Normandie: France's Legendary Art Deco Ocean Liner [Hardcover]

John Maxtone-Graham (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0393061205 | ISBN-13: 978-0393061208 | Publication Date: December 17, 2007 | Edition: First Edition

A magnificent tribute to the illustrious and ill-fated steamship.

Normandie was unquestionably the most beautiful ocean liner ever built. The world’s largest at the time, she also became the world’s fastest. Her art deco interiors were unrivaled: capacious, elegant, and chic, decorated by teams of France’s most talented artists. Yet Normandie was plagued with frustrations—never attracting more passengers than the competition and tragically ending her days in flames at New York’s Pier 88. Celebrated maritime historian John Maxtone-Graham confesses to a hypnotic fascination with Normandie. In this comprehensive volume, enriched by over 200 photographs and illustrations, he documents every aspect of the vessel’s decorative antecedents, design, construction, and service. Always articulate, entertaining, and devastatingly well informed, Maxtone-Graham has created the definitive Normandie panegyric, a comprehensive and, at times, heartbreaking account of this fabled liner. 200+ photographs and illustrations

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Maxtone-Graham has written numerous works, including The Only Way to Cross—“the bible of the ship buffs"—Normandie, and France/Norway. He spends six months lecturing aboard ships. Ashore, he lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 260 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; First Edition edition (December 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393061205
• ISBN-13: 978-0393061208
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 10.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #68,369 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #5 in Books > Professional & Technical > Transportation > Ships > Pictorial
  • #29 in Books > Professional & Technical > Transportation > Ships > History

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Foundering, November 27, 2007

By 

A Boston Reviewer (Boston) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Normandie: France's Legendary Art Deco Ocean Liner (Hardcover)

As a huge fan of the Normandie, and an avid reader of Maxtone-Graham's classic "The Only Way to Cross," I pre-ordered NORMANDIE with great expectations. Unfortunately, the book's promise was not met. In fact, this volume comes as close as any liner book can to being downright irritating. How so? A grab bag of complaints, in no particular order: the illustrations, by and large, are fairly common images of the Normandie - there is very little novelty here, and even more annoyingly, the pictures and captions don't relate to the nearby text. Find something of interest, and you'll have to search through the pages to locate the relevant passage, often chapters away. The text itself is pompous, pedantic and preachy, full of absurd phrases such as "nay," and "let us away," which might actually be amusing if they weren't merely indications of a strangely disjointed and dissatisfying narrative that delves into excruciating levels of detail one moment, then glosses entire subjects the next. (All the more surprising from Maxtone-Graham, whose earlier works are master examples of witty, concise prose.) Worst of all, Maxtone-Graham has fallen into that most hideous of modern affectations, influenced no doubt by the Cameron-Winslet-DiCaprio set, of dropping the determiner before ships' names, as if vessels somehow were living people. While referring to liners in this way might make for more vivid movie-making, in a work with scholarly pretensions, it's merely exasperating, especially when taken by the author to new, more ridiculous heights. In the current volume, even the Normandie's deck names come alive, in lines such as: "Sun deck sported," "Promenade deck boasted."

O tempora, o mores!

The volume does contain some nice touches, however: the fold-out, colorized deck plans and cutaway view are a great feature (though strangely the author chose to publish the flat-plan views, rather than the isometric plans made for the Rio cruise, which are much more revealing.) The chapter on the artistic development of le style paquebot is quite good, providing the reader with genuine insights into the genesis of the Normandie. And despite the lack of novel views, kudos must be granted to whomever cleaned up and rendered the book's black and white photos into sepia. By and large, these pictures are excellent, finally allowing the reader to peer into formerly dark and scratchy images with clarity. (Though unfortunately, several illustrations are deceptively captioned, including one blaring mistake in the Acknowledgements, which labels the Caen Suite "Rouen.") I also found the section comparing the relative appeal of the Normandie and the Queen Mary of interest, though I think author's active Cunard connections render some of his inferences a bit suspect.

In sum, while Maxtone-Graham's new book does an adequate job of relating the facts behind the Normandie's all too brief career, it does little to explain the magic that so enthralled - and continues to enthrall - ship enthusiasts to this very day. And in a $100 volume, that, fellow readers, is fatal flaw indeed.

23 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Inspiring Book, November 28, 2007

By 

Transatlantique (Nowheresville, Oklahoma) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Normandie: France's Legendary Art Deco Ocean Liner (Hardcover)

Thank you Mr. Maxtone-Graham for this eagerly anticipated tome for my collection. When you first told me of it's imminent release, during a QE2 crossing almost two years ago, I've been on pins and needles. It's been one of the highlights of my season, and I'm not at all disappointed. I received the book before lunchtime and listened to my hunger pangs as I turned each page unable to put it down.

This book is a good balance of text with photos I have never seen before. Being an artist and designer, I am impressed with the layout and design, noting especially the cover and inside composite illustration. And it's printed in Italy! The historical perspective is complete and accurate as always. It's a must have for the SS Normandie enthusiast, design student, or maritime historian.

I love chapter two with your inclusion of the Exposition des Arts Décoratifs of 1925. I had the privilege of seeing an art deco exhibit in London at the V&A, and one of the exhibits was brief film footage of a crossing on Normandie in colour. What a treat.

The fold outs of the deck plans are very interesting showing how CGT had a complete vision of the deco style that didn't end with the furniture or interior embelishments, but extended to the overall architecture of the ship. It's also interesting to see the overviews of the cabins on those decks, and as to the whereabouts of the surviving relics today.

Someone told me how he once had seen a friend off on Normandie, commenting how it was the most beautiful ship he had ever seen. The generous photos in this book give me an idea of what he experienced. Especially the large photo of the lift, which is wonderfully placed at the end. These photos are all nicely restored with nice tonal balance.

A better book couldn't be possible given the short life of this ship. I always enjoy reading your eloquent style, and, as a quintessential historian, your personal perspective is superb. Thank you again for this most inspiring addition to my collection.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Is this apropros?, February 5, 2008

By 

Baratineur (Sydney Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Normandie: France's Legendary Art Deco Ocean Liner (Hardcover)

I have to agree with the review by Michael from Boston. This is a beautiful book but the prose is affected and extremely annoying. Was the author being deliberately flamboyant because of the subject? If he was then it was definately overkill. A disapointing effort from the author of "the only way to cross". I would still buy it though just for the images and the quality of the layout and of course for the picture of Normandie lying at anchor off quarantine.