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Alexander Pavlutsky's blog
Emotions, stories and reflections are all here.
The trilogy of desires (Financier, Titan, Stoic).
Theodore Dreiser
15.05.2011
by Alexander Pavlutsky
I just finished reading the book Stoic.
This is the third and last volume of the insanely interesting novel "The Trilogy of Desires".
The main theme of the story is the adventures of an incredibly gifted and intelligent financier who shocked the world with his plans and their implementation in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The author of the novel, Theodore Dreiser, is known to the world for his critical views on the capitalist system.
"Financier", "Titan" and "Stoic" are completely imbued with the soul of capitalism and its inherent manners.
The main character of the novel is named Frank Cowperwood.
In the first volume — The Financier — Frank appears to readers as a young and very promising boy.
His father works as a manager in a bank, and his mother is a housewife.
Since childhood, he has been noted for his leadership qualities and a huge interest in financial affairs.
He often asks his father about various financial issues and, seeing his son's interest, he is happy to answer his questions.
By the age of 13, Frank understands the financial system as well as stockbrokers and wants to test his knowledge somehow.
Having bought soap at an auction for$ 20 and then sold it to a neighboring store for$ 60, he proves to his father that he is already able to think logically and do something.
Unlike most people, Frank from childhood considered selfishness something quite natural and normal.
He stood out vividly among his peers: mature views on life and rational thinking allowed him to gain an advantage in any disputes.
At the age of 19, he fell in love with a certain Lillian and after his words: "At the age of 19, I have a richer life experience than you at the age of 26.
I already know more about life now than you will know it in a lifetime.
Let me lead you along the path of life" she melted and married him.
By the way, women are probably the only weakness of Frank Cowperwood.
Throughout his life, he felt the charm of dozens of women, he married two of them, several more played a very important role in his life.
By the age of 25, Frank had already become a millionaire and gained a reputation as a good financier.
But his selfish mindset, desire to own enterprises alone and entrepreneurial acumen very quickly made competitors jealous and interfere with him in every possible way.
He was called the "thief of Philadelphia" and even sent to prison for a year.
All this time, he was supported by Eileen, the daughter of his former partner (after he found out about the relationship of Cowperwood, married to Lillian, with his daughter, he became his hated enemy).
When Frank gets out of prison, he marries Eileen and resumes his activities.
When the opportunity arises, he successfully plays on the stock exchange and, being a millionaire, goes West to Chicago.
It is necessary to dwell on the methods by which Cowperwood became rich.
He bribed the municipality and all the people he needed.
He pressed and neutralized the people who interfered with him.
He was arrogant towards his competitors and, feeling his superiority, did not hesitate to show it.
He was very cunning and used it in every possible way.
Buying up shares of enterprises by front persons, he seized full control over the companies and further managed them.
The law can be turned anywhere — it is a loophole to the forbidden, dust that can be dusted over the eyes of anyone who would like to exercise their right to see , a veil that is arbitrarily lowered between the truth and its implementation, between justice and the punishment that it imposes, between crime and punishment.
Lawyers are mostly enlightened hires who are bought and sold, Frank said
Frank persevered to success.
At the same time, all his competitors from Chicago united against him to neutralize his plans.
By that time, Cowperwood had become an arch millionaire (his capital was estimated at $ 30 million, which was a huge amount at that time) and set a very ambitious task: to connect all his transport systems, issue shares and gain $ 200 million on this.
Naturally, the enemies could not come to terms with this.
The whole city turned against Frank, and eventually, he was forced to retreat.
When a person acts for the benefit of himself, he thereby, as a rule, benefits others.
By the age of 60, Cowperwood is the owner of almost a hundred million capital.
He has already separated from Eileen (although this was practically not publicly disclosed) and lives with a new person — Berenice.
Over time, he feels worse and worse, and at the age of 62, he dies.
Summarizing:
The novel made a huge impression on me.
The first volume (about 500 pages) I read it in 2 days.
The second (505 pages) and the third (350 pages) were also "absorbed" by me very quickly.
The novel reveals all the problems of the extremely corrupt government in America, all the oddities and customs of the American mentality of the early 20th century, all the human quirks and peculiarities.
The main character is certainly a great person who managed to go against the whole world.
He was hated, feared, respected, admired.
He was a "patron" for his wards and a nightmare for his enemies.
Extremely strong minded and cynical Cowperwood fought for his happiness, for his ideas and ambitions throughout the novel.
I would recommend this book to everyone, absolutely everyone.
It will be especially useful for businessmen and people associated with entrepreneurial activity.
Theodore Dreiser once again proved his genius and made people admire him.
I want to finish this article with a few quotes from the novel:
"My wishes come first" was Cowperwood's motto.
He could have boldly inscribed it on the shield with which he went to battle for a place among the chosen of fortune.
However, as someone has already said: "Is it possible to reckon with such a trifle as the constitution between good friends?".
One strong person always respects another.
There is nothing more sensitive in the world than money, and this sensitivity has been largely transmitted to the financiers themselves, who constantly deal with money.
Immeasurable are the depths of baseness to which a fool can fall!
That's all.
Good luck!
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Categories: Library
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Tags: A trilogy of wishes
8 Comments
Useful
15.05.2011
To answer
I have already read this trilogy for a long time, Now I will probably take it again and reread it to update my impressions=)
I also really liked Dreiser's "American Tragedy", I advise you to read it.
Vir2al
15.05.2011
To answer
I will take note of this trilogy, I am still reading Generation P.
It is also a very interesting book about copywriters and advertisers after the collapse of the USSR
Leo Craft
15.05.2011
To answer
Be sure to read it:)
Is this the book that Mavrodi made the film based on?
Fisher
15.05.2011
To answer
Wow, if a 500 page book was absorbed by you in two days, it is really worth praising — there are not many such books in my practice:)
I will definitely read it when I have free time!:)
Leo Craft
15.05.2011
To answer
Now I'm learning to read faster.
Therefore, it turns out that I spend less time.
But 500 pages in 2 days is a record for me.
I did not leave the book, very exciting!
Pingback: Diving into the Future | MagicSeo
Miha
25.06.2011
To answer
I read the first part a week ago.
I found it on my grandfather's bookshelf, I was interested, because I had already heard this falmilia before.
I swallowed the book in 2 days, which is rare for me.
I'm thrilled!
Olesya
06.01.2017
To answer
Comment I read one book, and I liked it.
The plot is of course in ancient times,and the main character has repeatedly solved his personal financial affairs in general so good!
A trilogy?I've only read one book....And it turns out there are two more!
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