A Night to Remember
By: Walter Lord / Narrated By: Fred Williams
Length: 5 hrs and 19 mins
Brilliant classic!
There are two different narrations of Walter Lord’s A Night to Remember available on Audible, both are in my Library (Naturally!). I chose the Fred Williams narrator/version cuz it starts with just a snippet o’ not-widely-known information. There was a book written 14-years prior to the Titanic’s doomed maiden voyage across the Atlantic that, truly, was a forebodingly ominous piece of writing. A large liner, named the Titan, is unsinkable. It hasn’t enough lifeboats for all onboard due to the hubris of that very unsinkability, and the author dubbed his work Futility because that showed just how very little man can manage Nature vs. his own grand plans.
This is an AWEsome way to start a story chronicling the unfolding of one of the worst maritime disasters in history!
Seeing as I mentioned the two different narrators, lemme just address the performance of Fred Williams right away. Whenst dithering between the two versions, in addition to that li’l bit o’ portentous angst, I chose the Williams version cuz I just liked his tones. He’s been dinged for sounding robotic and monotone, but I found his intonations to be perfectly suited to the material. Dare I say it? The man’s delivery was practically magisterial! We’re talking LUXURY liner here, the ultra well-heeled, the vaaast disaster that could’ve been avoided at So. Many. Points along the way. From the start, there’s the lookout who spies an iceberg dead ahead, calls it in and receives a disinterested Yeh Okay. Williams takes us from that young man’s breathless fear as the ship does nothing until it baaarely swerves aside… then we’re onto the tearing sound, the slight jostle. Along the way? A frazzled young man at the telegraph, overwhelmed by the demands from the elites to send messages messages more messages with the newfangled method of communication. When he receives a message warning of an ice field coming up: SHUT UP! he sends back as he’s overwhelmed, and he’s had it!
Williams does all this with perfect pacing, urgency when necessary, no vocal juggling but adding the emotion, the thoughts of each of the passengers and crew. Bravo, sir!
Have you seen that dratted movie “Titanic” by James Cameron? I finally caved and saw it in a theater, sitting beside two of the burliest jocks ever who wept their hearts out at the ending. THAT’S all I remember as it’s a travesty. Aside from doing a few really cool (Like, frozen) bodies floating in water, THIS audiobook is by FAR more dramatic, even with a couple o’ love stories thrown in, wives staying with husbands to face wretched Fate. And chivalry? You betcha. In context, this was a time when women were honored (As opposed to groped), women and children first. With beefy third-class men from steerage, denied any hope of a spot on lifeboats, bearing their brawn to get impoverished young women through locked gates. And what the movie doesn’t even tryyyyy to address? The Californian’s (Gross lack of) response, the many flares ignored, the viewing of the Titanic’s lights as the ship listed, began sinking, disappeared into the depths. Gee, the crew of the Californian muses: Guess things are festive. Gee, they ponder: Can’t see the lights anymore, guess it’s moseyed away. And the CQD distress calls the Titanic’s wireless sent out, over and over and over again? Finally resorting to the new Universal SOS? Ignored.
Ismay, the director of the White Star line is indeed dinged a bit for having thrust himself into a lifeboat whilst others were doomed to horrific deaths. But his emotional devastation is so complete he thrusts himself into utter isolation, and he spends the remaining yeeeears of his life, a recluse unto death. Indeed, only the Californian and the press come out looking atrocious (Because the Carpathia’s Captain was NOT a publicity hound and respected the dignity of the rescued survivors, was conscious of their emotional trauma, the press had a field day with him). The others? The crew was conscientious, brave, solicitous (Tho’ -also- in context: Passengers in steerage did NOT count as human beings worthy of spots on lifeboats), and the Titanic’s Captain was commendable and just jolly decent all-around.
DO give this a Listen. It dovetails sooo well with The Other Side of the Night which chronicles the actions/-again- gross lack of action of the Carpathia and the Californian and the inquests that followed the sinking. This audiobook has some of what came out at the inquests, but the former audiobook manages to go into it all in-depth, and it’s still all exciting.
Walter Lord, however, does an absolutely stunning job here tho’ with yeeeears of meticulous and thorough research, and even with interviews of survivors and families of survivors. Letters, final letters, to loved ones are heartbreaking. Some were only lines jotted down to say that No, I Did NOT Make It. Lord is even shown an oooold letter, faded and careworn of a young man who says: It Was Me; I Dressed Like A Woman To Get On A Lifeboat. And some interviews are of survivors who shiver, their bodies physically jolting in remembrance of the shock of the frigid, killing waters that had to be jumped into.
Just magnificent. This is the SECOND Titanic book that was chosen as My Next Listen, and dude! I couldn’t have been happier. Thank y’all soooo much for this absolute horror show that wound up being incredibly poignant as well. Also? Oh my, it was oh so enjoyable!
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