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Futility almost seems to foretell the titanic disaster.
Futility is a story about a huge ocean liner called the "Titan" which was the largest and most luxurious ship in the world. The Titan hits an iceberg on its starboard side and sinks in the icy North Atlantic during the month of April. I wanted to read this story because it was believed by some that this story would foretell the sinking of the Titanic 14...
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eerie and riveting
I't's very odd how the book predicts history twice in two seperate short stories. The story Colors of the Spectrum describe a man who has invented a variation of radar during an air war with the Japaneese in the month of December. I have given the book a rating of 3 stars because although it would probably make the bestseller lists in the mid-1800's, the plots are...
Futility is a story about a huge ocean liner called the "Titan" which was the largest and most luxurious ship in the world. The Titan hits an iceberg on its starboard side and sinks in the icy North Atlantic during the month of April. I wanted to read this story because it was believed by some that this story would foretell the sinking of the Titanic 14 years later. I found parts of the book to be interesting; but I had a hard time trying to follow all of the events without rereading some of the pages. At one point, I put the book down because it became a little boring at times. Overall, Futility is a good book to read, and no doubt was a good sea adventure in 1898! I cannot really say there is any similarities to the way the "Titan" sank compared to the Titanic disaster. I gave this book 4 stars, because Morgan Robertson spoke of important nautical terms (like the Titan's 19 watertight compartments, triple screw expansion,etc). These were on ocean liners of the late 1800's and early 1900's. Futility is not the best book I have ever read, but I think it was a pretty good one. It is hard not to try to compare the events unfolding in Futility and compare it to the events leading up to the sinking of Titanic; since the two events are similiar. It is a story that any Titanic enthusiast or historian must read!
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The book "Futility", if taken alone, only deserves 1 star. Morgan Robertson, a self described "visionary", was not a very good writer. His writing style was, in my opinion, a sure cure for insomnia! But on a fateful night in 1912 one of Robertson's books came true -- almost. He mispelled the name of the ship by two letters (Titan rather than Titanic) but everything else he got right: month, number of people on board, lifeboat capacity... the coincidences are astounding. If you choose Futility, be prepared for one of the worst written books you've ever read.... and chills down your spine!
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Walter Lord's book, "A Night to Remember" ends with a list of "ifs." If only they had heeded the ice warnings; If only the lookouts had been given binoculars; If only there were more lifeboats; and a long list of others. Add one more: "If only they'd paid attention to Morgan Robertson." The "Wreck of the Titan," is only one of several short stories in the book, "The Wreck of the Titan." All of the stories deal with the sea, and through them, you can see that Mr. Roberts was very knowledgeable in all aspects of maritime science. Many of his stories deal with Annapolis, and one might assume that he was a graduate, though I have no way of knowing that for sure. Many of his stories show amazing insights - for example, in "Beyond the Spectrum" he speculates on a Pacific war between the United States and Japan, where submarines and secret weapons play an essential role. However, Robertson's main claim to fame was the title story: "The Wreck of the Titan." Robertson knew everything about the Titanic disaster, fourteen years in advance. He knew where shipbuilding was going; he knew the length, and displacement of the next generation of ships, the power of their engines, the speeds they could achieve, and all about their "safety" features - including electronic control and communications systems and the approximate number of watertight compartments. He also knew that the ships carried too few lifeboats; that they raced at unsafe speeds through dangerous waters, and that watertight compartments wouldn't save a supposedly "unsinkable" ship if it sideswiped an iceberg. He even knew when and where a disaster was most likely to happen. He had his Titan sink in the month of April, just a few miles north of the actual spot where the Titanic went down. Was he clairvoyant? Probably not. In hindsight, his dire prediction should have been obvious to anyone. He realized that the way ships were being run a disaster was inevitable. On the other hand - what about the name of his mythical ship - the "Titan." Just a lucky guess, perhaps. However, if that's true, then he guessed right twice. In his story "Pirates" he has a ship much larger than the Titan being torpedoed. Titanic buffs know that the Titanic had two sister ships, and that her younger and larger sister, the Britannic, was torpedoed in World War 1. However, "Britannic" was not the original name when the ship was first designed. White Star originally intended to call her the "Gigantic." They changed the name after the Titanic disaster because "Gigantic" sounded too much like "Titanic." So what was the name of Robertson's torpedoed super liner? The "Gigantia." And one more thing - though I admittedly take this out of context - consider the following passage from "Pirates:" "When he looked, the bow was under water, the stern rising in the air, higher and higher, until a third of the afterbody was exposed; then it slid silently, but for the bursting of air bubbles, out of sight in the depths." For all his insights, however, it has to be said that Robertson not a great writer. In fact, he was mediocre at best. Perhaps that's why his warnings went unheeded. Other than certain facts that turn out to be amazingly accurate, his plots are nonsensical. Still, the stories are entertaining, and there is a certain charm about all of his writings. This charm cannot be found in the great classics, because they are timeless; it can only be found in the lesser-known works of any era. Through Robertson, an average writer, we can gain rare insights into the mind of the average person of the Victorian era. From the way Robertson writes, it must have been an age of romance and chivalry. A world practically inconceivable by today's standards. Case in point: In Pirates, escapees from a military prison steal a supposedly deserted navy Destroyer. Once out to sea, however, the pirates discover that a single naval officer had been sleeping, unnoticed in the galley as they stole the ship. So what do these cutthroats do with him after they find him? Pitch him overboard, perhaps? Not quite. That would be murder; and just because they're pirates and condemned criminals, that doesn't make them murderers. Instead, they make him promise to behave, and and once he'd given his word of honor, they give him the respect he deserves as an officer, and complete freedom of the ship. Unbelievable!
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I would call it an insipid sort of book, very loosely and clumsily constructed. If not for the fact that it resembled the Titanic disasterin some remote way, few would likely know about it. Its coincidence with the Titanic is not nearly so remarkable as some might make out. In fact, the 70-page story contains a few dozen sentences about the Titan and its wreck; most of the rest is unrelated and hard to understand. The style was very abrupt and choppy where the Titan was respected, and too prolific concerning the hero, John Rowland, by the way, who was altogether too heroic. His feminine love was much too perfect, of enough mention was made of her to be able to tell. The story centers selfishly around its hero, who, stranded on an island after the ship sank, one-handedly kills a polar bear with a jack knife to save the heroine's daughter. As for the Titan, it apparently just flops over on its side and sinks.
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I't's very odd how the book predicts history twice in two seperate short stories. The story Colors of the Spectrum describe a man who has invented a variation of radar during an air war with the Japaneese in the month of December. I have given the book a rating of 3 stars because although it would probably make the bestseller lists in the mid-1800's, the plots are rather simple for today.
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This book predicts the Titantic disaster 14 years before the Titanic sinks. Morgan Robertson predicts everything that will happen to the Titanic. Robertson predicts the the ship's size, how many passengers (rich and poor), how many lifeboats, which side of the ship the iceberg hits and how many people die when the ship takes its final plunge to the ocean floor. The book also predicts the inquieries which take place after the sinking.
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An intriguing story, written 14 years before the Titanic disaster, about the world's largest ocean liner, the Titan, inadequately supplied with lifeboats, that sank after striking an iceberg. The story itself is only O.K., although the depiction of the greedy insurance agent that doesn't want to pay up for the wreck seems very true to life. Also has a somewhat drawn out and unromantic love story that one tires of, but it's a lot better than the cheesy love story from the recent Titanic flick. Not great literature, but fascinating from the point of view of future history and enough action to keep you interested.
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