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Martin Eden Volume I
Moving tale of an ambitious young man who struggles hard to fulfil his dreams only to realize that they were just an illusion. The significance of this novel is enhanced by its autobiographical connotations. In this masterpiece, London offers a gripping commentary on the American culture, its hypocrisy and materialism. Hypnotic
- GenresFiction
268 pages, Paperback
Published November 1, 2006
4 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
About the author
Jack London
7,779 books7,762 followersJohn Griffith Chaney, better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to become an international celebrity and earn a large fortune from writing. He was also an innovator in the genre that would later become known as science fiction.
London was part of the radical literary group "The Crowd" in San Francisco and a passionate advocate of animal rights, workers’ rights and socialism. London wrote several works dealing with these topics, such as his dystopian novel The Iron Heel, his non-fiction exposé The People of the Abyss, War of the Classes, and Before Adam.
His most famous works include The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in Alaska and the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush, as well as the short stories "To Build a Fire", "An Odyssey of the North", and "Love of Life". He also wrote about the South Pacific in stories such as "The Pearls of Parlay" and "The Heathen".
London was part of the radical literary group "The Crowd" in San Francisco and a passionate advocate of animal rights, workers’ rights and socialism. London wrote several works dealing with these topics, such as his dystopian novel The Iron Heel, his non-fiction exposé The People of the Abyss, War of the Classes, and Before Adam.
His most famous works include The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in Alaska and the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush, as well as the short stories "To Build a Fire", "An Odyssey of the North", and "Love of Life". He also wrote about the South Pacific in stories such as "The Pearls of Parlay" and "The Heathen".
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 3, 2021
My first London so it was interesting to pick up his style...some required rereading for comprehension. The plot and characters were moving and maddening. It struck a deep nerve in me...the tremendous struggle to prove his worth and to believe so strongly in himself when everyone else was denigrating and trying to force him to comply with their vision of what's right. I keep thinking of how he couldn't comprehend how others would let him starve when he was working so hard at his writing and only after he hit the big time everyone wanted to take him to dinner. One theme that also struck me was the loneliness of being between two worlds...outgrowing his lower class upbringing but never really fitting in with the uppercrust. I enjoyed the visual of Martin taking his landlady and her 7 kids out to buy shoes. And I loved that he was so generous in material and spirit.
June 16, 2021
C'était assez long à certains moments mais l'histoire est très intéressante surtout lors de la dernière moitié du livre.
July 21, 2025
Martin Eden by Jack London
Excellent novel, included by Le Monde among the best 100 books of the last century
Martin Eden is a rough, uneducated, somewhat brutish man when we meet him.
Ruth Morse is impressed with his sheer power, physical appearance, but appalled by his use of words and the slang he keeps using.
Martin Eden feels like he has met a Goddess, not just resplendent and overwhelming, but smart as well.
He falls in love with the woman, notwithstanding his acute awareness that they belong to different worlds.
Martin Eden has been fighting and working hard all his life, traveling and sailing in rough conditions and neighborhoods.
He is quick tempered and has a reputation as a fierce fighter that nobody can defeat, with few exceptions.
He is also very appreciated by women, who seek his company and abandon their dates, to the chagrin of the men who lose them.
Ruth however is both intrigued and repulsed by this lower class individual.
The parents are terrified when, at a later stage, they get close to each other.
But long before that, Martin Eden sets on a difficult and long journey of self improvement.
He starts reading classics and many books, recommended mostly by Ruth, who becomes his mentor.
Alas, when Martin becomes a man of letters, she does not encourage him.
On the contrary, her position does much to depress the aspiring writer.
For after a period of learning and accumulation, Martin Eden starts writing poems, short stories and more.
He sends them to newspapers, which either ignore or refuse him.
For the first period, because things change.
He gets published but not paid.
In a hilarious encounter, he travels to the office of a publication that has stolen his intellectual property.
The editor and another manager try to escape and not pay the writer his due.
- I do not have it with me, but I will write you a check.
- Tell you what... First thing tomorrow
- I need the money now!!
Indeed, the young author has been through hell, not eating for days.
He had accumulated debts and humiliation beyond ordinary people's capacity to endure.
Ruth and others had insisted that he gets a job, or position as his love embellished the notion.
So he is ready to punch the thieves.
And he makes it literally clear that he will not stand down or retreat without his money.
When physically pressed, the men back down and Martin gets all they have in their pockets.
These villains had been doing this to everybody, never paying anything that they could avoid.
Nevertheless, at another office he has much less success and he is thrown down the stairs, but, good sport that he is, he drinks with his new buddies
Eventually, when Martin Eden gets recognition and acclaim, he is upset that he is invited by everybody to dine.
- Why didn't they offer me a meal when I was starving??
- After all, the work that is now so well paid, had already been produced...
Jack London wrote that he meant Martin Eden as a Satire, a criticism of individualism, as expressed by the hero.
But none of the critics have noticed...
Excellent novel, included by Le Monde among the best 100 books of the last century
Martin Eden is a rough, uneducated, somewhat brutish man when we meet him.
Ruth Morse is impressed with his sheer power, physical appearance, but appalled by his use of words and the slang he keeps using.
Martin Eden feels like he has met a Goddess, not just resplendent and overwhelming, but smart as well.
He falls in love with the woman, notwithstanding his acute awareness that they belong to different worlds.
Martin Eden has been fighting and working hard all his life, traveling and sailing in rough conditions and neighborhoods.
He is quick tempered and has a reputation as a fierce fighter that nobody can defeat, with few exceptions.
He is also very appreciated by women, who seek his company and abandon their dates, to the chagrin of the men who lose them.
Ruth however is both intrigued and repulsed by this lower class individual.
The parents are terrified when, at a later stage, they get close to each other.
But long before that, Martin Eden sets on a difficult and long journey of self improvement.
He starts reading classics and many books, recommended mostly by Ruth, who becomes his mentor.
Alas, when Martin becomes a man of letters, she does not encourage him.
On the contrary, her position does much to depress the aspiring writer.
For after a period of learning and accumulation, Martin Eden starts writing poems, short stories and more.
He sends them to newspapers, which either ignore or refuse him.
For the first period, because things change.
He gets published but not paid.
In a hilarious encounter, he travels to the office of a publication that has stolen his intellectual property.
The editor and another manager try to escape and not pay the writer his due.
- I do not have it with me, but I will write you a check.
- Tell you what... First thing tomorrow
- I need the money now!!
Indeed, the young author has been through hell, not eating for days.
He had accumulated debts and humiliation beyond ordinary people's capacity to endure.
Ruth and others had insisted that he gets a job, or position as his love embellished the notion.
So he is ready to punch the thieves.
And he makes it literally clear that he will not stand down or retreat without his money.
When physically pressed, the men back down and Martin gets all they have in their pockets.
These villains had been doing this to everybody, never paying anything that they could avoid.
Nevertheless, at another office he has much less success and he is thrown down the stairs, but, good sport that he is, he drinks with his new buddies
Eventually, when Martin Eden gets recognition and acclaim, he is upset that he is invited by everybody to dine.
- Why didn't they offer me a meal when I was starving??
- After all, the work that is now so well paid, had already been produced...
Jack London wrote that he meant Martin Eden as a Satire, a criticism of individualism, as expressed by the hero.
But none of the critics have noticed...
September 26, 2023
Il grande amore per una donna spingerà il protagonista ad avere grandi obiettivi che raggiungerà dopo mille difficoltà. Ma la vetta, finalmente conquistata, gli riserverà un gusto assai amaro. Consigliatissimo!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews