A Night to Remember (Mass Market Paperback)

by Walter Lord (Author) "High in the crow's-nest of the New White Star Liner Titanic, Lookout Frederick Fleet peered into a dazzling night..." (more)
Key Phrases: wireless shack, dining saloon, promenade deck, Boat Deck, Captain Smith, First Class (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
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
Publicity surrounding the Academy Award- winning motion picture Titanic makes this a sure-to-circulate choice. Lord's classic time-travel tale drawn from survivors' accounts remains the best Titanic story after all these years. The analysis of the event moves from reports of pretrip hype through the ambiance of the fated last evening to first reports of trouble, loading life boats, and rescue efforts. Though the recording features no atmosphere music or sound effects, Fred Williams's reading sounds so like a news report that the immediacy engages the reader from the start. Highly recommended for all collections.ASandy Glover, West Linn P.L., OR
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (June 2, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553278274
• ISBN-13: 978-0553278279
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (154 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #155,403 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #25 in	Books > History > World > Transportation > Ships > Titanic
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An absorbing read..., July 29, 2000

By	Daniel Sutton (New York, NY, United States of America) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Dear Amazon.com Readers,

With a passenger list in the back, detailing those who survived and those who didn't, "A Night to Remember," is a harrowing account of the Titanic's ill-fated journey from Europe to the United States.

The book really tells of the people who spent fortunes to get aboard the Titanic, the most luxurious cruiseliner of the time. I really don't think that this book can be compared to the movie "Titanic." They are both such different stories, that saying one is like the other is missing the point.

"A Night to Remember is much more than Hollywook hype. It is really more of a personal account of what happened aboard the ship, and the horrors of the sinking and of the rescues (most people died, only a few survived). I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the saga of the Titanic. This book is based solidly on fact, which is one reason I like it so much. I remember reading this several years ago, and being kept up at night as a result.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You ARE there..., January 17, 2000

By	Tommy Peter (Baltimore, Maryland) - See all my reviews

If James Cameron's film Titanic made you feel you were there by watching it, (and I'm sure plenty of people feel that way but don't want to admit it since it's unfashionable right now), Walter Lord's book makes you feel the same way by reading about it. Minute by minute, detail by detail, with survivior accounts making it all the more real, we hear the story, the familiar details and plenty of ones we never heard before. Gripping with every turn of the page, your pulse races as you ache to find out what will happen next, though in the back of your head you already know. Walter Lord is a great historian and a great storyteller, and these skills are what make this book invaluable to any Titanic buff or anyone who likes a good story, or just anyone in general.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Riveting Classic, March 18, 1998

By	Steven K. Szmutko (EWING, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I first read Walter Lord's "A Night to Remember" in the summer of 1968 as part of my required reading list for freshman year of high school. I was so fascinated by the account that I read it at least three times that summer and early fall. It brought to chilling life one of the greatest maritime disasters in history. As I read the dog-eared, yellowing, crinkled-paper copy of the paperback (its purchase price was sixty-cents back then) once again last year as a "mature" 42 year old, Mr. Lord's brilliant account of the tragedy still held my attention. His vivid, detailed, yet smooth flowing narrative brought back the excitement as felt as a young teenager, in a way that few books have. I recently viewed the movie "Titanic" with my fourteen year old daughter. The movie was thoroughly enjoyable, but there were some aspects of the book (such as the spectre of a rescue ship only a few precious miles away)that could have added to the drama. The book is worth reading both as literature as well as history.