[the] ENGLISH-BLOG [.com]

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*Verne, Jules. De la terre à la lune. Translation: From [the] Earth to the Moon. 1865.

*A Full-Text Digital Version is available HERE: http://burgsbee.tripod.com/eTexts/_Jules_-_From_the_Earth_to_the_Moon_-_141_Pages.pdf

NOTE: The availability of the text online means you have no excuse for not reading the text before our class meeting (lost the book, etc.). However, the availability of the text online does NOT excuse you from having a hardcopy of the text in your possession and bringing it to class.

Just for fun, here is the trailer to Hollywood's 1958 cinematic adaptation of Verne's From the Earth to the Moon by director Byron Haskin. If you've read the book, you'll be able to see right away where the filmmakers deviated from the original narrative.

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*Méliès, Georges, dir. Le Voyage Dans La Lune. Translation: A Voyage to the Moon. Perfs. Bleuette Bernon (Lady in the Moon), Brunnet (Astronomer), Henri Delannoy (Rocket Captain). France: Star Film, 1902. After reading Verne, please watch this 14-minute classic (silent) French/Czechoslovakian film for free online at either http://www.archive.org/details/le_voyage_dans_la_lune [Subtitled version] (OR) http://www.freemooviesonline.com/watch-free-movies/scifi-movies/le-voyage-dans-la-lune.html [Dubbed Version]. No need to purchase.

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*Lewis, C. S. Out of the Silent Planet. 1938.

*A Full-Text Digital Version is available HERE: http://burgsbee.tripod.com/eTexts/_C._S._-_Out_of_the_Silent_Planet_-_104_Pages.pdf

NOTE: The availability of the text online means you have no excuse for not reading the text before our class meeting (lost the book, etc.). However, the availability of the text online does NOT excuse you from having a hardcopy of the text in your possession and bringing it to class.

Just for fun, an amateur animator who goes by the username "Puddlegum1951" has created an 8 episode "abridged" adaptation of Lewis's Out of the Silent Planet at his channel HERE. Be sure you view them in the right order and don't watch it before you've read the book or the whole thing will be spoiled for you.

Also, to reiterate this course's point on how literature has affected popular culture, check out the musical group Iron Maiden's song entitled "Out of the Silent Planet" from their album Brave New World, which also happens to be the title of a science fiction masterpiece by Aldous Huxley (which we won't be reading for this course). There are many videos of the band performing this work live on YouTube but this particular version is an imaginative, amateur video pieced together from an Anime film--Neon Genesis Evangelion--and synchronized to the lyrics and subject matter of the song. You can find a transcript of the lyrics by Bruce Dickinson, Janick Gers, and David Harris Stephen HERE.

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*Boulle, Pierre. La planéte des singes. Translation: Planet of the Apes [aka Monkey Planet]. 1963.

*If you would like to listen to the text of Pierre Boulle's Monkey Planet on either your PC or on your iPod device (my new phone will play MP3s with a headset), an a professionally produced audio-version from BBC Radio 4, read by Michael Maloney
are available HERE in 5 parts (MP3 format) from Hunter's Planet of the Apes Archive.

While I certainly do not advocate this as a substitute, I do suggest it as a supplement. At the link HERE, please find a graphic novel adaptation of Pierre Boulle's Monkey Planet [in Hungarian: A Majmok bolygója] by Hungarian artist Ernő Zórád recently translated by Dave Ballard and James Aquila. An alternate English translation Neil Foster, Michael Whitty, et al. can be found HERE. Enjoy!
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*Adams, Douglas. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. 1979.

While these should be available in the University Bookstore, as a matter of routine, there rarely seems to be enough second-hand/used copies for everyone. I encourage you to do what I did when I was a student: buy them beforehand. There are many reliable online booksellers where you can find these books--in some cases--as cheap as a penny plus shipping charges. While I'm not officially endorsing these companies, I have had good results from:

Amazon.com (both new and second-hand sellers)
eBay.com
Half.com (a sister company to eBay where used items are sold rather than auctioned)
Barnes and Nobles.com
Abebooks.com

Don't forget to use the old "Froogle" search engine to find the lowest price on anything:
http://www.google.com/products

I hope that most of you will take the time to buy--AND READ--these books ahead of time during this summer so that you will have a headstart on the course when it first meets this Fall.

Dont forget to join Turnitin.com if you haven't done so already. Use/change your email associated with your account to your Saint Leo University e-mail. To join this course, use this course number: (2727688). The pass word to join is "darthvader" (original ,huh?). Remember, this information is only to join the course. You will need YOUR ID and password to sign in to turitin.com each time you use it. I won't know your password (your ID should be your Saint Leo e-mail), so don't lose your information. I can't help you retrieve it if you lose it.

Keep following this blog entry as I will be adding more about the course in the following months.

Until then, I remain,

Dr. Hobbs