Martin Eden

by Jack London

Overview

Martin Eden è stato definito come uno dei«libri arrabbiati della letteratura americana». La trama è una fabula intensificata dell’apprendistato di scrittore di London stesso, ma trascende i modi dell’autobiografismo per la sua capacità di cogliere con immediatezza contrasti e contraddizioni collettivi e sociali caratteristici della società americana di fine secolo: una società nata dal grandioso sforzo pionieristico, felicemente materialista, tesa nello sforzo di conquistare i beni del mondo e a cui il socialismo appare come una dottrina povera, «remota e poco attraente».

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9788811137337
Publisher:	Garzanti classici
Publication date:	10/25/2012
Sold by:	GeMS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	331
File size:	2 MB
Language:	Italian

About the Author

Jack London (1876-1916) was an American novelist and journalist. Born in San Francisco to Florence Wellman, a spiritualist, and William Chaney, an astrologer, London was raised by his mother and her husband, John London, in Oakland. An intelligent boy, Jack went on to study at the University of California, Berkeley before leaving school to join the Klondike Gold Rush. His experiences in the Klondike—hard labor, life in a hostile environment, and bouts of scurvy—both shaped his sociopolitical outlook and served as powerful material for such works as “To Build a Fire” (1902), The Call of the Wild (1903), and White Fang (1906). When he returned to Oakland, London embarked on a career as a professional writer, finding success with novels and short fiction. In 1904, London worked as a war correspondent covering the Russo-Japanese War and was arrested several times by Japanese authorities. Upon returning to California, he joined the famous Bohemian Club, befriending such members as Ambrose Bierce and John Muir. London married Charmian Kittredge in 1905, the same year he purchased the thousand-acre Beauty Ranch in Sonoma County, California. London, who suffered from numerous illnesses throughout his life, died on his ranch at the age of 40. A lifelong advocate for socialism and animal rights, London is recognized as a pioneer of science fiction and an important figure in twentieth century American literature.

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