Take a story's temperature by studying its tone. Is it hopeful? Cynical? Snarky? Playful?
Adventure and Excitement
Just like the feelings we get when packing our bags to take an epic trip to grandma's house, the excitement is non-stop in Around the World in Eighty Days. As soon as Phileas Fogg and Passepartout board their first train to London, not a second goes by without the scenery, obstacles, and conflicts changing. Fogg is being investigated and tracked around the world for robbery, and there's a constant "What if he doesn't make it" question lurking in the back of our minds the whole time he's adventuring. Once you cut through the vocab, this one's a nail-biter. Just check out this description of the sea:
But the Red Sea is full of caprice, and often boisterous, like most long and narrow gulfs. When the wind came from the African or Asian coast, the Mongolia, with her long hull, rolled fearfully. (9.2)
The book is filled with high stakes moments like this. Seriously—just let the book fall open to any random page and we think you'll see what we mean. This isn't a journey undertaken out of fear or necessity, though; it's taken for the fun and adventure of it, and this underlying excitement and whimsy roots the entire narrative. So as the Mongolia "roll[s] fearfully," Fogg doesn't so much as bat an eyelash.