Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1744800 in Books
• Published on: 1997-06-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Audio Cassette

From Amazon.com
James Cameron's 1997 Titanic movie is a smash hit, but Walter Lord's 1955 classic remains in some ways unsurpassed. Lord interviewed scores of Titanic passengers, fashioning a gripping you-are-there account of the ship's sinking that you can read in half the time it takes to see the film. The book boasts many perfect movie moments not found in Cameron's film. When the ship hits the berg, passengers see "tiny splinters of ice in the air, fine as dust, that give off myriads of bright colors whenever caught in the glow of the deck lights." Survivors saw dawn reflected off other icebergs in a rainbow of shades, depending on their angle toward the sun: pink, mauve, white, deep blue--a landscape so eerie, a little boy tells his mom, "Oh, Muddie, look at the beautiful North Pole with no Santa Claus on it."

A Titanic funnel falls, almost hitting a lifeboat--and consequently washing it 30 yards away from the wreck, saving all lives aboard. One man calmly rides the vertical boat down as it sinks, steps into the sea, and doesn't even get his head wet while waiting to be successfully rescued. On one side of the boat, almost no males are permitted in the lifeboats; on the other, even a male Pekingese dog gets a seat. Lord includes a crucial, tragically ironic drama Cameron couldn't fit into the film: the failure of the nearby ship Californian to save all those aboard the sinking vessel because distress lights were misread as random flickering and the telegraph was an early wind-up model that no one wound.

Lord's account is also smarter about the horrifying class structure of the disaster, which Cameron reduces to hollow Hollywood formula. No children died in the First and Second Class decks; 53 out of 76 children in steerage died. According to the press, which regarded the lower-class passengers as a small loss to society, "The night was a magnificent confirmation of women and children first, yet somehow the loss rate was higher for Third Class children than First Class men." As the ship sank, writes Lord, "the poop deck, normally Third Class space ... was suddenly becoming attractive to all kinds of people." Lord's logic is as cold as the Atlantic, and his bitter wit is quite dry.

From Library Journal
Lord's classic account of the last hours of the "unsinkable" ship, the Titanic, and the subsequent rescue of the survivors was originally published in 1955. Here, it is given a fine interpretation by reader Richard M. Davidson. Lord, working from survivors' published accounts, interviews with survivors and their relatives, and contemporary news coverage, constructs a picture of the collision with the iceberg, the subsequent events, and the confluence of errors that likened the event to a classic Greek tragedy in which only 1500 of the total 2200 passengers and crew survived. Davidson reads this engrossing story with a rich and expressive voice. Although there is little opportunity for vocal characterization, Davidson excels in re-creating the few conversations in addition to the remaining text. Listeners will get caught up in this story of an unimaginable tragedy of yesterday that remains in our minds today. Recommended for most history collections.
Melody A. Moxley, Rowan P.L., Salisbury, N.C.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Audiobooks offer a great opportunity to republish a work popular at the time of publication but possibly difficult to find in a bookstore today. Walter Lord's account of the fateful sinking of the Titanic, published in 1955, has long been a source of general knowledge about the disastrous event. With recent salvage attempts and a new movie scheduled for release, interest in the Titanic is renewed, and Lord's story is happily reintroduced here. Martin Jarvis is an excellent choice for narrator. Jarvis, one of the most talented British narrators, received the Reader of the Year Award from the British Spoken Word Association in 1996. Depicting the ultra class-conscious scene on the decks of the Titanic with aplomb, his crusty accents and perfect timing set the scene for impending disaster. Lord's book also details the aftermath of the tragedy, and Jarvis is equally adept at discussing the ramifications and changes that occurred after the sinking. Jarvis ably captures Lord's particular style of dramatic storytelling and careful research. R.F.W. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine