Martin Eden (Penguin American Library)

In Martin Eden, Jack London provides the portrait of a young man who thirsts for knowledge, for self-improvement, to join the upper ranks of the intelligent and cultured within his society. We seem to be setting off in a "Jude the Obscure" direction. Martin loves a young woman from this society, and strives to make himself worthy. His chosen vehicle from his class and station to hers is self-education, and then the writing of serious and important work. Along the way, Martain has to swallow the unpleasant truth that those he believed to be so intelligent were actually entirely superficial in understanding. Pieces of London from other novels come through. London's belief in the "superman" comes through, as well as his disdain for the oligarchs, for example. What is most striking, however, is the dead-on skewering of celebrity worship. "Where were you when I needed you" might be Martin's refrain. The same people who ignored and derided him suddenly can't get enough of him. Why? He was the same person he was before. It was simply because other people told them so. They all just want a piece of the celebirty, to be associated with him somehow. While in real life London of course courted celebrity, the stupidity of this is blindingly apparent and even more important nearly a century later. London readers may miss the absence of the "Charmian" strong female counterpart in this book (unlike in the Sea Wolf or The Abysmal Brute or Mutiny on the Elsinore, for example). The "classy" love interest doesn't measure up in terms of independent intelligence or strength of will, and her last appearance is particularly troubling. Lizzie, from the lower socioeconomic classes, has the spark but is too held back by her upbringing. This is truly an important book.

If there's such a thing as an American canon, this book should be there. Everytime I recommend this book to a friend, they ask, "Who's it by?" "Jack London." "Jack London! The author of call of the wild?"Well, yes. He's the one, but wait!, this book is like nothing else Jack London has ever written, and bears scant semblance to his Sea Wolf or Call of the Wild. In short, this is serious literature (advance apologies to Call of the Wild and Sea Wolf fans), and it's worth reading.This book reminded me a lot of Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome (another wonderful book). Both begin with hope, engage in change, and end in pathos. Martin Eden is a self-educated, self-made man (see why I say it should be in the American canon?) who attempts to garner the love of a young college student who pushes him out of what she sees to be his stifling chrysalis and become more like her and her fellow intelligentsia. The plot thickens when he does not only this, but surpasses them all in erudition with a passionate, eager mind, a more eager heart, and lots of hard work, all in the name of love. And then in the book's climax, he decides to ... oh, I can't tell you that. You'll hate me, and I'll ruin the book for you.What I can tell you, however, is that if you go to a bookstore, and pay full price for this book, you'll love it and feel that you've gotten a good bang for your buck. If you get it at a discount, you'll walk away feeling as though you've five-finger discounted this little gem.Read it ... you'll be glad you did.

This definitely isn't the type of a book I would expect from Jack London but in my opinion should be regarded higher in achievement of his work, even more than "Call of The Wild." While "Call of the Wild" is just concerned with the Spencerian and Darwinian 'Survival Of The Fittest' side of Jack London; "Martin Eden" represents the many sides of London: The poet, lover, seaman, self-willed individualist, philosopher, socialist and tormented writer. After reading "Martin Eden," all I can say I am angered that this book isn't considered an American classic. I would say it is in rival with Eugene O'Neill's finest moments.I do not want to dwell so much on the plot because I do admit the plot is nothing new but it is the writing that counts. Simply put it, it is about a seaman who gets turned onto the world of class and literature and rigorously fights for mastering both worlds by spending all hours of the day and being frugal with money to achieve his dreams. As we later see, Martin Eden realizes the falsehoods of The American Dream and Individualism. While the back of the book claims that this book is an attack on Individualism, that is very curious because Jack London himself aside from being a Socialist, was an individualist and adapted the Nietzchean idea of Will to Power. This book was written around the time of "The Iron Heel" so I suspect London was going through his socialist days. This is such great writing that I would never consider myself an individualist but I felt myself throughout the book inspired of Martin Eden's will power and ambition. As a writer, I wanted to send my work to magazines after reading "Martin Eden." "Martin Eden" is truly an American masterpiece of Literature and should be more widely read. Anyone who still thinks Jack London is a writer for kids and Darwinists must read "Martin Eden" and you shall see that his was an indispensable writer in all regards.

I think that every book falls into one of a few different catagories. It either sucks, is entertaining, or changes your perspective. "Martin Eden" ranks in the highest of all posible catagories for changing my perspective. I tried to read Jack London on a number of occasions and just couldn't get into him. His stories would rate as entertaining at best. I don't know why I picked up Martin Eden, but will forever be grateful to the forgotten soul who recommended it. Martin Eden is different because of what is barely under the surface. In my opinion, it's less a story than a philosophy. After I read it for the first time, I was struck by the parallel to Plato's "Allegory of the Cave." In it, Plato warns of the price of enlightenment. Once you have seen the light, you can never go back to seeing things the was you did before. You will isolate yourself from everyone. Plato seems to say that ignorance is bliss, and London seems to agree. In the novel, Martin is stricken with the desire to ascend in class stature after meeting a high-class, late 19th Century San Fransisco family. He is enamored with the ease with which they debate social politics and wants to attain what he first sees as their level of intelligence. His vehicle for attaining their acceptance is to become a writer. To enrich his meager knowledge of these subjects he becomes an arduous reader of everything that he can get his hands on. In the process, he comes to realize that he has gained a true understanding of liturature and social philosophy, whereas everyone else merely talks with a false air of understanding. At one point he realizes that, in his quest to become an intellectual equal, he has surpassed them. It is after his meteoric climb in intellect that he realizes that he is alone. He also realizes that the people he so eagerly sought to emmulate did not shun him because of his lack of intellect (for their own intellect was merely a thin veneer), but because of his lack of money. In his separate but related quest to become a successful writer, he is frustrated by every publisher's inability to "get" his ideas. His inability to publish, despite his hard work, leads his love interest, high-born and condescending, to abandon him. She has no faith in his ability to achieve fame as a writer and he has no disire to settle down into a 9 to 5 job to placate her socialite parents. After some time apart, he does succeed in getting published, and not unlike the breaking of a dam, fame and fortume follow soon after. Upon learning of his fame, she comes running back, ready to make him the centerpiece for conversation at her family's socialite dinner parties. He rejects her and tries to return to the companionship of his earlier days as a sailor. Like in Plato's story, he finds that he cannot rekindle the bond that he once had with old friends, and is alone.While the story is an interesting case study into the nature of intellect

If you are looking for pleasant summer reading, pass this one by. It ain't pretty and it ain't pleasant, but it ranks as one of the Great American novels of all time. Was it autobiographical? You betcha. More so than most airbrushed autobiographies of our time. Jack London was the first author to awaken in me the love of the printed word. I was 9 years old. The title that awakened me was Call of the Wild. I, like Marcia and everyone else, thought that Jack London was just an aborigine, wandering around in the vast metropolis and utterly lost. Years later I read The Sea Wolf, and my opinion changed. I no longer thought of Jack as an aborigine, but as a refined young man, rudely abducted from the civilized world and forced to accept the law of the strongest. Later still, I read Martin Eden, and I was devastated by the tortured visions of that same young man who was tranfigured by that experience and who was no longer acceptable as a member of civilized society. There's a whole lot of bitterness in Martin Eden, folks! And, the more I read of Jack's life, the more I am convinced that it is autobiographical. The fact is that Jack became a monster. At the same time, he became the most successul novelist of his time. In terms of money, we can only gasp at the financial success he enjoyed. He turned out novel after novel, and each of them was gobbled up by a hungry public. In the end, the SAME PEOPLE who had rejected him because of his crude mannerisms and calloused knuckles sought him out because of his MONEY. Do you really want the brutal truth about Jack London? And are you really prepared to weep for one of America's great sons? If so, then read Martin Eden. Otherwise, pass it by.