The Wreck of the Titan: Or Futility & Morgan Robertson the Man

by Morgan Robertson

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification: ++++ The Wreck Of The Titan: Or, Futility reprint Morgan Robertson McClure's magazine and Metropolitan magazine, 1912 Fiction; Visionary & Metaphysical; Fiction / Visionary & Metaphysical; Sea stories, American; Shipwrecks

Genres: Historical Fiction

212 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1898

About the author

Morgan Andrew Robertson (1861 - 1915) was an American author of short stories and novels, as well as the self-proclaimed inventor of the periscope.

He is best remembered today as the author of Futility, or The Wreck of the Titan , an 1898 disaster novel noted for its similarities to the sinking of RMS Titanic fourteen years later.

Reviews

[Courtney Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you read this because of the Titanic, just know that it’s vastly different. As a short story, it’s wild. The only similarities to the sinking of the Titanic that I found were the proclamation that the ship was unsinkable, speed, lack of lifeboats, and hitting an iceberg. I think that the lack of lifeboats and hitting bergs was a very real and large problem during this time period. The wreck isn’t even the bread and butter of the tale. Plotted murder, drugging, a hit and run, justice. The only drawback to me was the extravagant, flowery writing that reminded me of LOTR. But I think that’s just how people spoke and wrote in the late 1800s.

Now onto the second part of the book, which is the majority of it. It consists of letters and articles about the author from friends and colleagues, and a sort of memoir by the author. It was really fascinating to read about his life and the hardships he faced. Someone could get a hotel room for 25 cents! And he and his wife could live off $25 a month. That’s mind boggling. $25 in today’s money gets you a gallon of milk, eggs and a loaf of bread in some places. I don’t usually read books like this, so I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed it.

[Fred Klein · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a collection of 4 short stories. Robertson must have been a clairvoyant because he wrote short stories on the sinking of a larger ship by an iceberg and very few survived (like Titanic) and a short story about the Japanese attacking Hawaii (like the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941). He wrote from the perspective of the navy and shipping in 1899 so his ships and submarines were somewhat primitive. Unfortunately, he has his large ship the Titan sinking by page 18 with very little description. On the Japanese attack on Hawaii, he has the Japanese attacking using a UV light to blind the US Navy as airplanes had not been invented yet. His writing is very 19th-century melodramatic.

[BJ Forde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and well written. Climax of the action scene is a bit sudden, but fits with the quick telling of the tale. Description of the Liner is reminiscent of the great Titanic despite being written before its conception.

[Medhat ullah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy or cluster illusion falsely relate to the idea of titanic

[Tasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very short, and a bit fantastical. Polar bear attack🤔 hmmm.....