The Steampunk, Cyberpunk, and Other Fictitious and Non-Fictitious Works Group discussion

Discuss Jules Verne's 1872 novel "Around the World in Eighty Days" here.

I read it a bit ago, and I didn't finish the the ending. In fact I hardly ever not finish a book, EVER. Though I fount myself half bored and half interested, it was a predictable book, not so exciting when you always know what's gonna come next. It was decent, I suppose.

I agree that it didn't have a big "twist" or mystery in the plot. I saw the missing day coming from the second mention of the unchanged watch. The love story was very unoriginal damsel in distress material. But, in 1872, it was very original. To me it has that charm of being cliche only in the light of the modern day, in which so much entertainment is available that authors now have to work REALLY HARD to be original. Almost everything has been done before, which prompts modern authors to do almost senselessly shocking things to try to be original. But to be a classic is to be considered unoriginal by modern standards. So I completely respect your viewpoint, even though I love this book, because I do understand exactly what you mean. For a modern reader, it isn't very exciting. Sometimes I love reading an adventure tale that's just an adventure tale, without trying to be new and different, the same way I like a good Tom Cruise action movie that's just like every other Tom Cruise action movie.

Lovely put, Brad.