Novels and Social Writings: The People of the Abyss / The Road / The Iron Heel / Martin Eden / John Barleycorn
by Jack London
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The People of the Abyss - The Road - The Iron Heel - Martin Eden - John Barleycorn.Tags
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Stark, cynical, pessimistic but incredibly well-written the settings that Mr. London portrays really comes to life. Whether the dirt poor streets of turn of the century London or chasing trains throughout the North American continent or the disintegration of society, People of the Abyss, The Road and The Iron Heel respectively, the reader experiences what Mr. London goes through.
Read Iron Heel only. A bit ponderous in the beginning because of all the socialist dialogue, but it picks up later and ended up being surprisingly enjoyable. Interesting as a near futuristic vision of social revolution, written as a fictional memoir by Avis Everhard, wife of a great socialist hero, with footnotes by a fictional historian writing ~700 years after the events she wrote about.
Great. Essential reading - George Orwell's Down and Out and Wigan Pier were strongly influenced by The People of The Abyss; 1984 and other Dystopias were influenced by The Iron Heel, which was the first of the great 20th Century Dystopias. It's great to see Jack London the Socialist so well covered by Library of America. Most American anthologies and "complete" works simply ignore his socialism.
Preferits: People from the Abyss i The Iron Heel
Preferits: People from the Abyss i The Iron Heel
Only read The People of the Abyss, The Road and The Iron Heel
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1,809+ Works 82,080 Members
One of the pioneers of 20th century American literature, Jack London specialized in tales of adventure inspired by his own experiences. London was born in San Francisco in 1876. At 14, he quit school and became an "oyster pirate," robbing oyster beds to sell his booty to the bars and restaurants in Oakland. Later, he turned on his pirate show more associates and joined the local Fish Patrol, resulting in some hair-raising waterfront battles. Other youthful activities included sailing on a seal-hunting ship, traveling the United States as a railroad tramp, a jail term for vagrancy and a hazardous winter in the Klondike during the 1897 gold rush. Those experiences converted him to socialism, as he educated himself through prolific reading and began to write fiction. After a struggling apprenticeship, London hit literary paydirt by combining memories of his adventures with Darwinian and Spencerian evolutionary theory, the Nietzchean concept of the "superman" and a Kipling-influenced narrative style. "The Son of the Wolf"(1900) was his first popular success, followed by 'The Call of the Wild" (1903), "The Sea-Wolf" (1904) and "White Fang" (1906). He also wrote nonfiction, including reportage of the Russo-Japanese War and Mexican revolution, as well as "The Cruise of the Snark" (1911), an account of an eventful South Pacific sea voyage with his wife, Charmian, and a rather motley crew. London's body broke down prematurely from his rugged lifestyle and hard drinking, and he died of uremic poisoning - possibly helped along by a morphine overdose - at his California ranch in 1916. Though his massive output is uneven, his best works - particularly "The Call of the Wild" and "White Fang" - have endured because of their rich subject matter and vigorous prose. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Library of America (007)
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- Canonical title
- Novels and Social Writings: The People of the Abyss / The Road / The Iron Heel / Martin Eden / John Barleycorn
- Original publication date
- 1982-11-01
- Publisher's editor
- Pizer, Donald
- Disambiguation notice
- This is an omnibus unique to the Library of America; therefore, all CK facts apply to this publication only.
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- Members
- 485
- Popularity
- 62,752
- Reviews
- 6
- Rating
- (3.80)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 2
- ASINs
- 4
