Marx and Marxism

By: Gregory Claeys

Narrated by: Michael Gould

Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

A new biography of Karl Marx, tracing the life of this titanic figure and the legacy of his work Karl Marx remains the most influential and controversial political thinker in history. He died quietly in 1883 and a mere 11 mourners attended his funeral, but a year later he was being hailed as "the Prophet himself" whose name and writings would "endure through the ages."

He has been viewed as a philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, even a literary craftsman. But who was Marx? What informed his critiques of modern society? And how are we to understand his legacy? In Marx and Marxism, Gregory Claeys, a leading historian of socialism, offers a wide-ranging, accessible account of Marx's ideas and their development, from the 19th century through the Russian Revolution to the present.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union his reputation seemed utterly eclipsed, but now a new generation is reading and discovering Marx in the wake of the recurrent financial crises, growing social inequality, and an increasing sense of the injustice and destructiveness of capitalism. Both his critique of capitalism and his vision of the future speak across the centuries to our times, even if the questions he poses are more difficult to answer than ever.

©2018 Gregory Claeys (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Who is the target audience for this book?

The book itself is massively informative and thought provoking. But I couldn't escape the feeling that, much like the author's depiction of Marxism, it's going to struggle to find a comfortable, effective landing spot. Was it written for social progressives, or conservatives, or for those sitting on the fence looking for answers in a world increasingly under the thumb of capitalistic inequity? If it's the first, then there's nothing particularly new here, though it does make clear distinctions in allied and/or rival philosophies. For the second group, already disinclined to humor the idea of Marxism possessing value much less read a book about it, the overwrought verbiage would be a convenient excuse to ignore it. Similarly, to those who probably would most benefit, those lacking a deeper understanding of the subject, the book would drown them in the treacle of philosophical doublespeak.

Case in point, "the world revolution began to sink into ossified self-caricature as its notional ends became detached, obscure, and dystopian" with "teetering Soviet geronticrats symbolizing the schlerosis which had long invaded the model they crudely imposed on their satellites". Surely there is a more elegant (not to mention less pompous) way of expressing that idea. Similarly, "As its soared into the ethereal realms of Neo-Hegelian existentialist and structuralist speculation, Marxism grew increasingly alienated..." Seriously? As a student of political science from ages ago, I flatter myself that I have more than a passing knowledge of the jargon used, and can roughly identify the themes of Blanqism and Frontism, but what hope does a newcomer have to sort through this word salad?

Simply, this book has a look going for it. But it needed a writer who could connect with the people who need to read it, more than one who could lay out philosophy in all its numbing verbosity. In that way, it is a tight analog to Marxism itself.

Intriguing, Complete (Intellectual), and Important

in order to learn what I really want to learn from this audiobook, I will need to listen to it again. That is anything but a negative comment. I was hoping for an intellectually complete discussion of Marx, Marxism as put forward by Marx (a task, as I found in this book, that is more difficult than I realized), and the modern history of movements that called themselves Marxist / Communist / Leninist / whatever.
The book definitely leans to the left. As someone who considers himself right-leaning on many regard, I found this a very positive characteristic. I've already heard the Fox News let's-stop-an-unwanted-debate-by-using-the- words-Class-Warfare approach (Straw-Man, anyone?) and its accompanying refusal to go further in any discussion of the taboo word, socialism. I don't think these Fox-Need-type people have a view of socialism anywhere near what a self-proclaimed socialist would. This type of "exposition" of Marxism sickens me. I think it completely idiotic.
I wanted to find the good and bad things that were included in Marxism. This book was satisfying in its amount of historical completeness without going too deep. I felt like I got a much better handle on Marxist ideas, though I will need a second reading / listening in order to gain a satisfying handle.
I almost didn't include this next paragraph, because I fear that some might discount all of my other comments due to this comment; I feel like I might as well say what I believe - something I wish were discussed in this and other books on Marxism. I believe that a crucial weakness of Marxism/Leninism/Communism is the fact that it springs from atheism. I am not atheist but neither am I suggesting here that belief is necessary. In this discussion, my point is not the logically precarious idea that one must include God in one's revolutions or political stances. I simply want to put forward the following idea that I would like to see discussed in commentaries on Communism: Taking the rejection of people's belief as at least a precursor to if not a vital part of your world view has crucial flaws. These flaws make it unsurprising that Marxism/Leninism/Communism - as they have been practiced in the modern and postmodern era - seem to have intolerance as one of their main characteristics. Patronizing the beliefs of others existing as one of the main steps towards a theory seems, to me, an obvious path towards an intolerant worldview.
I don't want to end with that, so I will once again say that I think this is an extremely well-written book, the performance by the narrator was superb, and I especially appreciate the unbiased discussion of post-Soviet Communism. These discussions taught me much of what I wished to learn.
I would encourage any and all I know to read this book or a book like it. I think knowing such things will be critical in avoiding mass repression, mass terror, and mass murder. I hope that the youth, the elderly - and everyone in between - learn about these ideas, about these events, etc. This is especially true given our world in which there seems to be more and more condonement and even outright support of authoritarianism.
The return to authoritarianism, bigotry, and the self-imposed ignorance of echo-chamber societal discourse are my biggest causes for worry as I continue my life and look forward to my continued life with my wife as well as to my childrens' lives. This book can help.