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A review by taetris
Every Man for Himself by Beryl Bainbridge
4.0
This is a novel about Morgan, a first-class passenger onboard the Titanic as she makes her first and last voyage. The sinking is shown, but the book is not about that, it is about Morgan, his hopes and plans and everything that happens to him in the days leading up to the catastrophe. The catastrophe only happens quite late in the book, and before that we see life on the ship as it was for the better-off passengers.
There is mention of a fire deep inside the ship that only went out 2 days before the sinking and also mention of iceberg warnings. But it never sounds or feels like foreshadowing, and if I hadn't known about Titanic I would never have guessed that the vessel would sink.
When it does sink, we see the disbelief in people in the first class and how the life boats go down only half full at first. The lower-class passengers are mentioned, but only peripherally, as the story is told in 1st person. You are left to imagine the horror of being down below seeing half full boats go by while being shown the band playing for the first-class passengers "to keep up their spirits".
The situation is grotesk, but told in a matter-of-fact way, which makes the writing quite addictive.
There is mention of a fire deep inside the ship that only went out 2 days before the sinking and also mention of iceberg warnings. But it never sounds or feels like foreshadowing, and if I hadn't known about Titanic I would never have guessed that the vessel would sink.
When it does sink, we see the disbelief in people in the first class and how the life boats go down only half full at first. The lower-class passengers are mentioned, but only peripherally, as the story is told in 1st person. You are left to imagine the horror of being down below seeing half full boats go by while being shown the band playing for the first-class passengers "to keep up their spirits".
The situation is grotesk, but told in a matter-of-fact way, which makes the writing quite addictive.