Why Marx Was Right

Publisher's Summary

In this combative, controversial book, Terry Eagleton takes issue with the prejudice that Marxism is dead and done with. Taking 10 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, humor, and clarity, it will attract an audience far beyond the confines of academia.

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A Brilliant Narrator

The narration was brilliant. I expected more from the author Terry Eagleton though. Eagleton does a good job in making Marx's ideas accessible and relevant. However he sometimes gets caught up in the cleverness and wit of his prose at the expense of shedding light on Marx's concepts of class, history, alienation and cultural theory.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Funny and smart

The author is ridiculously well read, and teaches you about different forms of socialism. And often makes me laugh. The narrator is also very strong.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Socialism as Ethics

The biggest misunderstanding of Marx is the notion that he and Socialism was/is diametrically opposed to Capitalism. Socialism is actually a guide on how to have an ethical capitalist economy.
Eagleton concludes that leisure over labor was Marx’s ideal. If we as a society recognize a government’s job is to uphold basic human rights and work together to ensure that those rights are provided for, and we all received some kind of personal subsidy for housing and food, with a job guaranteed of a livable wage, free public education and universal healthcare, then yes we would pay more taxes, but we would have the most expensive costs be affordable, and then have more time to enjoy life.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

helpful, informative and straightforward

Honest review of Marx by a Marxist, sometimes lacked facts and stated opinions as truth.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Reason’s Triumph

A reasoned intellectual response to the anti-Marxist,anti-socialist hysteria that masquerades as discourse.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Amazing analysis of Marx

This analysis of Marx outlines arguments that many will never hear, especially in the capitalist owned mainstream media of today's Western power structure, emphatically worshipping of profit at all costs, with no second thought to preserving truth and discourse. The world needs more thinkers capable of critical analysis of every political, social and economic theory, and this book is at least a start.

The tittle is clickbait-ish

I found this book very interesting and well written. It raises important points and it debunks some myths regarding Marxism in the areas of violence and revolution, democracy, class in the modern world, the position of women, postcolonialism, enlightenment & nature, Marxism in ''underdeveloped'' nations, determinism, etc --while placing Marx in history, what I perceived as a hermeneutical reading. Eagleton is not a fanatic and points out when Marx is wrong or contradicting himself in his writing (one must not forget that he wrote and changed opinions during his whole lifetime.). However, in spite of the title, he doesn't argue why Marxism, in general, is right or, how is it or not economically and politically plausible. There is no mention of the problem of economic central planning and big government, nor a mention of the tyranny of majorities.

Excellent, but perhaps a less strident narrator?

Let me start by stating that the narrator perfectly suits the material. The voice is emphatic and very commanding. But I fear that may be a bit of an impediment to the message. The reasoned explanations and dismantling of anti-Marxist rhetoric sometimes gets lost in the intensity of the presentation. At times it really sounded like old-time Marxist bombast, when my impression going into the book was that it was meant to be a bit more sophisticated and refined in tone. Perhaps I was wrong with that assumption. But, as far as the contents of the material, it was outstanding.

A Contemporary Case for Marx

Karl Marx was indeed right and the witty Terry Eagleton will prove it to you.

Outstanding achievement

Extremely listenable writing style and very accessible to the layman. Narrated masterfully this book destroys many of the ridiculous 'Facebook meme' anti-Marx arguments and exposes them as the product of ignorance.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Great

A wonderful book for those who believes Marx is still relevant in the twenty first century

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

More apologetics than convincing argument

As a fairly radical leftist I was hoping for a more engaging argument. Overall it left me thinking that although Marx had good core ideas it is surrounded by antiquated 19th century baggage that holds it back. For example, Marx's championing of colonialism as a prerequisite for socialism. It also focuses on theory and philosophy with little to say on practice. Perhaps the book's main flaw is that it seeks to defend Marx personally rather than Marxism as a whole.
Hopefully modern Marxism has come along way since Marx.

A good start in Marxist studies

easy to follow and a great insight into Marx and his legacy. Very accessible and a good starting point for the study of Marxism

some decent points, mostly eloquent nonsense

Sidesteps a lot of the major issues, in particular the point that socialism no longer seems the only way to achieve the kind of standard of living for the ordinary working family that has been achieved by places like Sweden and Finland

0 of 1 people found this review helpful