Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This volume contains some of London's best writing, especially his fictional autobiography Martin Eden, which has given inspiration (and a little despair) to generations of amateur writers. This kind of concise, visceral prose would not be seen again until Hemingway came along in the 1920's. Although the times and conditions he writes about in these pages has changed, the concepts are still relevant today: the division between rich and poor is ever widening, a society based on competition favors that wealthy and connected, those with wealth and power are not always the most intelligent or enlightened people, the evils of drinking and a society who often measures manliness in one's ability to consume large ammounts of alcohol. The book is wonderfully bound, and a real bargin here on Amazon.com. A great addition to any personal library.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Novels and Social Writings: The People of the Abyss / The Road / The Iron Heel / Martin Eden / John Barleycorn (Library of America)
Jack London is a powerful witness to the politicalupheavals of the twentieth century and their terrifyingcontradictions. By turns impoverished laborer, renegade adventurer,war correspondent in Mexico, dedicated socialist, and writer ofenormous worldwide popularity, London dramatized his ideas aboutmodern societies through incidents of adventure, romance, and brutalviolence. "The Iron Heel," an astonishing political fantasy,anticipates a United States dominated by a capitalist police state andripped apart by urban warfare. Personal experiences lie behind "ThePeople of the Abyss," which vividly re-creates the slums of EastLondon, and the exhilarating camaraderie of hobo gangs roaming acrossAmerica in "The Road." "John Barleycorn" describes in harrowing termsLondon's struggles with alcoholism, while the intenselyautobiographical novel "Martin Eden" foreshadows his own death at ageforty.
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