[Victoria]

I was completely surprised by this book. I only knew Verne by his reputation as an early sci-fi writer and was expecting a clockwork display of the marvels of modern travel, not a caper. Something much more like a World Fair exhibit. So it took me a while to adjust to the tone.

That said, once I got on the same page as Verne, I enjoyed the book, and am glad I finally read it. It was amusing and moved at a nice pace. I felt a bit of tension each time Fix showed up, or there was another setback.

In terms of the writing itself, I preferred Fix’s efforts to derail the journey and thought they were more believable than Passepartout’s shenanigans. Those were a bit too slapstick for my tastes, and felt contrived. Also, I didn’t think having Fix give Passepartout opium was in character for a lawman. Plus, we first met Passepartout, he wanted an uneventful life. Then his character seemed to do a complete turnaround. But the book is a caper, so the inconsistencies didn’t spoil it for me.

I thought that imperialism and other attitudes were very much on display, and it did make me cringe several times. However, I expected it, and also saw it more as a general reflection of the era, than specific to Verne.

In terms of the believability of the ending, I hadn’t read the book nor seen the movie. I thought Fogg had failed, and was disappointed. I completely forgot about the dateline. Since I fell for it 2020, I didn’t think was Verne out of line writing the ending in 1873.