Jack London's Martin Eden

[Zeus44]

This book ends badly due to its unresolved philosophical contradictions. But despite its contradictions, Martin Eden is truly a great and inspiring American novel. If one is starved for a vibrantly written book about an individual's single-minded, heroic and epic struggle to improve his life, to take himself from an illiterate working-class sailor to one of America's greatest and most powerful writers (all because of the beauty of a woman), then I highly reccommend Jack London's Martin Eden. The writing is full of beauty and passion, life and energy, vigor and power, just like London's hero. The colors and images that London paints will burn in your brain long after you put the book down.

Tragically, the book ends poorly, just as London tragically ended his life (at the age of forty) as a socialist. But in Martin Eden, London reveals a violently independent (if not a little confused) spirit with a remarkable lust for life. This book is a must read.