Martin Eden is the story of a self-taught writer's rise from poverty to fame. Born into the working class, the young sailor Martin Eden becomes determined to educate himself and enter the world of literature after meeting Ruth Morse, a cultured woman whose world seems far beyond his reach. Yet the higher he climbs, the more alienated he becomes—from society, from the ideals that once inspired him, and from himself. Blending autobiography with a searching critique of individualism and social ambition, Jack London's Martin Eden stands among the most powerful novels of artistic struggle. Included in Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century, it remains a haunting meditation on ambition and disillusionment. This is the English-language paperback edition of the novel. Jack London. Martin Eden. First published: Macmillan, New York, 1909. The text of this edition follows the first edition. Vollständige Neuausgabe, 1. Auflage, Göttingen 2026. LIWI Literatur- und Wissenschaftsverlag