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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
3.5 -
I really liked this but felt that it was kind of slow in the beginning and the middle. I found myself bored with the story line surrounding the journalist family. I am fascinated with the Titanic and have read quite a bit of historical real life accounts. So I saw this on the shelf and thought I'd give it a try.
It is kind of weird in that it is hard to distinguish what is fact and what is fiction. The second half of the book was much better than the first. I'm now curious to learn more and read some more real life accounts about this other ship.
I really liked this but felt that it was kind of slow in the beginning and the middle. I found myself bored with the story line surrounding the journalist family. I am fascinated with the Titanic and have read quite a bit of historical real life accounts. So I saw this on the shelf and thought I'd give it a try.
It is kind of weird in that it is hard to distinguish what is fact and what is fiction. The second half of the book was much better than the first. I'm now curious to learn more and read some more real life accounts about this other ship.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So much has been written about the Titanic that it must be difficult for a writer interested in the subject to find a new angle. There are history books a plenty, diaries and letter, transcripts of interviews, novels, poems and plays, in addition to the myriad of TV series and blockbuster films. So it was a pleasant surprise to find that David Dyer has found something new to say about the Titanic disaster in this, his debut novel, ‘The Midnight Watch’.
Instead of focusing on Titanic herself, Dyer turns his focus to the men on board the Californian, the ship that was closest to the Titanic on the night of the disaster and saw her distress rockets but failed to go to her aid. Specifically, he looks at how a series of decisions taken during one cold April night impact the lives of three men: Stanley Lord, Captain of the Californian; Herbert Stone, her second officer and John Steadman, a Boston newspaper reporter who soon senses blood when the Californian docks.
It is an assured and, as far as I can tell, well-researched book and genuinely adds a new perspective on a tale that has already been very well told. For anyone interested in reading another perspective on the Titanic disaster, this is a suspenseful novel of human flaws and missed chances that I would highly recommend.
NB: An expanded version of this review can also be found on my blog at shelfofunreadbooks.blogspot.co.uk. My thanks go to Atlantic Books and the Real Readers scheme for providing an advanced copy of the book in return for an honest and unbiased review.
Instead of focusing on Titanic herself, Dyer turns his focus to the men on board the Californian, the ship that was closest to the Titanic on the night of the disaster and saw her distress rockets but failed to go to her aid. Specifically, he looks at how a series of decisions taken during one cold April night impact the lives of three men: Stanley Lord, Captain of the Californian; Herbert Stone, her second officer and John Steadman, a Boston newspaper reporter who soon senses blood when the Californian docks.
It is an assured and, as far as I can tell, well-researched book and genuinely adds a new perspective on a tale that has already been very well told. For anyone interested in reading another perspective on the Titanic disaster, this is a suspenseful novel of human flaws and missed chances that I would highly recommend.
NB: An expanded version of this review can also be found on my blog at shelfofunreadbooks.blogspot.co.uk. My thanks go to Atlantic Books and the Real Readers scheme for providing an advanced copy of the book in return for an honest and unbiased review.
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Devastatingly boring. The plainest writing with a painful narrative structure that totally lacked emotion and grief. It failed to make this the good story it could’ve been.
3.5
The premise of this book - the true events surrounding the mystery of the nearby ship that didn't respond to the Titanic's SOS rockets - is so interesting and made for some involving passages. The book reads as thoroughly researched and the author clearly has a passion for the Titanic story but somehow it didn't all come together in a completely satisfying way - his invented characters he uses to pad out and facilitate the story are less captivating and border on caricatures of the period/their circumstances. I am impressed that this is Dyer's first novel, the writing is beautiful and the moments described on that fateful night are the highlights of the book. I would have liked if the editor had helped the author reduce the frequency of repetition, it's hard not to lose enthusiasm for the novel when you keep treading the same water - the characters may be frustrated with the lack of answers in the case but that shouldn't mean the reader need share that frustration. As someone, like many, drawn to the Titanic story this was a worthwhile read despite some minor flaws.
The premise of this book - the true events surrounding the mystery of the nearby ship that didn't respond to the Titanic's SOS rockets - is so interesting and made for some involving passages. The book reads as thoroughly researched and the author clearly has a passion for the Titanic story but somehow it didn't all come together in a completely satisfying way - his invented characters he uses to pad out and facilitate the story are less captivating and border on caricatures of the period/their circumstances. I am impressed that this is Dyer's first novel, the writing is beautiful and the moments described on that fateful night are the highlights of the book. I would have liked if the editor had helped the author reduce the frequency of repetition, it's hard not to lose enthusiasm for the novel when you keep treading the same water - the characters may be frustrated with the lack of answers in the case but that shouldn't mean the reader need share that frustration. As someone, like many, drawn to the Titanic story this was a worthwhile read despite some minor flaws.
Super interesting, I had no idea about the Californian and it’s ties to the Titanic sinking. Informative as it was based on real events, but still entertaining with the fictional aspects. If you are at all interested in Titanic stories pick it up!
For a book that seemed to give so much away at the very beginning I thoroughly enjoyed it and was hard pressed to put it down. Reasons for this could possibly due the historical context of the novel as well as the changing perspectives- I love a book from multi perspectives! It actually had a ounce of Ken Follet style within, just minus 700 pages.
There was definitely some great twists in the story, but it was at times a little repetitive in relation to Herbert Stone. Perhaps this wouldn't have bothered me as much if I took longer to read it.
I think the ending was perfect, an honour which I find hard to give mosts books that I read.
There was definitely some great twists in the story, but it was at times a little repetitive in relation to Herbert Stone. Perhaps this wouldn't have bothered me as much if I took longer to read it.
I think the ending was perfect, an honour which I find hard to give mosts books that I read.
Ever since I learned of the existence of the Californian, I have been fascinated with it the night Titanic sank. How could it not have come to the ship’s rescue? Why did the rockets go unseen? There have been lots of theories as to why, some I believe and some I don’t, and this fictional retelling offers up a wonderfully human aspect to a tragedy that seems grander than us all.
The determination by the journalist, John Steadman, and the wavering but unbreakable loyalty of the second officer, Herbert Stone, takes us on a journey between fact and perceived truth, the hubris of a nation and humanity, of the simple and outstanding consequences of what one person’s decision had made. It’s not as easy to place all blame on the Californian and it’s Captain; nor it’s crew or Marconi operator. Just as not all blame can be laid on Captain Smith for continuing on despite ice warnings, for the White Star Line and it’s lack of boats, for not having the binoculars on board that could have seen the iceberg in time. It was a preventable tragedy, certainly, but through a series of horrific and unfortunate mistakes, it came to pass.
Over all the bickering of weakened steel and missing binoculars and the reflection of the clear sky on a flat sea, it’s the people of that night that have always fascinated me. And to follow those that had been at the heart of it, watching a tragedy unfold across a dark ocean and not knowing what it was, was a view I have not yet had the pleasure to see.
This book was wonderful. It gave such a empathetic humanity to all those involved and cast no hard and fast villains. People wanted a goat, as Lord said, but Dyer did a wonderful job in not laying blame on any one person. And just as Steadman was determined to portray those that had gone unnoticed in the disaster, for me the pinnacle was “Eight White Rockets” and the story of the Sage family, which did leave me in tears. Juxtaposed with Stone on the bridge of the Californian, it gave a clarity to the humanity of the night, of one person and the decisions made, whether easy or difficult, good or bad: If Stone had just pushed harder, if Lord had just come up to see the rockets himself, if the Sage family had just stayed in the boat, it Will had just not wandered off, if Stella had just not gone at all...
And isn’t that the crux of this all? If only, if only.
The writing was wonderful, with gorgeous moments of exposition and description that I was fond of reading over. I was impressed with the humility given to the characters, the flaws and strengths that made them just people caught in the grip of something that they were all struggling to understand. I had almost expected Lord, at the end, to finally admit his folly in a gesture of deep remorse but I’m glad of the way it did end. He did, in a way, always know what he had and had not done and I think his steadfast dedication to his own truth is as much admittance as a full fledged confession. Because to admit otherwise would unleash a torrent of things he may not have ever been ready to admit.
It was a wonderful story and I’m sure the embellishment or change of fact may be frowned upon but it gave me exactly what I was searching for in a Titanic story: the simple, complicated, emotional and fearful humanity of that night; of people, all ordinary and wonderful in their own rights, who lived and died that night and how it carries on through, like ripples on calm waters.
The determination by the journalist, John Steadman, and the wavering but unbreakable loyalty of the second officer, Herbert Stone, takes us on a journey between fact and perceived truth, the hubris of a nation and humanity, of the simple and outstanding consequences of what one person’s decision had made. It’s not as easy to place all blame on the Californian and it’s Captain; nor it’s crew or Marconi operator. Just as not all blame can be laid on Captain Smith for continuing on despite ice warnings, for the White Star Line and it’s lack of boats, for not having the binoculars on board that could have seen the iceberg in time. It was a preventable tragedy, certainly, but through a series of horrific and unfortunate mistakes, it came to pass.
Over all the bickering of weakened steel and missing binoculars and the reflection of the clear sky on a flat sea, it’s the people of that night that have always fascinated me. And to follow those that had been at the heart of it, watching a tragedy unfold across a dark ocean and not knowing what it was, was a view I have not yet had the pleasure to see.
This book was wonderful. It gave such a empathetic humanity to all those involved and cast no hard and fast villains. People wanted a goat, as Lord said, but Dyer did a wonderful job in not laying blame on any one person. And just as Steadman was determined to portray those that had gone unnoticed in the disaster, for me the pinnacle was “Eight White Rockets” and the story of the Sage family, which did leave me in tears. Juxtaposed with Stone on the bridge of the Californian, it gave a clarity to the humanity of the night, of one person and the decisions made, whether easy or difficult, good or bad: If Stone had just pushed harder, if Lord had just come up to see the rockets himself, if the Sage family had just stayed in the boat, it Will had just not wandered off, if Stella had just not gone at all...
And isn’t that the crux of this all? If only, if only.
The writing was wonderful, with gorgeous moments of exposition and description that I was fond of reading over. I was impressed with the humility given to the characters, the flaws and strengths that made them just people caught in the grip of something that they were all struggling to understand. I had almost expected Lord, at the end, to finally admit his folly in a gesture of deep remorse but I’m glad of the way it did end. He did, in a way, always know what he had and had not done and I think his steadfast dedication to his own truth is as much admittance as a full fledged confession. Because to admit otherwise would unleash a torrent of things he may not have ever been ready to admit.
It was a wonderful story and I’m sure the embellishment or change of fact may be frowned upon but it gave me exactly what I was searching for in a Titanic story: the simple, complicated, emotional and fearful humanity of that night; of people, all ordinary and wonderful in their own rights, who lived and died that night and how it carries on through, like ripples on calm waters.
informative
mysterious
relaxing
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The other ship, the Californian, saw these rockets but didn't come. Why not?
“Fifty-eight first-class men had found their way into the lifeboats but fifty-three third-class children had not. It was an almost perfect one-for-one correlation. For almost every rich man who lived a poor child had died. How had this happened on a ship that took nearly three hours to sink in calm water? What sort of tale of heroism was this? Was this the story of America?”
As a Titanic fanatic, I was super excited to pick up this book. It wasn't a bad book. It definitely wasn't, but it was just... boring. What drew me into the book was the prospect that I would find out why the Californian didn't come to save the Titanic, but that just didn't happen. It dances around the topic and doesn't come to a solid conclusion. It leaves you to think about what really happened, when you're presented with evidence of negligence on one hand and hard denials on the other.
“For a short time, while the upward streak was still visible and the star cluster drifted slowly downward, it looked like a fragile white flower - perfectly white, clear and startling against the blackness of the void.”
The imagery is wonderful, but all the characters and jargon jumble into one and it becomes hard to keep up with the narrative. Eventually, you learn some of the characters, but the others stay jumbled. You feel sympathy for Herbet Stone, you hate Captain Lord, but to the end, you still don't know whether or not your judgement is correct about the situation or the characters. There is a truth that is hiding and waiting to be found, but not in this narrative.
“Above him soared the reading room’s great barrel-arched ceiling and twin domes, and although they were filled with light, when he looked up at them he saw again the vast black vaults of the sky on the night of the rockets. And he began to hear the pitiful cries of human beings in the black water, flying upwards to a cold and icy heaven, so lough and so many that it seemed the ocean itself was dying.”
“Fifty-eight first-class men had found their way into the lifeboats but fifty-three third-class children had not. It was an almost perfect one-for-one correlation. For almost every rich man who lived a poor child had died. How had this happened on a ship that took nearly three hours to sink in calm water? What sort of tale of heroism was this? Was this the story of America?”
As a Titanic fanatic, I was super excited to pick up this book. It wasn't a bad book. It definitely wasn't, but it was just... boring. What drew me into the book was the prospect that I would find out why the Californian didn't come to save the Titanic,
“For a short time, while the upward streak was still visible and the star cluster drifted slowly downward, it looked like a fragile white flower - perfectly white, clear and startling against the blackness of the void.”
The imagery is wonderful, but all the characters and jargon jumble into one and it becomes hard to keep up with the narrative. Eventually, you learn some of the characters, but the others stay jumbled. You feel sympathy for Herbet Stone, you hate Captain Lord, but to the end, you still don't know whether or not your judgement is correct about the situation or the characters. There is a truth that is hiding and waiting to be found, but not in this narrative.
“Above him soared the reading room’s great barrel-arched ceiling and twin domes, and although they were filled with light, when he looked up at them he saw again the vast black vaults of the sky on the night of the rockets. And he began to hear the pitiful cries of human beings in the black water, flying upwards to a cold and icy heaven, so lough and so many that it seemed the ocean itself was dying.”
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death