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lgpiper's review against another edition
3.0
This was a tough book. It was sort of first-hand sociology. Jack London decided to live in London's East End, as one of the down-and-outs there. This was back around 1900 (the book came out in 1902). His cover was that he was a stranded seaman. Once he dressed up shabbily enough, no one doubted him.
The book was essentially written in two parts. In the first half or so, London relates his experiences of living on the streets, visiting the homes of the destitute, getting in line for soup kitchens and work houses and so forth. Then in the second half, he discusses more the numbers of people involved, how 55% of the children born into extreme poverty in the East End die by age 5, how the British Empire is exporting the strong and abled out into their empire and away from England. As a result, England is becoming non-competitive on the world stage.
It's kind of the same problem as we have a century later on, the 1% at the top of the economic ladder are plundering the work and wages of the 50% at the bottom of the economic structure, and then blaming their victims for their being stunted and starved.
One interesting feature, to me, was that they kept wandering along Mile End Road. For a year, back in the dark ages, I worked at an establishment on Mile End Road: Queen Mary College, a part of the University of London. The section of Mile End Road along which I scurried daily, wasn't so bleak as the parts London trod some three quarters of a century earlier.
The book was essentially written in two parts. In the first half or so, London relates his experiences of living on the streets, visiting the homes of the destitute, getting in line for soup kitchens and work houses and so forth. Then in the second half, he discusses more the numbers of people involved, how 55% of the children born into extreme poverty in the East End die by age 5, how the British Empire is exporting the strong and abled out into their empire and away from England. As a result, England is becoming non-competitive on the world stage.
It's kind of the same problem as we have a century later on, the 1% at the top of the economic ladder are plundering the work and wages of the 50% at the bottom of the economic structure, and then blaming their victims for their being stunted and starved.
One interesting feature, to me, was that they kept wandering along Mile End Road. For a year, back in the dark ages, I worked at an establishment on Mile End Road: Queen Mary College, a part of the University of London. The section of Mile End Road along which I scurried daily, wasn't so bleak as the parts London trod some three quarters of a century earlier.
viprholmes's review against another edition
5.0
Shocking yet true, this sometimes sensitive, sometimes snarky peek behind the cheapside life of the poor of the early 1900s is a surprisingly easy read. London makes an enourmous amount of social history accessible. It's an emotional read, make no mistake, but i was unable to put it down.
mad_about_books's review against another edition
4.0
Awareness of the Victorian era is widespread. It is an historic designation that goes beyond the boundaries of Queen Victoria’s empire. Victoria ascended the throne as a girl of just 18 and reigned for 63 years and seven months, longer than any of her predecessors.
Modern authors write historical fiction not only about Victorian England, but about Victorian San Francisco. Victorian New York and other places over which Victoria did not rule but where her influence meandered. While the death of the Queen, in 1901, more or less marked the end of that era, conditions do not immediately change with the ascension of the new monarch. Likewise, the sweeping domestic and international changes associated with this time period began sometime before she was crowned. Quite simply, one person may symbolize an era, but it is political and social temperature that brings about that notoriety.
Jack London was an American journalist, novelist, and social activist. THE PEOPLE OF THE ABYSS is a narrative of London's East End specifically, and on a deeper level, a treatise on conditions in Great Britain as a whole. Poverty, or as London calls it, pauperism, is as rampant today as it was at the turn of the 20th century. It is terrifying to think that now, nearly 120 years later, people in first world countries are living hand to mouth just waiting for the thing to happen that will push them over into destitution. The thing, as explained by London, is inevitable. It might be illness or injury or simply being fired from one's job. The only sure thing is that a thing will happen.
It is frightening to read about the truly horrifying conditions in London's East End, in 1902 and find that where Jack London refers to the London Abyss you can easily substitute American Abyss. Although I have read a considerable number of accounts of the Jack the Ripper murders, that occurred in 1888, and have been horrified by the description of conditions then, THE PEOPLE OF THE ABYSS, written 14 years later, describes filthy living conditions and an appallingly short life expectancy in the most stark terms I have ever read. Many families who live in the slums of Whitechapel, Spitalfields, and the like are doomed to die out during the third generation.
Surprisingly, there was a Public Health Committee that investigated overcrowding in dwellings in London at the time this was written. The numbers cited throughout the book detail unimaginable unsanitary conditions and overcrowding along with innumerable people of all ages living on the street. While I was reading about these conditions, newspapers today were detailing the unsanitary conditions of caged human beings right here in the United States. It is a stark reminder of how far we have come juxtaposed with how easily we can slip backwards.
Although not a terribly long book, THE PEOPLE OF THE ABYSS is not an easy read. It is a piece of investigative journalism written in the vernacular of its day. Along with that, Jack London has attempted to convey, through misspellings, the accent of those with whom he talked. He also makes it quite clear, that he wanted to write this from personal experience, but he always had a safe haven to which he could escape. He also made legal preparations should he fall victim to illness or crime.
I am glad to have read THE PEOPLE OF THE ABYSS, but I can't say I enjoyed reading it. I rather think it is immoral to enjoy a book that describes the horror that was the truth of human beings' existence.
Modern authors write historical fiction not only about Victorian England, but about Victorian San Francisco. Victorian New York and other places over which Victoria did not rule but where her influence meandered. While the death of the Queen, in 1901, more or less marked the end of that era, conditions do not immediately change with the ascension of the new monarch. Likewise, the sweeping domestic and international changes associated with this time period began sometime before she was crowned. Quite simply, one person may symbolize an era, but it is political and social temperature that brings about that notoriety.
Jack London was an American journalist, novelist, and social activist. THE PEOPLE OF THE ABYSS is a narrative of London's East End specifically, and on a deeper level, a treatise on conditions in Great Britain as a whole. Poverty, or as London calls it, pauperism, is as rampant today as it was at the turn of the 20th century. It is terrifying to think that now, nearly 120 years later, people in first world countries are living hand to mouth just waiting for the thing to happen that will push them over into destitution. The thing, as explained by London, is inevitable. It might be illness or injury or simply being fired from one's job. The only sure thing is that a thing will happen.
It is frightening to read about the truly horrifying conditions in London's East End, in 1902 and find that where Jack London refers to the London Abyss you can easily substitute American Abyss. Although I have read a considerable number of accounts of the Jack the Ripper murders, that occurred in 1888, and have been horrified by the description of conditions then, THE PEOPLE OF THE ABYSS, written 14 years later, describes filthy living conditions and an appallingly short life expectancy in the most stark terms I have ever read. Many families who live in the slums of Whitechapel, Spitalfields, and the like are doomed to die out during the third generation.
Surprisingly, there was a Public Health Committee that investigated overcrowding in dwellings in London at the time this was written. The numbers cited throughout the book detail unimaginable unsanitary conditions and overcrowding along with innumerable people of all ages living on the street. While I was reading about these conditions, newspapers today were detailing the unsanitary conditions of caged human beings right here in the United States. It is a stark reminder of how far we have come juxtaposed with how easily we can slip backwards.
Although not a terribly long book, THE PEOPLE OF THE ABYSS is not an easy read. It is a piece of investigative journalism written in the vernacular of its day. Along with that, Jack London has attempted to convey, through misspellings, the accent of those with whom he talked. He also makes it quite clear, that he wanted to write this from personal experience, but he always had a safe haven to which he could escape. He also made legal preparations should he fall victim to illness or crime.
I am glad to have read THE PEOPLE OF THE ABYSS, but I can't say I enjoyed reading it. I rather think it is immoral to enjoy a book that describes the horror that was the truth of human beings' existence.
_anns_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
3.5
amittaizero's review against another edition
4.0
Jack London = BAMF. The man usually remembered as a writer of easily abridged adventure stories was also a fierce social critic and activist. London descends into the slums of the British Empire to live and learn the conditions there. His approach is incredibly modern: he uses anecdotes, sociological data, court records, etc. to draw a comprehensive picture of extreme social and economic injustice.
snoakes7001's review against another edition
4.0
I picked up a copy of this (it's free on kindle) as someone I was twittering with told me it inspired Orwell to write Down and Out in Paris and London.
It's equally fascinating a social history as Orwell's book. Still relevant today too as the gap between rich and poor widens again and the underclass of third generation unemployed grows inexorably.
I did find London's attempts to transcribe the eastenders' voices slightly annoying though - think Dick Van Dyke's chimney sweep!
It's an important and horrifying read.
It's equally fascinating a social history as Orwell's book. Still relevant today too as the gap between rich and poor widens again and the underclass of third generation unemployed grows inexorably.
I did find London's attempts to transcribe the eastenders' voices slightly annoying though - think Dick Van Dyke's chimney sweep!
It's an important and horrifying read.