20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

　　Gr 4-8-Performed in radio theatre style, this audio version is a fine retelling of the Jules Verne classic. The St. Charles Players, composed of four actors, play a variety of roles with hammy gusto, although the dialogue is a bit rushed in the opening sections. This adaptation by Jeff Rack does a good job of capturing the feel of Verne's sprawling epic tale. The story is told by Professor Aronnax, who agrees to investigate a series of attacks by a mysterious sea monster. He joins the crew of the ship Abraham Lincoln. The men encounter what they believe is the monster, but turns out to be a large, state-of-the-art submarine, the Nautilus. Aronnax and a hot tempered harpoonist, Ned Land, are imprisoned on this vessel, captained by the misanthropic recluse, Nemo. Nemo takes them around the world. Verne's descriptions of the underwater world, with its exotic creatures and sunken ships, shine thanks to clear narration and evocative sound effects. As the journey continues, becoming monotonous, the program's midsection sags a bit. It picks up steam again with sequences involving a monstrous octopus and a storm. While not an essential purchase, this is an impressive attempt to adapt a classic.

　　In the "Graphic Classics " version of this pioneering, nineteenth-century science fiction novel, the brilliant but strange Captain Nemo has designed a gigantic submarine, which he now captains. With his crew, he uses his submarine, the "Nautilus, " as a weapon of vengeance against the civilization that has rejected and exiled him. " Graphic Classics " are graphic novel versions of immortal novels and plays, presented in a way to help make great literary works accessible to students, and encourage boys and girls to discover the joy of reading the masterworks in their original form. Titles in this series tell absorbing, fast-paced stories dramatized with high-quality color illustrations. Each "Graphic Classics " title includes a thumbnail biography of the author, a list of his or her important works, a timeline of historic events that helped inspire the story, general notes, and an index. " Graphic Classics " titles are available in both paperback and hardcover editions.

　　Jules Verne (1828-1905) used a combination of scientific facts and hisimagination to take readers on extraordinary imaginative journeys to fantastic places. In such books as Around the World in Eighty Days, From the Earth to the Moon, and Journey to the Center of the Earth, he predicted many technological advances of the twentieth century, including the invention of the automobile, telephone, and nuclear submarines, as well as atomic power and travel to the moon by rocket.

Introduction
Foreword
Conversion Table
PART ONE
　A Shifting Reef
　Pro and Con
　Just As Monsieur Wishes
　Ned Land
　Forward to Adventure
　Full Steam Ahead!
　An Unknown Species of Whale
　Mobilis in Mobili
　Ned Land's Tantrums
　The Man of the Seas
　The Nautilus
　All by Electricity
　A Few Figures
　The Black Current
　A Written Invitation
　A Stroll on the Ocean Bed
　A Submarine Forest
　Four Thousand Leagues Under the Pacific
　Vanikoro
　The Torres Strait
　A Few Days on Land
　Lightning Action by Captain Nemo
　Aegri Somnia--Bitter Dreams
　The Coral Kingdom
PART TWO
　The Indian Ocean
　Another Excursion with Captain Nemc
　A Priceless Pearl
　The Red Sea
　The Arabian Tunnel
　The Greek Archipelago
　Across the Mediterranean inForty-Eight Hours
　Vigo Bay
　The Lost Continent
　Coal Mines Under the Sea
　The Sargasso Sea
　Cachalots and Whales
　Under the Ice Shelf
　The South Pole
　Accident or Incident?
　Lack of Air
　From Cape Horn to the Amazon
　The Squid
　The Gulf Stream
　At Latitude 47" 24' and Longitude17" 28'
　A Hecatomb
　Captain Nemo's Last Words
　Conclusion
　Afterword: Freedom and the Near
　Murder of Jules Verne
　Selected Bibliography