A classic and exiting story with some doubtful spiritual and alcohol/drug content.
Plot
Phileas Fogg, an English gentleman and a proud member of the Reform Club, has always been the mysterious man, following his routines strictly and playing whist with the club members. Nobody expects anything big from him, but one evening they discuss a news article and whether it’s possible to go around the world in just 80 days. His friends don’t believe so, but Phileas is sure that it is possible. Together with his servant, Mr. Passepartout, they set out for a journey they never could have imagined. Boats and trains are daily business for them, they meet new people everyday, dangers are waiting, and there are people who would do anything to stop their journey. This is a race for £20,000 and there will only be one winner.
Morality
This story isn’t really about morals, but there are times when people aren’t acting in fitting ways. Passepartout seems to make mistakes, even though he tries to do the right thing. He accidentally ends up offending some priests, and gets into other such scrapes. However, these are mere accidents and he is actually a good man. Detective Fix does sometimes lie so he can hide parts of his identity, but also, he is trying to do his duty.
Spiritual Content
Faith is not a very important part of the story, but it leads to a big breakthrough. It’s mentioned that both Mr. Fogg and Mr. Passepartout are Christians. While they are in India, Mr. Passepartout wants to take a look inside one of the temples with his shoes on. The priests take him at once since the temple is holy and it belongs to the Hindu god, Shiva. Later on in the story, the company meets a kind of religious cortege. They are about to do a Hindu ritual which means honoring their god Shiva and sacrificing somebody. This part is quite worrisome since it contains (attempted) murder, drugs, priests, and a big statue covered with gold. Later on in the story, there is a mention of a few Hindus and some Buddhists, but nothing more.
Violence
At a point, a man is hit in his face and falls to the ground. The same thing does happen to a different man at the end of the story. A train is also taken over by some Indians, and by this, several of the passengers are wounded. Parts of this are described, in that people were just lying around and everything was red. It’s also described that people are underneath the train. After this, somebody is kidnapped and a battle is discussed. This isn’t described, though. It’s also worth mentioning that somebody was supposed to be burned alive, but it didn’t happen.
Drug and Alcohol Content
It is mentioned several times that the main characters drink wine, ale, or gin. Normally they are not drunk, but at one point, it’s clear that Passepartout is quite affected and probably drunk; however, it was only because the beverage was much stronger than he expected. It is also mentioned that he smokes or smells opium. This isn’t described much, but it’s very bad and he falls asleep like the others that smell it. At a different point, a character is in a kind of trance after taking some drug. It’s not well described, but it's hinted that it is cannabis. After this, she falls into a deep sleep.
Sexual Content
Somebody has been in a forced marriage, but the husband died. At the end, there is also a proposal of marriage. Except for this, there is nothing more.
Crude or Profane Language or Content
There are very few bad words in this book. The only one mentioned is probably h***, which is said once or twice.
Conclusion
This is a very well written story, and parts are easy to relate to. It’s also quite exiting, at least with the fact that there is a constant race against the time. The plot is interesting and the book gives you a great view of the world, almost like you were a part of the journey. The language and morals are quite good, even though they don’t play a big part. The spiritual content, on the other hand, is rather worrisome. You get a look into other religions and some of that is more than enough to give you creeps. So this book is great for older readers, and it is worth reading if you are careful and have some strong nerves.
This review is brought to you by Queen Lucy of Narnia.
