Customer Reviews
The Original and Best - By: T. Patmore, 29 Oct 2008 
Having listened to Pole to Pole & Full circle, as well as watching various bits of his programs courtesy of the history channel, I thought this particular one would be another case of Mr Palin using a tawdry, overly ambitious idea & not much enjoying the result.
However I was wrong! As this was supposedly his first expedition it has that wonderful virgin territory quality & has all the joy & very little of the occasional malaise of his later trips. The sheer happiness Michael findsin visiting India & China (which he'd never visited before) & his teasing, slightly mocking tone towards Phileas Fogg's own experiences make this book an absolute joy to hear.
And the best thing? Because this was recorded when the author was predominantly a comic actor & not a travel writer, it has a wonderful humour to it that helps the trip seem a breeze.
My one criticism would have to be the music. It is good, but is repetitive & slightly too long to be a pausein the text. This is fine initially, but by cd 8 you have to keep fast forwarding to skip them.
Anyhow, as an audio book for a car journey, this is one of Palin's best; combining both his skills as a comic & as a travellerin perfect balance. Oh and, if you like this, do try 'Pianoin the Pyrenees' or 'Long way round'...
Around the world in 455 minutes - By: , 17 Oct 2003 
Around The World In 80 Days,
BBC Audiobooks
IT'S 15 years since loveable ex-Python Michael Palin set off from the Reform Club on the trail of Phileas Fogg.
The resulting television programme, Around The World In 80 Days, was a phenomenon & broke the perception of international travel being restricted to the package deal or the luxury cruise.
Palin & his ilk, such as Peters Mayle & McCarthy, took dream of doing the grand tour by roughing it to unfamiliar parts of the globe away from young students & old hippies to a wider audience.
The show also kept Palinin Air Miles by sparking four sequels, including Pole To Pole, where he goes from the North to the South by any means except aircraft, & Full Circle,in which he circumnavigates the Pacific anticlockwise, the other two are Sahara & Himalaya.
As with the bestin travel writing, the joy is notin arriving at your destination so much as the getting there. The sights encountered on the road are extraordinary, all the more so through the filter of the affable narrator.
There's a Pythonesque desperation to the rider "Now with added music," but this does little to add to the appeal of this audio collection. The real appeal is that this is a classic of its genre & it will improve your travels whether they're by rickshaw, dog sled or armchair.
