-
The Titan
- Narrated by: Stuart Langton
- Length: 19 hrs and 33 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $24.92
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
Having married his former mistress, Aileen Butler, and moved to Chicago, Cowperwood almost succeeds in his dream of establishing a monopoly of all public utilities. Dissatisfaction with Aileen leads him, however, to a series of affairs with other women. When the Chicago citizenry frustrates his financial schemes, he departs for Europe with Berenice Fleming, the lovely daughter of the madam of a Louisville brothel.
At last, Cowperwood experiences "the pathos of the discovery that even giants are but pygmies, and that an ultimate balance must be struck".
More from the same
Related to this topic
-
The Financier
- By: Theodore Dreiser
- Narrated by: Geoffrey Blaisdell
- Length: 18 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first in a "trilogy of desire", The Financier tells the story of the ruthlessly dominating broker Frank Cowperwood as he climbs the ladder of success, his adoring mistress championing his every move. Based on the life of flamboyant finance captain C. T. Yerkes, Theodore Dreiser's cutting portrayal of the unscrupulous magnate Cowperwood embodies the idea that behind every great fortune there is a crime.
-
-
Outstanding classic, great narrator
- By Peter on 08-16-08
By: Theodore Dreiser
-
Sister Carrie
- By: Theodore Dreiser
- Narrated by: C.M. Hebert
- Length: 17 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sister Carrie is an epic of urban life, the story of an innocent heroine adrift in an indifferent city. When small-town girl Carrie Meeber sets out for Chicago, she is equipped with nothing but a few dollars, a certain unspoiled beauty and charm, and a pitiful lack of preparation for the complex moral choices she will face. Her story is one of struggle, from sweatshop to stage success, and of the love she inspires in a married man twice her age, whose obsession with her threatens to destroy him.
-
-
Why audiobooks matter
- By connie on 12-03-09
By: Theodore Dreiser
-
The Rise of Silas Lapham
- By: William Dean Howells
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Howells’ best-known work and a subtle classic of its time, The Rise of Silas Lapham is an elegant tale of Boston society and manners. After garnering a fortune in the paint business, Silas Lapham moves his family from their Vermont farm to the city of Boston in order to improve his social position. The consequences of this endeavor are both humorous and tragic as the greedy Silas brings his company to the brink of bankruptcy.
-
-
Important for the Era
- By Brent on 03-19-23
-
The Gilded Age
- By: Mark Twain, Charles Dudley Warner
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Gilded Age is the collaborative work of Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner that satirized the era that followed the Civil War. This period is often referred to as the “Gilded Age” because of this book. The corruption and greed that was typical of the time is exemplified through two fictional narratives: one, of the Hawkins, a poor family from Tennessee that tries to persuade the government to purchase their seventy-five thousand acres of unimproved land.
-
-
An American classic, beautifully narrated
- By TX lilbit on 03-31-12
By: Mark Twain, and others
-
The Bostonians
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
- Length: 17 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Boston's social underworld emerges Verena Tarrant, a girl with extraordinary oratorical gifts, which she deploys in tawdry meeting-houses on behalf of "the sisterhood of women." She acquires two admirers of a very different stamp: Olive Chancellor, devotee of radical causes and marked out for tragedy; and Basil Ransom, a veteran of the Civil War who holds rigid views concerning society and women's place therein. Is the lovely, lighthearted Verena made for public movements or private passions?
-
-
Fantastic reading!
- By FranceyO on 07-15-11
By: Henry James
-
Burr
- A Novel (Narratives of Empire, Book 1)
- By: Gore Vidal
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 21 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is an extraordinary portrait of one of the most complicated - and misunderstood - figures among the Founding Fathers. In 1804, while serving as vice president, Aaron Burr fought a duel with his political nemesis, Alexander Hamilton, and killed him. In 1807, he was arrested, tried, and acquitted of treason. In 1833, Burr is newly married, an aging statesman considered a monster by many. But he is determined to tell his own story, and he chooses to confide in a young New York City journalist. Burr is the first novel in Gore Vidal's Narratives of Empire series.
-
-
Finally! Vidal's Great Take on the Life of Burr
- By John Norton on 06-12-19
By: Gore Vidal
-
The Financier
- By: Theodore Dreiser
- Narrated by: Geoffrey Blaisdell
- Length: 18 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first in a "trilogy of desire", The Financier tells the story of the ruthlessly dominating broker Frank Cowperwood as he climbs the ladder of success, his adoring mistress championing his every move. Based on the life of flamboyant finance captain C. T. Yerkes, Theodore Dreiser's cutting portrayal of the unscrupulous magnate Cowperwood embodies the idea that behind every great fortune there is a crime.
-
-
Outstanding classic, great narrator
- By Peter on 08-16-08
By: Theodore Dreiser
-
Sister Carrie
- By: Theodore Dreiser
- Narrated by: C.M. Hebert
- Length: 17 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sister Carrie is an epic of urban life, the story of an innocent heroine adrift in an indifferent city. When small-town girl Carrie Meeber sets out for Chicago, she is equipped with nothing but a few dollars, a certain unspoiled beauty and charm, and a pitiful lack of preparation for the complex moral choices she will face. Her story is one of struggle, from sweatshop to stage success, and of the love she inspires in a married man twice her age, whose obsession with her threatens to destroy him.
-
-
Why audiobooks matter
- By connie on 12-03-09
By: Theodore Dreiser
-
The Rise of Silas Lapham
- By: William Dean Howells
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Howells’ best-known work and a subtle classic of its time, The Rise of Silas Lapham is an elegant tale of Boston society and manners. After garnering a fortune in the paint business, Silas Lapham moves his family from their Vermont farm to the city of Boston in order to improve his social position. The consequences of this endeavor are both humorous and tragic as the greedy Silas brings his company to the brink of bankruptcy.
-
-
Important for the Era
- By Brent on 03-19-23
-
The Gilded Age
- By: Mark Twain, Charles Dudley Warner
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Gilded Age is the collaborative work of Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner that satirized the era that followed the Civil War. This period is often referred to as the “Gilded Age” because of this book. The corruption and greed that was typical of the time is exemplified through two fictional narratives: one, of the Hawkins, a poor family from Tennessee that tries to persuade the government to purchase their seventy-five thousand acres of unimproved land.
-
-
An American classic, beautifully narrated
- By TX lilbit on 03-31-12
By: Mark Twain, and others
-
The Bostonians
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
- Length: 17 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Boston's social underworld emerges Verena Tarrant, a girl with extraordinary oratorical gifts, which she deploys in tawdry meeting-houses on behalf of "the sisterhood of women." She acquires two admirers of a very different stamp: Olive Chancellor, devotee of radical causes and marked out for tragedy; and Basil Ransom, a veteran of the Civil War who holds rigid views concerning society and women's place therein. Is the lovely, lighthearted Verena made for public movements or private passions?
-
-
Fantastic reading!
- By FranceyO on 07-15-11
By: Henry James
-
Burr
- A Novel (Narratives of Empire, Book 1)
- By: Gore Vidal
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 21 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is an extraordinary portrait of one of the most complicated - and misunderstood - figures among the Founding Fathers. In 1804, while serving as vice president, Aaron Burr fought a duel with his political nemesis, Alexander Hamilton, and killed him. In 1807, he was arrested, tried, and acquitted of treason. In 1833, Burr is newly married, an aging statesman considered a monster by many. But he is determined to tell his own story, and he chooses to confide in a young New York City journalist. Burr is the first novel in Gore Vidal's Narratives of Empire series.
-
-
Finally! Vidal's Great Take on the Life of Burr
- By John Norton on 06-12-19
By: Gore Vidal
-
The Custom of the Country
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: Barbara Caruso
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Edith Wharton stands among the finest writers of early 20th-century America. In The Custom of the Country, Wharton’s scathing social commentary is on full display through the beautiful and manipulative Undine Spragg. When Undine convinces her nouveau riche parents to move to New York, she quickly injects herself into high society. But even a well-to-do husband isn’t enough for Undine, whose overwhelming lust for wealth proves to be her undoing.
-
-
Cannot recommend a better narrator!
- By Esther on 07-29-12
By: Edith Wharton
-
Tempest-tost
- The Salterton Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Robertson Davies
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An amateur production of The Tempest provides a colorful backdrop for a hilarious look at unrequited love. Mathematics teacher Hector Mackilwraith, stirred and troubled by Shakespeare's play, falls in love with the beautiful Griselda Webster. When Griselda shows she has plans of her own, Hector despairs on the play's opening night.
-
-
First of the first (and shows it)
- By Mary on 12-22-09
By: Robertson Davies
-
The Way We Live Now
- By: Anthony Trollope
- Narrated by: Timothy West
- Length: 32 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this world of bribes, vendettas, and swindling, in which heiresses are gambled and won, Trollope's characters embody all the vices: Lady Carbury is 'false from head to foot'; her son Felix has 'the instincts of a horse, not approaching the higher sympathies of a dog'; and Melmotte - the colossal figure who dominates the book - is a 'horrid, big, rich scoundrel...a bloated swindler...a vile city ruffian'. But as vile as he is, he is considered one of Trollope's greatest creations.
-
-
Finally!
- By Laurene on 06-05-10
By: Anthony Trollope
-
Love of Life, and Other Stories
- By: Jack London
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 5 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone. This collection includes "Love of Life", "A Day's Lodging", "The White Man's Way", "The Story of Keesh", "The Unexpected", "Brown Wolf", "The Sun-Dog Trail", and "Negore, the Coward".
-
-
Review of Love of Life and Other Stories
- By Pre Paid Gift Card on 05-25-16
By: Jack London
-
Can You Forgive Her?
- By: Anthony Trollope
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 27 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Can You Forgive Her? is the first of the six Palliser novels. Here Trollope examines parliamentary election and marriage, politics and privacy. As he dissects the Victorian upper class, issues and people shed their pretenses under his patient, ironic probe.
-
-
Very Very Victorian
- By David on 09-27-11
By: Anthony Trollope
-
The American
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Adam Sims
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Self-made American millionaire Christopher Newman arrives in Paris brimming with hope and optimism, excited to experience the culture and, hopefully, find the perfect woman to become his wife. After a chance encounter with American expatriate friends, his attention is drawn to Madame de Cintré, 25-year-old widowed daughter of the late Marquis de Bellegarde. Having fallen on hard times, the centuries-old aristocratic family permits Newman's courtship to proceed; however, they later persuade the widow to break off her engagement to the nouveau-riche businessman.
-
-
excellent reading
- By Andorboth on 12-03-22
By: Henry James
-
The Gilded Age
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 19 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1873, The Gilded Age is both a biting satire and a revealing portrait of post-Civil War America - an age of corruption when crooked land speculators, ruthless bankers, and dishonest politicians voraciously took advantage of the nation's peacetime optimism. With his characteristic wit and perception, Mark Twain and his collaborator, Charles Dudley Warner, attack the greed, lust, and naiveté of their own time in a work that endures as a valuable social document and one of America's most important satirical novels.
-
-
Great Story, but Audio Quality Not Always Good
- By BethGA on 02-27-24
By: Mark Twain
-
World’s End
- The Lanny Budd Novels, Book 1
- By: Upton Sinclair
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 26 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lanning “Lanny” Budd spends his first 13 years in Europe, living at the center of his mother’s glamourous circle of friends on the French Riviera. In 1913, he enters a prestigious Swiss boarding school and befriends Rick, an English boy, and Kurt, a German. The three schoolmates are privileged, happy, and precocious - but their world is about to come to an abrupt and violent end. When the gathering storm clouds of war finally burst, raining chaos and death over the continent, Lanny must put the innocence of youth behind him.
-
-
didn't finish
- By Bird Miller on 05-08-22
By: Upton Sinclair
-
The Man Without Qualities
- By: Robert Musil
- Narrated by: John Telfer
- Length: 60 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1913, the Viennese aristocracy is gathering to celebrate the 17th jubilee of the accession of Emperor Franz Josef, even as the Austro-Hungarian Empire is collapsing and the rest of Vienna is showing signs of rebellion. At the centre of this social labyrinth is Ulrich: a veteran, a seducer and a scientist, yet also a man 'without qualities' and therefore a brilliant and detached observer of his changing world.
-
-
An unmatched intellectual epic
- By Delano on 06-23-22
By: Robert Musil
-
Anthem
- By: Ayn Rand
- Narrated by: B. J. Harrison
- Length: 2 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper no others are to see. It is base and evil.” Deep issues of conscience are explored in Ayn Rand’s dystopian tale of a man who dares to fight against a system that invades his very mind and identity.
-
-
Triumphant! A beautiful molding of the mind.
- By Kari on 02-17-16
By: Ayn Rand
-
Oil!
- By: Upton Sinclair
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 19 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As he did so masterfully in The Jungle, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Upton Sinclair interweaves social criticism with human tragedy to create an unforgettable portrait of Southern California's early oil industry. Enraged by the oil scandals of the Harding administration in the 1920s, Sinclair tells a gripping tale of avarice, corruption, and class warfare, featuring a cavalcade of characters, including senators, oil magnates, Hollywood film starlets, and a crusading evangelist.
-
-
an outstanding book
- By Gregory on 05-18-08
By: Upton Sinclair
-
Winter Dreams
- By: F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Narrated by: B. Jay Kaplan
- Length: 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Winter Dreams is a story of friendship, love and betrayal by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
-
-
Classic Fitzgerald
- By rshedd on 02-04-19
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Financier
- By: Theodore Dreiser
- Narrated by: Geoffrey Blaisdell
- Length: 18 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first in a "trilogy of desire", The Financier tells the story of the ruthlessly dominating broker Frank Cowperwood as he climbs the ladder of success, his adoring mistress championing his every move. Based on the life of flamboyant finance captain C. T. Yerkes, Theodore Dreiser's cutting portrayal of the unscrupulous magnate Cowperwood embodies the idea that behind every great fortune there is a crime.
-
-
Outstanding classic, great narrator
- By Peter on 08-16-08
By: Theodore Dreiser
-
An American Tragedy
- By: Theodore Dreiser
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 34 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An American Tragedy is the story of Clyde Griffiths, who spends his life in the desperate pursuit of success. On a deeper, more profound level, it is the masterful portrayal of the society whose values both shape Clyde's ambitions and seal his fate; it is an unsurpassed depiction of the harsh realities of American life and of the dark side of the American dream.
-
-
Funny in Perspective
- By Michael on 11-23-14
By: Theodore Dreiser
-
Sister Carrie
- By: Theodore Dreiser
- Narrated by: C.M. Hebert
- Length: 17 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sister Carrie is an epic of urban life, the story of an innocent heroine adrift in an indifferent city. When small-town girl Carrie Meeber sets out for Chicago, she is equipped with nothing but a few dollars, a certain unspoiled beauty and charm, and a pitiful lack of preparation for the complex moral choices she will face. Her story is one of struggle, from sweatshop to stage success, and of the love she inspires in a married man twice her age, whose obsession with her threatens to destroy him.
-
-
Why audiobooks matter
- By connie on 12-03-09
By: Theodore Dreiser
-
Sister Carrie
- By: Theodore Dreiser
- Narrated by: Laurel Lefkow
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A magnificent portrayal of 1890's America and the harsh realities of a dog-eat-dog world, Sister Carrie lies at the forefront of American Naturalism. When poor young provincial woman Carrie Meeber arrives in Chicago, she little expects to be catapulted from lower-class woman to prominent Broadway actress. Passive and yielding, she lets circumstances coerce her into action and by good fortune she arrives at fame. It is in Chicago that Carrie meets a successful businessman, Hurstwood, who helps her establish her name.
-
-
Its been on my list for a while
- By lavalleem on 10-07-18
By: Theodore Dreiser
-
The Financier
- By: Theodore Dreiser
- Narrated by: Brian Wright
- Length: 19 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Financier is the first volume of Theodore Dreiser’s novel Trilogy of Desire which also consists of "The Titan" and "The Stoic". The protagonist, Frank Algernon Cowperwood, is based on the real-life millionaire Charles Tyson Yerkes. In The Financier, Dreiser describes the early life of Cowperhood in Philadelphia, beginning with his first transaction in an auction at the age of 17. This is followed by his rapid rise with jobs at Henry Waterman & Company, and Tighe & Company, forming his own business and trading on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange.
By: Theodore Dreiser
-
Main Street
- By: Sinclair Lewis
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 18 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This famous satire of life on Main Street, Gopher Prairie, mirrors with devastating honesty life on Main Streets from Albany to San Diego.
-
-
Timely and timeless
- By Kindle Customer on 05-17-18
By: Sinclair Lewis
-
The Financier
- By: Theodore Dreiser
- Narrated by: Geoffrey Blaisdell
- Length: 18 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first in a "trilogy of desire", The Financier tells the story of the ruthlessly dominating broker Frank Cowperwood as he climbs the ladder of success, his adoring mistress championing his every move. Based on the life of flamboyant finance captain C. T. Yerkes, Theodore Dreiser's cutting portrayal of the unscrupulous magnate Cowperwood embodies the idea that behind every great fortune there is a crime.
-
-
Outstanding classic, great narrator
- By Peter on 08-16-08
By: Theodore Dreiser
-
An American Tragedy
- By: Theodore Dreiser
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 34 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An American Tragedy is the story of Clyde Griffiths, who spends his life in the desperate pursuit of success. On a deeper, more profound level, it is the masterful portrayal of the society whose values both shape Clyde's ambitions and seal his fate; it is an unsurpassed depiction of the harsh realities of American life and of the dark side of the American dream.
-
-
Funny in Perspective
- By Michael on 11-23-14
By: Theodore Dreiser
-
Sister Carrie
- By: Theodore Dreiser
- Narrated by: C.M. Hebert
- Length: 17 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sister Carrie is an epic of urban life, the story of an innocent heroine adrift in an indifferent city. When small-town girl Carrie Meeber sets out for Chicago, she is equipped with nothing but a few dollars, a certain unspoiled beauty and charm, and a pitiful lack of preparation for the complex moral choices she will face. Her story is one of struggle, from sweatshop to stage success, and of the love she inspires in a married man twice her age, whose obsession with her threatens to destroy him.
-
-
Why audiobooks matter
- By connie on 12-03-09
By: Theodore Dreiser
-
Sister Carrie
- By: Theodore Dreiser
- Narrated by: Laurel Lefkow
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A magnificent portrayal of 1890's America and the harsh realities of a dog-eat-dog world, Sister Carrie lies at the forefront of American Naturalism. When poor young provincial woman Carrie Meeber arrives in Chicago, she little expects to be catapulted from lower-class woman to prominent Broadway actress. Passive and yielding, she lets circumstances coerce her into action and by good fortune she arrives at fame. It is in Chicago that Carrie meets a successful businessman, Hurstwood, who helps her establish her name.
-
-
Its been on my list for a while
- By lavalleem on 10-07-18
By: Theodore Dreiser
-
The Financier
- By: Theodore Dreiser
- Narrated by: Brian Wright
- Length: 19 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Financier is the first volume of Theodore Dreiser’s novel Trilogy of Desire which also consists of "The Titan" and "The Stoic". The protagonist, Frank Algernon Cowperwood, is based on the real-life millionaire Charles Tyson Yerkes. In The Financier, Dreiser describes the early life of Cowperhood in Philadelphia, beginning with his first transaction in an auction at the age of 17. This is followed by his rapid rise with jobs at Henry Waterman & Company, and Tighe & Company, forming his own business and trading on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange.
By: Theodore Dreiser
-
Main Street
- By: Sinclair Lewis
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 18 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This famous satire of life on Main Street, Gopher Prairie, mirrors with devastating honesty life on Main Streets from Albany to San Diego.
-
-
Timely and timeless
- By Kindle Customer on 05-17-18
By: Sinclair Lewis
What listeners say about The Titan
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Philo
- 12-25-17
Cowperwood rides again!
This second novel in Dreiser's series again gives us a panoramic view of the most cold-eyed, ruthless, Machiavellian American business character one could ever meet. At one point I was listening to an extended passage about Cowperwood's devious love life (as much a love life as a pure, inspired sociopath can have) and rolling my eyes, thinking, is this a novel that does not seem to know what it is really about? Has this book lost its way and mistaken itself for a romantic melodrama? But then, Cowperwood in a seemingly impossible situation for his life and reputation, having deeply betrayed every trusting person in sight to the point they are literally coming to blows at each other in fits of mad emotion, and all making ready for hospital clinics or insane asylums, and without a hair on his head disarranged, turns to his principal accuser and makes such a cool, crystalline, inspired combined cash settlement offer-threat, he quells the whole problem (as far as he cares) in a couple minutes. A man moments before mortally threatening him, and ready set upon him like a wild animal, if not bring squads of lawyers and reporters to destroy Cowperwood, slinks away with his tail between his legs. Theodore Dreiser, you devil! I haven't yet read the bio of C.T. Yerkes (this book is said to be based on), but if that was Yerkes, what a striking American character this was (from a safe distance). This is a character distilling everything, no exceptions, to the most beguiling and ruthless business chess. Maybe I like it because my friends sometimes say this of me (before I dismiss them, crisply and serially).
Oh, and the business dealings are described as crystalline and clearly as one could wish for.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael
- 05-03-21
Opposite of Atlas Shrugged
This is the second book in a three book series (The Trilogy of Desire). The third book (The Stoic) is not in Audible format at the time of this review. This book is better the the first book (The Financier) but not as good as Dreiser's American Tragedy,
This book follows a business man in late 1800's America as the apparent protagonist. We watch him wheal and deal, cheat and lie, and betray everyone around him, including his family and wives, as he becomes wealthy and powerful. The author in this series, as he did in American Tragedy, uncovers the dark underbelly of American capitalism. I certainly wonder if Rand's Atlas Shrugged was a direct response to Dreiser's earlier works.
Written in 1914 this novel seems essentially modern. Although quite long, and a bit tediously detailed, I enjoyed the prose and the schemes of the apparent protagonist, while the hidden, true protagonist is the unpolluted American dream. The true protagonist is shown only in glimpses of the few honest characters.
The narration is quite good.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- P. Evans
- 09-16-18
Not for the faint of heart, but addicting!
The Titan is the second in the trilogy which starts with the Pulitzer Prize winning, The Financier. Based on the true life of Charles Yerkes, this is a comprehensive story of a brilliant but corrupt man who profoundly changed the infrastructure of Philadelphia, Chicago, and London. While I do not understand all the aspects of the bond market, I couldn’t put this down. My only regret is that the third volume, The Stoic, does not appear to have been recorded. Highly recommend to anyone interested in this volume, should read/listen to The Financier first. Beware of late 19th c florid prose and lots of banking detail, but frankly I found it part of its charm. I learned a lot.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- jaye
- 05-24-12
BORING BOOK
What disappointed you about The Titan?
TOO MUCH TIME SPENT ON TALKING ABOUT BUSINESS DEALS.
What could Theodore Dreiser have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
SPENT MOST OF THE BOOK TALKING ABOUT HIS PERSONAL LIFE.
What do you think the narrator could have done better?
THE NARATOR WAS NOT BAD. BUT HE WAS NOT GOOD EITHER. HE ADDED NO EMOTION TO THE STORY.
If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Titan?
MOST OF THE BUSINESS DEAL SCENES. THEY BORED ME.
Any additional comments?
I HAVE READ TWO OTHER BOOKS BY DREISER. THEY WERE VERY GOOD. THIS ONE WAS A DISAPPOINTMENT. I WON'T WASTE MONEY ON THE FINANCIER AS I BET IT WILL BE SIMILAR TO TITAN IN DISCUSSING BUSINESS DEALS.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful