Martin Eden - World Literature Classics Collection (Complete Translation)

Author: Jack London
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-12-01
Features: This novel is a masterpiece of the American modern writer Jack London. The realistic life depicted in the novel is almost entirely based on the author's own experiences. The protagonist, Martin Eden, an ordinary sailor and worker, a small figure from the lower strata of society who aspires to become a writer through relentless creative determination and faces ridicule from the upper class, is largely the embodiment of Jack London himself. The significance of the work is by no means limited to autobiography. Due to the profound and extensive realism of the social life depicted in the novel, it far exceeds the scope of autobiography and has become a work containing rich social thoughts of the early 20th century.
This is a semi-autobiographical novel, and the realistic life depicted in it is almost entirely based on the author's own experiences. Martin is a member of the lower class who earns a living by selling his labor. By chance, he meets the Morse family, a lawyer, and falls in love at first sight with Morse's daughter, Rose. However, this love is built on impulse: from Martin's perspective, he finds Rose stunningly beautiful and graceful, a stark contrast to the girls from the lower class he has known before. Rose's insightful views on literature and art make Martin feel inferior yet captivated. From Rose's perspective, Martin's strong physique and the unique resilience of a sailor, which she has never encountered, pique her curiosity to explore the mysteries of the opposite sex. To step into the threshold of this "upper class" and win Rose's love, Martin endures immense hardship and suffering, striving with an indomitable spirit to become a writer. Yet, he faces social rejection, ridicule from the bourgeoisie, and even Rose fails to understand or sympathize with him, eventually leaving him for someone else. Of course, Martin eventually succeeds—because the bosses of bourgeois newspapers take an interest in the raw, strange, and fresh life themes written in the works of this lower-class figure, and Martin suddenly becomes a nationally renowned writer. Money has come, status has come, the doors of the "upper class" have opened to him, and many strangers come to befriend Martin, even his sister-in-law, Bernard Higginbotham, the once disdainful mercantile, now inviting him for a meal. What stirs him is that Rose has returned to his embrace. Why? Because he now has money!
This novel is a masterpiece of the American modern writer Jack London. The realistic life depicted in the novel is almost entirely based on the author's own experiences. The protagonist, Martin Eden—an ordinary sailor and worker, a small figure from the lower strata of society who aspires to become a writer through relentless creative determination and faces ridicule from the upper class—is largely the embodiment of Jack London himself. The significance of the work is by no means limited to autobiography. Due to the profound and extensive realism of the social life depicted in the novel, it far exceeds the scope of autobiography and has become a work containing rich social thoughts of the early 20th century.