AUTHOR: Beryl Bainbridge
STARTED: February 20, 2012
FINISHED: March 18, 2012
PAGES: 224
GENRE: Titanic
FIRST SENTENCE: He said, "Save yourself if you can," and I said firmly enough, though I was trembling and clutching at straws, "I intend to."
SUMMARY: [From amazon.com] After taking on the ill-fated Scott expedition to the South Pole in her previous book, The Birthday Boys, the novelist tackles a much larger 1912 disaster: the sinking of the Titanic. The narrator, a 22-year-old named Morgan, brushes up against real-life victims such as John James Astor early in the voyage, while falling in love with the beautiful and unobtainable Wallis Ellery. The deadly maiden voyage of the world's largest ocean liner becomes a journey of self-discovery in this portentous, postmodern work, shortlisted for the 1996 Booker Prize.
THOUGHTS: Not gonna lie, I didn't have a clue about what I was going on for most of this book. I tried to pay attention, but this book seemed so detached from the events it depicts. There were far to many characters, motives, and "random" happenings to make this book interesting. From the first page I found myself asking, "WTF?"
The only thing I liked about this book were the descriptions of the physical scenes... by which I mean when the author was describing the ship. That was it. After the first 50 pages I just couldn't make myself care about anything else. I developed no connection with the characters, so when the ship finally hits the iceberg, I no longer cared what happened to them.
I am a Titanic addict; but even my beloved subject matter could keep me interested in this book.
RATING: 3/10 [Poor, Lost Interest]
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