Jack Dawson: Time Traveler?
Book review of David J. Kowalski’s The Company of the Dead
Allow me to be frank, within the first couple chapters of reading this book, I was ready to chuck it. Picture this: a man clinging to the railing of the sinking Titanic’s vertical stern plunges into the icy waters of the northern Atlantic only to find meager refuge on a giant floating hunk of wood. Sound familiar? Perhaps a bit like an iconic scene of a certain James Cameron movie? I thought so too. In reality, this imagery is actually the opening chapters of David J. Kowalski’s The Company of the Dead.
After muscling through the obvious rip off, Kowalski then introduces time travel as the main theme of the story. Enter confusion – and not the pleasant sort of confusion that makes a reader read on with curiosity, but the jarring sort of confusion that causes a reader distress and complete disorientation. Kowalski illustrates the calamity of time travel gone wrong in reference to the sinking of the Titanic and how it pans out in world events.
According to this alternate history account, had the catastrophe of the Titanic played out differently, there would have been no World War I, the south would have again and permanently seceded and Japan and Germany would have a hand in ruling the former united states of America. Racism and Jim Crow would still be rampant (particularly in the Confederacy) and a Kennedy would try his hand at a new version of Camelot. In this world, Hitler would have never become a political leader, but instead a world renowned artist, an idea I found feeble in its blatancy.
All of these things could arguably come into fruition with the altering of past events, but using the Titanic’s fate as the basis for rewriting the history of the world seems like a weak place to start. Perhaps Kowalski is hopeful to scoop up some extra publicity through the advantageous timing of the rerelease of James Cameron’s Titanic will be coming in April 2012.
Now to be completely fair, the story did have several amusing points. There were instances of genuine excitement and adventure and times when I was absorbed with interest. There were unexpected twists and several “Aha!” moments, but the book was overall an overdeveloped, overly complicated, drawn-out disappointment. Kowalski bombards the reader with too many themes and characters, rendering the book overzealous – too large a chunk to chew for a pleasure read.
I wish David J. Kowalski the best in his writing endeavors, but for me this book was not an overall success. The story at its heart has potential and had it been restructured and simplified or perhaps made into a series, it may have more appeal. As it is, I must rate the book as third string at best. I reiterate, there were moments of interest, but they seem futile when measured to the disenchantment caused by over complication. I do believe that Kowalski’s novel will be offered much attention by the advent of Cameron’s rerelease, which in my opinion will benefit Kowalski in his hunt for a fan base.
