{"id":8600,"date":"2022-03-06T17:45:41","date_gmt":"2022-03-06T16:45:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/?p=8600"},"modified":"2022-03-19T21:07:05","modified_gmt":"2022-03-19T20:07:05","slug":"reise-um-die-erde-in-80-tagen-jules-verne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/2022\/03\/around-the-world-in-eighty-days-jules-verne\/","title":{"rendered":"Around the World in Eighty Days \u2022 Jules Verne"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

It\u2019s already March, and I can say that so far, it hasn\u2019t really been a reading year. In light of current world events, I felt the longing for the comforting world of old adventure novels, so I reached for this beautiful new edition of Around the World in Eighty Days<\/em> by Jules Verne. Naturally, it was balm for the soul, and for anyone who needs a break from what\u2019s happening in the world, I recommend doing the same and picking up one of these wonderful old classics. Why this book is particularly worth reading, you\u2019ll find out in this post.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Who doesn\u2019t know the plot of this story \u2014 at least in its basic form? Phileas Fogg, an Englishman, makes a bet that he can travel around the world in eighty days. Together with his servant Passepartout, he sets out on a journey filled with adventures, beautiful scenery, and an exciting race against time. The story is set in the late 19th century, during the height of the British Empire. Readers are transported to India, Hong Kong, across Japan, and over the Pacific. The adventurers cross oceans and traverse the United States.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

For a journey around the world, 336 pages seemed rather short, but of course everything must happen quickly. The protagonists visit beautiful and exotic places but are always in a hurry. That gives the novel a very pleasant pace, and together with the adventures they experience and the people they meet, it becomes a highly entertaining story with no dull moments. I wouldn\u2019t say the story is extraordinary\u2014after all, there are so many adaptations that most readers are already familiar with the plot\u2014but even with that prior knowledge, the book is solid, beautifully written in its pacing, and carries the unmistakable charm of old adventure novels. I simply love these books, and Jules Verne has never disappointed me. He really is one of the greatest authors of all time, no doubt about it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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The basis for the novel was the journey of the American George Francis Train, who reportedly circumnavigated the world several times. It was only with the opening of the Suez Canal and the completion of the American transcontinental railroad\u2014connecting the East and West coasts\u2014that such a fast journey became possible. George Francis Train was apparently quite upset that Jules Verne renamed him Phileas Fogg. Still, the English gentleman Fogg is a wonderfully crafted character. Another inspiration for the twist at the end (which I won\u2019t spoil here) was apparently a short story by Edgar Allan Poe.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The translation by Manfred Kottmann is relatively new and felt quite fresh and modern to me. For comparison, I had read The Adventures of Captain Hatteras<\/em> in a 19th-century edition, and of course, you can really notice the difference. I did miss a bit of that old-fashioned German used in those early translations, but in return, this version reads very smoothly and elegantly. With Verne, though, it\u2019s like with Balzac: no matter who translates them, you can always hear that unmistakable tone, that unique voice that these great masters of world literature have\u2014it\u2019s simply wonderful. I always find that fascinating. It shows either that all translators have done a consistently great job, or that the text itself is so unique that it can hardly be rendered poorly.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

My edition from Fischer Sauerl\u00e4nder was published in 2016, and I simply liked the beautifully designed cover. I\u2019ve considered buying the Hartleben Complete Edition secondhand, but each time decided against it. For me, every book is something unique, and I like it when an author\u2019s books all look different\u2014just as each story is something special. By now, I own several Jules Verne novels that look very different from one another, and I\u2019m quite glad not to have an entire shelf of identical spines. Of course, I also have a Hartleben edition, but also the beautiful Eight Hundred Leagues on the Amazon<\/a> from Die Andere Bibliothek<\/em>. This S. Fischer edition, in any case, is very nice, though it comes without illustrations, has a simple glued binding, no ribbon marker, and overall is a \u20ac15 book\u2014but not more than that. In terms of price-performance, however, it\u2019s excellent, no complaints there. For those who want a more beautifully designed edition, I recommend the Knesebeck Verlag version, illustrated by Ingpen, though it\u2019s now harder to find. But for anyone simply wanting to enjoy this classic, I can highly recommend this Fischer Sauerl\u00e4nder edition.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Conclusion:<\/strong> Jules Verne is a truly great author, and this book\u2014which has inspired generations\u2014is an outstanding adventure novel. Even if you already know the story from other adaptations, it\u2019s an enjoyable and captivating read. The length is just right, and it never drags. The writing is vivid and atmospheric, bringing the various locations of the world to life so vividly that readers can easily imagine the settings. The Fischer Sauerl\u00e4nder edition looks nice, though it comes without any bibliophile extras\u2014but the price-performance ratio is absolutely fair. A reading recommendation for anyone who, these days, wants to escape into a pleasant and positive world full of exciting adventures.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Book information:<\/strong> Around the World in Eighty Days<\/em> \u2022 Jules Verne \u2022 Fischer Sauerl\u00e4nder \u2022 336 pages \u2022 ISBN 9783737354448<\/p>\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s already March, and I can say that so far, it hasn\u2019t really been a reading year. In light of current world events, I felt the longing for the comforting world of old adventure novels, so I reached for this beautiful new edition of Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne. Naturally, it … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Around the World in Eighty Days \u2022 Jules Verne”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8607,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"slim_seo":{"title":"Reise um die Erde in 80 Tagen \u2022 Jules Verne - lesestunden","description":"Es ist bereits M\u00e4rz und ich kann sagen, dass es bisher kein Lesejahr war. Angesichts des aktuellen Weltgeschehens hat mich dann doch die Sehnsucht nach der sch\u00f6"},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[256,10,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventure-novel","category-classics","category-reviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/reise_um_die_erde_in_80_tagen_jules_verne_1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}