Martin Eden (1909) is a novel by American writer Jack London, about a writer who bears an extremely strong resemblance to Jack London.
This book is, of course, a favorite among writers, who relate to Martin Eden's speculation that when he mailed off a manuscript, "there was no human editor at the other end, but a mere cunning arrangement of cogs that changed the manuscript from one envelope to another and stuck on the stamps," returning it automatically with a rejection slip.
An important difference between Jack London and Martin Eden is that Martin Eden rejects socialism. In a note to Upton Sinclair, Jack London wrote "One of my motifs, in this book, was an attack on individualism (in the person of the hero). I must have bungled, for not a single reviewer has discovered it."
Joan London noted that, "ignoring its tragic ending," the book is often regarded as "a 'success' story... which inspired not only a whole generation of young writers but othe different fields who, without aid or encouragement, attained their objectives through great struggle.'"
The novel ends with Martin Eden committing suicide by drowning, a detail which undoubtedly contributed to what researcher Clarice Stasz calls the "biographical myth" that Jack London's own death was a suicide.
