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Review
"An excellent book" (Owen Hatherley, The Guardian) "A short, witty, and highly accessible jaunt through Marx's thought in preparation for the second coming." (Frank Barry, Irish Times) "Not so much a good read as a romp, this is an irresistibly lively, and thought-provoking essay." (Michael Kerrigan, The Scotsman) "Why Marx Was Right is no abstract argumentation but an eloquent, fact-based rebuttal of the usual criticisms of Marxism." (John Green, Morning Star) "This is a wonderful book that every socialist should have on their bookshelves." (Gareth Jenkins, Socialist Worker)"
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In this combative, controversial book, Terry Eagleton takes issue with the prejudice that Marxism is dead and done with. Taking ten of the most common objections to Marxism - that it leads to political tyranny, that it reduces everything to the economic, that it is a form of historical determinism, and so on - he demonstrates in each case what a woeful travesty of Marx's own thought these assumptions are. In a world in which capitalism has been shaken to its roots by some major crises, "Why Marx Was Right" is as urgent and timely as it is brave and candid. Written with Eagleton's familiar wit, humour and clarity, it will attract an audience far beyond the confines of academia.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a fascinating book, clearly written and highly accessible. The author - Terry Eagleton - is the Distinguished Professor of English Literature at Lancaster and Notre Dame Universities, and lives in Dublin, Ireland. He has written previously upon the subjects of 'God' and 'Evil', and his previous books have received good reviews. This book is essentially written as a counter-argument to what may be viewed as rightwing misconceptions, misapprehensions, deliberate disinformation and misrepresentations of the copious written work of the social philosopher Karl Marx (1818-1883).
The hardback (2011) edition contains 258 numbered pages and consists of a Preface, ten chapters and a Notes section. Although the chapters are not named, each chapter deals with a specific misconceptions regarding Marxist theory, and Eagleton uses the chapter itself to deconstruct the misrepresenting 'myth'. Chapter One, for instance, deals with the idea that Marxist thinking is somehow 'out of date', and 'irrelevant' for today's postmodern, internet fuelled modern world. Eagleton shows clearly that Karl Marx not only predicted the contemporary situation, but wrote extensively about it, expressing how things were most likely to economically develop through time. Other chapters deal with determinism, materialism, ethnic rights, gay rights, feminism, oppressive states, political violence, class, economics, and utopia, etc.
Eagleton presents a lucid corrective narrative based upon sound research. The works of Karl Marx are extensive, deeply intellectual, valid and often difficult to understand from a single reading. Ineffect, Marxism is an intellectual tradition that requires time and good guidance if its true essence is to be correctly understood. It is an academic subject that requires a structured approach. Its complexity has opened it to extensive misrepresentation and deliberate distortion by those who find the clarity of Marxian assessment to be 'threatening' in someway, and yet Marx writes with a careful consideration that appears based upon a profound compassion for humankind. Everyone should read this book - simply because Eagleton has produced such a fine piece of work. Superb.
The hardback (2011) edition contains 258 numbered pages and consists of a Preface, ten chapters and a Notes section. Although the chapters are not named, each chapter deals with a specific misconceptions regarding Marxist theory, and Eagleton uses the chapter itself to deconstruct the misrepresenting 'myth'. Chapter One, for instance, deals with the idea that Marxist thinking is somehow 'out of date', and 'irrelevant' for today's postmodern, internet fuelled modern world. Eagleton shows clearly that Karl Marx not only predicted the contemporary situation, but wrote extensively about it, expressing how things were most likely to economically develop through time. Other chapters deal with determinism, materialism, ethnic rights, gay rights, feminism, oppressive states, political violence, class, economics, and utopia, etc.
Eagleton presents a lucid corrective narrative based upon sound research. The works of Karl Marx are extensive, deeply intellectual, valid and often difficult to understand from a single reading. Ineffect, Marxism is an intellectual tradition that requires time and good guidance if its true essence is to be correctly understood. It is an academic subject that requires a structured approach. Its complexity has opened it to extensive misrepresentation and deliberate distortion by those who find the clarity of Marxian assessment to be 'threatening' in someway, and yet Marx writes with a careful consideration that appears based upon a profound compassion for humankind. Everyone should read this book - simply because Eagleton has produced such a fine piece of work. Superb.
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I bought this for an old mate's 65th birthday thinking it would be a bit of a laugh for ex student Fabians such as us. It's a surprisingly entertaining wander through Marx's writings which makes you wonder whether there's ever been such a noble spirit so traduced by his "followers" Maybe because of Eagleton's Catholic roots, he places more emphasis on the spiritual meaning of Marx's critique of society, but the breadth of scholarship is impressive, even if the question of applied Marxism in history are given a fairly light touch ( the author would argue Karl was misunderstood). Eagleton is fond of multiple simile and has a kind of tabloid approach at times that is quite diverting. I was left thinking of the tantalising possibility that Marx's prophetic view of capitalist society might still be right, and that if the world does not find some better way of organising itself, it may not be that long before the contradictions overwhelm us into self-extinction.
87 of 97 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
In his latest book, Eric Hobsbawm suggested that perhaps '[o]nce again, the time has come to take Marx seriously'. In this book, Eagleton does precisely that and, in doing so, demonstrates the continuing relevance and importance of Marx.
Each chapter of the book starts with a common criticism of Marxist thought. So, for example, Chapter 1 begins with:
"Marxism is finished. It might conceivably have had some relevance to a world of factories and food riots... But it certainly has no bearing on the increasingly classless, socially mobile, postindustrial Western societies of the present." (P1)
From here, Eagleton goes on to demonstrate that the 'underlying logic' of capitalism remains the same and thus a Marxist critique is still most certainly relevant. As he points out, to simply accept that:
"some people are destitute while others are prosperous is rather like claiming that the world contains both detectives and criminals. So it does, but this obscures the truth that there are detectives because there are criminals..."(P11)
Other criticisms that Eagleton considers include (Chapter 2) the murderous and tyrannical nature of actually existant socialist societies such as Stalin's Russia and Mao Zedong's China; (Chapter 3) the idea that Marxism is a form of historical determinism and that 'Marx's theory of history is just a secular version of Providence or Destiny' (P30); (Chapter 4) Marxism is utopian and thus unrealistic; (Chapter 5) Marxism reduces everything to the economic and is a form of 'economic determinism'. The final chapter considers whether Marxism has been superseded by later radical movements such as feminism and environmentalism - movements more relevant to our 'postclass, postindustrial world'.
He draws upon a variety of sources besides Marx and Engels themselves - including Raymond Williams, Walter Benjamin, Horkheimer, Adorno and Habermas, Etienne Balibar et al - but puts them all together in a readily accessible way.
This is not a book using Marx's ideas to criticise the current travails of global capitalism - there are plenty of those around already, such as Chris Harman's excellent Zombie Capitalism. This book is about returning to Marx's basic ideas and trying to draw out the power, subtlety and immediate relevance of his philosophy - taking on post-modernist relativism, free market neoliberalism and even human nature along the way - and it does this really well, not afraid to recognise shortcomings in Marx's ideas but overall amply demonstrating their continuing power. Take Marx seriously again.
Each chapter of the book starts with a common criticism of Marxist thought. So, for example, Chapter 1 begins with:
"Marxism is finished. It might conceivably have had some relevance to a world of factories and food riots... But it certainly has no bearing on the increasingly classless, socially mobile, postindustrial Western societies of the present." (P1)
From here, Eagleton goes on to demonstrate that the 'underlying logic' of capitalism remains the same and thus a Marxist critique is still most certainly relevant. As he points out, to simply accept that:
"some people are destitute while others are prosperous is rather like claiming that the world contains both detectives and criminals. So it does, but this obscures the truth that there are detectives because there are criminals..."(P11)
Other criticisms that Eagleton considers include (Chapter 2) the murderous and tyrannical nature of actually existant socialist societies such as Stalin's Russia and Mao Zedong's China; (Chapter 3) the idea that Marxism is a form of historical determinism and that 'Marx's theory of history is just a secular version of Providence or Destiny' (P30); (Chapter 4) Marxism is utopian and thus unrealistic; (Chapter 5) Marxism reduces everything to the economic and is a form of 'economic determinism'. The final chapter considers whether Marxism has been superseded by later radical movements such as feminism and environmentalism - movements more relevant to our 'postclass, postindustrial world'.
He draws upon a variety of sources besides Marx and Engels themselves - including Raymond Williams, Walter Benjamin, Horkheimer, Adorno and Habermas, Etienne Balibar et al - but puts them all together in a readily accessible way.
This is not a book using Marx's ideas to criticise the current travails of global capitalism - there are plenty of those around already, such as Chris Harman's excellent Zombie Capitalism. This book is about returning to Marx's basic ideas and trying to draw out the power, subtlety and immediate relevance of his philosophy - taking on post-modernist relativism, free market neoliberalism and even human nature along the way - and it does this really well, not afraid to recognise shortcomings in Marx's ideas but overall amply demonstrating their continuing power. Take Marx seriously again.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Superb sociological introduction to Marx
Much has already been said in various reviews of this book of its relevence to students of philosophy, politics and economics, but I believe its greatest use will be to new... Read more
Published 22 days ago by Simon J Speddy
Sorry I didn't read it yet
Sorry I haven't read it yet. I have hundreds of books to read now here. I use to read with a delay of years. But since it'a mandatory to rate I have rated the minimum sorry
Published 6 months ago by Jose Almeida Valadas
Rattling good yarn
You get the impression Eaglton rattled this off without pausing for breath. This kind of makes you want to hang on and keep reading. Read more
Published 8 months ago by E. Clarke
A missed opportunity
Perhaps Terry Eagleton was not the right person to write a book arguing why Marx was right in the midst of arguably capitalism's biggest crisis since the 1930s. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Mr. M Barry
So why was Marx right?
In the midst of multiple global crises of food, fuel, finance - the threat of escalating armed conflicts and dismantling of basic social welfare and educational rights established... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Dr. L. J. Ray
Marx is back!
Marxism has always suffered from boring writers who know their stuff but at the same time manage to send the reader to sleep. Terry Eagleton is different, a breath of fresh air. Read more
Published 11 months ago by r j bullock
An acute embarrassment
I could have written an extensive critique of this book. I won't. Terry Eagleton's bizarre blend of crypto-Bukharinite pseudo-Trotskyism, proto-Stalinism, market socialism and... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Ashtar Command
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