Scan barcode
loyaultemelie's review against another edition
4.0
Regardless of personal philosophy, one must admit that Marx revolutionized the way we discuss class struggle and political theory. The Manifesto especially is important historical document that ought to be recognized as such.
hberg95's review against another edition
5.0
Every time I read Marx & Engels, whether it’s Capital or The Communist Manifesto or The German Ideology, I’m struck by how well their descriptive work mirrors conditions that exist today. They were so adept at describing economic and social issues that it’s easy to read and also still holds up when describing the situation in the United States or elsewhere today.
I was reminded during this read through that Marx & Engels emphasize globalism as a factor of capitalism that must be reckoned with in some way. Like Bong Joon-Ho said, “We all live in a country called capitalism”. What this means, according to Marx & Engels themselves, is that we cannot hope to merely effect revolutionary change on a local scale, at some level, we need global buy-in. I also particularly enjoyed the discussion of property rules under Communism, the varying kinds of (mostly ineffective) socialisms, and the discussion of communism as a strategy for ending all forms of domination (it reminded me a lot of bell hooks’ feminism).
Beyond the central text, I also liked the response to the Hegelian Philosophy of Right and the way it described religion as a system of ideas that adds flowers to chains, essentially convincing people that their lot in life is deserved and whatnot. This description of toxic religiosity made me think a lot about Nietzsche’s critiques of religion which were, no doubt, influenced in some way by Marx & Engels. I also liked the discussion of ‘partial revolution’ and the way it can harm meaningful efforts to real revolution (or how it can be meaningful in itself).
Beyond the central text, I also liked the response to the Hegelian Philosophy of Right and the way it described religion as a system of ideas that adds flowers to chains, essentially convincing people that their lot in life is deserved and whatnot. This description of toxic religiosity made me think a lot about Nietzsche’s critiques of religion which were, no doubt, influenced in some way by Marx & Engels. I also liked the discussion of ‘partial revolution’ and the way it can harm meaningful efforts to real revolution (or how it can be meaningful in itself).
brennenpeterson's review
3.0
Much of The Communist Manifesto makes a lot of sense, but there was just as many parts I couldn’t grasp. The Other Writings I had almost zero interest in.
jakekilroy's review
4.0
It's pretty astounding how grounded Marx and Engels write while relying so heavily on academic, economic, and political understanding in the reader of The Communist Manifesto It's not a breeze, but it's not a tornado either. It calmly, collectively, and quite astutely welcomes humankind as a community (that should abolish its higher ranks). It's wild to read this so many years later, as I know these perspectives as if they were chiseled in stone on the mountaintop, but I would've been hooting and hollering if I'd read this in 19th Century Germany. It ripped! As for the other writings, boy howdy, do I think you need a time machine to go back and live as a well-read socio-poly-econ dandy to get 'em. Marx's criticism pieces are sharp with a similar tone, and, more than anything, I may attribute what I missed or rerereread to its date of publication, not its communication of ideas. Marx just goes deep in the weeds while I shout "WHAT" from the library balcony.
brisk28's review against another edition
4.0
I’m not a communist, so don’t come at me, but this book has some good ideas that we as a society should try to incorporate into our lives.
I say “some”, because Communism as a whole is a flawed concept.
I say “some”, because Communism as a whole is a flawed concept.
pennym_'s review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
iconic, but im not rating lol. also this was more of a crash course in history than i thought it would be. worth reading!
grllopez's review against another edition
1.0
Communism is crap, and so is reading the Manifesto. I read it for TWEM histories, but if you think you love Communism, then please read it, too, so you at minimum know what you are defending.