Vern's Four Great Science Fiction Masterpieces - Around the World in Eighty Days (Illustrated Edition)

Author: Jules Verne
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-07-01
Features: They are like seeds in my mind, and with just a breeze, a ray of sunshine, and a drop of spring rain, they can grow and bloom into flowers. Verne was an excellent popular fiction writer, with a talent to make his own hallucinations tangible. The sensation is all-encompassing, conveying a certain human passion from ordinary literature. Verne's works are filled with knowledge, but he himself was a cosmic mystic, holding a mysterious reverence for the world. In his novels, there are sometimes insufficiently profound reflections and often repeated themes. Overall, Verne's attempts remain great. Though he wrote about trivial matters, his works still moved us deeply. In 1884, Pope Leo XIII said upon meeting Verne, "I am not unaware of the scientific value of your works, but what I cherish is their purity, moral worth, and spiritual strength."
The China Youth & Children's Publishing House "Global Village" book series emphasizes authenticity, translating directly from the author's original language and using as many original illustrations as possible. For illustrations that absolutely need to be redrawn, they invite contemporary China's finest painters to create them. The "Global Village" book series features standardized bookbinding, with both large 32-page hardcover and paperback versions available, along with exquisite slipcases—both as a grand series and as standalone collections.
Around the World in Eighty Days A major theft occurred at the Bank of England; when discussing the possibility of the thief's escape, Phileas Fogg bet that, according to calculations made by The Daily Telegraph, one could travel around the world in 80 days. The newspaper also revealed that the railway line across India had been completed. To verify these calculations and win the bet, Fogg, accompanied by his newly hired servant Passepartout, set off immediately. Detective Fix, convinced that the thief from the Bank of England was none other than Fogg, awaited him at the Suez Canal, demanding an arrest warrant from London while tailing him, ready to apprehend Fogg the moment the warrant arrived.
Arriving in Mumbai, Fogg and his servant took a train to Calcutta, but they mistakenly believed the entire railway line was completed, when in fact the final stretch was still under construction. The train dropped them off, and to continue their journey, Fogg had to buy an elephant. While traveling through the forest, the two travelers encountered an Indian cremation procession, where these Indians insisted that the widow of a recently deceased prince join her husband in death. Thanks to Passepartout's clever scheme, Fogg finally rescued the unconscious young woman Aouda. Aouda had been raised in British fashion and was forced to marry the elderly, dying local king.
The three arrived in Calcutta, but Fix, using a trivial excuse, incited others to arrest them. Fogg posted bail, allowing them to continue their journey, much to the police's disappointment. In Hong Kong, the detective got Passepartout drunk in a smoking room, preventing him from informing his master of the departure time of the passenger ship to Yokohama, so only a half-drunk Passepartout boarded the ship. It seemed the bet was lost, but Fogg refused to give up, renting a pilot boat to chase the ship traveling from Shanghai to Yokohama at sea. After many adventures, the three were reunited and reached the Americas.
Our travelers took a train from San Francisco to New York. Along the way, the train was attacked by Native Americans, and Passepartout was kidnapped. Fogg, disregarding his journey and wealth, bravely rescued Passepartout. A series of mishaps delayed our travelers, and the transatlantic ship bound for was already departed when they finally arrived in New York. Fogg had to take a freighter to Bordeaux; at sea, he bought the ship and its crew. At this point, we discovered that Fogg was a sharp and skilled retired naval officer, adept at handling unexpected situations. He maximized the ship's firepower, burned all the coal, and even set fire to the wooden superstructure, leaving the ship as nothing but a hollow shell by the time they reached New York.
Fogg planned to take a mail coach from New York to Dublin, but he was arrested by Fix. He was released only when the real thief was captured, but this wasted several more hours. Due to these misfortunes, Fogg arrived in London 24 hours late—meaning he should have arrived on Saturday but did so on Sunday. He was ruined! This disaster exposed the protagonists' emotions: Aouda proposed to Fogg to be his lifelong companion. The composed gentleman's heart was kinder than he was willing to admit, and he was deeply moved, confessing the love he had secretly harbored for a long time. Passepartout went to ask Father Wilson to marry them the next day.