This book was the answer to (almost) everything I ever wondered about the Titanic. This is a book of immense detail and overlapping accounts of survivors to paint a thorough picture of the events that occurred. It is a more scientific telling (or puzzle piecing) than a novel so many will not like the excessive detail. I enjoyed it, even though I did have to take breaks at times to read something lighter because this story was so sad. It isn't really a story to "enjoy" but it is fascinating to read some of the stories and I also enjoyed the details about the wreck and how they were able to use it together with science to answer questions about how and why things happened.
There was a little too much back story but all in all a good book.
I am interested in the story and lore of the Titanic, but not obsessed. I think an obsession about it would have made this book more enjoyable for me. But I just could not get into it.
The author is obsessed by Titanic, in fact he is "possessed" by it. And so his meticulous research is no surprise. He learned and diagrammed where every passenger and crew quarters were, and had a tale about all of them, it seemed. Every moment of the diaster was covered, virtually second by second, often with a different person's experience or account taking over the story. Alas, there were just too many "ghosts" to keep straight. Yes, Titanic is a story comprised of hundreds of different people, but the author's determination to include each and every one of them and name every name, as well as tell their stories, made for difficult reading for me. The sheer massiveness of this particular tale made the flow of the story ultimately frustrating for me. Alas.
But for you Titanic obsessives, this is the book for you!
** Only two stars, regretfully.
The author is obsessed by Titanic, in fact he is "possessed" by it. And so his meticulous research is no surprise. He learned and diagrammed where every passenger and crew quarters were, and had a tale about all of them, it seemed. Every moment of the diaster was covered, virtually second by second, often with a different person's experience or account taking over the story. Alas, there were just too many "ghosts" to keep straight. Yes, Titanic is a story comprised of hundreds of different people, but the author's determination to include each and every one of them and name every name, as well as tell their stories, made for difficult reading for me. The sheer massiveness of this particular tale made the flow of the story ultimately frustrating for me. Alas.
But for you Titanic obsessives, this is the book for you!
** Only two stars, regretfully.
