Why is most Titanic fiction so bad & what I am doing about it

[RHeld]

Why is most Titanic fiction so bad & what I am doing about it

Why is most Titanic fiction in print so bad? The only novel I ever enjoyed related to it was Clive Cussler's famous "what if" Raise The Titanic! I disliked B. Bainbridge's Every Man For Himself as too predictable and too blah and have steered clear of all novels since then save one in disguise I'd bought unawares: Charles Pellegrino's Her Name ... Titanic.

However, I am not just sitting idly by here ... there is some dramatic Titanic writing of my own on the way, writing that, I believe, totally "owns" the likes of Pellegrino and Bainbridge in comparison, so there is hope for Titanic fiction yet.

I can't go into details yet, however, so keep an eye out folks.

 

[Jay Roches]

Well, what makes it bad?

The story in the game "Titanic: Adventure through Time" is a fairly interesting alternative-history one where you get to avert the World Wars and the rise of Communism (or not) by saving some artifacts including a painting by Hitler. I liked that, anyway.

As far as writing fiction about it, I think the real story offers something that I think is somehow almost unique in history. My theory for why this is is that people had far more control over the outcome than they usually do in a life-or-death situation. At 11:40 pm, everyone was more or less equally likely to survive in that very few people were injured or killed in the collision. What each person did in the next 2 hours and 40 minutes decided whether they lived or died. The number of people is just about at the upper limit for the number of characters you can have the protagonist encounter, and the time span is long enough for events to unfold (unlike most disasters).

It even follows the 3-act format -- you have either before-during-after or immediate aftermath-loading the lifeboats-Nearer, My God, to Thee.

If it's just not written well, that's not something unique to Titanic. There are good stories in film and in other media; I guess it's just something people haven't managed to write a whole lot of really good fiction about.
There certainly is a lot of good non-fiction on the subject (as well as some bad), so maybe it's just a topic that lends itself better to non-fiction in print.

There isn't a definitive fictional or semi-fictional Titanic novel, I agree there. It may be a challenge to write one. Or it may turn out to be quite possible -- James Cameron certainly figured out the right formula for a Titanic movie, simply in terms of audience appeal. It's kind of interesting to think about what you have in mind...

 

[J Burdette]

When referring to Titanic fiction for children, I think it's in a deplorable state. But it seems to be that way children's historical fiction in general. Much of the writing nowadays, not all, just isn't like it was.

 

[Sandy McLendon]

Part of the problem, I think, is that we are so far removed in time from 1912 that many authors lack the perspective necessary to write convincingly of the era. The Cameron film's script is a prominent example: Rose is not a woman of 1912, she is a woman of 1996 displaced in time.

Another problem is that the timeline and events of the sinking are very complex, and very well-known to people with an interest in the subject. Maintaining control over those elements is very difficult, and there are areas open to interpretation, so an author is pretty much going to draw someone's ire no matter how thorough the research. It matters greatly to many people whether the stern's angle before sinking was 23 degrees or 40, for instance.

Weaving a tale around actual Titanic passengers is difficult, because families are still around in many instances, and may object to a fictional characterization (write about someone's actual great-great-grandmother up to hanky-panky in a Renault in the cargo hold, and I promise you the family's objections will follow like night unto the day). Wholly fictional characters are also problematic, because the first hurdle an author faces with readers is getting them to forget that they know the character was not on Titanic. That isn't insurmountable, but it's difficult, given the vast knowledge many prospective readers possess.

Cussler's book was brilliant, given the knowledge of the time, because it was about what Titanic means to his characters, not really the disaster itself (it's sort of a very elaborate take on "The Maltese Falcon"). But it's hard to read the novel or watch the movie now, because the Ballard expedition proved once and for all that Titanic did not sink intact and could not possibly be raised.

It is entirely possible for someone to write a novel about Titanic that is historically accurate, gripping and moving all at once. But it hasn't really happened yet, and it isn't for lack of trying.

 

[J Burdette]

As a would be children writer I can say that I thought Gordon Korman did an outstanding job on his Titanic trilogy. He also managed to weave Lightoller into the story (and made him an extreme stickler for rules). Book 2 has the Olympic officers photograph on the front cover, though.

There doesn't seem to be much of a market for children's historical fiction nowadays, which I think is sad. Also, it is in my humble opinion, that HF requires a bit more from an author then something like fantasy or sci-fi would, because HF requires reality. You can just make things up out of thin air. In regards to the thin-air-project, I find writing stories such as that much easier (and very fun). I've got a manuscript started on Titanic meant for YA, but I'm having difficulties getting some kind of plot worked out.

So in reading your post, I can see why there doesn't seem to be many good Titanic fiction books out there. How can such a fascinating subject be so hard to write on? Time will tell if my manuscript ends up in the trash can or on an editor's desk.

 

[monica e. hall]

Hmm. Anyone who thinks Bainbridge's "Every Man For Himself" was actually about the Titanic factually, hasn't read it properly. And even though it wasn't, the last chapter was superb. And Titanic stories for children? Well, children like gruesome of course, but can actually be rather more sensitive than you think. I bought a Ladybird book, condensing Dickens' "Tale of Two Cities" for my son when he was 7. History! I found him screaming, in tears, in his bed, when he got to the end. The guillotine and drowning people can be very scary for the young, if they have imagination.

 

[J Burdette]

Yes, even come children without much of imagination can be extremely sensitive to the horrid events of the past. In any case while I don't intend to sugarcoat what happened I won't go into morbid details in my manuscript also my stories are intended for older readers.

 

[Rhys B. Davies]

Pardon me for butting in but it sounds like you're setting yourself quite a difficult challenge. Can you tell us anything about the premise of your work and how you intend to distance yourself from past Titanic-related novels?

And I agree, Cussler's 'Raise the Titanic' is among some of the best literature ever to arise from the story of the great ship, simply because it does not try to tell the story of the sinking 'again', but approaches Titanic from a different direction. Allow out of date when it comes to the 'reality' of the wreck's condition, I find it really emotive when Cussler describes both the raising of the wreck, the subsequent struggles to keep her afloat, and the triumphant end to her decades-long maiden voyage as she finally makes it to New York.

In contrast to that, Arthur C Clarke tried something similar with his 'Ghost on the Grand Banks' but produced something very dry and grim.

'Something's Alive on the Titanic' by Robert J Sterling is another fine example for me; although its very much a pot-boiler pulp-fiction sort of work, it wholeheartedly embraces both the facts of Titanic's sinking, and the resulting mythology, and then tells a pretty effective ghost story with it. The freedoms offered by the paranormal setting not only allow for chilling twists on familiar themes (i.e. the spirit of Murdoch appearing on the wreck's bridge, complete with that controversial bullet-wound to his skull), and even allow for a 'psychic vision' flashback to the night of the sinking. The 'factual' elements set in the present day also allow for some atmospheric writing, particularly during the exploration of the wreck.

There's also Joseph L'Episcopo's alternate history books, where Titanic just misses the iceberg and sails on until the 1940s, with history unfolding on a course which prevents the occurance of WW1 and WW2. In this context, Titanic is simply 'another' ship, historically unremarkable except for her venerable service record and being the last survivor of White Star's great 'Olympic Class' (by the time of the novel, Olympic and Gigantic have both been scrapped, and Titanic is making her last voyage before retirement, under the command of White Star Commodore William McMaster Murdoch).

These, in my mind, are the best 'Titanic' stories I have read, works that try to explore the story of the ship in a context beyond the run-of-the-mill fiction that simply drop a few fictional characters onto the maiden voyage before putting them through the wringer of the sinking.

 

[J Burdette]

Rhys:

Is your question aimed at me or the original poster?

 

[Rhys B. Davies]

Rhys:

Is your question aimed at me or the original poster?

I'd be interested in hearing either of your opinions

 

[J Burdette]

Rhys:

L'Episcopo's book sounds interesting. Allan Wolf did a superb job on The Watch That Ends At Night.

Well I can't say I'm 'distancing' myself from other authors. And like I said previously, time will tell if it doesn't end up in a trash can. Still have lots of research to do.

At the moment it is a 2nd class mother and daughter, the latter aiding a stowaway (You can't have a maritime story without a stowaway, now can you? ). I'd like to give the crew a small part before the actually sinking. I dunno, I'm still messing around with the plot, altering it here and there. It'll be for older children. I may do a complete makeover. It seems that most children's books focus on 1st class passengers, those being the main characters. I wonder how difficult it would be to create a fictional crew-member or third class pax? I'd originally toyed with the thought of having the postal workers aid a stowaway, but scuttled the idea. (You can see I'm very fond of the stowaway, but they are so hard to work with). At the moment the story is by no means grand, having only been working on it the last couple of months. Also research can be very time consuming.

Hope that answers your question and I didn't rattle on too long!

 

[Rhys B. Davies]

Hi J

Sorry for the delay in replying.

You're right, Second Class tends to get overlooked a fair bit when it comes to Titanic lit, just as they are in pretty much every account of the disaster (and indeed, during the disaster itself). If you haven't already, I highly recommend obtaining a copy of Lawrence Beesley's 'The Sinking of the Titanic', as it includes some useful detail on life in Second Class.

That said, I sort of fell into the same trap when writing my own Titanic novel. I resolved to only use historical figures for Titanic passengers and crew, and the result was a mammoth cast-list (approx 63 historical figures, listed in my own thread), yet looking through it I find that the major of passengers I've featured hail from First Class - the only exceptions are Father Thomas Byles, William Harbeck (a freelance filmmaker) and some members of the H&W Guarantee Group.

In terms of your own narrative, the 'stowaway' is a common theme in maritime novels and allows you to easily introduce a fictional character into the story, but do you intend to do the same to your 2nd class family, or are you planning on using actual passengers as the inspiration for them?

*

Addenum: Having had time to think on the thread's opening question, it strikes me that a major failing of much Titanic fiction is the inability to engage with the story of the ship. Consider one book I recently saw for sale, 'The Titanic Secret', which plants a cast of British and German spies on the ship and then has the Royal Navy literally torpedo the ship to sink it! At most the reality of the ship, the disaster and the people involved is reduced to an inconvenience to be worked around, or set-dressing.

 

[J Burdette]

I've read Beesley's account before, but I need to read it again to refresh myself.

My passengers are, at the moment fictional, but they're very bland. At the moment I am educating myself on the layout of the ship so I can have the characters navigate their way around easily without spending all their time on the boat deck.

When reading history in general there are certain people you tend to get 'attached' (not sure that's the right word, but anywho) to, you feel an extreme pity for certain people that died. While I feel it is terrible that any person should have died in the disaster, I feel exceptionally sorry for Moody and Phillips, as well as the engineers. Perhaps it is a bit more difficult for me in working with passengers in my story, because my interest lay more with the crew members.

 

[inmybookcase]

Titanic books

Goodness, I have been on the search for a GOOD fictional Titanic story for so long.... I really thought I was the only one who couldn't appreciate the authors who take the time to write a semi-engaging, hopefully accurate, fictional story... but most books just don't show the gripping intensity that I look for in the Titanic. I'd rather be reading Walter Lord's books.

I'm currently attempting to think up a story to write. It's hard, because I don't want to it appear cheesy (which is what I think other made-up Titanic stories are quite like). It's definitely hard, but I'm trying. The most difficult decision is whether to choose a real passenger's name, or to make one up. Anyone have an opinion on what you prefer in a Titanic story? In general, do you like a real or fictional character better as the protagonist?

In children's fiction, I have found 1 book that was more tolerable than others I have read. Actually, I quite liked it: No Moon by Irene N. Watts.

Another book that is written for much younger readers, which I enjoyed myself: Eva and Little Kitty on the Titanic - Based on Eva Hart's Account by Sidsel Carnahan.

I just finished an adult fictional novel about the Titanic, and believe it is my favorite. I don't agree with everything in it, but the story is much more intriguing that anything else I've read to date on this subject: Titanic: Legacy of Betrayal by Kathleen Kovach & Paula Moldenhauer.

 

[J Burdette]

In juvenile fiction, I think I like a fictional protagonist (they're easier to work with) because you aren't restricted, depending on how you look at it, to the real persons reactions, etc. What I really like in fiction is when the author incorporates the crew, that is the main character interacts with the crew members. Like Korman did with Lightoller (although I'd like to see authors branch out and use some of the other officers in their writings). Oh and that photo they used on Bk.2 of Korman's trilogy isn't of the Titanic's officers excepting a few. I believe the only officers in that photo who were later on Titanic are McElroy, Smith and Murdoch.

I recently picked up a children's book on Titanic, I won't mention the name here since the author might see it , but it was absolutely horrible. The language, reactions, writing, pretty much all of it! And the story itself was extremely dry.

I've seen No Moon in my browsing and was wondering what it was like. I'll see if I can get ahold of a copy.