What I learned from this book: travelling by train is far more dangerous and troubling than travelling by boat. What happens to Phileas Fogg and his group during their train travels is insane.
About halfway through the book I switched to the audiobook, narrated by Jim Dale, and this choice has been perfect for me. I struggled with Verne´s descriptions of the cities, the countrys, the ships and so on and they worked better for me while listening to them. And Jim Dale is a great narrator, giving distinct voices to the characters and some of the voices (the mormon priest and Colonel Procter in particular) made me chuckle.
Around the World in Eighty Days is such a fun book to listen to. In fact so much fun that I went walking through town today, earplugs in my ears, listening to the last hour of this novel with a constant smile on my lips. People must have thought me a nut job.
My favorite things about the ending has been
(show spoiler)
And to be honest I still don´t get the weird 19th century obsession with the Mormons. Loved Passepourte in this scene, though:
"And this," added William Hitch, "is why the Congress felt such envy towards us! This is why the soldiers of the Union invaded the soil of Utah! This is hy our leader, the prophet Brigham Young, was imprisioned in violation of the basic principles of justice. Will we give in to force? Never! We have been driven out of Vermont, driven out of Illinois, driven out of Ohio, driven out of Missouri and driven out of Utah, but we will still find an independent territory where we will pitch out tents. And you who are one of the faithful," added the elder, staring at his only remaining listener with eyes that blazed with anger, "will you pitch your tent in the shade of our banner?"
"No," replied Passepartout courageously, fleeing in turn and leaving the fanatic to preach in the wilderness.
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