by Mandrake » Mar 26th, '12, 15:46
'A Survivor's Tale - not to be confused with 'A Survivor’s Story' – the book by Col. Archibald Gracie originally published in 1913 under the title of The Truth About Titanic. Many of the books and articles written by survivors seem to contradict each other over essential facts. Was the last song played by the ship’s band ‘Autumn’ or was it ‘Nearer My God to Thee’? Did the funnel crash down on those in the sea or did it miss them? Did the ship break apart before finally sinking – some say yes, some say no. The books written well after the event suffer from ‘interpretation and hearsay’, books and articles written at the time are usually very personal and therefore have a tight focus on the immediate happenings as opposed to the wider picture.
It’s generally assumed that Walter Lord’s book A Night To Remember’ was the most authoritative as it was compiled from many different survivor accounts and interviews. Basically, pay your money and take your pick! The films and TV productions don’t really help much, just about the only aspect they agree on is that Titanic hit an iceberg and sank, just about everything else is either dramatised or unsupported by fact! The big screen and TV movies are not exactly helpful, again they were done for entertainment rather than for factual accuracy although a lot of money and effort went into them to make them look convincing.
Yes, the C5 documentary was surprisingly excellent and certainly added a lot of technical information which hasn’t been included in the books I’ve collected on Titanic. Sadly not recorded last week but I’m remedying that omission tonight!
The ITV four episode presentation is really Upstairs Downstairs/Downton Abbey at Sea which is only to be expected from the writer. The Review (already!) on Amazon for the DVD suggests it’s not the best of Titanic stories but it does focus on the contrast of Upper, Middle and Lower classes amongst the passengers, a similar distinction amongst their servants and same again amongst the crew. Three worlds all in close but separated proximity, all with similar faults and stories. I’m not sure about the four episodes each starting over and finishing with the sinking but I suppose it’s a different way of approaching the story. There’s some good behind the scenes footage at ITV.com/titanic
Let’s face it, there’s no way the story can have a different ending so any presentation can only have a slightly different journey, seen through a selection of the over 3,000 souls on board.
Actually, some of the real stories are equally worth telling – check out Violet Jessop, a trained nurse and cabin stewardess who followed her Mother’s lead into a career at sea, she was on board the Olympic when it struck a ship on the way out of harbour (thus necessitating essential repairs and the move of the still under construction Titanic to a different dry dock) she was on Titanic and survived then joined Britannic and survived again when that ship was torpedoed in the Mediterranean. Even after all that she still carried on her career at sea!
