Titanic: Ghosts of the Abyss [Hardcover]

Mireille Major (Author)

Book Description

Grade Level: 3 and up

Journey to the heart of the Titanic with one of Hollywood's foremost movie directors. Using robots with miniature cameras, Academy Award winner Cameron and his crew returned to the very heart of the wreck, where no one has ventured since the liner sank in 1912. Now, on every page of Titanic: Ghost of the Abyss, young readers can see exactly what the cameras recorded, in three-dimensional detail-from the ship's rust enshrouded prow to the elegant grand staircase and the eerie water-filled staterooms

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-8-Although the mania for all things Titanic has faded, questions about the ship's present state continue to fascinate, and to provide fodder for reports. Unlike most books, which cover the history of its construction and doomed maiden voyage, this title focuses on the discoveries accomplished by small underwater robots developed by director James Cameron and his brother Mike (and is a tie-in to Cameron's recent 3-D film of the same name). Every page is nearly filled with impressive 3-D photographs and artist's renderings, making this a showcase for images captured by the robots small enough to explore parts of the ship that larger exploratory equipment could not reach. Use of a special (and likely to be lost) 3-D viewer is required to avert a sense of vertigo when looking at some of the images. The photographs of the ship's present state are shown side by side with pictures from the ship's construction, allowing readers to see the bronze propellers buried in the sea floor but still largely uncorrupted by deep-sea bacteria, compared with their pristine condition in 1914. It is a truly impressive achievement to explore the wreckage so fully, and the photos are a suitably haunting memorial to the lives lost. Still, the gimmickry and the lack of anything truly new to say about the disaster make this a supplemental purchase for most libraries. For more substantive assignment information, look to Simon Adams's Titanic (1999) and Eric Kentley and Steve Noon's Story of the Titanic (2001, both DK).
Sophie R. Brookover, Mount Laurel Library, NJ
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion (May 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786818999
• ISBN-13: 978-0786818990
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 10.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,119,997 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #80 in Books > Children's Books > History > Modern

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pictures are awesome!, April 26, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Titanic: Ghosts of the Abyss (Hardcover)

I know I may be a little over the suggested reading age, but I was blown away by the 3-D pictures contained in this book.  Once I saw the movie , "Ghosts of the Abyss," I knew I had to get some of those images to keep!  It is great to get a chance to see pictures I have looked at for years come to life.  The wreck appears to be right in front of you.  This book is great for all ages, even if you think it is a kids book, get it for the images.  Ken Marschall is a wonderful artist and to see some of his painting in 3-D is phenomenal.  I know if I was a nine year old this book would have surely fascinated me.  If you are looking for a more information packed book, I suggest going for, "Ghosts of the Abyss A Journey to the Heart of the Titanic", which is a GREAT read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Titanic in photographs then and now (with now in 3-D), September 10, 2003

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Titanic: Ghosts of the Abyss (Hardcover)

Director James Cameron has remained obsessed by the wreck of the Titanic and managed to avoid working on his next real film by putting together the giant-screen 3-D film "Ghosts of the Abyss." Not that you can really blame Cameron for being wary after putting together the biggest money making film of all time (in non-adjusted dollars). But then what did David O. Selzink do after "Gone With the Wind"? ("Duel in the Sun," which was not bad, but what does not suffer in comparison to "GWTW"?). I fully expect the director's cut of "Titanic" to be coming out on DVD next, but in the interim there is "Ghosts of the Abyss" and this book, which provides more than 35 3-D images based on the film. Following Jake the Robot that Cameron sent deep inside Titanic you use your official "Robot Mask" so that you can see the ghosts.

The main perspective of the book is to provide a contrast between period photographs of the Titanic and recent underwater shots taken by Jake. The 3-D effects are okay; the head-on view of the Titanic's bow showing the prow and the rust-shrouded railings around the forecastle deck (page 23) is the only one that really got a reaction from me. The ones with the ghosts are also just okay. The actual photographs are pretty amazing as far as I am concerned, so adding ghosts or even doing them in 3-D are not exactly pluses as far as I am concerned. If this book just did the straight forward compare and contrast of the photographs then and now I would have been just as impressed. Younger readers, for whom a lot of these pictures will be new, are the ones who are going to like this book (and the 3-D pictures) the most.

5.0 out of 5 stars Abyss is a keeper, June 27, 2003

By 

John D. Singleton "davidsin62" (atlanta, Georgia United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Titanic: Ghosts of the Abyss (Hardcover)

Great book. Just what I hoped it would be....a superb archieve of the movie with it's great never before seen pictures.