Review(s)
Around the World in Eighty Days (Oxford World’s Classics : the Extraordinary Journeys)
Translator & Critical Material: William Butcher. The World’s Classics.
Oxford & NY: Oxford University Press, 1995. xlv+247 pages.
Softcover — ISBN-10: 0199552517, ISBN-13: 978-0199552511
Since the original English translation of this novel done in 1873 was of good quality,
the merit of Butcher’s work on this text comes less from his translation—excellent
though it is—than from his close examination of the original manuscripts and
his first-rate analysis of how this famous novel came to be what it is. Discussing,
for example, Verne’s initial ideas for this work, his orchestration of the
complex interplays of time and space in it, certain (never before noticed) undercurrents
of sexual desire and psychological ambivalence in the story’s main characters,
and the masterful use of humor and satire throughout, Butcher’s critical introduction
is one of the most interesting I have read. This introduction, coupled with a select
bibliography, a chronology of Verne’s life, more than 30 pages of explanatory
endnotes, and three very informative appendices (“Principal Sources,”
“The Play,” and “Around the World as Seen by the Critics”)
make Butcher’s and OUP’s version of this classic Verne text by far the
best available, in either hardcover or paperback.
-- Excerpted from Arthur B. Evans, “Superb Jules Verne Translations,”
Science Fiction Studies, 22.2SS #66 (July 1995): 288-89.
review obtained 12 Jan 2009
Amazing Journeys: Five Visionary Classics
Contains: Journey to the Center of the Earth; From the Earth to
the Moon; Circling the Moon; 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas;
Around the World in 80 Days
Translator & Critical Material: Frederick Paul Walter. Albany, NY: SUNY Press,
2010. 668 pages. some illus.
Softcover — ISBN-10: 1438432380 , ISBN-13: 978-1438432380
See the review for this edition on this
page.
Around the World in Eighty Days (Penguin Classics)
Translator & Editor: Michael Glencross. London, England: Penguin Books, 2004.
288 pages.
Softcover — ISBN-10: 014044906X, ISBN-13: 978-0140449068
NO RECOMMENDATION (read why below)
There are no known reviews by any of our members of this edition.