Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Pit: A Story of Chicago (Twentieth Century Classics) by Frank Norris, Joseph R McElrath, Gwendolyn Jones, Joseph A. McElrath ISBN: 0-14-018758-8 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: August, 1994 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (4 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Anachronistic but topical
Comment: The Pit was obviously not written recently. With its dated language and pre-PC attitudes toward sex and gender roles, it portrays a simpler time. However, when it describes trading and the risks of falling in love with a position and believing that the market is "wrong", it is as topical as the internet bubble.
While reading it, I couldn't help but compare it to Arthur Hailey novels like "Wheels" or "Airport", because this is the story of an industry told through the eyes of real people with their own foibles, loves, and idiosyncrasies. Laura Jadwin, nee Dearborn, tells most of the story. Her inner conflict between self-centered materialism and desire for "perfect" love forms the backdrop to the financial saga enmeshing her husband, Curtis. All in all, this is a good read but may move too slowly for some people--except for the climax of Jadwin's corner of the wheat market, which is as fast-paced as a Clancy novel.
Rating: 4
Summary: Historical Novel on Chicago
Comment: The Pit is a story about the Chicago Wheat market during the early 1900's. Norris writes a historical / romance book in which Laura Dearborn finds herself in Chicago from Boston. Almost immediately, she is beset by a variety of suitors. However, she is most taken by Curtis Jadwin, a sophisticated businessman who is influential on the Chicago Board of Trade.
After marrying Laura, the conservative speculator, after making a nice profit on the wheat market, becomes obsessive over controlling it. As the story unfolds, his wealth grows in a short period of time and for a while he captures the market. Ultimately, though, the market corrects itself and he must save his fortune as well as his wife, Laura, whose love begins to flee from lack of attention from Jadwin.
I found this book very slow at the beginning. However, once the market traps Jadwin, the book becomes exciting and the pages fly by. Laura is a realistic character, although I didn't have a lot of sympathy for her - she come off rather spoiled and hapless. Norris's point about the addictiveness of speculating on wheat futures and the power that it has over the rest of the world is evident. A solid book and worth reading by those who like that period of time or are interested in Chicago's history.
Rating: 5
Summary: ooops! I went long
Comment: norris thrilled me as a junior in high school with realism. "The Pit" my recent read some 17years after highschool can only be understood by someone that has gone through trading on some level. It wasn't so much greed but lust to trade. go downtown ny or chi right now and watch the faces of the boys/men /women and this novel will transcend time for anyone.
 |
Title: The Octopus: A Story of California (Twentieth Century Classics) by Frank Norris, Kevin Starr ISBN: 0140187707 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: August, 1994 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
 |
Title: McTeague: A Story of San Francisco by Frank Norris, Eric Solomon ISBN: 0451528913 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: 05 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
 |
Title: The Best Short Stories of Frank Norris by Frank Norris ISBN: 0965530914 Publisher: Ironweed Press, inc. List Price(USD): $11.95 |
 |
Title: Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis ISBN: 0553214861 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 September, 1998 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
 |
Title: Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser, Richard Lingeman ISBN: 0451527607 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: 10 April, 2000 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
