- Paperback: 448 pages
- Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0393321576
- ISBN-13: 978-0393321579
- Product Dimensions: 20.5 x 13.6 x 2.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 549 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#892,838 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #19 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( M ) > Marx, Karl
- #59 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Criticism & Theory > Marxist
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Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing, and deeply so,
By
This review is from: Karl Marx: A Life (Paperback)
Let's write a book about Karl Marx which wants to talk about the Man, rather than simply about the Ideas. Sounds great, right? Except that in Wheen's hands, the relationship of the life to the ideas and the ideas to the life are brutally banalized.The opportunity to write a good biography obviously presented itself, but what we have instead is some charming personal biography by a man who does not grasp the smallest part of Marx's ideas nor any meaningful engagement with Marx's political activity. This book is so lame on the theoretical level that one would think that Wheen spent too much time reading old Stalinist schoolbooks on Marx, avoiding any actual scholarly work, such as Debord, C.J. Arthur, the journals Common Sense and Capital and Class, the work of Lukacs, Korsch, Adorno, Horkheimer, Rubin, etc. Wheen's treatment of the politics is less than worthless and mars his obviously generous sentiment towards Marx the man because Wheen simply cannot grapple with Marx as a whole human being. Instead, we are treated to tawdry discussions of Marx's 'psychologically induced illnesses' every time deadlines came due. And these are tawdry not for being uninteresting, but because we never get a sense of the juxtaposition between Marx the researcher (who happily spent a great deal of time in the London Library system) and Marx the writer who did not simply hate deadlines, but who struggled with the content and style of each line he wrote. We never get any sense of why Marx might be the single most influential thinker of the last 150 years. I gave it two stars because I do not see Wheen as intentionally malicious, but as merely incompetent. In a world where malicious intent and lack of scholarly scruple towards Marx seems welcome, this is not the worst book ever written on the man, but certainly not one worth reading.
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Sympathetic Look at a Great Man,
By "ravi1961" (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Karl Marx: A Life (Paperback)
Wheen's biography of Karl Marx tries to show the man as he was - warts and all - and repeatedly makes the point that he was not a monster. This point is belaboured through the book and as a result the influences on Marx's life are not stressed. Marx made the transition from law student to philosopher - and the transition to communist leaguer is not adequately explored.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Marx Marx,
By
This review is from: Karl Marx: A Life (Paperback)
I have read better books on Karl Marx. However, this one is good for the non-historian types who like to read about history and biographies of important people in 19th century history. I enjoyed it because it was easy to read and has some great glossy photos. I have the hardcover edition so not sure if the photos are glossy in the paperback. Anyway, I did like this book. Marx was such an important figure, but in his day did not get the attention he deserved. Wheen makes mention in the introductions that only eleven people attended Marx's funeral. Amazing. Still there are not nearly as many books written about Karl Marx as there are about Marxism in general. Wheen focuses on Karl Marx and his life and times. I good biography.
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