This is my second Jules Verne and it won't be my last. Yes, there were a lot of issues with the book- The one female character being used as an ornament, the racist remarks, the ethnocentric, self-important imperial view of the world, and the simplification of Asian cultures. But I am going to let that slide given how it was written in the 19th century when the Asian countries WERE less developed and the only lens Jules had were the views of his subordinates and the scholars in the books he read. It's sort of impressive that the one female character and the love interest is an Indian woman, written in a book by a white man in the 1890s.
Problematic elements aside, I enjoyed this book just as much as The Journey to the Center of the Earth. More than the protagonist, I enjoyed the sidekick the most. Passepartout was genuine and hilarious and had more depth than Mr. Fogg. Verne showed it all, transporting through trains, carts, elephants, sleds, and ships. The best part was to see India and other countries through the eyes of a gentleman raised in the old times, to see the names of the places that are not different, to learn what Europe thought of the other countries back then. It was a good class in world history.