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Title: Poseidon Adventure by Paul Gallico ISBN: 0-440-17006-0 Publisher: Bantam Books (Mm) Pub. Date: 01 June, 1972 Format: Paperback List Price(USD): $2.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (10 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Great adventure story
Comment: Although one of the most famous disaster movies of all time came from this concept, the novel is far superior to Hollywood's version, and it is a testament to Paul Gallico as a writer of skill and ability.
We are all familiar with the story - ocean liner turns upside down, and a few survivors clamber to the outer hull. But what most people don't appreciate is what a fine novel this is - it is absolutely riveting, and we really become involved with the diverse set of characters in what is in reality only a few hours.
If you like a great read that will keep you turning the pages, and holding your breath, you'll love this. It may be out of print but do look for a copy - it will be worth it.
Rating: 5
Summary: A powerful story of survival in the face of impossible odds
Comment: Although one of the best known disaster movies of the 70's came from this novel, this book is far from a mere adventure story and the focus is not on the disaster itself.
This novel is a study of people and human nature. What the author has done is assemble a collection of characters (a few more than in the movie), a number of whom do not like one another--especially antogonist/protagonist Mike Rogo and Rev. Scott, respectively. They are placed in a life and death situation in which they are forced to interact on more than a social level--they are forced to rely on one another.
As the story unfolds, so does the psyche of each character and there is not a one who's personal history is not explored. As the struggle to survive becomes increasingly more demanding and life threatening, we see relationships unravel as each character's demons and vulnerabilities are exposed.
Tensions, resentments and bitterness bubbling just beneath the surface of the characters prior to the capsizing come welling forth, sometimes violently, throughout the course of the story. For better or for worse, all are changed forever by the end.
Most notably, we see a the facade of the "nuclear family" torn down for good as the Shelby family is ripped brutally apart. Unlike the cardboard characters of Susan and Robin in the movie, the two are more developed in this book, along with parents, Richard and Jane. Susan suffers a violent encounter with a crew member and Robin is lost forever, while simultaneously the marriage of their parents Richard and Jane fall to pieces before the eyes of all.
All of this takes place against a backdrop of danger and mayhem as the striken liner continues it's slow tortureous plunge. The characters witness death at its most brutal form and literally stare into the face of Hell, watching dozens, including members of their own survivalist party meet their doom.
And in the end, when the ship finally goes down, the former life of each survivor goes down with her.
Although a huge fan of the movie, I loved this book for completely different reasons. This is a powerful story and an engrossing read. In the end, I found myself asking myself one simple question: What would I do if faced with the same circumstances?
Rating: 1
Summary: The Movie was (gulp) Better
Comment: THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE will always remain one of my all-time favorite movies. I saw it when I was 9 on New Year's Eve, 1972, and I watch it every New Year's.
After finding an old Saturday Evening Post article about how Paul Gallico came to write the novel, I decided to give the book a read years after seeing the movie.
(Gallico remembered a childhood trip he took aboard the Queen Mary when a wave hit the ship so hard, it nearly tipped over. An officer sitting at a table nearby in the dining hall muttered aloud, "Blimey, we nearly went over that time!" That memory motivated Gallico to inquire insurance companies about capsized ships and he went on to write POSEIDON).
There are very few examples of the movie surpassing the book, but this is one of them.
Why?
Because it's the message in each. In the film, the defrocked preacher genuinely cares about his small "flock" that follows him up through the bottom of the ship--even going so far as to sacrificing himself to see their survival. In the book, he comes off as bitter and even crazy, culminating in such an looney act that you can't stand him--or Gallico for subjecting his reader to it.
The same could also be said for how the author dispatches other characters. Other deaths aren't tragic, they're just cruel.
I realize it's a disaster story and unrealistic to expect happy endings for most of the characters. A very smart screenwriter once said that "movies can tell people that life is hard and life can be tragic, but they shouldn't tell an audience that life is crap." I got that feeling from reading the novel.
Gallico's theme appeared to be: Life is hard, but religion will just make it harder (the survivors left in the ballroom are also rescued in the novel without the hellish journey of the main characters--the crazy preacher took them on a foolish journey). The movie said: even in the face of disaster and loss, faith, courage and love can still survive.
Fortunately, the screenwriters jettisoned most of Gallico's choices and made a movie worth seeing repeatedly and caring about.
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Title:The Poseidon Adventure ASIN: 6305280746 Publisher: Twentieth Century Fox Pub. Date: 17 December, 2002 List Price(USD): $9.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $9.98 |
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Title: Beyond the Poseidon Adventure by Paul Gallico ISBN: 0440104971 Publisher: Bantam Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 1979 List Price(USD): $2.50 |
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