This is the book that started me on my Clive Cussler/Dirk Pitt journey.Still one of my favorites.

This is where Clive started his multipule plot lines.The first book where Dirk pulls off the impossible.The first book that starts in the past. All features that persist to this day.
In my mind Clive has gone through certain *chapters* in his writing career.
The first 3 books were just straight ahead adventure stories.
The next 3 are more complex.I will get to the rest soon enough.

It is actually a pretty straight forward book compared to his latest offerings.But it is extremely rich in detail.It is also a fairly short book when you consider the subject.
My favorite scene is the surfacing of the Titanic.It is so well written that it still gives me goosebumps even after all these years.

It may not be his best written book but for all the above factors and the fact that it got me started on this amazing journey I give it a 10 out of 10.

You hit every point I would have. This novel began, IMHO, the golden age of Dirk Pitt.

My only complaint (and I have to strain for this) is Pitt's adultery with Dana Seagram. It's a sticky point, I know. She had already separated from her workaholic borderline husband, but still it was kind of an un-heroic point in Pitt's distinguished career, esp. since there was obviously never any emotional depth to their relationship. Maybe it was a 70's thing, but I always thought this episode put a dark stain on Pit's chivalry.

For shenanigans, it loses half a point 9.5

This book was my introduction to Dirk Pitt and I haven't been able to stop reading since. I loved this book. I've read two copies to tatters. The adultery thing and the fact of the F-bomb keeps me from letting my kids read this book. For me I'll rate this a 9.9. "Thank God for Southby."

Raise the Titanic was also my first Cussler read and I've been hooked since. I loved the whole plot with the undercover agent in Russia and the fact that it was told from so many different characters points of view. As far as the affair with Dana, it was not Pitt's fault. They had just been through a harrowing experience through horrid conditions and I just think it was a way of letting off some steam.
But as for the rest of the book, it was just mid blowing, and I loved the fact that it started actually on board the Titanic before it sank, such a great read overall.

"Thank God for Southby" indeed.

this is one of my favorite book too. The part when the titanic comes up is worth a few goosebumps. The part I like as much as that part is when they are comming into New York and they get the welcome she deserves on finishing her maiden voyage. t: It almost made me cry. Dirk and Dana Seagram wasn't what we expected from him, but he's grown and learned since then. th:

Actually, Dana was "separated" from Gene at the time. Their marriage was aleady on the rocks. So was Gene for that matter. In the end he does lose it (yes, he made Pitt squirm for a moment!), and Dana does file for a divorce.

But WHOA, they did on the Titanic!

And dear Dirk Pitt never makes the mistake of getting personally involved with a female at NUMA again (Maeve Fletcher dosen't really count - of course).

I agree, they fact that Dana and Dirk did it was such a small part of the story for me, BUT to do it on the Titanic, yummy. I loved this book. Not my fav so far but it was cool to read a Titanic story from Cusslers way of writing. I saw the ship in a whole nother way. I also got goosebumps when she finally made port. 9out of 10 for me.

Like so many others, Raise The Titanic was my first foray into the world of Clive and his creations. It set the standard pretty high, but I've yet to be dissapointed. The blend of action and character interaction grabbed me, and has yet to actually let go.

A wonderful read! The only thing that seemed to me at the time of reading it was the sheer magnitude of raising a ship from her grave. And when Bobby Ballard finally found her and showed the footage on television it hit home that we have seen her resting place and may she lie there to remind us of the folly of technology. I rate it a 9.9! t:

Raise The Titanic was not my first read but I thought it was a great book and there are a few parts that I thought were superb....The actual raising of the Titanic, the fight on the Titanic and it coming to port to finish her maiden voyage and many more that I just can't think of right now :blink:

I'll give it a 9 out of 10 th:

RTT was also my first CC book and I read it 11 years ago in 6th grade. I used to giggle and show my friends the risque scenes and the F-bombs. I'm also glad that both CC's writing and Dirk's character have evolved with time.

RTT was my first Cussler book as well, wayyyyyy back in high school!

Obviously some dated '70s references exist, but the book still holds up very well with the passage of time.

Highs: Description of the ship finally making port, intricate plot, good "cliffhanger", attachment to the Commodore Bigelow character.

Lows: Villian (Prevlov) was WAY too talky, and Captain Parotkin's sudden abandonment of the destruction of the ship seemed out of place with the rest of the book. I used to imagine what sort of gulag Georgi Antonov threw him into after returning to the Soviet Union.

I just finished reading it this morning. I enjoyed it but at the moment Shock wave is my favorite. I just didn't get why Dirk and Dana did it. It seemed that they hardly had any relationship until then.

RTT was also my first Cussler book. I was absolutely blown away by the concepts developed in it even though I read it after the Titanic had been discovered to be lying in two separate pieces. I liked it how Clive inlcuded several other characters such as Dana and Gene Seagram as main characters. It was just a great book overall, with some very touching moments also inside the mine and aboard the Titanic. i give it a 9.5 of 10.

This is the first book where technology is described more in-depth. It's also, in my opinion, the first book where Clive has found his writing style.

9/10

I am in agreement here. This was my first Cussler book. I was 14 at the time. If my mom had actually known what I was reading, I never would have gotten this far!

Definetly one of Dr. Cussler's best. The plot line, the realism, the Cold War aspect (with the Soviets), etc. It was and still is a great read. Definetly a solid 10. Maybe an 11.... .

When I was looking for a book for a middle school book report, RTT's cover caught my eye. I read and reported on it, and the teacher ended up comparing notes with me on the previously written books that were soon read. Then the mentioning of the sex and F-bombs soon made the book an infrequently shelved item in the school library. The thought of it now makes me wander if the PC (Nazi) book burners have RTT on their hit list. This book was to me a major awakening, that had me visiting the book store to seek out any new Dirk Pitt novels. Raise the Titanic is the ultimate '70s read. It may not be Sahara, but after reading RTT over 10 times, it still reminds me that even though the true fate of Titanic is known, great fiction is way more cool than fact. I would throw my hat in with NUMA over Ballard's crew any day. RTT is a 10 for 10!

definetly one of the most moving in all of clives books ...you hit the nail on the head loren..this is exactly how i felt when reading it too....im sure alot of the CCF members feel the same way... t:

I was waiting something a little better but the book was OK for me. (Night Probe is a far better book.) But the META storyline is very interesting. The action scene between Pitt and Dana -and the conversation about the president- is weird.
8/10 for me.

I thought the book was incredible. The whole idea of actually raising the Titanic and SAILING it into port really stirred my imagination! Kudos to Cussler on that one. A nice 9.7 out of 10 t:

okok im not gonna talk about all the manymany things i liked about this book. I am onlygonna talk about this one scene:the bedroom scene onboard the Titanic.
leave it the man who else but Dirl Pitt could get a woman on a mattress that has been soaking ion freezing water for 50+years in th emiddle of a the freezing north Atlantic (im thinking the heaters werent working in the rooms)WAY TO GO DIRK
of course if ya can raise the Titanic then what ya could not accomplish?
O and leave it to Pitt just to be the man to raise the Titanic wasnt enuff he also had to be the last man to ...well you know......onboard the Titanic before she made here last port of call of her maden voyage.talk about making history(not to mention making more than a few pages of the gueiness book fo records)
O wait that was fiction....sorry i really get into the story sometimes .

BBBBBBBBBBRRRRRRRRR cold just thinking about it p:

9/10

also just as a side note:Waht brand of cologne would a guy need to buy inorder to have that kinda of attraction from the ladies? det: