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Struggling Upward, Or, Luke Larkin's Luck

by Horatio Alger Jr.

3.63 · Rating Details · 75 Ratings · 7 Reviews

Relates the adventures of Luke Larkin, a poor boy of the nineteenth century, who perseveres against many odds and gains success.

Paperback, 148 pages

Published October 1984 by Dover Publications (first published 1868)

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The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald

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Nov 17, 2009 Mainstreetmuseum rated it really liked it

Shelves: boy-scouts

There is little to say about this book other than that it is terrible and I couldn't stop reading it.

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Jul 17, 2016 Kim rated it it was ok

Shelves: 19th-century, classics, not-again

"Struggling Upward, Or, Luke Larkin's Luck" is a novel by Horatio Alger published in 1890, over twenty years after his all-time best seller, Ragged Dick . I've read that many Americans associate Alger with becoming successful by being honest, industrious, and hard working. Also that his books and others like it come in the category of the "Horatio Alger myth". Horatio Alger myth is the "classic" American success story and character arc, the trajectory from "rags to riches". I'm not sure how man
"Struggling Upward, Or, Luke Larkin's Luck" is a novel by Horatio Alger published in 1890, over twenty years after his all-time best seller, Ragged Dick . I've read that many Americans associate Alger with becoming successful by being honest, industrious, and hard working. Also that his books and others like it come in the category of the "Horatio Alger myth". Horatio Alger myth is the "classic" American success story and character arc, the trajectory from "rags to riches". I'm not sure how many Americans associate Alger with this myth and these ideas, but I've never heard of the guy before or the myth for that matter. I find it hard to believe that every single person that starts out poor and I mean really, really poor, can become if not really, really wealthy certainly wealthy enough to have a comfortable life. However, I suppose writing books for boys where things started badly and ended badly wouldn't be very encouraging for them either. So on to the book.

It starts with an ice skating race on a small pond in the village of Groveland. There are two boys expected to be the top two in the race, the first is our hero, Luke Larkin. Luke was a poor boy - of course - about 16 years old. We are told that Luke is:

"the son of a carpenter's widow, living on narrow means, and so compelled to exercise the strictest economy. Luke worked where he could, helping the farmers in hay-time, and ready to do odd jobs for any one in the village who desired his services. He filled the position of janitor at the school which he attended, sweeping out twice a week and making the fires. He had a pleasant expression, and a bright, resolute look, a warm heart, and a clear intellect, and was probably, in spite of his poverty, the most popular boy in Groveton."

The other is the school bully, there's always a school bully, Randolph Duncan:

"First, in his own estimation, came Randolph Duncan, son of Prince Duncan, president of the Groveton Bank, and a prominent town official. Prince Duncan was supposed to be a rich man, and lived in a style quite beyond that of his neighbors. Randolph was his only son, a boy of sixteen, and felt that in social position and blue blood he was without a peer in the village. He was a tall, athletic boy, and disposed to act the part of boss among the Groveton boys."

The prize is a gold watch which Randolph doesn't need, but being a mean bully he cheats with the help of his two "friends" and wins the watch because he can't stand the thought of Luke beating him at anything. And most of the book that's what happens, or things like that. Luke has to overcome all the things bullies like Randolph try to do to him. Not only does Randolph hate him but Randolph's father does too. I'm pretty sure that Mr. Duncan was a school bully when he was a boy too, he certainly is a grown-up one. So thanks to the Duncans Luke loses the watch and before too long he loses his job as janitor at the school and eventually is even accused of bank robbery and arrested and that is also mainly because of the Duncans. But Luke struggles on and remains honest and hard working (sound familiar?) and then one strange night while he is walking home through the woods a mysterious stranger shows up and gives him a box to hold onto which he must never open and must always keep a secret. I found all this extremely puzzling but I'm not a young boy or girl reading it and maybe they didn't think it was strange of someone just handing a young man they didn't know a very important box and then disappearing again. All this does become rather important to the story a little later but it still seemed odd to me.

I don't know that I have much more to say about the book. The man with the box shows up eventually and helps Luke on his way to wherever he ends up. Luke gets to live in the city, he takes a trip across the country - to help another wealthy man of course, things like that. He struggles on. I don't believe too many of Algers books ended up with a sad ending and this one is a bit like all the others. Go ahead and read it if you want to, it only takes an afternoon. ...more

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Oct 08, 2011 Kathryn rated it liked it

Shelves: american, childrens

Horatio Alger wrote quite a few books about young American men in the late 1800s. The constant theme of each is rags-to-riches; even in the few cases where the boy starts the story well-off, he will be reduced to poverty at some point and will have to work his way back up the ladder. The boy hero of each book is, of course, virtuous, brave, and at least clever if not intelligent, and devotes himself to work and study and supporting his family (as applicable), eschewing such time- and money-wasti Horatio Alger wrote quite a few books about young American men in the late 1800s. The constant theme of each is rags-to-riches; even in the few cases where the boy starts the story well-off, he will be reduced to poverty at some point and will have to work his way back up the ladder. The boy hero of each book is, of course, virtuous, brave, and at least clever if not intelligent, and devotes himself to work and study and supporting his family (as applicable), eschewing such time- and money-wasting activities as smoking, billiards, and going to the theater. Females don’t often play much of a role in the story, except as mother or sister, and very occasionally as proto-romantic interest (these boys are almost always too young to be forming actual romantic interests). The plots occasionally involve adventure and travel, and generally have one-dimensional characters who are entirely good or entirely evil (and often laughably so, as their motivations don’t always make sense).

I find a peculiar sense of satisfaction in reading these stories, as I, too, would like to work hard, save my wages, and be rewarded for my terribly virtuous acts. (Maybe I should perform some, huh?) The stories are, of course, unrealistic – it’s not at all common for a young newsboy to save an elderly woman’s life and be rewarded with a high-paying position as her aide-de-camp – but I revel vicariously in the boys’ careful saving and judicious spending, ending at last with the boy having achieved fiscal security.

Luke Larkin’s first break comes when a mysterious stranger asks him, for absolutely no reason other than because the plot says so, to guard a tin box for him. A similar box goes missing from the bank, and Luke is implicated in the theft by a nosy neighbor who had spotted the box. Luke is exonerated at the last moment, when the stranger reappears at his trial. The stranger turns out to be wealthy, and he and another wealthy man who similarly becomes impressed with Luke by happenstance begin to employ Luke in all sorts of positions one would not normally entrust to a sixteen-year-old, even back then. Everything, of course, works out perfectly in the end, and Luke becomes able to support his mother and himself with ease.

I really can’t recommend Horatio Alger’s works to anyone, free or not (they are on Project Gutenberg)...I can’t imagine who else would enjoy them besides me, mostly because I can’t put my finger on exactly why I like them. My best guess is that I want to go from rags to riches myself! ...more

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Nov 28, 2014 Sel (◠‿◕✿) rated it it was amazing

I've read so many Horatio Alger books as a child, and it's amazing in retrospect how much they've shaped my moral upbringing and work ethic.

Now, as a more cynical young adult, I can understand how it's an overly simplified lens of looking at life and gauging success. In spite of that, his stories are still an indispensable part of my childhood and I'm immensely grateful to the positive force they've had on me.

Amongst his many many works, this remains my all-time favorite as well as the one tha ...more

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Mar 07, 2008 Howard rated it it was amazing

It's like the Game of Life, with slightly more developed characters.

When I give Horatio Alger novels five stars, to indicate they're amazing, I mean more that I'm amazed whenever I read one.

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Aug 08, 2013 Gale rated it liked it

Making His Own Luck—at Home and on the Road”

Living with his widowed mother in a small town Luke Larkin is a nice teenager struggling with poverty and social stigmatization. Appreciated by his school teacher and invited to a fancy party by socialite, Florence, he still works hard as part time school janitor.
But young Duncan Randolf, the banker’s only son and Luke’s nemesis (there is always a blatant bully in Alger’s formulaic books about poor-but-honest boys trying to improve their lot) is out Making His Own Luck—at Home and on the Road”

Living with his widowed mother in a small town Luke Larkin is a nice teenager struggling with poverty and social stigmatization. Appreciated by his school teacher and invited to a fancy party by socialite, Florence, he still works hard as part time school janitor.
But young Duncan Randolf, the banker’s only son and Luke’s nemesis (there is always a blatant bully in Alger’s formulaic books about poor-but-honest boys trying to improve their lot) is out to do him dirt—especially after having been declared Not the winner of an ice skating race. Was a silver watch of his own worth all the trouble?

Then a mysterious stranger, one Roland Reed, meets Luke by chance (?) one dark night in the forest and gives him a strange commission. Luke puts the unopened tin box into his mother’s bedroom chest, but the village busybody came in unannounced and caught sight of it, so she spread the news that the widow was hiding something valuable. It just so happens to coincide with a bank robbery, so now Luke is considered suspicious, although there is no spending spree. After a kangaroo court in which the judge and chief accuser were the Bank’s president, Luke was found Guilty—to Duncan’s public glee. The village gossip, Miss Sprague learned to her sorrow Doing one’s Duty will not always be appreciated, as she assumed.

After his subsequent Innocent verdict Luke undertakes another
Commission for his benefactor and public defender: he travels to NY City and thence out West to retrieve some stolen bonds--whose recovery will right a long-past wrong.Chasing an elusive man with determination and integrity, Luke almost falls victim to a scammer on a train. Yes, adventures and warnings abound for the unwary boy, as Luke comes of age on his Quest. (Alger includes a caveat to adults about Wall Street speculation and references to a boy’s worst enemy—always trying to direct a youth’s moral compass toward charity, honesty and kindness.) Ah, but will Luke ever truly prove to be Randolf’s social equal? The one may rise, but must the other not fall as well?

Alger’s style includes blatant foreshadowing—which might have had the effect of prompting turn-of-the-century boys to keep reading. Also many of his characters are little more than cardboard stereotypes, but a century ago boys were not so particular about that--just give them adventure and action. With no concern for overdone Coincidence! As a closet homosexual the author included a scene inside a stage coach where a shunned, effeminate passenger proves the unexpected hero during a robbery. Alger churned out his tales for boys on a successful literary assembly line.

(August 8, 2013. I welcome dialogue with teachers.) ...more

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Mar 20, 2015 Jonathan rated it it was ok

LOL

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About Horatio Alger Jr.

Horatio Alger, Jr. (January 13, 1832 – July 18, 1899) was a prolific 19th-century American author, most famous for his novels following the adventures of bootblacks, newsboys, peddlers, buskers, and other impoverished children in their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of respectable middle-class security and comfort. His novels about boys who succeed under the tutelage of older mentors were h Horatio Alger, Jr. (January 13, 1832 – July 18, 1899) was a prolific 19th-century American author, most famous for his novels following the adventures of bootblacks, newsboys, peddlers, buskers, and other impoverished children in their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of respectable middle-class security and comfort. His novels about boys who succeed under the tutelage of older mentors were hugely popular in their day.

Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, the son of a Unitarian minister, Alger entered Harvard University at the age of sixteen. Following graduation, he briefly worked in education before touring Europe for almost a year. He then entered the Harvard Divinity School, and, in 1864, took a position at a Unitarian church in Brewster, Massachusetts. Two years later, he resigned following allegations he had sexual relations with two teenage boys.[1] He retired from the ministry and moved to New York City where he formed an association with the Newsboys Lodging House and other agencies offering aid to impoverished children. His sympathy for the working boys of the city, coupled with the moral values learned at home, were the basis of his many juvenile rags to riches novels illustrating how down-and-out boys might be able to achieve the American Dream of wealth and success through hard work, courage, determination, and concern for others. This widely held view involves Alger's characters achieving extreme wealth and the subsequent remediation of their "old ghosts." Alger is noted as a significant figure in the history of American cultural and social ideals. He died in 1899.

The first full-length Alger biography was commissioned in 1927 and published in 1928, and along with many others that borrowed from it later proved to be heavily fictionalized parodies perpetuating hoaxes and made up anecdotes that "would resemble the tell-all scandal biographies of the time."[2] Other biographies followed, sometimes citing the 1928 hoax as fact. In the last decades of the twentieth century a few more reliable biographies were published that attempt to correct the errors and fictionalizations of the past.

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