The People of the Abyss Annotated (2024)

This is a remarkable classic, deserving of a place on the shelf right next to Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London. In fact, The People of the Abyss likely inspired Orwell to write his book, according to a biography I read.

If the reader can put aside the fact of London’s strange ambivalence in matters of race, he is an impassioned and articulate spokesman for the underclasses. His account of an extended foray into what he refers to as “Darkest England,” that is, London’s East End, is riveting and horrifying. This investigation, made in 1902, a time of relative prosperity for England as a whole, demonstrates that trickle-down economics simply do not work. Nor can charitable institutions be expected to right the wrongs of a dog-eat-dog economic system.

London’s observations and conclusions are remarkably relevant to modern-day life. He foresaw an inevitable clash between the 90% who produce the wealth of the other 10% who own the means of production. London’s book was published in 1903, and thankfully the plight of the English underclasses has been much improved over the past century with the implementation of a minimum wage, a national health plan and public assistance. The same holds true in the U.S. (well, mostly), but in neither nation has the basic issue London raised been addressed: why do the desires of the miniscule wealthy minority always trump the needs of the vastly larger majority of ordinary citizens in so-called democratic nations?

Ντοκουμέντο σχετικά με τις άθλιες συνθήκες διαβίωσης των ανθρώπων στο Ήστ Έντ του Λονδίνου στις αρχές του 20ου αιώνα. Εκεί, "στην καρδιά της μεγαλύτερης, πλουσιότερης και ισχυρότερης αυτοκρατορίας που υπήρξε ποτέ στον κόσμο", ο Τζακ Λόντον συναντά τους ανθρώπους της αβύσσου, ζει όπως αυτοί (για επτά εβδομάδες) και αποτυπώνει ρεαλιστικά/εφιαλτικά τη ζοφερή πραγματικότητα μιας ζωής που δεν αξίζει να ζεις.

The People of the Abyss, Jack London
The People of the Abyss (1903) is a book by Jack London about life in the East End of London in 1902. He wrote this first-hand account after living in the East End for several weeks, sometimes staying in workhouses or sleeping on the streets. In his attempt to understand the working-class of this deprived area of London the author stayed as a lodger with a poor family.
عنوانها: تهیدستان؛ تیره بختان جامعه؛ نویسنده: جک لندن؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز بیست و چهارم ماه ژوئن سال 2010 میلادی
عنوان: تهیدستان؛ نویسنده: جک لندن؛ مترجم: ابوالفضل اتراک؛ تبریز، تلاش، 1362، در 236 ص؛ چاپ دوم 1368؛ موضوع: داستانهای واقعی از نویسندگان امریکایی - سده 20 م
عنوان: تیره بختان جامعه؛ نویسنده: جک لندن؛ مترجم: اصغر مهدیزادگان؛ تهران، نگاه ، 1388، در 262 ص؛ شابک: 9789643515874؛
تیره‌ بختان جامعه (تهیدستان)، مجموعه مشاهدات نویسنده‌ ی آمریکایی «جک لندن» از بخش فقیرنشین لندن در نخستین سالهای سده ی بیستم میلادی است. همین نوشته ی «تهیدستان) الهام بخش «جورج اورول» برای نگارش «آس و پاس‌ها» در «پاریس» و «لندن» شد. ترجمه‌ ی فارسی «تیره بختان جامعه؛»، انتشارات نگاه دو بخش است. بخش نخست همین «تیره‌ بختان جامعه» است که شرح سفر پژوهشیی «جک لندن» به منطقه فقیرنشین شرق لندن در لباس مبدل است. او برای اینکه تجربه ی دست اولی از زندگی فقیرانه ی طبقه زیردست در «انگلیس» به دست بیاورد، خود را به جای یک بیخانمان جا میزند، و چند روز را با بیخانمانها و فقرای لندن میگذراند. گزارشی که او از این زندگی نکبت بار ارائه میدهد دادنامه ای بر علیه جامعه سرمایه سالار آن دوران است. البته در پایان، «جک لندن» برای رفع مشکل این نگونبختان، راهکاری ارائه نمیکند و تنها به محکوم کردن ثروتمندان میپردازند. بخش دوم: چهار داستان کوتاه از «جک لندن»، درباره‌ ی شرایط زندگی دشوار و طبیعت بیرحم و خشن منطقه و آداب و رسوم بومیهای «آلاسکا»، و «اسکیموها» ست. عنوان داستانها: «درست کردن آتش: مردی در برف و یخبندان با سگش تنها مانده.»؛ «بی آبرو: عده ای اسیر یک قبیله وحشی»؛ «قانون زندگی: پیرمردی که افراد قبیله اش او را جا گذاشته اند.»؛ «عقل پورپورتوک: دختری که طلبکار پدرش به جای پول او را میخواهد.»؛ ا. شربیانی

"Dice un proverbio cinese che, se c'è un uomo che vive nell'ozio, vuol dire che ce n'è un altro che muore di fame"

Nel 1902 Jack London decide di togliersi gli abiti dello scrittore di successo e si cala fra la "marmaglia" del malfamato East End londinese.

Confondendosi tra disperati e vagabondi osserva una realtà quotidiana straziante soprattutto perchè dominata dall'arrendevolezza con cui i poveri accettano un destino fatto di nulla.
Nessuna coscienza di classe, nessuna ribellione ma un adattamento passivo a ciò che è reputato come una sorta di selezione naturale.
Come giustamente London fa notare, tutta questa sua osservazione avviene in un periodo abbastanza florido per l'economia inglese.
Non una situazione particolare di crisi, dunque, ma un'allucinante normalità fatta di fame, alcolismo, sporcizia e quant'altro.

Interessante prova giornalistica e sociologica di London.

What Jacob Riis did for New York City with his photos of tenements, Jack London did for London with his book, The People of the Abyss. The abyss that he referred to was the squalid East End of London, where the poorest of the poor lived and died.

All of the horrors are there, described not by a dispassionate historian keeping a professional distance in his reporting, but in eyewitness accounts of and interviews with people living in appalling conditions.

What I found most horrifying about this book is that so many things haven’t changed since it was written at the turn of the last century. His descriptions of homeless people forced by the police to literally walk all night due to a law which forbade sleeping in public places brought to mind the sweeps done in our own cities, forcing the homeless off the streets and out of our sight.

Healthcare was an issue then just as it is now. Families were forced into poverty and sometimes starvation when the husband, the main breadwinner, was injured, became ill or died. The majority of bankruptcies in our own time are caused by overwhelming medical bills.

More than a century ago when this book was written, when a man was out of work due to illness or injury, his wife was unable to adequately support the family because the only jobs open to her paid too little. Sadly, in our own time, women are still not able to adequately provide for their families on their own because they are paid, on average, 70 cents for every dollar a man earns doing the same job. A statistic that should outrage everyone (but strangely doesn’t) is that post-divorce, children slide down the economic scale, sometimes into poverty thanks to their mothers’ inability to earn a living comparable to their fathers who actually ascend the economic ladder post-divorce due their higher earning power.

The cost of housing, rents equal to half their income, brings to mind the mortgage crisis we are suffering today. As the cost of housing during the last real estate bubble, reached stratospheric levels, families were forced to pay more and more of their income for housing, leaving little to actually live on. All it takes is a job loss or catastrophic illness for them to find themselves on the street as the banks foreclose on their homes. Their counterparts a century ago faced a similar fate for the same reasons. Job loss or illness resulted in the loss of the tiny rooms that they rented.

Yet for all the similarities, there are important differences. We have laws governing the workplace and a social safety net that prevents the worst of the gruesome results of illness and unemployment described in this book. Laws about workplace safety and working hours prevent employers from exploiting their workers. Unemployment insurance replaces a portion of lost wages. Food stamps and free or reduced cost meals in schools stave off starvation.

We have come a long way since 1902. After reading this book, I realized that we still have a long way to go.

تهیدستان ، دردنامه‌ای است از آنچه که «جک لندن» در سفر سال ۱۹۰۲ به شهر لندن با چشمان خود دیده است.
«جک لندن» به‌عنوان یک «گردشگر-گزارشگر» به منطقه «ایست اِند » به شهر لندن می‌رود تا فقر و بدبختی مردم آنجا را به چشم خود ببیند و آنها را گزارش کند. در وهله اول لباس‌های رسمی خود را در اقامتگاهی دورتر با لباس‌های کهنه و فرسوده تعویض می‌کند. سپس به میان مردم می‌رود تا زندگی‌شان را از نزدیک مشاهده کند.
در مشاهداتش صحنه‌هایی از فقر و فلاکت را می‌بیند و برایش باورکردنی نیست که در قلب بریتانیای کبیر، چنین جهنمی وجود داشته باشد.جک لندن، این فلاکت را زائیده ی صنایع انگلستان می داند و می گوید اگر آن صنعت نباشد، اینها هم نیستند.
"آبادیِ غرب لندن، از ویرانیِ شرق آن است... "
و بعد ، زندگی قبایل وحشی را با زندگی حاصل از پیشرفت صنایع که منجر به بدبختی عده کثیری از مردم شده مقایسه میکند و میخواهد به این نتیجه برسد که دستیابی به تکنولوژی لزوماً منجر به سعادتمندی انسان ها نشده است...
در نوشته‌های جک لندن تأثیر افکار «چارلز داروین»، «هربرت اسپنسر»، «کارل مارکس» و «فریدریش نیچه» آشکار است.این آثار که گاهی رنگ شدید ناتورالیستی به خود می‌گیرند غالباً تجزیه و تحلیل‌های بسیار دقیق اجتماعی می‌باشند.

تهیدستان ، بعدها الهام بخش جورج اورول برای نوشتن کتاب (آس و پاس‌ها در پاریس و لندن) شد.
جک لندن می گوید:
«از میان تمامی آثارم، تهیدستان را بیش از همه دوست دارم.هیچ‌کدام از کارهایم تا این اندازه از دلم برنیامده است.»

YouTube kitap kanalımda Uçurum İnsanları kitabını önerdim: youtu.be/tPAQoHh_su4

"Açın milyon katı toklar
Yani isteseler rahat rahat doyururlar" Indigo

Bugün ben Milano'nun alışveriş caddesi Via Montenapoleone, Paris'in zamanında aristokratik amaçlara hizmet eden Champs-Élysées ya da Barcelona'nın La Rambla'sı değilim. Ben bugün devletin İngiliz kömürü ve makarnasıyla iktidarını ayakta tuttuğu Londra'nın, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe ve Louis Sullivan gibi isimlerle başlayan modernizm akımının, Minoru Yamasaki'nin Pruitt Igoe evlerinin ghetto ve suç yüklerinin binaların statik hesabına katılması unutulmak istendiğinden dolayı yıkıldığı ve modern mimarlık akımını öldürdüğü Doğu Yakası'yım.

Rabbul meşrikayni ve rabbul magribeyn. Ama Batısı daha çok hoşlarına gitmişti çamurdan yarattıklarına. Çünkü Batı'da yoktu hammaddeleri olan çamur.

Venedik'te gondol turlarına binip gününü gün etmek, Lizbon'da şarap tadım turlarına katılmak ve Amsterdam'da peynir, mantar ve esrar çeşitleri arasında zihinsel tokluk oyunları oynamak varken Jack London manyağın teki miydi Londra'nın Doğu Yakası'na uğrayacak kadar?

Modernizm icat edildi; ghetto, suçlar ve evsizlerdi katalizörü,
Fıtrat icat edildi; işçi kazaları, başarısızlıklar ve devletin kendi yönetimindeki ölü piksellerdi bahaneleri,
Jack London icat edildi; soyadını hakkıyla tanıması gerektiğini düşündü, çünkü hiç kimsenin ismi onun gibi Oğuz İzmit vs. değildi.

Derdi Londra'nın vitrini değildi. Onun derdi öne çıkarılan güzel ve hatasız kıyafetlerin altında onları yukarıda tutan defolu kıyafetler, manav tezgahlarında öne çıkarılan parlak ve harika domateslerin altında onları halka daha yakın tutmaya yarayan ilaçsız ve çürümüş domatesler, halkın onayını kazanmak için duvarların estetik gözükmesini sağlayan boyaların altında gelişigüzel yapılmış kaba karışık alçılardı. Modernizm de böyle kuruldu aslında. Afrika'dan siyahi köleler aracılığıyla getirildi Sanayi Devrimi, üzerinde kocaman bir "İTHALDİR." yazısı, Londra halkına sunuldu. Batı Yakası bunu beğendi, Doğu Yakası'nın bundan haberi bile olmadı. Aynı Afrika'da kakao üretimi yapan işçilerin kendilerine çikolata uzatıldığında hayatlarında çikolatayı ilk kez tatmaları gibiydi.

Aslında her ülkenin ortasından geçen bir ayna orijin oluyordu ve bu aynanın bir tarafındaki insanların kalçalarını devletlerine emanet etmeleri orijine göre simetrikleri alındığında da durumu pek değiştirmiyordu. Vergiler arttığında, işsizlik yükseldiğinde, ekmeğin, mazotun fiyatı zamlandığında Kuzey Denizi manzaralı düşkünhanesinde karnı zil çalan adam da, Kuzey Atlantik Okyanusu manzaralı villasından dışarıyı tok karnıyla seyreden insan da devletin kendilerini tecavüz ettikten sonra edindikleri orgazma karşı koyamıyordu. Ama işin ilginci de nedense taç her zaman en çok bu zevkin kaynağına yakışıyordu. Politik bir p*rnoydu bu.

İnsanlar yemeklerini her gün "Son Akşam Yemeği" gibi bir algıda, yarın yemek bulamayıp da ölecekmişçesine yemeyi arzularken, İngilizlerin London'ın anlattığı sefalet tablosunda renklerin hepsi sanki Bob Ross'un kıvırcık saçlarına kaçışmıştı. Gri, siyah ve kahverenginin tonları bile bir renk olabiliyorken renksizliğin ve sefaletin içinde gününü bile kurtarmaya mecali kalmamış insanları hangi renk sahiplenirdi ki? Bir de İngiltere'nin zor zamanları değilmiş ya, burada ağza alınmayacak küfürlerin olduğunu varsayabilirsiniz. Ben ağzıma burada küfürleri alamazken İngiltere'nin Doğu Yakası taş gibi ekmekleri, bulamaç gibi yulaf çorbalarını ve pislik içinde üretilmiş yiyecekleri ağızlarına almaya çabalıyordu.

Ortaçağ'ın işkence aletlerinden dikenli ve çivili koltuklar, her türlü böcek ve fareye ev sahipliği yapan işkence çeşidi Yakın Çağ'ın İngilteresinde kendine sosyolojik bir reenkarnasyon imkanı bulmuştu. Düşkünhanelerde, evsiz yurtlarında, duvarların insanın üstüne geldiği her mekanda suçun tanımı ne bu mekanların tasarlanması emrini alan mimarlarda ne de insanların birbirlerinin kaburgalarını kırıp, kadınlara ve ihtiyarlara saldırmasıydı. Birkaç armut, ekmek ya da baklava çalıp, atıştırıp, açlığını yatıştırmak ne Snickers'ın ne de kadınlara, ihtiyarlara saldıranlara hiçbir ceza vermeyen mahkemelerin hoşuna giderdi.

Her gün uçuruma daha çok kişi yuvarlanıyor, etrafına sarılmış mumyalarının üzerinde İngiliz malı, Türk malı vs., yapıştırıcıları ülkelerin ortasından geçen aynanın iki tarafındaki sahnenin rutin sonucu, mutlulukları ise bitmek bilmeyen ödünç makarnaları. Uçurum, cesetlerin yükselmesiyle uçurum özelliğini tam kaybediyor derken, uçurumun kıyısındaki ekonomik dağ ne yapıp ediyor yükselip bir yolunu bulup o cesetlerin hayatın Batı Yakası'nı görmesini engelliyor. Oysa ki paranın yenmiyor olduğunu son ağaç kesildikten, son balık yakalandıktan ve son nehir zehirlendikten sonra anlayabileceğimiz güne doğru şafak sayıyoruz.

"Gel bir çılgınlık yapalım. Doğu Yakası'nı ziyaret edelim, maceralara atılalım." Jack London
"O yasak bu yasak
Ekmek yasak su yasak
Yürümek yasak uçmak yasak
Çiçeklere basmak yasak
Kalburüstü olsak da yaşasak
Fikir yasak zikir yasak
Horlamak yasak tıklamak yasak
Kadınlara zaten yasak" Halk

"Millet, fakr ü zaruret içinde harap ve bîtap düşmüş olabilir."
Kendi ellerimizle harap ve bîtap düştük uçurumun içine.

I find myself amazed and honestly a little depressed that a book published in 1903 about the poor of London can seem so relevant today. There are familiar themes of a wealthy, booming society that does little to nothing to care for its indigent, while also passing laws and serving punishments seemingly built to purposefully propagate a cycle of destitution, that feel like they haven't changed a lick in 115 years.

As a little background, Jack London (the same one who wrote White Fang and many other classics), decided against everyone's advice to go undercover in the extremely poor East End of London to get a sense for daily life in the slum. The result is this book, a non-fiction account of what he saw there. This could've been exploitative or sensational, but London writes with such empathy and passion about the people he encounters in the East End that you can't help but see their troubles as human, and fear for them and their children, even all these years later.

He uses his storytelling prowess to paint thorough pictures of the individuals and families he encounters, giving you a real sense for their lives as he sees them, as well as offering thoughts on why their lives are this way, and what a profitable society can do to improve the chances of its most poor. It's simultaneously analytical, damning, and emotional, which I really think is a huge accomplishment.

For instance, one of the more poignant sections involves his description of "The Thing," which is a metaphorical stand-in for the event or accident occurring in one of these people's lives that pulls them fully into the Abyss, the inescapable swamp of abject poverty that hundreds of thousands of East Londoners found themselves in. The Thing can be anything, and it is often completely out of the victim's control. A man could be getting by as an in-house workman, doing construction for a specific boss. Then, The Thing happens: his boss dies in a freak accident, and now the workman has no work. With their being such a dearth of jobs in London, and with his pay having only been enough to get him by week to week, he is quickly stuck in a cycle of begging, sleeping on the street, or any number of other horrors that defeat his ability to get himself further work. There are many stories about The Thing in this book, that really do a lot to show how close to the edge of homelessness people were. I'm obviously not going to describe them all, because you should really just read this book and see for yourself.

I can't recommend this highly enough. There is the occasional section describing how bad wages are that doesn't read easily in the modern day, since A. inflation has greatly changed the value of money and B. England doesn't even use shillings anymore. But beyond this bit of slightly confusing math, this book truly draws you in to the world of these people, and makes you think about how the cycle (or The Thing) can affect so many people in our own society. It's a little heart-wrenching, but worth it.

My favourite part is his disgust at the coronation 😁✌️

کتاب فوق‌العاده‌ای از سفر جک لندن و گزارش اون روزهای منطقه‌ی فقیر نشین لندن.
کتاب تلخ و دردآوریه که بی‌شباهت به حال این روزهای ایران نیست.
‌
از متن کتاب:
*جامعه‌ای که اُس و اساسش بر مادیات تکیه داشته باشد و معنویات در آن به پشیزی نیرزد، چماق مادیات کمر معنویات را خرد می‌کند. در چنین جامعه‌ای یک زیان کوچک و ناچیز مادی بسیار وحشتناک‌تر از تمام جنایت‌های علیه بشریت قلمداد می‌شود.
‌

Viaggio nell'inferno della fame, dell'indigenza, della povertà assoluta, della degenerazione più infima. E Jack London, nel 1902, si mette nei panni di questi "miserabili" in prima persona e vagabonda per le strade dell'East End, quartiere dove sono stati recluse le persone della "classe inferiore", opposta al West End, quartiere dove vivono persone della "classe superiore".
Dopo di lui anche un altro grande scrittore, Jean Claude Izzo, si immedesimò, alle soglie del 2000, vestendo i panni dei clochard e scrivendo "Il sole dei morenti".
Due romanzi e due scrittori che a 100 anni di distanza raccontano della stessa situazione degradante, il primo nella Londra dell'inizio 900 ed il secondo della Parigi di fine 1900/inizio 2000. Ma la situazione mi è "sembrata" identica, allora mi chiedo: "Ma la civiltà, il progresso, l'evoluzione, sono questo?", oppure "C'è gente, quindi, di serie A e di serie B?", oppure, infine, "L'egoismo è la prima caratteristica dell'essere umano?"

"In una civiltà prettamente materialistica, basata sulla proprietà e non sull'uomo, è inevitabile che si esalti la proprietà rispetto all'uomo e che i crimini contro di essa siano considerati molto più gravi di quelli contro la persona."

For six weeks Jack London dresses and attempts to live like the poor on London's east side. He quickly realizes that no matter how hard a man or woman works, the cards are stacked against them. I'm sure this had a greater impact when read during the time it was written, when bringing the poverty and disease of these people to the public's attention would have been an impetus to change. Interesting and this was a side of London I had not previously been acquainted with.

از فقر آسان می توان نوشت،در اوایل قرن بیستم در پیشرفته ترین کشور ها و قدرت های جهان فقر وجود داشت،جک لندن با عینکی آمریکایی به ایست اند لندن می رود تا که از نزدیک شاهد فقر و زجر زاغه نشینان باشد،بی شک اینچنین نیز بوده که زندگی ایشان در تاریکی مطلق و بدون امیدی به آینده سپری می شده،امروز که پس از ۱۰۰ سال هوای آلوده تهران را همچون شربتی از مرگ با ولع سر می کشم به اجاره خانه و بهای نمردن می اندیشم،امروز نیز چندان تفاوتی با ایست اند وجود ندارد،فقر همواره وجود دارد،تنها باید زمانی از آن ترسید که گامی برای رفع آن برداشته نشود.
تصویر:ایست اند لندن۱۲۰سال قبل
تصویر: ایست اند لندن:امروز
تصویر:تهران :امروز

Very few people seem to have heard of Jack London these days, and I was only vaguely aware of him, which is a real shame because he stands right up there with the likes of George Orwell - who I've only just discovered was inspired by this very work to write his own 'Down and Out in Paris and London'.

Jack London was an American writer who chose to go undercover in the East End of London (much to the outrage and fear of his friends) and journalise his research. The resulting work is a fascinating, in depth and honest account of real people's lives in 1902; at the beginning of a new century and on the crest of the Industrial Revolution wave, the people of England must have appeared to have it all. A new monarch also hailed in the new era and the end of the sombre Victorian age so Jack London could not have picked a better time to hold a mirror up to the darker side of the empire's capital.

As well as pushing himself out of his comfort zone and right in to the heart of the life he is writing about, London has the added factor of being an alien abroad. With his US readership in mind, he reminds us throughout what the value of British wages would equate to in the States. He is able to compare life 'on the road' to that of the English counterpart, but his sympathy for the British poor he is mixing with never wavers.

London's writing is sharp and witty - the century that has lapsed between then and now has done nothing to dim the talent that shines through. Furthermore, like Orwell, London's understanding of the causes of poverty and his vitriol towards those who benefit from it come across with clarity and persuasion. One particularly poignant comment has been italicised by London himself, and with good reason. He describes two unemployed men, trudging the cold and rainy streets in desperate search of a bed for the night:

"From the slimy, spittle-drenched, sidewalk, they were picking up bits of orange peel, apple skin, and grape stems, and, they were eating them. The pits of greengage plums they cracked between their teeth for the kernels inside. They picked up stray bits of bread the size of peas, apple cores so black and dirty one would not take them to be apple cores, and these things these two men took into their mouths, and chewed them, and swallowed them; and this, between six and seven o’clock in the evening of August 20, year of our Lord 1902, in the heart of the greatest, wealthiest, and most powerful empire the world has ever seen."

Later on, London highlights the logical conclusion of a materialistic society: that crimes against the property (and ergo propertied) eclipse crimes against the person. Pages of court records from the length and breadth of Britain back this up, with four month jail sentences for poaching and a caution for beating one's wife in front of the children.

As a contemporary account of early twentieth century, The People of the Abyss is a classic piece of work. I don't know if it features in any syllabus for students of History (I never encountered it at school or university) but it should be a staple for those interested in this period of time.

Fatevi un regalo: leggete tutto ciò che ha scritto Jack London. Autore immenso!

تیره بختان جامعه حکایت آشنایی دارد دست و پنجه نرم کردن با سوز و سرما، بی‌پولی و بی خانمانی که عذابی کشنده است. تهیدستان داستان انسانهایی است که زیر بار فقر کمر خم می‌کنند و توان سرپا شدن را ندارند. ظاهراً گزارش جک لندن از انگلستان قرن بیستم و شرق لندن است ولی در واقع دردی کهنه و قدیمی و جهانی را فریاد می‌زند؛ نیاز مردمان به ابتدایی ترین حقوق انسانی!
او از عدالت و مردمی می‌گوید که زیر چرخ‌دنده‌های جهان رو به رشد له می‌شوند.
بخش اول کتاب، داستان همدردی و همداستانی نویسنده با بی‌خانمان هاست و مشاهداتش را در این مدت با تاثر و تالم بازگو می‌کند که گاها با ارایه طریق همراه است.
بخش دوم از چند داستان کوتاه تشکیل شده است که هرکدام شرح قرارگرفتن انسانها در شرایط سخت و خطیر و مواجهه با طبیعت را نشان می دهد، جنگ انسان و طبیعت برای بقا هر لحظه ادامه دارد در این جنگ گاه انسان پیروز می‌شود و اغلب قهر طبیعت غلبه می‌کند.
دو بخش کتاب در عین متفاوت بودن کاملاً با هم مطابقت داشتند اولی واقعیتی بود داستانی و دومی داستان‌هایی واقع‌نما داشت البته نمی‌توان منکر دیدگاه یکجانبه نویسنده در بعضی موارد نسبت به انگلستان شد اما در نگاه کلی فقر و بیچارگی مسئله‌ای است که حد و مرز نمی‌شناسد و در هر زمان و مکانی قابل رویت است و این همدلی و نگاه دلسوزانه و فرازمانی و فرامکانی بودن موضوع، یکی از دلایلی بود که به این کتاب پنج ستاره دادم!

Jack London’s memoir about the time he spent in London’s East End in 1902. It is a piece of immersive journalist in which he poses as an American sailor temporarily out of work. He describes his first-hand experiences of walking the streets at night, attempting to obtain menial work, and enduring many travails. The author observes the lives of many people, including singles, families, and children, describing overcrowded housing, comparatively high rental fees, rampant illnesses, and lack of job opportunities. He takes British society to task for not doing enough to keep these people from starvation and death.

He cites many statistics of the time as to how much people made and the costs of obtaining the merest basics to eke out a living, often throwing individuals into debt and a massive downward spiral. It brings to light the full impact of industrialization, and the resulting gaps between the fortunate and the unfortunate. These true stories are heartbreaking. I am always interested in reading about the past, especially when written by those who lived in the time period. This is one of Jack London’s first works, before he became an acclaimed author. It illuminates a period in history, but also offers lessons for our own time. Though the depths of deprivation may not be quite the same, many of these issues are still with us.

My present political position in life is one that has evolved through time. I was a young Republican in my early adult life and then began to observe how our first-world society works and more importantly, read about how it used to be. Books such as The Jungle, Sister Carry, and Martin Eden defined for me the societal conditions that existed when the free market was allowed to shape society under near laissez-faire conditions. By looking at life as it is depicted in these books I was able to develop comparisons between then and now, and consider the reasons for the vast contrasts that have developed over the past hundred years.

The People of the Abyss is unique within this historical perspective in that it pushes the laissez-faire extreme closer to the ideal. Jack London tells of life in London where the vast majority of people, men, women, and children, are treated as a cheap commodity; used for the lowest wages possible and then discarded when their labor can be replaced for a more vigorous person or for even lower wages. The commodity is housed in pits that are filled to maximum capacity in order to maximize rents and is fed with food intended to sustain life while bleeding away the strength of youth.

The book is an observational commentary composed by London during his sojourns into the East End of London. He dressed as these people dressed, pursued work as they did, and most importantly, recognized these people as human. London once said that this was his most purposeful book, indicating, “No other book of mine took so much of my young heart and tears as that study of the economic degradation of the poor." After reading The People of the Abyss, I easily find an appreciation for London’s work and certainly see its value in my modern observations of today’s society.

I read this book while visiting East London near the Mile End Road, described by Jack London as a terrible slum in the early years of the 20th century. Fortunately, it has now changed beyond recognition. This is a shocking vision of the desperate poverty suffered by huge numbers of people living in the "abyss" of dirt, illness and constant hunger.

Jack London showed the way forward to George Orwell in Down and Out in Paris and London by spending time living as a tramp. This gave him a feeling of what it was like to stay in workhouses and doss-houses and how the poor were treated. However, he is quite open about the fact that he frequently went back to his lodgings to have a good meal and a change of clothes - something the other people he met on his travels couldn't do. Very readable, witty and angry.

I read this as a companion piece to "Wolf", the recent biography of Jack London. He was a lifelong socialist and this was a subject he was passionate about. This was the dark underbelly of the gilted age. And because of unions and the socialist party, we have minimum wage, social security, and welfare to provide a safety net for the kind of problems Jack London explores in this book.

But I am a poor revolutionary (and I think Jack London was too). 100 years later, people are still being chewed up by the heavy machinery of industrialized capitalism. We still haven't figured out how to provide meaningful employment to the weak and intellectually disadvantaged. Out-sourcing the worst abuses overseas doesn't solve the problem. And I feel like London's closing argument that it's just a matter of getting a good leader and management of resources is a bit simplistic because wherever that prefect leader is hiding, nobody's found him yet.

If civilization has increased the producing power of the average man, why has it not bettered the lot of the average man? There can be one answer only — MISMANAGEMENT.

Jack London's first-hand account of the People of the Abyss is not fictional. It is direly real. In the summer of 1902 London (the author) went to London (the city) to witness the "life" of the people in London's East End, the infamous Whitechapel District, or, what the author called the under-world of London. I have to put the word in quotes, because you can't actually call this "life"; it's more like a vegetating existence under unbearable circ*mstances, and it's usually rather short. London stayed in London for several months, in so called workhouses, sometimes on the streets. He didn't attracted much attention there. People just thought of him as just another American sailor, of whom many were stranded in the East End. What is described here, about the accommodation, the meals, and the living and working conditions, is probably the most intense text that I have ever read.

I'm writing this on a Saturday morning, one of my two free days per week after 40 hours of work, and I'm pretty much relaxed. I sip my tee, that I brewed in my own kitchen, after the morning shower that I took in my own bathroom. I'm sitting at the desk in my study room, the computer is slightly humming. Later I'll probably take a little walk before I continue reading some book in my living room. I realize I'm a privileged person, and this book has put my life in perspective.

There were only two small issues I had with the book:
The transcription of the local accent in dialogs slowed down my reading pace considerably.

“’Ow did I like it? A bloomin’ good chawnce, sez I to myself, for a sleep, wi’ all the coppers aw’y, so I turned into the corner there, along wi’ fifty others. But I couldn’t sleep, a-lyin’ there an’ thinkin’ ’ow I’d worked all the years o’ my life an’ now ’ad no plyce to rest my ’ead; an’ the music comin’ to me, an’ the cheers an’ cannon, till I got almost a hanarchist an’ wanted to blow out the brains o’ the Lord Chamberlain.”

s. d.
Himself6 1.5
Wife5 6.5
Two children10 2.5
Total21 10.5

Where it should look like this:

s.d. 
Himself61.5 
Wife56.5 
Two children102.5 
Total2110.5 

Apart from that I cannot recommend this book too much. The good thing is that you don't have to buy this book to read it. There's a free version available on Project Gutenberg. Read it and give the money you saved that way to some charity organization you trust, and think of it the next time a homeless person approaches you on the street.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Before Jack London was the world famous adventure story writer—in his 20s and 30s—he had lived a dozen lives: child laborer, thief, sailor, failed Klondike prospector and hobo. A committed socialist, and hard-charging risk-taker, he turned to writing in his early 20s after nearly dying in an Arctic winter, and this 1903 book was his second major publication, just after Call of the Wild. London disguises himself as a homeless American sailor trapped in England. He explores (the city of) London’s slums, records its denizens’ stories, and provides government and social science stats on the extensive numbers of poor and indigent in the “Great Empire.” He is jostled by police and finger-wagged by the Salvation Army. His insights about liberal/Christian charity are sharp. He concludes with a critique of “Civilization” comparing it to the Inuit life he witnessed in the North. An ancestor of Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed, London was the proximate inspiration for George Orwell’s Down and Out…

In the same vein as Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London, but lacking the heart and humor that I associate with Orwell's treatment. To be fair, it's an autobiographical account of slumming it in the worst of England's poverty at the turn of the century: why should it be funny or heartwarming? However, when you compare this text with Orwell's, it reads much more like something you'd find in Rolling Stone. A shock piece intended to wake people up and make them realize the horrors of poverty. It makes some excellent points, and is a worthwhile read if for nothing else than another take on the subject.

But, if you're only going to read one book on horrifying poverty and squalor in 1900's England, read Orwell. His take is also painful and incisive, but uses humor to disarm you and point out that even living like this, the human creature is inclined towards hope and laughter.

"حدث هذا عام 1902، في قلب أكبر واغنى وأقوى امبراطورية عرفها التاريخ"

في هذه المذكرات يروي جاك لندن رحلته لعدة اسابيع في أحد احياء لندن الفقيرة "ايست اند" ويذكر الكم الرهيب من البؤس والفقر الذي يعيشه الناس في الحي ولندن وانجلترا بشكل عام. ذلك البؤس الذي لا يتناسب اطلاقا مع وضع الامبراطورية الاقتصادي والعلمي والصناعي في ذلك الوقت، حيث تذهب اغلب نتاجات الصناعة الى فئة قليلة بينما يعاني العمال في سبيل ايجاد خبز وماوى يكفيهم ليبقوا على قيد الحياة فقط.

يخطر على البال سؤال مزعج حين قراءة هذه المذكرات، وهو ما فائدة التقدم الصناعي والتقني بهذا الشكل ان تم اغفال الانسان العادي ولم يؤد التقدم الى زيادة رفاهيته و مستوى معيشته ولم يمنحه حياة طيبة وراحة البال، ساعتها هل يستحق كل هذا العناء

this book was able to break my heart several times :( i literaly cried at the suffering of people

i don't regret reading this, for i feel it had changed my perspective towards life and people .

5 stars

I have talked with these children, here, there, and everywhere, and they struck me as being bright as other children, and in many way even brighter. They have most active little imaginations. Their capacity for projecting themselves into the realm of romance and fantasy is remarkable. A joyous life is romping in their blood. They delight in music, and motion, and colour, and very often they betray a startling beauty of face and form under their filth and rags.

For those who are unaware, I completed my fourth year history thesis -- more than 20 years ago -- on how the idea of childhood changed through the Industrial Revolution in Britain. Though my focus was on how the more modern understanding of childhood development led to child labour laws and educational reform, the overall plight of the poor and working class of this time period was always in the larger frame. I wish Jack London's The People of the Abyss had helped colour that picture.

In this slice of proto-investigative journalism, Jack London (JL) ventures to London, England in 1901 shortly before the coronation of King Edward VII, to take on the life of a down-and-out seaman in the East End of the centre of British Empire. Little more than a decade before, in 1888, this area of London was the scene of Jack the Ripper and his murders of sex workers, and very little has changed except to get worse. JL methodically goes through aspects of the life of a person in the Abyss: how they fall, the generational impact of poverty, the physical and psychological degradations, the doss houses, the types of menial work afforded, the workhouses, drunkenness, those who try to help, and how the legal system fails... how everything fails. Along the way, as he lives (mostly) through the plights of these people, young and old, he also collects the stories of individuals -- most of whom have had "the thing" happen to thrust them downward into a pit where they are likely never to escape. "The thing that happens," is JL's expression for any fateful event over which a person has no control: a broken leg, a week of illness, the death of a husband, etc. He relates this all with an easy, yet visceral verse interjected with references to official population surveys, financial statements, and newspaper articles. It's well-researched and gripping in its human narrative.

Overall, I can't recommend this enough, but there are a few caveats, a few niggles, a few critical thoughts to keep in mind. First, it's of its time. Though Jack London is a compassionate witness to people's lives, there is definitely some sexism on how he views the place of women and girls in society -- in one breath, he fiercely condemns the wife-beater, and in the next he explains how women's work should be in the home. He speaks on how mothers are left destitute by low wages after the father dies, but also expresses his disgust at how a mother breastfeeds her baby in a semi-public area. Thankfully, there is little other bigotry in his language. Another thing to keep in mind, which again is of it's time, is his obvious socialist (Marxist) leanings. The movement was strong through the late-19th and early-20th centuries and still somewhat naive to its flaws -- a bit idealistic in the nature of human beings. It doesn't bother me at all, since I am politically left-wing, but it's a bias to be aware of nonetheless. The last, and most... niggly? thing for me is Jack London's American Patriotism, which verges on superiority at some points. At one point I wanted to give him a good shake and remind him of the slums and tenements of New York City. But only once. Honestly, even that didn't bother me too much, because I know he was aware of his own country's failings, even if he thought they were fewer.

This was an absolutely fascinating read for a history nerd like me, but also a grim one. The parallels I see with our society today, even in "first world" nations such as the UK, US, and Canada, is beyond frustrating. We seem to be backsliding, forgetting any lessons we may have learned in the past and creating new, ever deeper, Abysses in which to hurl the unwanted souls of humanity.

Lebensbedingungen in den ärmeren Teilen Londons um 1900, man bekommt sehr gründlich erklärt, warum die Situation ausweglos ist und arme Leute nicht "einfach nur" irgendwas anders machen können. Im letzten Viertel wurde es ein bisschen redundant.

Jack London bu eserinde, dönemin sözde şaşalı Londra'sını bütün çıplaklığıyla bizzat kendi gözlem ve düşünceleriyle biz okurlara sunuyor. Oldukça önemli bir dönem eleştirisi. Eser baştan sona vurup geçiriyor resmen. Mutlaka okunmalı!

1902. Victoria vient de mourir et l'Angleterre prépare le couronnement de son successeur. London, jeune journaliste américain se fait passer pour un marin en rupture de ban pour pouvoir s’immerger totalement dans les bas-fonds de l’est londonien et vit comme ses habitants. Le Royaume-Uni est alors un grand Empire et une réussite économique incontestable. Pourtant un adulte sur quatre à Londres meurt dans un hospice ou à l’asile. Selon Jack London, 939 habitants sur 1000 finissaient indigents en Grande-Bretagne à cette époque.

Le récit est exemplaire. Clair, intéressant, London raconte avec une certaine ironie les problèmes rencontrés par les pauvres et qui les mènent à ces situations terribles. La description des conditions de vie est terrible. Dans un premier temps, London observe. Il parle avec les gens, tente de se loger, de manger, de passer une nuit à l’asile. Il commence par chercher un logement. Cela permet de décrire la crise du logement que connaît Londres à cette période. Des logements ont été transformés en locaux professionnels pour des besoins économiques et les demandes de logement augmentent. Les prix augmentent donc beaucoup et la surpopulation s’étend avec le manque d’hygiène qui en découle. La description des asiles est également terrifiante : l’hygiène et la nourriture sont insuffisants mais les vagabonds n’ont pas d’autre choix que de s’y rendre car la police les empêche de dormir dans les rues ou les parcs et s’ils ne trouvent pas une place dans un asile, ils sont condamnés à marcher toute la nuit. Là, ils passent parfois des nuits blanches et ils doivent assister à l’office, ce qui les empêche de chercher du travail. C’est donc difficile pour tous. Les jeunes survivent plus ou moins bien mais malheur à qui est vieux et seul sans soutien ! Et il est difficile de ne pas finir seul dans ces conditions d’hygiène désastreuse.

Au fil du récit, le socialisme de London transparaît de plus en plus. L’ouvrage se fait alors plus analytique mais aussi plus militant. London compare la situation d’un ouvrier britannique à celle de son équivalent aux Etats-Unis. Les travailleurs anglais sont si peu alimentés qu’ils sont peu productifs. Il dénonce aussi la justice absurde qui condamne les tentatives de suicide alors qu’elle est tolérante avec certaines formes de violences.

Avec ce récit plus ou moins journalistique, j’ai découvert un Jack London très différent de celui des récits de mon enfance, Croc-blanc et l’appel de la forêt. C'est un excellent écrivain. Son écriture est très agréable et son ironie permet aussi de faire passer ses idées au demeurant très intéressantes. A côté de ses descriptions, la misère décrite par Dickens dans ses romans paraît bien édulcorée. J’ai été frappée par l’actualité de certains thèmes abordés. Un très bon livre, à découvrir pour tous ceux qui s’intéressent à cette époque.

In The People of the Abyss, Jack London explains in great detail the impoverished lives of thousands of citizens in 1902, London England. The author actually went to great lengths to entrench himself among the poor citizens, trading in his clothes for rags, sleeping in shelters and streets, and starving himself in some cases. His accounts are tragic and harrowing and unfortunately, timeless.
London's writing paints a vivid picture of a mundane hell. Routines involving food scrounging and waiting in lines at shelters become as commonplace and long lasting as some people's careers. One event from the book that stuck out was London's day with a carter and a carpenter. As they walk along the grimy streets, he sees the two men picking up black strips and small dark objects. He then realizes they are eating discarded orange peels, blackened apple cores, plum pits, and bread crumbs. All of which are shriveled and soot covered beyond recognition. Another standout story was that of Frank Cavilla. He was a poor man, his family dying of starvation. His wages could not cover the cost of survival. He ended up cutting his wife's throat and the throats of all of his children. When the police arrived, he told them to put a penny in the gas meter so they could have light to see.
The People of the Abyss was a worthy yet laboring read. It is important because it shows not a failing people, but a failing society. When the wages do not cover the cost of food, shelter, and clothing, a system has failed. The book's description of extreme poverty as not just a social norm, but something inherited generation to generation, seems to be a large step in the process of de-evolution. I recommend this to those without a faint heart. To those who don't avert their eyes.