The People of the Abyss (Pluto classics) (Paperback)

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Review
'No other book of mine took so much of my young heart and tears as that study of the economic degradation of the poor.' Jack London; 'At a time of heightened concern about the poor and homeless on the streets of London, the re-appearance of The People of the Abyss is to be welcomed. It is a complex text combining awkwardly a passionate critique of modern civilisation with a rhetoric of racial degeneration, but it is one that resonates disturbingly with much contemporary comment on the problem.' John Marriott, University of East London 'It is written with the smoldering anger of turn-of-the-century revolutionary socialism. There are no gray shadings in London's economic world. There is only the evil of capitalism and the saintly suffering of the poor. The rich had had their stories told in mass periodicals, and London felt it was time to let the ignored speak. He thus wrote the biographies of the people who have been exploited by imperialism and capitalism. This is the book that counters the Horatio Alger story. For every Alger, for every Rockefeller, there is a mass of sufferers whose plight enabled the speedy rise to wealth of a few. In its sociological and journalistic documentation of poverty is a call for direct action. Wealth blinds, and London makes us see. With this reprinting of London's incredibly important and readable book, Pluto Press and London remind us of how economic exploitation must always be fought, that we must always be educated in the lives of the unfortunate.' James Williams, editor and publisher of the Jack London Journal 'During my youth I walked the streets of East London, following in the footsteps of Jack London. He brought back, so movingly to this young reader, the poverty and suffering as well as the laughter and tears manifest in the outcasts and dispossessed of our locale at that time. Together with the revelations of Charles Booth, G.R. Sims et al, that book helped shatter the smug composure of Edwardian England, as well as providing a transatlantic best seller.' Professor William J. Fishman, Queen Mary and Westfield College 'In 1902, Jack London, posing as an out-of-work sailor, went underground into the belly of the beast: the slums of London's East End. With passion and vision, he used his skill as a journalist to expose the horrors of the Abyss to the world. Because of his ability to blend in with working people and put them at their ease, because he donned their clothing, and spent nights on the street--working odd jobs, sleeping in the homeless shelters--he gained an insight into the slum life which remains unique. By interweaving the personal stories of the people he encountered with political analysis, he produced a vibrant work of nonfiction, which remains relevant to this day. Consider the following: about one in five children in the U.S. live in poverty. Poverty is war, and it rages on with no end in sight, and the management is still guilty of mismanaging the wealth. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the People of the Abyss are among us today.' Tarnel Abbott, Great-granddaughter of Jack London, Contributing Editor, Jack London International (www.jack.london.org)

Product Description
"In 1902, Jack London, posing as an out-of-work sailor, went underground into the belly of the beast: the slums of London's East End. With passion and vision, he used his skill as a journalist to expose the horrors of the Abyss to the world. Because of his ability to blend in with working people and put them at their ease, because he donned their clothing, and spent nights on the street --working odd jobs, sleeping in the homeless shelters--he gained an insight into the slum life which remains unique. By interweaving the personal stories of the people he encountered with political analysis, he produced a vibrant work of nonfiction, which remains relevant to this day. Consider the following: about one in five children in the US live in poverty. Poverty is war, and it rages on with no end in sight, and the management is still guilty of mismanaging the wealth. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the People of the Abyss are among us today.

Jack London was famous for his adventure stories, such as "White Fang" and "The Call of the Wild", but he was also a skilled political writer and social critic. He led a varied and colorful life as a journalist, laborer, fisherman, gold-prospector and even a vagrant. Jack London came to the East End of London in 1902, and "The People of the Abyss" is the result of his investigative journalism that paints a vivid and disturbing portrait. It is both a literary masterpiece and a major sociological study. London posed as a stranded American sailor, sleeping in doss houses and living with the destitute and starving - the record of what he saw there remains as powerful today as it was then. Published to coincide with the centenary of his visit to the East End, this important book is an incredible precursor to the writings of George Orwell, and remains a standard-bearer critique of capitalism.

The new edition includes an introduction by Brigitte Koenig, giving a full contextual background to London's life and work. Brigitte Koenig is a historian specializing in the cultural politics and fiction of the American anarchist movement. She has contributed to "The Encyclopedia of the American Left, 2nd edition", and has taught history at the University of California, Berkeley.

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First Sentence:
"BUT you can't do it, you know," friends said, to whom I applied for assistance in the matter of sinking myself down into the East End of London. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
spike line, casual ward Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
East End, Johnny Upright, Dan Cullen, London Town, West End, East London, Mile End Road, Salvation Army, Green Park, Poplar Workhouse, United States, Thomas Mugridge, United Kingdom, Christ's Church, Coronation Day, Ellen Hughes Hunt, Leman Street, Trafalgar Square, Frank Cavilla, New World, Thames Embankment, Coronation D'y, Islington Workhouse, London County Council, Regent's Canal New!
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8 Reviews 5 star:  (5) 4 star:  (3) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.6 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   19 of 19 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Shades of "The Jungle", February 26, 2002 By  Christopher B. Jonnes "author of BIG ICE and... (Stillwater, MN United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    This review is from: The People of the Abyss (Paperback) The Abyss was the poverty-stricken East End of London, England. The People were the unfortunate millions in the late 1800s and early 1900s who teetered on the edge, waiting for the all-too-common event--"the thing," as Jack called it--to send them careening over the edge from which there was virtually no hope of return. It could be loss of a job, an illness, a debilitating injury, or a family breadwinner's death. What followed was a slow descent into hell, a long, losing struggle for gainful employment, food, and shelter. The Abyss was a cesspool of misery, disease, crime, abject poverty, drunkenness, debauchery, and early death. According to Jack London (an American outsider), responsibility for it lay with the high and mighty managers of society, the rich politicians who largely wrote-off the district as an aberration created by those who inhabited it. People of the Abyss is reminiscent of Upton Sinclair's classic about the Chicago meatpacking industry, written some decades later. I found it better written, more readable, and more convincing as an impetus for social change. Where Sinclair employed a fictional device to shock readers with deplorable working and living conditions around the stockyards, London's book is very much like a journalistic report, a book-length essay on his real-life, "undercover" experiences in the Abyss. Also, while both writers do more moralizing than is generally acceptable in today's literature, London does less of it than Sinclair does. Less exaggerating too. The book has a lot of historical value, and makes an interesting read. It's fascinating to learn of the horrendous conditions suffered by millions of unfortunate Londoners a hundred years ago. The debate rages on as to whether present-day inner-city conditions have improved. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   16 of 16 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Profoundly contemporary, January 12, 1999 By A Customer This review is from: The People of the Abyss (Paperback) This was written at the beginning of this century, and yet, it speaks just as vividly to the conditions at end of the century. We are seeing the erosion and deterioration of all that was won through hard-fought labor battles: the end of the 8 hour work day; people working two jobs and still not being able to make ends meet; children left to their own devices as parents are stretched to the breaking point; the rise of infectious diseases, especially tuberculosis, as people are forced to live in more crowded, unsanitary conditions; the lack of healthcare; increasing numbers of people living on the street; and hunger. These were the conditions Jack London saw and described in East London at the turn of the century; but they could as easily have been New York City or any large American city; and they could be any large American city today. Jack London was far more than just a writer of dog stories for boys, as he is so often thought to be. All his writings should be more widely read, and I commend the publishers for republishing this brilliant piece of "investigative journalism" by a great American writer. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   16 of 17 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful. Sadly more pertinant now than when it was written., July 24, 1998 By  SI407@AOL.Com (Staten Island, New York) - See all my reviews This review is from: The People of the Abyss (Paperback) This is Jack London's first hand account of the living conditions of London's poor in 1901. He actually went to live among them. England was at the height of her empire and unable to alleviate the misery right on her own door step. The descriptions of privation physically affect the pit of the stomach, and the point of such horror being possible square in the middle of the pomp and perfumery of opulence is pressed home by London until the reader can feel nothing other but indignation. It is a sad tract about human greed and human suffering, and as long as homelessness and want are rampant, this little book will find readers. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 8 customer reviews...		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars There is a numberless starving army at all the gates of life (H. Longfellow) Jack London's social document written in 1902 about the slum of London's East End paints no less than hell, `a huge killing machine': an illiterate scrambling mass of human beings... Read more Published on March 6, 2007 by Luc REYNAERT 4.0 out of 5 stars One of London's Best London's expose of the underbelly of England's capital in the early years of the twentieth century still packs a punch even though, both in method and some content, it has... Read more Published on August 31, 2003 by Richard F Bowden 5.0 out of 5 stars Great book I love this book, Jack London is quite possibly my favorite author, whether it's fiction or non-fiction. Read more Published on March 31, 2003 by A. Shea 4.0 out of 5 stars Beyond Jack the Ripper If you mention Jack London, thoughts are first of "White Fang," "Call of the Wild" or other fictional works. Read more Published on January 21, 2002 5.0 out of 5 stars IT IS BEYOND CRITICISM I do not believe that anybody can judge a piece of art like this Published on December 27, 2001 by A. KIRIAKOPOULOS Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 8 customer reviews...

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