The Night Lives On is the 1987 follow-up to Walter Lord's own 1955 A Night To Remember.
That's right: for me, quick "trashy"reads are non-fiction sequels to other non-fiction work.
In my defense, Walter Lord is an awesome writer and the two books are as fascinating and exciting as they are quick to devour.
When I was laid up on the couch I bought a copy of A Night to Remember for a penny plus shipping, it being the century anniversary for the Titanic disaster and I'd read an article about it.
Here they are together:
Walter Lord was born in 1917 in Baltimore. As a kid he rode on the Olympic, the Titanic's sister ship, and became nearly obsessed: how could something that immense sink? What would it look like and sound like and feel like? He majored in history, got a job writing copy in New York and wrote in his spare time. He interviewed as many survivors as he could convince to talk to him in the early 50s, while also pouring over transcripts of both the American and British hearings on the wreck
The result, published in 1955, is A Night To Remember. One thing that Lord introduced to the general discourse about the Titanic event was that he didn't paint the storyline through a prism of class. He described each person's reaction to the striking of the berg and the ensuing two hours through the prism of their own cultural understanding of their status.
That sounds wordy and doesn't convey how novel the idea was at the time, but in essence, the book reads like a newspaper article. And it comes in at just under 200 pages. And it's gripping as hell.
The book is still considered one of the most important accounts and resources on the sinking, and we're going on 60 years. There was the movie of the same name produced in 1958 with Lord's assistance, and even James Cameron had Lord hired on as an expert during the filming of his monster from 1997.
So, why would Walter Lord be inclined to write a follow-up?
The Night Lives On was conceived in the months after the discovery of the wreck in 1985. Lord wrote in the opening chapter of the book that he didn't think interest was that high on the Titanic wreck, that was until he got six calls for interviews in the first few weeks of the discovery.
A Night To Remember has some before and after material, but is mostly a minute-by-minute retelling of the night from every angle available.
The Night Lives On has more epilogue type stuff; more of the night of the "rescue" ships that would be on the scene the next morning; addresses the discrepancies in the different accounts; attempts to objectively look at every facet through its own context of the time; and still is an exciting book.
Taken together, they're just over 400 pages of doomed excitement.
At our downtown Dollar Bookstore I've found copies of both regularly in the chaotic paperback section. I've been thinking about buying them all up and sending out sets as gifts.
The Cabin needs a set for sure.
