Tag Archives: Ocean liner

Mightier Than the Sword – and my fifteen minutes

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9781250034519_p0_v1_s260x420My fifteen minutes of fame came as a character in Jeffrey Archer’s latest installment of the Clifton Chronicles – Mightier Than the Sword.

Rarely do I enter contests; even more rarely do I win one – yet, Jeffrey Archer picked me. My prize – my name as a character in his next book – Mightier Than the Sword. Although I was hoping to be the evil mastermind, my namesake is a minor character appearing only briefly but consistently. Maybe you can find it – if you don’t blink.

If you are a fan of the Clifton Chronicles, you are primed to expect adventure and sabotage,  connecting the network of established characters in the Barrington and Clifton family trees.  Harry Clifton uses the book’s opening bombing incident on his wife’s new ocean liner as fodder for his latest successful spy thriller, and remains true to his moral compass as well as his penchant for crime solving, as Archer weaves Harry into a Russian undercover plot to suppressing state secrets reminiscent of a Solzhenitsyn exposé.  Emma, Chair of Barrington Shipping Company, faces her own issues with old nemesis Virginia, beautiful ex-wife of her brother Giles.  Sebastian, son of Harry and Emma, now a young handsome finance wizard, had my undivided attention, since he is the character who interacts with my namesake – on more than one occasion.  More characters reappear, but Archer carefully provides background for anyone who has not read the previous books in the series.  If you are a new fan, you might consider starting at the beginning with a binge-read, saving yourself from the angst of the inevitable cliff-hanging ending.

Reading an Archer novel is like watching an episode of your favorite television series.  The plot twists are usually surprising, the villains sometimes win the battles, the heroes are vulnerable, and satisfying solutions usually prevail.  I dare you to not read the books quickly as I do, furiously seeking the next outcome.  Maybe in the next installment, Dr. Rosemary Wolfe will return and play a bigger role in Sebastian’s life – I hope so.

Related Reviews: Previous books in The Clifton Chronicles

Rooftoppers

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Do you play the cards you’re dealt or reshuffle the deck, hoping for a better deal? 9781442490581_p0_v3_s260x420In Katherine Rundell’s Rooftoppers a little girl refuses to believe her mother has drowned; her faith, courage, and determination are rewarded as she searches for her mother along the rooftops of Paris.

When a cruise ship sinks in the middle of the English Channel, Charles Maxim, passenger and scholar, rescues a red-haired baby afloat in a cello case. He names her Sophie and fights off the London social workers who would send her to an orphanage. On her twelfth birthday, after Charles is threatened with jail if he does not give Sophie to the authorities, Sophie discovers a plaque with a Parisian address inside the cello case. Convinced her mother is still alive, Sophie and Charles flee to Paris and the adventure begins.

With the help of Matteo and a small band of clever homeless children with street smarts, Sophie roams the rooftops of Paris, listening for the sounds of her mother’s cello and challenging authority . The adventure and the ending are improbable, impractical and wonderful.

Although targeted to middle schoolers, Rundell’s tale has those intelligent asides that adult readers will appreciate. As I read, I noted some of her astute phrases that I hope to use at an appropriate moment:

“I’m afraid, I understand books far more readily than I understand people. Books are so easy to get along with.”

“Money can make people inhuman. It is best to stay away from people who care too much about money, my darling. They are people with shoddy, flimsy brains.”

And, my favorite new word:

“A murmuration. When the sea and wind murmur in time with one other; like people laughing in private…”

Entertaining and clever – Rooftoppers can be enjoyed at any age.

The Titanic

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At 2:20 a.m. on April 15, 1912, the British ocean liner Titanic sank into the North Atlantic Ocean near Newfoundland, Canada, after colliding with an iceberg around midnight.

After seeing a local production of the Broadway musical Titanic, and noting its difference to the extravagant film that has recently been re-released in 3D, I wondered about the ship’s real history.

The live musical boasts that all characters are based on actual passengers and crew. Alas, no love story between the first-class Rose and her lower deck artist actually happened.
Key characters mirrored their real-life counterparts’ experiences. The wealthy Macy’s elder couple – Isador and Ida Straus did go down with the ship – on deck chairs, not in bed. And the ship’s owner, Ismay, really did jump into a lifeboat with women and children.

At the end of the production, a reel of lingering facts assaults the audience, noting how more could have been saved:

  • The lifeboat drill was never practiced with the passengers.
  • Most of the lifeboats were not full: one with a capacity for 65, had only 24 people in it; another lifeboat had only 12 people, despite a capacity for 40.
  • The Californian was the closest ship for rescue, but did not receive the Titanic’s distress call because its wireless operator had gone to bed.

Nick Ochwar of the Los Angeles Times summarizes 10 Titanic Books That Will Fascinate for more information on what really happened. But suggests…

“If you read only one book, however, let it be “Titanic, First Accounts” (Penguin, $16 paper), in which editor Tim Maltin gathers classic inquiries and early testimonies from survivors. It is a stunning record of firsthand stories and early reports. “The ship was gradually turning on her nose — just like a duck does that goes down for a dive,” recalls radio operator Harold S. Bride. “I had only one thing on my mind — to get away from the suction.” The book is full of such accounts, as chilling to read today as the North Atlantic waters were on that fateful night.”