Shocking his stodgy colleagues at the exclusive Reform Club, enigmatic Englishman Phileas Fogg wagers his fortune, undertaking an extraordinary and daring enterprise to circumnavigate the globe in eighty days. With his French valet Passepartout in tow, Verne's hero traverses the far reaches of the earth, all the while tracked by the intrepid Detective Fix, a bounty hunter certain he is on the trail of a notorious bank robber.
Combining exploration, adventure, and a thrilling race against time, Around the World in 80 Days gripped audiences upon its original publication and remains hugely popular to this day.
Commemorating Listening Library's 50th Anniversary, the publisher reprises the first book recorded as an audiobook in 1955. This new edition, read by Jim Dale, offers a good, if not brilliant, rendition of Verne's 1873 classic. Dale paces himself to Verne's narrative, which seems a bit slow and plodding. As the urgency of the circumnavigation increases, Dale's characters seem to gather more vitality. When Phileas Fogg, the focused English gentleman, and his resilient servant, Passepartout, encounter the boisterous Americans, Dale's interplay with the characters shines. Listeners will certainly enjoy some of Verne's satire, the geography, and the "modern" advances of travel in their nineteenth-century context. R.F.W. 2006 Audie Award Winner (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine
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