The Financier [Hardcover]

theodore dreiser (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: New American Library (1967)
• ASIN: B002LI1XOG
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

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32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating exploration of wealth, power and back-stabbing, May 20, 2000

By 

William A. Marsh (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Financier (Meridian classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

I must point out that Mr. Dreiser is one of my favorite authors. Sister Carrie, Jeanne Gerhardt (sp?) and An American Tragedy are the finest books on American society in the same manner that Anthony Trollope's works on Victorian England are the finest of their ilk.

The Financier takes the reader to Philadelphia just prior to and around the time of the civil war. Mr. Cowperwood starts small,dreams bigger and free-falls gigantically. The power plays and court trial are fascinating studies of human nature and a treatise on Dreiser's nature -vs- nurture views.

But far deeper in the story lies the its heart- Coperwood's love for one of his financial partner's daughters. The lengths they go to keep the relationship going matched with the lenghts her father goes to stop it (she is much younger and he is married) is a fine a redition of love against the odds as you'll read.

Its amazing how a sophmoric book like "Martin Dressler" can win a Pulitzer Prize while the journalistic genius of Mr. Dreiser remains on the fringes of mainstream of American Literature.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dreiser - an early great in modern American fiction, June 6, 2005

By 

Shawn S. Sullivan (USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Financier (Meridian classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

Theodore Dreiser writes a towering novel in The Financier. It would be a grave oversimplification to state that this is a novel about "business". Rather, he is among the very first American writers that dealt with realism. Frank North was certainly another. Between them they mark an inflection point in writing. They wrote about the world as they saw it, somewhat akin to journalism. They didn't mind, but rather relished, getting "dirty" in the world of commerce. Men toiled in this world - why not write about it and the troubles and ethical delimas created therein?

This work is about a man's drive, his inability to satisfy himself, relationship destruction, identity loss and society. It demonstrates in very real terms how high one can climb and then fall. It is a book that deals with ethics and ponders about whether needs can ever be truly met by the most driven.

This book clearly belongs up there with the great ones. It shows a writing style and a mind of a genius. It also began to set the pace for some great writing in the 20th Century.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "I Satisfy Myself...", March 11, 2004

By 

S. Pactor "reader" (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Financier (Meridian classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

Ah, Theodore Dreiser... Even though I don't really enjoy reading him at times, I can't stay away. This is the third Dreiser book I've read (The other two: The Titan, and Sister Carrie). I would certainly recommend Sister Carrie over The Financier, but I would recommend this book over its succesor, The Titan.

The Financier is the by now familiar tale of the rise/fall/rise of an aspiring financial tycoon. The only difference between Frank Cowperwood (protagonist of The Financier) and the Gordon Gecko of 80's "Wall Street" fame, is that Cowperwood is working in the 1860's , not the 1980's and he lives in Philly, not NYC.

Cowperwood is the son of a bank vice president. He posseses a preternatural gift for finance and an, ahem, well developed, sense of self interest. Cowperwood is the sort of Spencerian/ Darwinian/Nietchzian "super man" that is as common in early twentieth century American fiction as the self obsessed yuppie has become in early twenty first century American television.

Cowperwood's catch phrase during this book is "I satisfy myself." Personally, I found that phrase a tad redolent of omanism, if you know what I mean, but I'm sure Dreiser had the purest of intentions at the time.

The plot of the book concerns machinations involving Cowperwood and his handling of city bonds. I know, it sounds dry. Well, it is dry, and boring, especially for the first hundred and fifty pages, where Dresier seems intent on teaching the readers all about the operation of financial markets in Philly in the 1860's.

The story picks up when a fire hits Chicago, and Cowperwood's shenanigans are detected. Cowperwood is then tried, convicted and sent to prison. It's a good time. Makes for fun reading.

Of almost equal importance is Cowperwood's penchant for the illicit affair. His courtship of Aileen Butler, the daughter of one of his patrons, absorbs a good forty percent of the book. In "The Titan", Butler becomes his wife when they move to Chicago.
Overall, I'd say the book is worth checking out if only for Dreiser's reportage. You can practically taste the 1860's. Also notable is his expert discussion of financial markets in that period, and I might add, his lovely descrption of conditions at the Eastern Pentitentiary.

Check it out.

If you like this book, you might also want to check out the Titan, Sister Carrie, Frank Norris's "The Pit" and that same author's "The Octopus", for similarly themed work.