The Financier

This novel, which closely follows the real-life doings of Philadelphia streetcar magnate Charles T. Yerkes, was the first volume in a trilogy entitled "A Trilogy of Desire." Dreiser, an astute observer of the business world circa 1900, a critic and questioner of some of the ways of capitalism as it was working itself out in America, especially as it created imbalances in wealth and power among the population - a form of social Darwinism that emphasized the idea of "survival of the fittest" at the expense of the poor and weak - chose Yerkes as a model of the man who had made it to the top of the business heap. He infused his fictional character Frank Cowperwood with many of Yerkes's traits: intelligence, cunning, ruthlessness, amorality; and combined these with a firm belief in monopoly as the surest way to power, along with the necessity of political bribery. Cowperwood makes it to the top almost with ease, first legally with the help of the government's issuing bonds to finance Civil War military campaigns, and then illegally when he uses Philadelphia city funds for his own purposes. While engaged in this latter scheme, the Panic of 1871 exposes his criminality and he goes to prison for it. He feels no remorse for what he's done, and it's while in prison that he falls in love with Aileen Butler, a woman as amoral as he is, and decides, when he gets out, to divorce his wife and take up with her. Sure enough, after making millions in the stock market thanks to another panic that allows him to buy valuable stocks for a fraction of their worth, the book ends with Aileen and him heading west to Chicago on a train. If Dreiser has a fault it's his tendency in all his novels to overwrite them; he is so stocked with detailed information regarding the affairs of his characters that he loses sight of what to put in and what to exclude. Other than that, his realistic account of Cowperwood and the business practices he utilizes to make his fortune is a powerful examination of not only the Gilded Age, but of American capitalism and American life that has echoes even down to today in our era of corporate greed and Enron trials. Unsettling is the fact that Dreiser has Cowperwood escape with his money and amoral perspectives still intact.

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.

Every person has a talent, Frank Cowperwood had a talent to deal with finances. Theodore Dreiser's book Financier is deserving of a five-star rating, because it depicts the life of a fearless person with a strong spirit, great strength of will; a person who can bring his dreams into reality. Dreiser narrates about Frank's success and failures during his life. In my opinion, many people would like to be more like Frank Cowperwood. The author reveals all aspects of reality of financial world in 1800s through four stages of the life of the protagonist of his novel: childhood and adolescence, the beginning of his independent career, success, and bankruptcy.Frank Cowperwood was born in the middle class loving family. He was interested in finances from his childhood and was always surrounded by people who dealt with money. His father was an example for Frank Cowperwood, who was a born financier, and started to develop his talent from the early age. After he left school at seventeen with the help from his uncle he worked in a few companies and showed himself as a valuable employee. His bosses offered him the best terms to work in. But he preferred to start his own business. In this stage of his life he got married and had two precious babies. He tried to surround himself by people who were influential in business world. Frank was trying to involve as many people as he could who was possible to put the money into the business. From the beginning he knew that everything is going to be his way, because he was sure in himself and worked for it really hard. Sometimes Frank went to his father for the advice. His father was the only person he could trust and tell everything about his plans. From this stage he began his independent career. Frank met new people who opened a big path in the financial world and then he began a new life of success and triumph.Frank Cowperwood became one of the influential people in the United States. Many businessmen asked his opinion and advise on variety of financial topics. He was very knowledgeable in all financial operations, besides his intuition helped him to find a way to success and profit. Frank Cowperwood had unlimited loans in all banks, as he was a valuable and trustworthy customer for them. The success of his business helped him to buy a new house for him and his parents. Frank Cowperwood achieved his goal to have a lot of money. But he needed those money not just for having them, he used money to satisfy his desires and desires of his close people. Unfortunately, the life of Frank Cowperwood was not a smooth and easy at all times. Due to the fire in Chicago in 1871 his business had to cope with a lot of problems. After publication of the article in the newspaper about the disaster in Windy city people did not feel safe. Other businessmen who had dealt with Frank Cowperwood requested that he returned their money right away. He tried to use different ways to protect his company from bankruptcy and stay in business. But

This book is not for everybody. If you have an above average IQ and executive ability to read between lines, you will learn a lot. About REAL dynamics of society, about world of high-profile players and politicians... the truth is striking. And most important of all - little (if anything) has changed since this book was written.

I have read this book twice, the first time in Russian the second time in English with 5 years and one BS in between however my opinion of the book remained the same, "This is beyond a doubt one of the best books that have ever been written". P.S. Don't tell anyone tell you otherwise.