Around the World in Eighty Days

by Jules Verne
Carver County Library audioCDs
read by Patrick Tull
genre: hist fic, adventure

I enjoy this story, though Phileas Fogg's "cold" responses and logical approach to everything gets a bit old. I hadn't remembered the story being so incredibly racist and stereotypical (especially in America, where the Indians are encountered). Still, I like Verne's story and the characters who travel with Fogg - Passepartout, Detective Fix, and Aouda.

One thing that makes me CRAZY, though, is how many versions of this story show a hot air balloon on the cover. And this audio version has on the back: " . . . must use every means of transportation known to 19th century humans - including a hot-air balloon, a locomotive, and an elephant . . . " NO!!!! There is NO hot-air balloon used in this story! Verne mentions one as a possibility to get across the Atlantic, but Fogg NEVER gets on one in this journey.

There. I feel better now.

Journey to the Center of the Earth

by Jules Verne
audioCDs read by Simon Prebble

Nick and I listened to this on our road trip to see the U of MN solar car team. It was fun, but not my favorite Verne story. Nick and I both laughed at some of the scientific info in it . . . fun theories (and how do we really know what's in the earth's interior???)