The People of the Abyss

Viac o knihe

This nonfiction work by Jack London, written after three months in London's East End, reveals the harsh realities faced by the impoverished in one of the wealthiest nations. Influenced by Friedrich Engels and Jacob Riis, London aimed to shed light on the indignities suffered by those marginalized by industrialization. In 1902, he immersed himself in the slums, living in workhouses, sleeping on the streets, and staying with a poor family to understand the working-class experience. Drawing from his own background and socialist beliefs, he documented the struggles of the city's poor, illustrating how many were left behind in the march toward modernization. Upon its release, the work received both popular and critical acclaim, inspiring George Orwell to explore poverty and urban life in his own writings. While London is often celebrated for his fiction, his journalistic skills and firsthand experiences as a traveler and worker enabled him to portray the harshness of impoverished life with empathy and a call for change.