Jules Verne

When Professor Lidenbrock and his nephew Axel decode a mysterious message in a runic manuscript, they start off on one of the most thrilling adventures in science fiction--a journey to the earth's core. This is the 1877 translation by Frederick Amadeus Malleson--the most faithful translation from original French. This edition has been newly formatted and typeset for modern readers by Waking Lion Press.

Jules Gabriel Verne (1828-1905) was a French poet, playwright, and novelist famous for his well-documented novels set in the second half of the nineteenth century, including "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (1864) and "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas" (1870). Besides novels, he also produced many short stories, plays, poems, literary studies, and autobiographical accounts. Verne had a significant impact on surrealism and the literary avant-garde in France and Europe, and is considered to be among its most important authors. Part of his "Voyages extraordinaires" series of best-selling adventure novels, "Around the World in Eighty Days" (1872) is the classic tale of Phileas Fogg and his newly-employed French valet Passepartout who embark on a quest to circumnavigate the globe in 80 days for a 20,000 bet. One of Verne's most famous and celebrated work, "Around the World in Eighty Days" has inspired many real-life attempts to follow Fogg's trip as well as numerous plays, films, games, and more. Highly recommended for fans of classic adventure fiction. Read & Co. Classics is proud to be republishing this novel now in a brand new edition complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.

Having assured the members of London's exclusive Reform Club that he will circumnavigate the world in 80 days, Fogg - stiff, repressed, English - starts by joining forces with an irrepressible Frenchman, Passepartout, and then with a ravishing Indian beauty, Aouda. Together they slice through jungles, over snowbound passes, even across an entire isthmus - only to get back five minutes late. Fogg faces despair and suicide, but Aouda makes a new man of him, able to face even the Reform Club again. Around the World in Eighty Days (1872) contains a strong dose of post-Romantic reality plus extensive borrowing from the author's own Journey to England and Scotland - but not a shred of science fiction. Its modernism lies instead in the experimental literary technique, with parallel plots, a narrator constantly made to look foolish, four characters in search of their own unconscious, and a unique twisting of space and time. Verne's classic, a bestseller for over a century, has never appeared in a critical edition before. William Butcher's stylish new translation moves as fast and as brilliantly as Fogg's own journey. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.