Poseidon Adventure

They say books are better than the movie, some are true. This is one.

"Upside down, in the biggest transatlantic liner ever built, 81,000 tons of metal hanging between heaven and the bottom of the sea." -Chapter 5 of "The Poseidon Adventure." During a 1937 North Atlantic crossing aboard the infamous Queen Mary, author Paul Gallico had quite the scare when, out of nowhere, an 80-foot rogue wave struck the liner, causing her to keel over - almost on her side. Thirty years later this event would serve as the inspiration for his 1969 best-seller, "The Poseidon Adventure." The story concerns the efforts of a small group of passengers attempting to escape a cruise ship after it is capsized by a massive wave. Gallico tells his story with a strong sense of suspense and a richly detailed group of diverse characters. And those characters are the most fascinating aspect of the novel. Gallico does a masterful of job of building them into people of depth and dimension. With the sea disaster as the underlying premise, he strips them of their security and their dignity, testing their might, taxing their bodies, and stripping them of their clothes. In so far as the actual escape is concerned, the reader gets a strong sense of the imminent danger and claustrophobia encountered by the survivors. Throughout the book one never forgets how close they are to impending doom. Gallico is almost unrelenting in his sense of urgency. Overall, "The Poseidon Adventure" makes an excellent and fast read. Some of Gallico's verbiage shows it's age, but ultimately the novel is a story of courage and strength of character, of failure and loss, of intense drama and great suspense. It will leave you as stunned, breathless, and exhausted as the survivors. The book was re-released in June of 2006 and is still available. I highly recommend you add it to your reading list! NOTE: I also listened to the audiobook this summer. In some cases Dylan Baker's voices are brilliant (Mike Rogo, Frank Scott), but in many cases they are a bit annoying (the Rosens, Hubie Muller). At the start it seems like Baker went into the studio cold - he seems unsure and uneven. But by disc 2 he finds his stride. The audiobook's abridgement was authorized by the Gallico estate, but like most abridgements it takes away from the story. Worth a listen if you're pressed for time, but I highly suggest sitting down with the actual book.

This book was well written and a very enjoyable read. I also recommend seeing the movie. Both were fantastic =-)

Granted the film adaptation by Irwin Allen is a classic of its kind, but Paul Gallico's source novel is so, so much more than a mere adventure novel. The Poseidon Adventure is also a dark psychological novel about the human will and the human character, how it constantly shifts and changes, yet remains the same at its very core. Don't be fooled by the swift pace and high adventure, careful reading of this excellent piece of entertainment will be a richly rewarding experience for you. Highly recommended.

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?