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Jack London

Martin Eden

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Martin Eden, Jack London’s semiautobiographical novel about a struggling young writer, is considered by many to be the author’s most mature work. Personifying London’s own dreams of education and literary fame as a young man in San Francisco, Martin Eden’s impassioned but ultimately ineffective battle to overcome his bleak circumstances makes him one of the most memorable and poignant characters Jack London ever created. «In Martin, (London) created one of the great twisted heroes of American literature . . . a hero doomed from the outset because his own passions are bigger and more complicated than any man could bear.»

SYNOPSIS

The semiautobiographical Martin Eden is the most vital and original character Jack London ever created.

Set in San Francisco, this is the story of Martin Eden, and impoverished seaman who pursues, obsessively and aggressively, dreams of education and literary fame. London, dissatisfied with the rewards of his own success, intended Martin Eden as an attack on individualism and a criticism of ambition; however, much of its status as a classic has been conferred by admirers of its ambitious protagonist.
493 printed pages
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Impressions

  • al mshared an impression4 years ago
    👎Give This a Miss
    🙈Lost On Me
    💧Soppy

    I loved London for his stories full of hard life, hard choices and the characters' will to survive. And till I read Martin Eden I didn't even suppose that London could have written such a strange soppy and depressive (disappointing and naive as well) novel while being a mature man. I guess his personal experience that was the basis of the novel left him deeply wounded and even at 40 or so he didn't manage to overcome it.

  • Gleb Sologubshared an impression9 years ago
    🎯Worthwhile

    Излишне богатый, перегруженный вычурными оборотами язык, перенасыщенная эмоциями и пафосом стилистика - трудно для чтения в оригинале (в русском переводе просто нудно), но сама история очень близка по содержанию и духу нашему времени.

  • lavieestrose101shared an impression10 months ago
    👍Worth reading
    💡Learnt A Lot
    🎯Worthwhile
    💞Loved Up
    🚀Unputdownable

Quotes

  • the reciterhas quoted2 years ago
    You wanted to create beauty, but how could you when you knew nothing about the nature of beauty? You wanted to write about life when you knew nothing of the essential characteristics of life. You wanted to write about the world and the scheme of existence when the world was a Chinese puzzle to you and all that you could have written would have been about what you did not know of the scheme of existence.
  • marvaghas quoted2 years ago
    it was a very beautiful and well-ordered world and that it was good to be alive and to love.
  • Ryukotowohas quoted4 years ago
    He noticed one with narrow-slitted eyes and a loose-lipped mouth. That fellow was vicious, he decided.
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