Around the World in 80 Days (Michael Palin, 1989)

I wanted a nice, quick read to take with my to the in-laws over New Year, so I grabbed of one of the books from a recent Book People purchase, Michael Palin's Around the World in 80 Days. As hoped, it was it easy to read and dip into, broken up into 80 'chapters' over 230 pages, so good to pick up between games of Wii or while watching someone else on the XBox. 

I've not seen any of Michael Palin's travel documentaries, and I've not read his books before. I did buy my Dad a set of the larger format, photo-packed editions for his birthday a year or two back, but I think I prefer the set I've got, that collects 5 standard-sized paperbacks together, and which have photo inserts. 

I've tended to read massive tomes about Churchill and the History of Europe lately, which take some getting in to, and usually take me months to finish. Around the World is a lot lighter in many ways - in tone, style and heft - and a different prospect altogether as it's really a diary containing snapshots of the world. Palin's brief was to copy Jules Verne's hero, Phileas Fogg, and travel around the world within 80 days, without recourse to flight. What this means is that Palin travels on the whole by boat, with the occassional train ride across America or drive across Saudi Arabia. 

Palin peppers the text with the add fact about each point on his journey, but the book is mostly focussed on the people he meets along the way who help or hinder his progress. You wouldn't read this book to learn a lot about the world, Palin merely gives a flavour of the cultures he brushes up against, and often there's a lot that can be learnt through comparisons of his experiences with customs and immigration of each country. The book is not just a snapshot of various countries (well, cities and ports mainly), such as France, Italy, Dubai, Singapore, Japan, Aspen, etc. It's also a snapshot of 1988, specifically September-December, when Palin's trip took place. So Palin faces foreigners who shout 'Thatcher' at him, or he bumps up against incidents that occur moments before or after his arrival/departures in some lands, such as the Clapham rail disaster that happened just 1 day before Palin's arrival back in London. 

I enjoyed the breezy yet intelligent and witty style of Palin's writing, and often it was as interesting or amusing to learn how his Passepartout (as his fellow travelling crew members are affectionately known) are managing to sleep or with local cuisine as it is to learn about the history of Jeddah or Madras. It is the human stories that Palin is interested in, and this is what I enjoyed most about the book. I will look forward to the other 4 books in the Palin box set after this, and will look out for the shows on TV/DVD.