15 h 51 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 15 h 51 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 389 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 389 pagesAbout this book
What if learning your way into a better life leaves you unsure where you belong?
Martin Eden, a young sailor from Oakland, enters the Morse family's house and finds a world of books and privilege. Drawn to Ruth Morse, a university student, he sets out to become worthy of her. With almost no schooling, he studies grammar, reads hungrily, and decides to earn his living by writing.
But determination does not pay the rent. Rejection and poverty press on Martin while Ruth hopes he will choose a steady, respectable job. The poet Russ Brissenden recognizes his talent but challenges his beliefs. Jack London follows Martin's restless thoughts as love, class, and creative ambition pull him toward competing ideas of a worthy life.
What you’ll discover
- A sailor among books Enter the Morse home with Martin and feel his hunger for an unfamiliar world.
- Love across class lines Watch Ruth's affection meet expectations that Martin cannot easily reconcile with his ambitions.
- The work behind writing Follow the reading, stubborn effort, and rejection behind Martin's dream of living by his pen.
- Generosity without wealth Meet Maria Silva, whose kindness offers a contrast to judgments based on wages and status.
- The price of ambition Explore what happens when one goal becomes the measure of a whole life.
Who will love it
For anyone who has worked to improve their life through learning, and for readers who love serious stories about class, art, ambition, and the search for identity.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A rough sailor enters a house of books
- Love becomes a reason to learn
- Martin decides to become a writer
- Poverty, rejection, and the people around him
- Ruth and Martin move toward and apart from each other
- Brissenden shows Martin another kind of mind
- What the story is really about: class and worth
- What Martin wants and what he becomes
- How London tells the story
Who’s who
- Martin EdenA strong young sailor from Oakland who teaches himself to read and write widely, hoping to win Ruth and a place as a writer.
- Ruth MorseA refined university student who helps Martin with grammar and loves him, yet expects him to take a respectable, steady job.
- Russ BrissendenA sharp, bitter poet in poor health who recognizes Martin's talent and challenges his beliefs without softness.
- Maria SilvaMartin's poor Portuguese landlady, a hard-working widow with children, who shows him generosity despite having very little herself.
- GertrudeMartin's older sister, worn by hard work, who loves her brother but lives in the narrow world of her husband.
- Bernard HigginbothamGertrude's husband, a small shopkeeper who measures a man only by his wages and sees Martin's writing as foolish idleness.
- Arthur MorseRuth's brother, a student whom Martin helps in a fight, which brings Martin into the Morse home.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 15 h 51 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 15 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in, 389 pages: 13,95 USD when you start free, 19,95 USD on its own.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in, 389 pages: 20,95 USD when you start free, 26,95 USD on its own.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Read and hear Martin Eden in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Martin Eden
by Jack London · 1909
A young Oakland sailor turns to books and writing to win a woman's love and a place in her world.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Martin Eden is a novel by Jack London, published in 1909. It follows a young sailor from the docks of Oakland, California, who falls in love with a woman from a higher class and decides to become worthy of her.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A rough sailor enters a house of books
The story opens with Martin Eden, a young working sailor of about twenty-one, who has just done a kind thing. He has helped a student named Arthur Morse in a street fight, and Arthur invites him home to dinner. Martin follows him to a large house in Oakland and feels clumsy at once. He rolls his shoulders as he walks, afraid he will knock something over.
Inside, he sees a piano, paintings, and shelves of books. He is a strong man who has sailed around the world, fought, and worked hard, but he has never stood in a room like this. He meets the family. Mr. and Mrs. Morse are polite and careful with him. Then he meets Arthur's sister, Ruth.
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What is Martin Eden about?
It is about a poor young sailor in Oakland who educates himself to win the love of a refined woman and to become a writer. The novel follows his hard work, his poverty, and his changing view of success.
Is Martin Eden based on Jack London's life?
Partly. London, like Martin, came from a poor family, taught himself through reading, and faced many rejections before he sold his writing. But the novel is fiction, and London shaped Martin as a warning about the cost of success.
Who is Ruth Morse in Martin Eden?
Ruth is a university student from a prosperous Oakland family. Martin meets her through her brother, falls deeply in love, and sets out to improve himself so that he may become worthy of her.
The author
Jack London
1876–1916 · American novelist and journalist
Jack London (1876–1916) was an American author, journalist and social activist. He was born in San Francisco and lived in California. He wrote novels, short stories and essays. His novels include The Call of the Wild (1903), The Sea-Wolf (1904), White Fang (1906) and Martin Eden (1909). He died in California.
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