Closer to 1.5/1.75. Most who have come to this (including myself) were drawn to the similarities and coincidences between this book originally written in 1898 and the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. There is a good novel to be made out of the bare bones, but Robertson is more of an engineer than a writer, and 19th century literary tastes are not conducive to the type of storytelling we expect in the 21st century. "Chekhov's atheist" also rears its head, not to mention said character's inevitable conversion, but it could've been handled worse. The scene involving the polar bear was probably the best part, but the outright anti-Semitic portrayal of the insurance adjuster simultaneously makes me cringe and wonder what recently-tolerated stereotypical portrayals will be looked upon with similar disdain a century from now (I'm guessing one rhymes with "schmapu").