The
first time I heard about this book was many years ago when I was still studying,
it was the title of Jacky Chan’s Movie. I didn’t watch that movie and that was
why I didn’t know exactly what the story was about. A hospital had been named
after the author of this book - Jules Vernes and I used to wait for my bus to
Paris a few times in the bus stop which was located next to the hospital. I was
wondering then why a hospital was named after this man and whether he was as
famous as Charles de Gaulle in France. The puzzle was only solved when somebody
told me that he was actually the author of the book which is really famous not
only in Europe but also other parts of the world.
I am
not really sure whether the protagonist – Phileas Fogg can travel around the
world in 80 days when he used half of his wealth and made a wager with his
friends in Reform Club. In those days, only steamers powered by coals were used
to carry passengers and goods from a country to another with a few coal top-up
points in between. There were no aero planes nor high-speed trains that could
be used as transport means. For me, I would not bet on Phileas Fogg to complete
the tour on time. It is too difficult to meet the really tight schedule as
there are some much uncertainties that we cannot foresee in the journey. It is
not the age with internet, where information is readily available online and we
can find the answers of everything that we want to know.
Together
with his valet - Passepartout, both of them started their journey from London
and passed by India, Hong Kong, United States and finally reached London again.
Phileas Fogg was a calm and eccentric man. He didn’t show his emotion even he
was agitated or excited. It was very hard to predict what was in his mind and
what he wanted to do next. Nevertheless, he was someone who was really good in
doing time planning and problem solving. It was undeniable that they managed to
use money to remove many obstacles that they faced. However, there were also
many predictable things that were out of their control. They simply needed to
find a solution without delaying the tour. In India, they saved Aouda from the
local after finding out that the girl would be sacrificed in a religious
ceremony by some fanatics. Also, the story is made more interesting with Fix, a
police inspector that followed Phileas Fogg suspecting that he was the bank
robber who was trying to run away from London with huge amount of money…..
This
book actually reminds me how eager I was when I was a child to travel around
the world and then the eagerness was disappeared and replaced by the compromises
to the reality when I started living and working as a normal adult. I wish that
I can travel around the world. It can be done in 100 years ago with very
limited options of transportation and today it will be easier and cheaper! I
should not have forgotten what I always wanted to do when I was a child.
(549
words)
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