypt rail and steamer across the Mediterranean Sea 7 days Suez to Bombay, India steamer across the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean 13 days Bombay to Calcutta, India rail 3 days Calcutta to Victoria, Hong Kong steamer across the South China Sea 13 days Hong Kong to Yokohama, Japan steamer across the South China Sea, East China Sea, and the Pacific Ocean 6 days

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Yokohama to San Francisco, United States steamer across the Pacific Ocean 22 days San Francisco to New York City, United States rail 7 days New York to London steamer across the Atlantic Ocean and rail 9 days Total 80 days

Background and analysis

Around the World in Eighty Days was written during difficult times, both for France and for Verne. It was during the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871) in which Verne was conscripted as a coastguard; he was having financial difficulties (his previous works were not paid royalties); his father had died recently; and he had witnessed a public execution, which had disturbed him.[3] Despite all this, Verne was excited about his work on the new book, the idea of which came to him one afternoon in a Paris café while reading a newspaper (see "Origins" below).

 In 1903, James Willis Sayre, a Seattle theatre critic and arts promoter, set the world record for circling the earth using public transport, 54 days, 9 hours, and 42 minutes.  In 1908, Harry Bensley, on a wager, set out to circumnavigate the world on foot wearing an iron mask.  In 1984, Nicholas Coleridge emulated Fogg's trip and wrote a book entitled Around the World in 78 Days.  In 1988, Monty Python alumnus Michael Palin took a similar challenge without using aircraft as a part of a television travelogue, called Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days. He completed the journey in 79 days and 7 hours.

Origins

The idea of a trip around the world within a set period had clear external origins and was popular before Verne published his book in 1872. Even the title Around the World in Eighty Days is not original. About six sources[3] have been suggested as the origins of the story, as follows:

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Literary significance

"His first books, the shortest, Around the World or From the Earth to the Moon, are still the best in my view. However, the works should be judged as a whole rather than in detail, and on their results rather than their intrinsic quality. Over the last forty years, they have had an influence unequalled by any other books on the children of this and every country in Europe. And the influence has been good, in so far as can be judged today." (Léon Blum, L'Humanité, April 3, 1905).

Adaptations and influences

In games The board game Around the World in 80 Days is derived from the novel. The mobile game company Inkle published an interactive fiction adaptation of the novel, titled 80 Days, which has won numerous awards. In literature The science fiction novel The Other Log of Phileas Fogg by Philip José Farmer gives an alternate interpretation of the story. In musicals In 2013 a musical version "Around the World in 80 Days" with book and lyrics by Chris Blackwood and music by Piers Chater Robinson went on general release and has had productions across the globe. Published by IT&M Shows. In theater Mark Brown adapted the book for a five-actor stage production in 2001. It has been performed in New York, Canada, England, South Africa, and Bangladesh.[11]

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References

William Butcher, ed. and trans., Around the World in Eighty Days, Oxford World's Classics (1995, 1999).

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