E. H. Carr, "Karl Marx: His Life and the Formation of His Thought" Summary and Comments - Recommended biography with excellent analysis of "Why Marxism Attracted People".
I would like to introduce "The Life of Karl Marx: His Life and the Formation of His Ideas," published by the British historian E. H. Carr in 1934. I read the 1987 25th printing of "The Life of Karl Marx: His Life and the Formation of His Ideas," translated by Ryohei Ishigami and published by Miraisha in 1961.
The author of this biography, E. H. Carr, is a British international political scientist and historian.
E. H. Carr was born in 1892 and studied at Cambridge University before going on to become a diplomat. He became interested in Russian history and culture through his experience working in the Russian section of the Foreign Ministry.
After leaving his position in 1936, he was a professor of international politics at Wayles University.
Speaking of Kerr, its famous bookWhat is History?"Although known worldwide for itsBiography of DostoevskyIt is also famous for its
In this work, Carr's biography was described in the following way.
In this review of Dostoevsky, there is neither mystification nor idolatry toward the world's greatest writer. There is no enthusiastic affirmation or denial of Dostoevsky. This is precisely the characteristic of this review. （The great prophet sometimes becomes a humorous and lovable clown, often pointing out Dostoevsky's character weaknesses and logical confusions. The biography does not take a transcendental mystifying angle, but presents his strengths and weaknesses side by side like a balance sheet, and one cannot help but feel the charm of a brilliantly British, sensible literary criticism.
Chikuma Shobo Publishing Co. translation by Tatsuo Matsumura, E. H. Carr, Dostoevsky, p. 309
Carr's brush is somewhat of a step back and calm perspective. To be honest, I even thought it was too cold in some places.
Instead, we do not overly deify or unfairly discredit Dostoevsky. Instead, we will not overly deify Dostoevsky, nor will we unfairly undermine him.
Karl Marx: His Life and the Formation of His Ideas," the biography we are presenting here, is exactly the kind of biography that expresses Carr's characteristics.
Carr's biography is characterized by the fact-based, unobtrusive way in which he follows the life of a person as objectively as possible. He is, in any case, calm.
Therefore, in terms of readability or narrative interest, it feels a bit stiff. It is not an enjoyable read. So, to be honest, the biographical part is hard to read.
Personally, I would not recommend this biography as a good introduction to the flow of Marx's life. If this is the first book you read, you will probably have a much higher chance of falling behind.
But this biography has overwhelming advantages that can compensate for all these aspects.
That is the analysis in the title, "Why did Marx attract so many people?"
We have previously presented this analysis on our blog.
This analysis will appear in the last part of the biography. I have presented part of it in the article above, but the book provides a fairly detailed analysis of this. This is very interesting stuff. The book is extremely worthwhile just to read this analysis. In fact, I might even say that you should pick up the book to read this analysis. It is such a sharp analysis. I highly recommend this book.
Let me conclude by quoting from the translator's afterword at the end of the book, which summarizes the characteristics of this biography.
This biography of Marx is "famous" among Japanese readers, but I have heard that not many people have read it. This may be due to the small number of copies imported into Japan. I found this book in the library of the late Dr. Eijiro Kawai long ago and read it with great interest. As stated in the preface of this book, the author is neither a "Marxist," nor a "pseudo-Marxist," nor, for that matter, an "anti-Marxist. The author himself says, "In some respects, indeed, I might consider myself a better Marxist than a Marxist. Regardless of the appropriateness of this statement, at the very least, the author is a Marxist who is at odds with Marx's man and his thought,understandingIt is certain that he is a man. The Marxist biographies written by Marxists elevate Marx to the altar of the gods, while anti-Marxists portray him as the devil. This biography is not of that sort. Although the author is highly critical of Marxism, he pours his dispassionate eye into every detail of his life and portrays Marx as a human being.
Miraisha, E. H. Carr, Karl Marx: His Life and the Formation of His Thought, translated by Ryohei Ishigami, p. 421.
This biography does not worship Marx like a god, nor does it demean him like the devil, but rather depicts Marx as a human being from a distance. It is surprising that Marx wrote this biography in 1934, at the height of the ideological conflict, when the Cold War had already ended, if not in the present day.
This is a highly recommended biography with excellent insights by E. H. Carr.
The above is "E. H. Carr, Karl Marx: His Life and the Formation of His Thought" - A recommended biography with an excellent analysis of "Why Marxism Attracted People".
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