Marx for Beginners [Paperback]

This book was actually one of several required readings in a college course I took on the history of socialism. I had to laugh when I first saw the actual book as it looks like a book of cartoons. Don't let the seeming simplicity of the book fool you, though. Rius uses cartoons and tiny bits of comedy in order to make one's introduction to the subject as interesting as possible, and he covers the basics quite well indeed: Marx's philosophy, his economic doctrine, and his concept of historical materialism. This is an increasingly complex triumvirate of concepts. Actual quotations from Marx himself often drop in front of you like a ton of bricks, but Rius uses this building material to construct a humble edifice of understanding and instruction. He especially excels at placing Marx's ideas in their original historical context, summarizing the evolution of society over the years and pointing to the sources from which Marx drew most heavily: German philosophy, English political economy, and French socialism. You may just be skimming the deep waters of Marxism, but before you know it you've actually learned something about what Marx thought and why he thought it. To further help you along, Rius provides a pretty impressive little glossary of terms at the end and offers a few suggestions on the subject of further reading for those who would like to pursue the subject further. Whether you hate him or love him, Marx is important, and Marx for Beginners is the most accessible gateway to his philosophy and economic theories that I know of.

In some ways, this book does exactly that. It starts to illustrate some Marxist concepts that work great in diagram format. Yet there aren't many concepts here.

Most of the book concentrates on Marx's life and philosophers leading up to him. Then a scant few pages mention Marx's view, many of which are just cut-and-pasted from the Manifesto or Das Kapitel without much explanation. And then there's a funny-headed picture of Lenin and "The End."

I was hoping for something better, more entertaining. And certain concepts were missed or not presented well, such as the relationship between the Structure and Super-structure. It doesn't lay out Marx's pre-requisites for socialism (of which, Russia had not met before the revolution and therefore was doomed to failure).

It is also a product of its time, 1976. It's not too useful to have a pro-Lenin interpretation of Marx after the Cold War. And that's where maybe my personal views of Marxism interfered with my enjoyment of the book. It too closely ties Leninism-Stalinism to Marxism. It, in fact, suggests that Leninism was the conclusion of Marxism.

Anyway, the book is not that entertaining. It confuses more than it clarifies. And it barely even approaches its subject.