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(Soory for my poor writing, But it was good book for pediatrician and prthopedic surgeon)
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This short but meaty book is a loving portrait of a marvelous country. Cameron uses the incident of a horrific car accident he suffered in Bangladesh to tie together his own sense of mortality and India's great endurance.
Pace can be a little rough at times, but that is the only detraction from this beautiful, appreciative look at India and its foibles, humanity, grace, sufferings. His treatment of conversations (with little hints of well-observed Indglish) are a joy to read. Many tender and thoughtful passages about mankind, but it's really a very personal memoir of Cameron's ongoing yet troubled love affair with a nation.
Indispensible part of any India-phile's library, great pre-departure (or take-along) reading for anyone going there.
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I also found the afterwords by both Cameron and Card fascinating. It is good to see two masters of their own media working together with a respect for each other's work. Both men should be applauded for thier contributions to the world of Science Fiction.
I was riveted to this book and got frustrated when I put it down then forgot where I put it. I highly recommend the book and the movie.
I then read the book because I've liked some of the author's other works. It complements the movie. Having watched the movie first didn't detract from the book at all.
I gave the book to my Dad. I think he would give it a similar review. It made him cry. (OK, it made me cry too.)
My Dad didn't see the movie until after reading the book. He really liked the movie too. How often can you say that about a book and its movie? I say you haven't fully experienced this story until you've both read the book and seen the movie.
It's a great story. James Cameron told the story using film and special effects. Orson Scott Card told the story using prose.
What a shame this book is out of print. It's worth the effort to track down a copy.
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For instance, the script's original ending is entirely different than the ending in the movie, but if you want to know, you have to buy the book. Originally, Fabrizio's death scene was different as well, and there was a scene cut from the movie of him saying goodbye to his girlfriend Helga. The book includes pictures of most of these scenes.
The book also contains commentary about certain aspects of the over-all production of the film. It's a very fascinating book that any fan of the movie will adore. It deserves 5+ stars, in my opinion.
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One more strange thing: In "Her Name, Titanic" Pellegrino morphed back and forth in time from the Ballard expeditions, to the night of the sinking, to the expeditions again... and again... and not always effectively. (Unless the intended effect was to make the reader dizzy. But James Cameron did pick up on this, and ran with it, and managed to transcend Pellegrino's flaws.) This time out, in keeping with the realities of an archaeological dig, wherein one begins by peeling away the most recent events buried in the topmost layer, Pellegrino plays an even stranger game with time. But this time he is much more effective. This book is so engrossing that you can get all the way to the last chapter without noticing that he has been telling the story backwards!
By the way, the drawings were amazingly creepy yet beautiful.
Pellegrino takes the reader through the Titanic expeditions since his previous book, "Her Name, Titanic," including the 1996 RMS Titanic expedition the author participated in as biopaleontologist and marine archaeologist. He also introduces readers to more never before published survivor accounts, including Chief Baker Charles Joughin (whose survival despite more time spent in the water than any other survivor is still a mystery), Michel Navatril ("The Titanic Waif") and stoker Jim Mulolland (who reports on the fate of the ship's cat).
The reader is also treated to detailed pencil sketches of the wreck as he saw it, an archaeological map of the Stern debris field, the diagrams of the new consortial life form dubbed "Rusticalus Titanics" by Pellegrino and Cullimore on the '96 expedition, and for the first time anywhere, annotated drawings of the actual deck plans of the Titanic drawn in India ink (one of the many Titanic myths debunked by Pellegrino in this book is that the plans went down with Andrews - at the advice of their lawyers the White Star Line led authorities to believe that in order to shut down the design defect argument).
Among the forensic reconstructions in the book are a complete reconstruction on the sequence of events on the the Titanic and the Californian from eyewitness accounts, showing at each stage how the Californian was viewing the lights and distress rockets of the Titanic, and likewise the lifeboats on the Titanic were viewing the lights of the Californian. Pellegrino notes that even Captain Stanley Lord of The Californian finally admitted during his libel law suit against the account of his ship in "A Night To Remember," that it was the lights of the Titanic his crew saw that night of April 12th (its amazing that some authors *still* refer to the "mystery ship"). But Pellegrino further damns Captain Lord by showing that under the atmospheric conditions and due to the immutable laws of curvature of the earth, the lights observed on both sides bracket the distance between the ships as between 5 and 7.5 miles (instead of the 20 miles the captain claimed to american investigators or the 30 miles he later claimed to british investigators or the 40 miles he claimed to reporters after that), which meant the Californian could have reached the titanic, allowing for caution, less than one hour after seeing the first distress rockets, a time when lifeboats were still lowering, well in time to save hundreds at least from freezing to death in the cold waters, possibly all 1500! Pellegrino even adds a new indictment from Third Officer Groves of the Californian, during the brief search the Californian did that morning, Groves saw moving figures on the ice which he believed to be human beings, only to have this dismissed by the Captain as Seals as he ordered the ship to turn around and head for Boston!
Pellegrio also describes the scientific discoveries Pellegrino participated in on the '96 RMS Titanic expedition. He and microbiologist Roy Cullimore discovered that Bob Ballard's "Rusticles" are a new consortial life form, Rusticalus Titanicus, a 3.5 billion year evolutionary throwback that could provide new antibiotics and other medicines. Pellegrino and Cullimore also noted a tremendous increase in deep-ocean "sea snow" between Titanic expeditions which is evidence of "The Zooplankton Crisis," a massive bloom of animal plankton caused by reductions in the North Atlantic fish population, which threatens the phytoplankton population in the top few inches of the ocean, which are responsible for converting more far carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than rain forests. The reader is reminded of the warning Titanic survivor Eva Hart gives to Pellegrino in this book, "...if you scientists, engineers and industrial geniuses don't learn to temper arrogance with wisdom, and to pay very close attention, then I'm afraid there will be an even bigger Titanic in your future - for the whole world, maybe. And next time there may be no lifeboats - for anybody."
I'd rate this book as a great read for any reader interested in history or science, and a must-have for any true Titanic enthusiast, no matter how many books you own!
The author also has raised enough significant doubt to revitalize (perhaps "rehabilitate" is not too strong of a description) Captain Smith's reputation. Like the fiasco of a movie "Gettysburg," which depicted Martin Sheen as a General Lee on valium, previous authors and movie directors have portrayed the Titanic's Captain Smith as a confused and benumbed fool once the ship's designer, Andrews, told him Titanic was doomed. In fact, every one of Smith's critical decisions--including sending out half empty lifeboats--were the correct ones. (My hat is off to you Captain, and I apologize for the unkind words I have spread about you. tps)
Other compelling issues include learned speculation that the Grand Staircase broke loose and shot to the surface (the evidence for this is very strong); Officer Murdoch did indeed shoot himself (there were several witnesses who did not know each other who wrote the same thing); and Bruce Ismay and his company worked overtime to slander many survivors who did tow the company line (the Duff Gordons were among this select group). Even more interesting is the fact that the "rusticles" adorning the deteriorating ship are actually ALIVE. Yes, they are bacterial colonies in a life form previously unknown. And they are being utilized for medical research that might, ultimately, save more people than Titanic took to the bottom.
The only section of the book that caused me to roll my eyes and audibly groan was the very end of the main narrative, where Pellegrino makes a silly over-the-top reference to the political baloney we know today as "Global Warming," accented with a metaphor that the earth is the Titanic and we are steaming toward our own ice field. Sorry, Charlie, but hundreds of qualified scientists think the evidence for Global Warming (and a human connection) is tenuous or nonexistent at best. Politicians anxious to weaken the U.S. at the expense of Third World countries, however, in the name of global Socialism, see it as a terrific opportunity to achieve their goals. These are the same yahoos who argued 25 years ago that TODAY we would be all covered with ice, so our lifestyles had to change radically--or else. (How many of your are now skiing in July? Hmmm?)
I borrowed this book, read it, and then bought it. Everyone who enjoys reading about Titanic must own this book. Ignore the silly review that appeared in Kirkus and the hatchet job that was penned in the New York Times. Buy Ghosts of the Titanic, enjoy it, and then share it with another buff.