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The Poseidon Adventure
by
Paul Gallico
The inspiration for the 2006 Warner Bros. film, "Poseidon," Paul Gallico's "The Poseidon Adventure" is an intense and dramatic story about a gigantic ocean liner and its unimaginable final journey.
When a rogue wave capsizes the luxury cruise ship, a small group of survivors find themselves unlikely allies in a battle for their lives. As the unstable ve
...moreCompact Disc, Abridged, 0 pages
Published
April 1st 2006
by HarperAudio
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Most are probably familiar with this story about a group of people in an upside-down cruise ship thanks to the classic adventure movie that's based on it. The book is more salacious and brutal than its famous film adaptation.
There's a heavy focus on the thoughts and discussions of the characters, sometimes at the expense of what's actually happening on the ship - I had to re-read more than one action scene to understand what was going on. This would have been more acceptable to me if...more
There's a heavy focus on the thoughts and discussions of the characters, sometimes at the expense of what's actually happening on the ship - I had to re-read more than one action scene to understand what was going on. This would have been more acceptable to me if...more
Until just a few weeks ago my only exposure to The Poseidon Adventure was the film made in the early 1970's. When I discovered that it was first a book by Paul Gallico, I knew I had to read it. I'm one who prefers to read the book first and then see the movie. Having done it in reverse order this time, I was interested to see how much the film held to or diverted from the book.
The Poseidon Adventure is the story of a huge cruise/cargo ship that is full of passengers on a 30-day cr...more
The Poseidon Adventure is the story of a huge cruise/cargo ship that is full of passengers on a 30-day cr...more
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I saw the movie with my friend Linda. And an obsession was born. We played "Poseidon Adventure" with our Barbies. We played "Poseidon Adventure" with the Deitch boys from across the street. (Even though they had not seen the film, in our crazed madness, we forced them to play all the male roles.) I even saw the movie en espanol on a trip to Spain. (Didn't understand a word of it. Didn't matter. I had it memorized.) My dad, never one to miss an opportunity for educatio...more
Better then either of the big screen adaptations but only by a slim margin when compared to the Gene Hackman one from the 70's.
The book offers a depth to the characters and story that I never would have suspected base don either film. Not only are the characters terribly complex but the perverse situation they find themselves in is used by the author to really discus some larger issues regarding how we choose to move through life, the nature of motivation and preservation and more t...more
The book offers a depth to the characters and story that I never would have suspected base don either film. Not only are the characters terribly complex but the perverse situation they find themselves in is used by the author to really discus some larger issues regarding how we choose to move through life, the nature of motivation and preservation and more t...more
Afloat North Atlantic, SS Poseidon turned upside down because of tsunami due to undersea earthquake. Unlike RMS Titanic, the story of SS Poseidon is fiction and managed to inspire only 4 movie adaptations unlike the former that inspired 20 movies both in TV or wide screen. In fact, when American novelist Paul Gallico (July 26, 1897 – July 15, 1976) released The Poseidon Adventure in 1969, it did not generate much interest as it was seen as a lame version of the RMS Titanic story.
But I ...more
But I ...more
Normally, I don't mind when a book is turned into a movie. A movie, even a bad one, usually brings a book a much wider audience. For instance, I was enticed to read All the King's Men by seeing the trailer for the Steven Zaillian-directed remake. The book is now among my favorite novels of all time; the movie is crap (I've never seen the original movie).
I will make an exception for Poseidon, which is among the stinkiest pieces of garbage I've ever had the misfortune of sitting throu...more
I will make an exception for Poseidon, which is among the stinkiest pieces of garbage I've ever had the misfortune of sitting throu...more
Ok, I really didn't like this book. I hadn't seen the movie, but from what I know about the story, I was expecting a fastpaced adventure novel, which this assuredly isn't. It's definitely an adventure, but the focus is much more on the interior thoughts and motivations of each character. However, we only get inside the heads of those characters I found least interesting, while those that truly intruigued me were only shown filtered through the perceptions of other characters. For example, I ...more
Okay, this book was.... strange. I've watched the classic original movie The Poseidon Adventure several times starring Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine and Shelly Winters. That version of the movie had many of the book's characters and related to the book, but there were still huge differences. They remade the movie Poseiden in 2006 with Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell and Richard Dreyfuss. Other than the fact that the ship was named Poseiden and flipped upside down on New Year's Eve, there isn't much tha...more
This is completely entertaining to read, but what makes it seriously fascinating is how unbook-like it is. For the most part, the plot of stories are written like stories, without a sense of occurring in real-time and without the inconvenient problems of existing in a variable world. This is written like a story, and it has characters that are just like story characters, but somewhere along the line this stops behaving like a story. The foreshadowing you thought you were seeing doesn't lead t...more
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Excellent book. This novel isn't only about the capsizing of a cruise ship, it's about the extended metaphor of life that we are all faced with; making our way through life and trying to survive. Interesting, complex characters and a pretty swell ending.
Interesting book on human spirit. Many of the people just completely gave up and wouldn't even try when the ship sank, but others were going to do whatever it took to at least give themselves a chance. Way too many dead people for me, though.
The language is somewhat clumsy, the values definitely echo the societal concerns of an earlier era, and yet the tale is thrilling nonetheless... a classic disaster adventure.
The first mature novel I read (age 14 or 15 I think). Read the book, then see both movies. The book is much richer and tauter in how the survivors made it out.
I was surprised at this. A far better book than I expected. I had always loved the movie, but now I see why they made the movie. This book is fantastic.
A great summer read. As usual, much better than the movie, although the movie (the first one, anyway) was pretty darn good.
This book is going to keep me off my feet. It will suck me in more than the movie did!
Very different from the original movie but no less entertaining.
Pretty much like the movie. I kind of liked this movie better.
What a ride! It's a crazy, messed up story. I'm not sure that I can say I really liked it a great deal but it was interesting and hard to put down. The characters had very complex problems and the drama was intense. It was a tad difficult to keep up with all the characters since they are each referred to by several different names. I also didn't care for how the focus jumped around so frequently. Overall, I think anyone who likes dated suspense novels would like this book but beyond that it...more
Entertaining book to read as a teenager.
.won llitnu, ti daer t'nevah I
A good adventure yarn.
Great :)
It's remarkable that Hollywood can take such an exciting book and produce not one, but three crappy movies out of it. A bit of advice: stick to the book. The NY'er stereotypes were a bit irritating but that didn't take away from the powerful story. I was surprised and yet, pleased with the ending.
The first movie with Gene Hackman was way better than the second (too much dead bodies). But the book was worst of all. There's a rape scene that was totally unnecessary, as well as several other sexual references. I wouldn't read it again.
not was i was expecting. very old fashioned writing and characters. nothing like the movie, which wasn't that great either. i love catastrophe books, but this wasn't one of my favorites.
One of my favourite sea adventure stories, after watching this do you still want to go on that cruise you were contemplating??...
Forget the movies...
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Paul William Gallico was born in New York City, on 26th July, 1897. His father was an Italian, and his mother came from Austria; they emigrated to New York in 1895.
He went to school in the public schools of New York, and in 1916 went to Columbia University. He graduated in 1921 with a Bachelor of Science degree, having lost a year and a half due to World War I. He then worked for the Nation...more
More about Paul Gallico...
He went to school in the public schools of New York, and in 1916 went to Columbia University. He graduated in 1921 with a Bachelor of Science degree, having lost a year and a half due to World War I. He then worked for the Nation...more
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