The basis for the classic 1972 disaster film, it's 1979 sequel Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, a TV film as well as a big budget 2005 Hollywood remake titled Poseidon, this original novel written by Paul Gallico is a tale of survival on a capsized ocean liner. Some scenes in the novel are dated in ways that didn't serve the story, and the films are better for having removed them.
The S.S. Poseidon, 81,000 tons of ocean liner homeward bound for Lisbon after a month long Christmas cruise to African and South American ports encounters stormy seas. For days the seasick passengers are confined to their rooms, only a few venture into the dining room for a cold dinner. Having emptied its cargo with no water ballast replacement, the inexperienced captain also misuses the out-of-date, partially damaged stabilizers, causing the large waves to overturn the vessel 180 degrees. Everyone on board is tossed onto the ceiling - now the floor - with most of the upper decks now submerged and flooded. A small disparate group of survivors decide to climb from the dining room up through the lower decks to the bottom of the ship, where they hope rescuers can save them before the ship sinks. Lead by an enigmatic Minister, the group is different than the film, but still includes a juicy role for Shelley Winters as Mrs. Rosen. They encounter rooms of dead bodies, traverse upside down stairways and climb deeper into the fiery bowels of the ship. Imagine reading this in 1969! It's a gripping story, completely original and page-turning.
Gallico reasons the disaster as much human error as freak tidal wave, and it is a normal evening meal, not the stroke of midnight New Year's Eve when the wave hits. They are a larger group than the film, and we learn about each individually as they progress. Oddly, as they fight for survival with diminishing oxygen and fading lights, they stop in the kitchen for a meal break, and later after the lights have completely failed, a couple has intercourse in the same room as the others - really odd. Let's get going people, the ship is sinking. Someone even gets raped in the dark, but doesn't mention it to the others, later wistfully hoping she is pregnant so she can present the child to his parents. A different view of rape than today. Each character is flawed and either deserves or causes their own death, rather than the film presenting them as accidental victims. If you think the Minister heroically saves the group, or that Mrs. Rosen doesn't make it to the very end, you'd be wrong.
Paul Gallico had a long career as a writer since the 1930's including The Snow Goose and The Pride of the Yankees. He was 71 when he wrote Poseidon. In all, an original adventure concept well told, well plotted - the momentum kept going and the action mostly believable.
The 1972 film holds up as well, still terrific. The 2005 version was a commercial flop despite the impressive CGI and massive elaborate set pieces, although of course, I liked it.
1969 / Paperback / 347 pages
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