Titanic Voices

This book was one that I was looking forward to reading. My interest in the Titanic goes far beyond the film interpretation of the sinking. I have also watched many documentaries and seen museum exhibits on the topic. So when I found this at my local bookstore, I could not resist and decided to pick it up. Was it as good as I imagined in terms of providing a first hand account of the sinking? Yes, and that is part of the problem.

You see, it has many different perspectives of the sinking, with every different view shown based on the rough estimate of when each boat was launched. Each corresponding tale tells about how the person in question survived the sinking. The author also provides a detailed account of what happened to each person before and after the Titanic sank.

This book has excellent primary and secondary sources about what happened as the Titanic sank, so why don't I give it five stars? Well, this is an example of a primary selling point, also being a primary problem. While it is fascinating and interesting that these people went through this harrowing ordeal, it does become rather dry and dull after a time. As my father always says of the Titanic film: You know what is going to happen, the ship sinks every time. I think the same applies here. Eventually, I would just skim the rest with no real consequence, nor any information lost, overall. It is for this reason that I have to give this book a four out of five. If you are going to read this, then do so sparingly, one story at a time, then I think you'll enjoy it.