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Loading... Martin Eden - Jack London (original 1909; edition 2007)by Jack London
Work InformationMartin Eden by Jack London (1909)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Reason Read: TBR takedown, Reading 1001. 1909 novel by Jack London. Eden explores socialism but refers to it as "slave morality" and Nietzschean individualism. So one of the main themes is social class, individualism versus socialism. Another is machinery. This is not my favorite book by London. I did not like how self absorbed the main character was. He was always comparing himself as better, smarter than others. In the end, Eden doesn't fit in with anyone anymore. He is disconnected from others and there is no joy in living. ( ) Martin did some seafaring and cow-poking and rubbing rough against the law. Then in California, whoa, discovers he is smarter than everybody else and finds overwhelming and permanent confidence in himself. But no important people care except Martin. He studies books and, whoa, decides he could write better than anybody else. He writes and, whoa, he does write better than anybody else but nobody understands how good it is or will pay for it. No one important believes in him. Even his girlfriend finally gives up on him (facing a life of grinding poverty with him, a point London hardly considers). Martin is very sad but soldiers on in poverty against the unbelievers. Martin burns out, quits writing and submits his stuff one last time, what the hell. Whoa, people start paying for his stuff, he gets celebrity and now the unbelievers come back. Martin is not having any of it because, by golly, he is the same man now whom no one believed in before. (See Philoctetes's reluctance to join battle at Troy in Sophocles.) Now he doesn't like anybody but a few poor folks he knows and relatives and very old friends, and he is generous to some of them. He detests the hypocrisy and decides to return to Tahiti to live but jumps overboard, not wanting to face even the hassle of getting set up there. What was wrong with Martin? His exalted self-value poisoned his relations. He didn't respect a humanity in common with others. He couldn't sympathize with successful people less capable than himself. He thought he could do it all by himself. He couldn't function without his illusions. He couldn't overcome his bitterness. This book can't hold a candle to Sea Wolf, and I don't understand the high ratings. Perhaps London, caricaturing himself as Martin Eden, rid himself of some self-pity. Remarkably, this novel was written after three of his most successful. London attributes the book as an attack on individualism, but it looks to be more like his own disillusion. Adult fiction. Like Jack's other books, this one is largely based on the authors own experiences; this one recounts his frustrations as an author trying to get published. I read this just before a visit to his farm (now a historic landmark) and because I wanted to learn more about his life (apart from the sea voyages/adventuring), I found it interesting. Un fiume di parole, belle parole. Una storia di riscatto, di amore, di cultura, di disillusione. Il Jack London di Zanna Bianca in questo romanzo ci stupisce e ci incanta con una biografia liberamente tratta dalla sua avventurosa vita. Imprescindibile Consigliato a chi si è arenato nella lettura, a chi ha preconcetti su determinati autori, a chi ama le saghe ottocentesche, a chi non può fare a meno dell'avventura. no reviews | add a review
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Classic Literature.
Fiction.
HTML: Jack London's Martin Eden was first published in 1909 and is the story of a young writer's quest for celebrity and love. Much loved by writers who identify with Martin's belief that when he posted a manuscript, 'there was no human editor at the other end, but a mere cunning arrangement of cogs that changed the manuscript from one envelope to another and stuck on the stamps,' that automatically returned it slapped with a rejection slip. .No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.52Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1900-1944LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. Urban Romantics2 editions of this book were published by Urban Romantics. Editions: 190917596X, 1909175382 Recorded BooksAn edition of this book was published by Recorded Books. |