Martin Eden

by Jack London

Overview

First serialized in 1908, “Martin Eden” is Jack London’s classic and tragic tale of its title character and his struggle to become a writer. Martin Eden is an idealistic and self-educated young man who struggles to overcome poverty and a lack of opportunities in a quest to become an educated and successful artist. He hopes to find acceptance in the world of the wealthy and refined, though he finds it hard to shake off his coarse working-class background. Eden falls in love with Ruth Morse, but he feels that he is not good enough to win her hand, as she comes from a bourgeois family. Eden hopes that she will wait for him while he seeks to establish himself as a successful writer and improve his social status so that he may one day feel worthy of his true love. The novel is heartbreaking, tragic, and rich with the themes of class struggle and prejudice. It is also hopeful in its faith in art to transform lives and has inspired countless young writers and artists to follow their dreams. “Martin Eden” remains one of Jack London’s best-loved works. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781420967715
Publisher:	Digireads.com
Publication date:	03/10/2020
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.63(d)

About the Author

Novelist, journalist, and social activist Jack London (1876–1916) rose from abject poverty to international fame. The bestselling, highest-paid, and most popular author of his era, London created a substantial body of work in his short life, drawing upon his experiences as a cannery worker, sailor, railroad hobo, and prospector.

Reading Group Guide

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. As Paul Berman points out in his Introduction, “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.”

Editorial Reviews

One of Jack London’s greatest works.” —Upton Sinclair

From the Publisher