Martin Eden in Never too Late to Read Classics

Jan 12, 2018 Chrissie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, classics, arts, usa, philo-psychol, audible-uk, bio, love, 2018-read

Most of Jack London's books are about nature and life in the wild. This is not! It is said to be a semi-autobiographical novel.

The setting is San Francisco at the turn of the 20th century. The central protagonist, Martin Eden, first a working-class seaman, is at twenty now struggling to educate himself and become a writer. He has fallen head-over-heels in love with Ruth Morse. Martin has been invited to her home by her brother because Martin had saved his life. Martin and Ruth are of completely Most of Jack London's books are about nature and life in the wild. This is not! It is said to be a semi-autobiographical novel.

The setting is San Francisco at the turn of the 20th century. The central protagonist, Martin Eden, first a working-class seaman, is at twenty now struggling to educate himself and become a writer. He has fallen head-over-heels in love with Ruth Morse. Martin has been invited to her home by her brother because Martin had saved his life. Martin and Ruth are of completely different classes and backgrounds, but an attraction is there. She begins tutoring him and from there their relationship develops. The conversations between the two are cute. They made me smile. He knows nothing of proper etiquette. She is naive, albeit three, four years his senior. His strength, vitality and richness of experiences have an undeniable attraction to her. He is drawn by her knowledge and a deep-seated physical attraction. He reasons he will educate himself and will in so doing make himself worthy of her. Her parents are of course not pleased.

We watch how their relationship develops and the changes that occur in each of them. The novel is more than a love story; it is a character study. It is a study of Martin’s path toward becoming an author, the development of both his writing abilities as well as his philosophical and political views.

Martin is very much of an individualist, and where this leads him is what you will think about. That London was a socialist and yet Martin Eden an individualist is not incongruous if one considers how the book ends.

I was caught up in the tale. One vividly feels an author’s struggle to get that first book into print and what an author must go through to become acknowledged! After success is achieved, how does one feel then? Bliss or anger? Or does one feel deceived?

The writing varies from being strong and direct to wordy and overblown. This can perhaps be explained by the transformation that takes place in Martin.

I do feel the story should have been tightened. Each step/event in Martin’s life conveys a message and explains why he thinks and does what he does, but each is drawn out a little bit too long.

The audiobook I listened to was narrated by Andrew Garman. I think he did a truly fantastic job. First of all, it is easy to follow and read at a perfect speed. What is remarkable is Garman’s ability to capture the mood of disparate events - the excitement of intellectuals debating, a brawl or the flirtatious banter between Ruth and Martin. The tone of an educated bourgeoise, a drunk, a laundry worker in a hotel, or an immigrant woman struggling to make ends meet are all perfectly captured.

I am certainly glad I read this, and I do recommend it to others. One views Jack London with very different eyes knowing that he has written this book too, so very different from all his others. ...more

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Nov 29, 2013 Laura rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction-20th-century, american-fiction, 1000-guardian, e-books, 1001-books-you-must-read-before-you, gutenberg, autobiography, read-2021, mtbr-challenge-2021

What a splendid book, even if it is not considered as a true autobiography.

My rating: 4.5 stars

Free download available at Project Gutenberg.

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