From chapter 35 of 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA
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What a battle! The Nautilus was nothing but a formidable harpoon, brandished by the hand of its Captain. It hurled itself against the fleshy mass, passing through from one part to the other, leaving behind it two quivering halves of the animal. It could not feel the formidable blows from their tails upon its sides, nor the shock which it produced itself, much more. One cachalot killed, it ran at the next, tacked on the spot that it might not miss its prey, going forwards and backwards, answering to its helm, plunging when the cetacean dived into the deep waters, coming up with it when it returned to the surface, striking it front or sideways, cutting or tearing in all directions and at any pace, piercing it with its terrible spur. What carnage! What a noise on the surface of the waves! What sharp hissing, and what snorting peculiar to these enraged animals! In the midst of these waters, generally so peaceful, their tails made perfect billows. For one hour this wholesale massacre continued, from which the cachalots could not escape. Several times ten or twelve united tried to crush the Nautilus by their weight. From the window we could see their enormous mouths, studded with tusks, and their formidable eyes. Ned Land could not contain himself; he threatened and swore at them. We could feel them clinging to our vessel like dogs worrying a wild boar in a copse. But the Nautilus, working its screw, carried them here and there, or to the upper levels of the ocean, without caring for their enormous weight, nor the powerful strain on the vessel. At length the mass of cachalots broke up, the waves became quiet, and I felt that we were rising to the surface. The panel opened, and we hurried on to the platform. The sea was covered with mutilated bodies. A formidable explosion could not have divided and torn this fleshy mass with more violence. We were floating amid gigantic bodies, bluish on the back and white underneath, covered with enormous protuberances. Some terrified cachalots were flying towards the horizon. The waves were dyed red for several miles, and the Nautilus floated in a sea of blood: Captain Nemo joined us.

"Well, Master Land?" said he.

"Well, sir," replied the Canadian, whose enthusiasm had somewhat calmed; "it is a terrible spectacle, certainly. But I am not a butcher. I am a hunter, and I call this a butchery."

"It is a massacre of mischievous creatures," replied the Captain; "and the Nautilus is not a butcher's knife."
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The Cachalot is a Sperm Whale. Yeah, other than that, Captain Nemo was cool.



[This message has been edited by grasstains (edited 04-04-2006).]

That does look good! Thanks. I love seafaring stories to boot. Grasstains, do you ever frequent the new site, or are you strictly on here? The reason I ask is that this string(both here and there) is so awesome, I think its one of the best ones. I have written down countless postings from different people regarding tips and leads on good reading and authors, most I've never heard of before. I too am intrigued by the last man/apocalypse scenerio. I'm thinking Heinlein had a few, but not sure, seems like Methusola(?)'s children or something like that was about after an almost annihilation of the human species, and this small group that had collected all the wisdom and learning information. I remember liking it alot. I still have to go back and read my Heinlein sometime also. Can you give me your short list of your favorites in this sub catagory last man/woman/apocalypse. Five or ten if possible. I agree with you on the apparent dark nature of the work on the surface, but revealing underneath the tenacity and spirit of the human species to survive under extreme circumstances. And also thereby altering the course for the better that man as a species was on. Fate, evolution, serendipity, or a little bit of all.

Of course I can't know what was lost in translation, but there is more than one translation. I read the more recent one, to which Ray Bradbury wrote the introduction, and thought it was great.

Just to let you know some random information, today at 1:23 p.m., it will be, 01.02.03.04.05.06, that will never happen again. Someone should post a message at exactly that time. It would look neat, I know, I know, it doesn't take much with me. Bright shiny things attract me as well.

That is, of course, unless we all hop on and can catch it again in 1.2.3.4.5."3006":
http://www.culttvman.com/assets/images-SF_MOVIES-2004/d...notimemachine001.jpg

I'll be sure to share this one will students at the moment it occurs. Thanks, RL!

[This message has been edited by fjpalumbo (edited 04-05-2006).]

It will happen every 100 years.

Dandelion,

Are there illustrations in that newer translation of 20,000 LEAGUES? The original illustrations were really neat. I'd love to read a better translation. It would be nice if there was a site that rated or ranked all the different translations. I'd also like to find a good translation of LES MISERABLES or THE HUNCBACK OF NOTRE DAME. I hate having to stop reading to try and find the meaning of words in dictionaries, several dictionaries, and even at that sometimes still not finding the word. The word "paillasse" (I think it's a net used for trapping) stumped me in HUNCHBACK several times. It's funny, I find myself speaking differently after reading books with archaic language. There is a certain charm to it.

Robo,

My favorite Post Apocolypse/Last Man books are-

EARTH ABIDES by Gearge R. Stewert (plague)
THE POSTMAN by David Brin (nuke)
THE CITY, NOT LONG AFTER by Pat Murphy (plague)
THE LAST SHIP by William Brinkley (nuke)
LUCIFER'S HAMMER by Niven and Pournelle (comet)
THE RIFT by Walter Jon Williams (earthquake)
SOME WILL NOT DIE by Algis Budrys (plague)
ALAS BABYLON by Pat Frank (nuke)
THE LAST MAN (an anthology of short stories) edited by Asimov and Greenberger

So-called "Must Reads" but I didn't really care for are ON THE BEACH by Neville Shute and THE STAND by Stephen King. They're both really depressing, but have their moments. ON THE BEACH is more of a "waiting to die" story than a tale of survival. It is a very good story, but a sad one. Tears will fall. And THE STAND is perverse and offensive. I'm not a fuddy-duddy, this book is just too much, full of explicit rape. Nice thoughts on how to rebuild a society, though.

Mention must be made of two authors who specialized in killing off the human race. John Christopher's WHITE MOUNTAINS trilogy is incredible, with a group of kids running from giant alien tripods, and running, and running, and running. His NO BLADE OF GRASS is full of normal people turned ruthless under dire circumstances, and reads like a movie. The interaction between characters is the best I've ever read. You can easily visualize their body movements, facial expressions, and postures. THE LONG WINTER and A WRINKLE IN THE SKIN are also full of great characters fighting for survival.

John Wyndham was a really popular author at one time, but now all but forgotten. THE DAY OF THE TRIFFODS is probably his most famous novel and was turned into a movie back in the 50s or early 60s. THE CHRYSALIDS is also very good and quite well-known, but my personal favorite Wyndham novel is OUT OF THE DEEPS. Alien invasion was his usual vehicle of destruction.

Get more recommendations here- http://www.asimovs.com/discus/ - you'll normally get a few responses within an hour and probably at least ten by the end of the day. I spend a lot of time at asimovs.com in discussions just like this one. It's great. You may also want to check the titles at amazon.com and read the reviews just to find out the subject matter. Don't take the reviews too seriously, though.

I prefer staying in the cellar, raising mushrooms.

I must admit to not having read most on your list there, Grassy.
I did read "On The Beach" and "Day of the Triffids", and you're right about the former being depressing. Don't want to read it again. Both books were movied and both were good, though "Triffids" was a little schlocky, if that's the word I want.

The numbers will never add up to this exact day and time ever again, unless you consider the "perpetual time" theory in which each moment in time is forever like in Slaughterhouse-5. Then eternity really would reside in the blooming moment. Time gets deep!

Grasstains, thanks alot for posting those books and the website, I will check them out. I appreciate it, you really know your stuff. Did you ever read Heinlein's Methusela's Children, I think its called that. A post apocalyptic tale about a secret society dedicated to preserving earths accumulated knowledge. I remember thinking it was good. Also I was trying to remember if there was a book about somebody living in a library after some major catastrophy. Then I remembered that movie about the weather changing real fast, I think Dennis Quade was in it. Did they burn books to keep warm? Either way, it could be an interesting scenario for somebody to live in a library. The jobsite I'm working on right now is in a seedy part of town. Its a house right across from an ancient closed public library. I mentioned to my partner today how great it would be to somehow buy it, and renevate it into living quarters. Its built of big limestone blocks and has red tiles for the roof. Or maybe an ancient old country church to live in, like in Alices Restaurant or The Outsiders. I like places that are wide open with a tall ceiling. Of course, if it was post apocalyptic, I would choose a church or library on a cliff overlooking the ocean of Northern California. Also, like old warehouses for living quarters, or a boat is a fine idea. Help me stop Pony Boy, I've got delusions of grandeur.

I haven't read METHUSALAH'S CHILDREN yet. It's on my shelf (packed now) awaiting to be read, crying out to be held. Apparently, others have cried louder. I've never gotten into the Lazerus Long/Future History stories by Heinlein. I do intend to read that book along with TIME ENOUGH FOR LOVE some day.

Another great Post Apocolypse book is I AM LEGEND by Richard Matheson. I can't believe I forgot about this one. It was filmed as THE OMEGA MAN starring Charelton Heston. Weird concept about a plague resulting in vampirism and the lone holdout trying to come up with a vaccine. It's one of the great Horror novels. Small, quick read to boot.

Hmmmm... The library scenario sounds familiar. I can't nail it, though.

I think I got it, by jove! It just dawned on me, remember in Logans Run, the old guy lived in a library with his cats. And I thought I was going to write that long awaited novel. Jiminy(?) Cricket & Gadzooks to boot! Time enough for love was great. Heinlein was awesome. When I lived in Ca., I collected all of his books and several anthologies too.

Yesss! Chew coddit mang.

Also written by Matheson.

The thing I liked best about FARNHAM'S FREEHOLD was the part when they were making like pioneers in the wild. Just when it looked like Hugh was putting it all together the natives showed up on their skycar thingies and whisked them away. And that was that. I thought Hugh's choice in books he had stocked his fallout shelter with was well thought out by Heinlein. But Voltaire??? Too bad he couldn't save his daughter. His son, Duke, should've been the one to go. Funny though, the way Duke ended up a eunuch. And... I'll always remember the name "Memtok".

Have you ever read his stories "By His Bootstraps" or "All You Zombies"? They're great time-travel stories. Funny how Heinlein seemed to ignore paradox with his travelers always "bumping" into themselves.

I'm pretty sure that particular translation, done by Anthony Bonner in the early 1960s, has been printed in both adult and juvenile formats with various illustrations.

If you check Amazon.com, several much more recent translations claim to be all-new and definitive.

Other than finding out what a book is about, we shouldn't believe much else we read in the Amazon reviews. They have plants... subversives... it's all propoganda intended to win our money, or name-dropping intended to steer us towards another product, or bad reviews intended to slander the competition, and paid endorsements... and hidden somwhere among all that muck is a sincere review. Harriet Klausner (amazon's #1 reviewer) gets her books for free, even though she claims to only review the books she likes. To date she's done well over ELEVEN THOUSAND REVIEWS! It's all very suspicious http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/AFVQZQ8PW0L/002-4720823-0343236

Not to mention authors reviewing their own works. I don't know the validity of it, but I either read somewhere once or saw on TV that some publishers pay $25 for 5-star reviews. I've thought about doing that. Just read the blurb, not the book, and write a glowing review short on details, big on praise. Easy money. I could do four per day, work four hours per day, and earn $100 per day. No, I couldn't.


[This message has been edited by grasstains (edited 04-06-2006).]

Grasstains,

Its been too long sice I delved into Heinlein. Vaguely remember those stories. Regarding Amazon. Based on yours and everyones advice, I have ordered a trainload of books. I love getting books in the mail, its like getting little presents...from yourself. Must stop the book ordering/shopping madness. Did I tell you I recently bought Let's All Kill Constance because I needed an extra copy. It was listed for one cent, however for some reason, the shipping cost was thirty dollars, but c'mon a penny!