I can't think of many :

*Journey to Java (which is more a travelogue) where Harold Nicolson researches "melancholy" during a roundtrip to Djakarta on the "willem Ruys" in 1957 with his wife Vita Sackville - West
I like this book

*Tales of the City series : there is an episode on the "Pacific Princess" and the "Sagafjord"

The Luck of the bodkins by PG Wodehouse is set on a transatlantic liner in the interbellum, but is a fictional ship.

Are there others, good ones ?

I can't remember the title but there was another suspense novel involving QE2's maiden voyage in 1969. The only thing that I remember about it was that Cabin 4001 was supposedly a First Class outside cabin when in fact it was/is a Tourist Class (later Transatlantic Class) inside double with a lower bed and a folding upper berth. This cabin is often sold as the lowest grade of inside single.

Some current titles in print, however, are written by Conrad Allen--they are murder mysteries set on liners during the Edwardian age, and they include:
"Murder on the Mauretania", "Murder on the Lusitania", Murder on the Minnesota", Murder on the Caronia," and "Murder on the Marmora."

"Futility, or Wreck of the Titan" by Morgan Robertson ca. 1898. It's a short story written by a former sailor about a gigantic ship named Titan that sinks on its maiden voyage after hitting an iceberg. It gained notoriety years later because some parapsychologist claimed that it predicited the sinking of the Titanic 14 years before it happened. It is briefly discussed in Walter Lord's "A Night to Remember". It was republished in the 1970's by 7 C's Press together with analyses by parapsychologists but, quite frankly, isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

Brian

[ 12-19-2004: Message edited by: Brian_O ]

quote:

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Originally posted by sslewis:

There is also a bok with a stylised Normandie about Crossings(Ruth Rendell?).

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Was it not Danielle Steele?

"Crossings" by Danielle Steele
"Normandie Triangle" by Justin Scott
"The Final Crossing" by Harvey Ardman
"The Normandie Affair" by Elizabeth Villars
"First Class Murder" by Elliott Roosevelt
"Act of War" by Leonard Sanders

These are books in my collection, but I'm sure there are others set on the NORMANDIE.

Rich

[ 12-19-2004: Message edited by: Linerrich ]

QUEEN MARY:
"The Day They Stole the Queen Mary" by Terence Hughes.
"Assault on a Queen" by Jack Finney.

QUEEN ELIZABETH:
"Die for the Queen" by Douglas Scott

QE2:
"The QE2 is Missing" by Harry Harrison
"Queen's Crossing" by Bill Granger
"Murder on the QE2" by Donald Bain
"Attack on the Queen" by Richard Henrick

LUSITANIA:
"Lusitania" by David Butler
"A Stillness at Sea" by Ashley Aasheim
"Attack the Lusitania" by Raymond Hitchcock

ANDREA DORIA:
"The Phoenix with Oily Feathers" by L.G. Shreve

S.S. FRANCE:
"Deception at St. Nazaire" by M. Baudouy

I have dozens of other novels in my collection which are all set on fictional ships.

Rich

[ 12-20-2004: Message edited by: Linerrich ]

"SOS Titanic" by Eve Bunting
"Titanic-The Long Night" by Diane Hoh
"The Ghost from the Grand Banks" by Arthur C. Clarke
"The Memory of Eva Riker" by Donald Stanwood
"Raise the Titanic" by Clive Cussler
"Maiden Voyage" by Cynthia Bass
"No Greater Love" by Danielle Steele

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Originally posted by sslewis:
Thanks Rich!
What a comprehensive listing!
I shall look for these titles when I visit Ottakars, Borders or Waterstones.
Pity so few bookshops left since the Online shopping.
Ottakars has a wonderful coffee shop looking into the town centre.

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Most of these titles are long out-of-print. Probably the best way to even find them, as I have done, is on the Internet. A couple of great sites are www.abe.com and www.bookfinder.com

Good luck!

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Originally posted by Matts:
Don't forget that classic 'The Poseidon Adventure', set on the Poseidon but inspired by a pre stabiliser Queen Mary.

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Apart from "The Poseidon Adventure" Paul Gallico wrote "Mrs Harris goes to New York", which is set for a tiny part on the first "Queen Elizabeth".

The german TV-adaptation of the novel was filmed on board QE2.

The "Ada Harris" books are cute and funny - I don't know if they have stood the test of time, it is more than 20 years ago I read them. (My library closed down !!!!)

Also, E.M.Delafield's delightful "Provincial Lady in America" describes her heroine (who is never named - "I")on the Statendam (of 1929) first class for publicity reasons, and for the return voyage tourist on the Berengaria. In between there are very interesting and sometimes funny observations of US (cultural) society in the '30's, with also a lot of train travel.

The "Provincial Lady" books are thinly fictionalised scenes of her own life as an english woman author and provincial lady in the England of 1929 to 1940.

I only remember it now, and several years ago (mid 1990's) at least there was a reprint in Virago classics.

Did anyone read B.Akunin's "Leviathan", which is set in the 1880's ???

quote:

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Originally posted by Johan:

Did anyone read B.Akunin's "Leviathan", which is set in the 1880's ???

J

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quote:

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Originally posted by Linerrich:

I have a copy of "Leviathan" by Warren Tute, 1959. The story of a massive liner built on the Clyde in the 1930s, sailing as a troopship in WWII, re-entering peace-time service in the 1940s. It's a thinly-veiled biography of QUEEN MARY, in a fictional setting.

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I must confess I don't know this book. Is there no reference to the "real" 'Leviathan' ?

The book I heard of, is part of a series of detective novels set in tsarist russia in the 1870-1880's. Sometimes very strange. I've read some of them, but not the last one "Leviathan".

Do you think that the novels you have listed are still worthwile spending your time on reading ?

It is interesting (and strange ?) to note there aren't really famous novels, or novels by famous authors, on "liners"/"Ships"

J

[ 12-21-2004: Message edited by: Johan ]

quote:

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Originally posted by Johan:

Do you think that the novels you have listed are still worthwile spending your time on reading ?

J

[ 12-21-2004: Message edited by: Johan ]

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All of the novels I've listed in the above postings are only those which take place on famous ships. I probably have 3 times that many other novels which are set on fictious liners or cruise ships.

As far as "are they worthwhile reading", well, some books are good, some marginal, and a few are bad. It's a matter of taste, but I have always sought out books set on ships because I love ships so much.

quote:

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Originally posted by sslewis:
Murder On the Leviathan by Boris Akunin!
Found it at last!
The ship on the cover is the Inman line 3 funneler City of New-York(undeleted from the bows!).
I am thankful they picked the wrong ship, which happens to be a favourite of mine!

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