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A review by steelcitygator
The Iron Heel by Jack London
3.0
They don't just make em like they used to. A cliche but when it comes to the political novel I think it's true.
An early 1900's socialist novel (though at times feels more like a pamphlet) that has just enough dystopian elements to influence some much more famous literature of the middle 20th century. For the most part London is an excellent writer. The story moves well and this is where I most say I was impressed by the format with the "footnotes" from a far distant historian. This is made even the more interesting when he gets some basic facts on the 20th century incorrect that make both narrators somewhat unreliable. It creates not only an interesting dynamic but an interesting read between the lines of the story helped along by an extremely satisfying prose.
This is where I must come in and say it can get kinda preachy at times. Especially feeling that way about 1/3 of the way through compared to the ending. This isn't helped along by a lot of the characters we follow being caricatures of ideas. Not an easy concept to pull off without it feeling like the author has never heard of nuance and this is no exception. I think a lot of this stems from London not being a political figure. He was a novelist. He knew of the socialist thought of the time well and that's what's represented here but just regurgitating that onto the page and characters falls flat at times, occasionally to an eye rolling degree.
That said, it's still fun enough that I recommend it as a read. A modern version of this would be rightfully derided but the charm of being in the pre-WW2 cultural element gives it that special something.
An early 1900's socialist novel (though at times feels more like a pamphlet) that has just enough dystopian elements to influence some much more famous literature of the middle 20th century. For the most part London is an excellent writer. The story moves well and this is where I most say I was impressed by the format with the "footnotes" from a far distant historian. This is made even the more interesting when he gets some basic facts on the 20th century incorrect that make both narrators somewhat unreliable. It creates not only an interesting dynamic but an interesting read between the lines of the story helped along by an extremely satisfying prose.
This is where I must come in and say it can get kinda preachy at times. Especially feeling that way about 1/3 of the way through compared to the ending. This isn't helped along by a lot of the characters we follow being caricatures of ideas. Not an easy concept to pull off without it feeling like the author has never heard of nuance and this is no exception. I think a lot of this stems from London not being a political figure. He was a novelist. He knew of the socialist thought of the time well and that's what's represented here but just regurgitating that onto the page and characters falls flat at times, occasionally to an eye rolling degree.
That said, it's still fun enough that I recommend it as a read. A modern version of this would be rightfully derided but the charm of being in the pre-WW2 cultural element gives it that special something.