Around the World in Eighty Days

By: Jules Verne

Narrated by: Ralph Cosham

Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Jules Verne's incomparable Phileas Fogg races against time to win a sizeable wager. One adventure follows another in this memorable story rife with humor and strange encounters.

©2003 Commuter's Library (P)2003 Commuter's Library

Typical Jules Vern (Which is a good thing!)

Like all of Vern's novels, you have to remind yourself that this was written in the late 1800's! He keeps you on the edge of your seat and is very detailed about the scenarios and settings. When reading Vern's books, the extensive detail is often too much for my taste. But THIS narrator does a great job getting through the details and makes it more of what Vern probably intended. And it's true, there are NO flying machines in this story and Fogg is not an inventor! He is far too mysterious for that! Great "read" that keeps you wanting more.

A Terrific and Somewhat Misunderstood Classic

I greatly enjoyed this book, the first I've actually "read" by Jules Verne, and highly recommend both the book and this narrator. I think I've now purchased 5 or 6 audiobooks narrated by Mr. Cosham, whose reading style is gentle, but always effective. I was surprised to discover that Around the World in 80 Days is not a silly slap-stick comedy, as portrayed in all the film versions thus far. There is plenty of humor, but it is subtle and emerges from the situations and the relationships among the characters. (And the characters in the book never travel in any sort of flying machine, a favorite device in the movies.) I long for someone to do a really good film adaptation that captures the personalities of the characters and the atmosphere of the story as written by Verne, not as imagined by Hollywood!

Wonderful

I find this book to be a most enchanting story, and while written in a style now fallen out of favor, it brings me more pleasure than I can tell. Adventures, intrigues, heroics, and an unexpected romance. It's nothing like the movies made under the same name, and if under any circumstances I were to meet my own Mr. Fogg, I would surely shake his hand and thank him for being as effective and honest as a man can be.

If there's one lesson I take away from this book, it's that generosity and honor have no price too high to be paid.

Wonderful reading of a timeless (pun!) book

An utterly enchanting reading of Verne's classic book. The narrator injects such life and breadth into the characters while maintaining the very British nature of the story. This adaptation has made want to hear more of Verne on audio...well done!

Delightful

An entertaining story, with plenty of twists and turns, read with a variety of appropriate accents (British, French, American) and emotions.

Classic Victorian Novel

I shy away from translated works (was this not first published in French?) as you are at the mercy (or merci!) of the translator, but not so here...excellent adaptation and reading. As a time buff myself, I should have seen the ending coming, but did not, and was totally enthralled. The descriptions of Victorian era USA are worth the entire book. A great eye-opener for those of us (40+!!) who approached this work only from the Mike Todd film of the '60s....much more to it than that. Read and enjoy.

Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours

Around the World in 80 Days has been one of my favorite books for almost 60 years. Finding an edition narrated by Ralph Cosham was pure luck. Jules Verne is one of my favorite authors and Ralph Cosham is one of my favorite narrators.

French writer Jules Verne gave up his career as a lawyer in 1850 at age 22 to write plays, poetry, and novels. 13 years later he published the first of his 54 novels in his Voyages extraordinaires (Extraordinary Journeys in English) all published between 1863 and 1905, the year of his death. Around the World in 80 Day, published in 1873, is Book 11 in the series. Every novel in the series is thoroughly researched down to the most minor of details. Other well known novels in the series include Journey to the center of the Earth and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Verne's works have been translated into many languages.

Many of Verne's novels are classics. The appropriate genre of his Voyages extraordinaires
series is adventures. I highly recommend this edition of this audio book narrates by Ralph Cosham.

The Classic Story Come To LIfe

What did you love best about Around the World in Eighty Days?

The story itself.

What other book might you compare Around the World in Eighty Days to and why?

This is a light story and not nearly as detail heavy as Verne's other works like 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea or Mysterious Island. This has a more relaxing pace and feel.

Which character – as performed by Ralph Cosham – was your favorite?

Fogg. The voice and intonations seemed well suited.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

They did make one - twice. "It's a wonderful world, if you only take the time to go around it"

Any additional comments?

It had been a while since I last read this novel, and honestly, I envisioned a lot of what was added for the 1950's film as being in the book. Although, it also helped me visualize some of the book-only moments a bit more clearly.