Raise the Titanic

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Summary: The book is amazing, written by a great author.
Review: Clive Cussler uses his imagination and combines it with actual events to produce a great novel. In most of his stories, Cussler writes with one main character. That characters name is Dirk Pitt and he is the epitome of a hero. Pitt is a Special Projects Director for the NUMA organization yet seems to get involved in the wildest adventures. Pitt uses common sense, sarcasm, and his intellect to solve the hardest of mysteries. In the novel, Raise the Titanic, Pitt starts out trying to find missing byzanium. According to the last report, the byzanium went down with Titanic when it sank. Pitt and NUMA decide to raise Titanic in order to find this byzanium for it is the main ingredient in the making of a defense weapon. Cussler uses factual information concerning the shipwreck and writes the most compelling story. Cussler is a native of Colorado and in this book, Pitt visits CO. Another interesting point is Cussler's fascination with vintage automobiles. In every one of Cusslers books, Pitt owns or drives a car that Cussler has in real life. Following the idea of past history, the novel Treasure also written by Cussler begins with a fight with the Romans in the time of the Roman Empire. This novel goes on about a lost treasure that is priceless. Pitt must find the treasure but no maps were ever found, only directions on tablets. It turns out that the boat with the treasure sailed up the Rio Grande and ended its journey in Texas. Pitt faces deadly adversaries in this book like all others. Pitt is able to overcome high obstacles with the help of his superior, Admiral James Sandecker and his friends Al Giordino and Rudi Gunn. These three characters are in most of Cussler's stories and the team of Gunn, Giordino and Pitt is unstoppable. They have been shot and hurt numerous times but refuse to be beaten. The attitudes of these men are what make heroes. The novel that is most powerful is Sahara for it seems so real yet so unbelievable. The beginnings of all Cussler's novel begin hundreds of years ago to tell a brief story and then it jumps to the present day. What is amazing about Cussler is that is writing technique allows him to relate the original excerpt with the whole book to make complete sense. In Sahara, the story is about Pitt discovering a highly poisonous toxin. Pitt and Giordino are then captured and put in a pit with others digging for diamonds in Africa. They manage to escape, steal a car and race into the Sahara desert. They come across a downed aircraft flown by a young woman nearly forty years ago. They take her diary and continue on their journey. Near death they come across an intercoastal highway like the one in Alaska. They are rescued and after recovering, they go back and save the other prisoners. Pitt is intrigued by the young woman's diary and discovers that she found a ship when she crashed. Pitt launches a recovery operation that leads them to a confederate ship from the United States with Abe Lincoln's remains on board. Cussler is able to use actual events and then put his own twist on it. A habit of Clive Cussler's is to put himself in the story he's writing. Its always a small part though. For instance, in Sahara Pitt and Giordino come across an old drifter in the desert who guides them in their journey. At the end of their conversation the drifter identifies himself as Clive Cussler. Cussler has a unique writing style that distinguishes himself from other authors. He leads readers to places they have not gone to before and the reader has a sense of experiencing these events for themselves. Cussler always rearches information so false events is unlikely and it is obvious that Cussler has a passion for water and land adventures which mirrors in his Dirk Pitt character.

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Summary: What can I say...absolutely THRILLING
Review: For me, 'Cyclops' is STILL my all-around favorite Pitt novel...but for sheer plotting style, and a storyline that unfolds with pure amazing foresight, 'Raise The Titanic' is hands down Cussler's best work. It also happens to be the ONLY Pitt book where Dirk is NOT the main character. Gene Seagram and his wife seem to be. At first it irritated me silly, but the more I read, the more I appreciated it. I also have a comment for the reviewer who remarked that Cussler insulted his 'common sense' at how irresponsibly written his accounts of the Titanic's raising actually was...well Clive would write things differently IF he wrote the novel today...but since the technology written about in the book in the late 70's did not exist THEN let alone NOW, Clive did a superb job of 'creating' the technology from scratch, and pulled it off making it sound 'real' to THIS reader. Might I remind him that Clive actually guessed the actual location of the final resting place of the Titanic to a very close degree? My fondest wish would be for Clive to write a semi-sequel to 'Raise The Titanic' and have the ship re-fitted out and sent on a 2nd 'maiden voyage' filled with intrigue and world consequences. In short, this is the BEST PLOTTED of the Dirk Pitt novels, and deserves its place alongside the best adventure stories of the past 50 years or more. Captivating...Entertaining...Fun...Exciting... Thrilling...Amazing...an all-around fantastic hum-dinger of a tale told with style. Long live Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt.

Rating:
Summary: Worst thing I have EVER read.
Review: Completely unbelievable plot. Total lack of understanding of anything remotely connected with science. Abysmal characterisation, junior-school dialogue, this book almost completely drained me of the will to live. I regret deeply the afternoon I wasted reading this turgid excuse for a novel, as I will never be able to reclaim it. Little wonder the movie based on it sank without trace, how could anyone have been stupid enough to have thought that this noisesome mess was worth more than the effort of pulping all exsisting copies. I had to give this one star to get my review submitted, the form requires that field is filled, but I would really like to give it a massive negative rating.

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Summary: If Bond had a Brother Dirk Pitt Would be it
Review: This was my first Dirk Pitt novel and it wont be my last. This book was a page turner. There never was a slow part in the book. Clive Cussler does a good job on giving descriptions. I really like how he goes into the past at the beginning of every book. I would recomend this book to anybody who likes action. These books are a lot like bond. It has a really good twist at the end. There is a movie but I wouldn't watch it as it is pretty bad. The movie doesn't go by the book much at all. Just read this book.

Rating:
Summary: very good
Review: this is my first Clive Cussler book, and it was superb! Page turning, chilling, and awsome and the plotline follows to the end!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent action story
Review: Let me get one thing straight: I rate this at 4 1/2 stars, not just 4. The reason I take off 1/2 of this excellent Dirk Pitt novel is because of all the political elements and complicated side stories Cussler adds. The greatest part of this book was the underwater probing, the glorious raising of the Titanic, and it's journey to New York Harbor. Be warned, Pitt doesn't even appear in the story until about the 100th page, the beginning is mainly background, and entryway into the plot. The story is good, though the character of Gene Seagram, and the politics take away from the heart of the story. Nevertheless, it is a great book, and a great read for all!

Rating:
Summary: A Really Fun Read
Review: Never mind that every word in this book about Titanic is now completely outdated, it's still so much fun! Ignore the standard lame Cussler dialogue and just enjoy the ride!

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Summary: Better than Bond
Review: Dirk Pitt is Superman. OK not really, but he has more luck than a field full of four leaf clovers. The book starts with a man in trouble, caught by a couple of Russian soldiers when out of a blinding snowstorm, a man comes and saves him. Dirk Pitt is a director for a government agency called NUMA. He is a man who takes on the impossible tasks and makes them possible, usually getting the girl and saving the world at the same time. Cussler mixes history and legends together to create a unique story that can get you so caught up, you sometimes stay up all night to get to the end.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite
Review: My favorite Cussler. I've reread it several times. But the bad reviews don't make sense. Sure the book is outdated. So is "The Iliad." People still read that. Sure the Titanic broke in two. Cussler couldn't have known that for certain in 1976. Besides, there were people who said that they had seen it go down intact, and there had been little reason to doubt them. Anything they said that didn't fit could be attributed to the horror of the time. Anyway, it's all FICTION - NOT REAL!!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Must Read...
Review: If you have not read any of clive's books this is the one you have to start with...it is simply one of his best works i have ever read. This is truly a 100% pageturner and it captivates you till the last page were the final suspense unfolds. I felt that dirk did not play a major role but again in the end he proves that he is a true hero when he finds the hidden place of the precious metal the Americans were looking for.