Why Marx Was Right

2nd Edition

By: Terry Eagleton

Narrated by: Roger Clark

Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins

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.

©2018 Yale University (P)2018 Tantor

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.

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.

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.

Partially insightful, with some great downfalls

While Eagleton's rendition of Marx's thought is occasionally inspiring, the book has two major downfalls, both examples of failing to apply his own counsels and admonitions. First off, he echoes Marx in telling any reader to look at what someone does, rather than says, and yet fails spectacularly to do so when it comes to particularly Lenin and the countries of the Eastern bloc. In fact, his idolatry of Lenin stains the entire book. Eagleton tries to absolve Lenin by blaming everything on Stalin, which is nothing short of wishful thinking by someone who has read Lenin's works, but not studied his actions. This is also Eagleton's way of dodging the question of what Marxist thought leads to when put into practise.
The other great flaw is that while scorning critics for not being fair to Marx, he never himself engages with anything that critics of Marx actually wrote, instead reducing counterarguments to banal strawmen.
So, while occasionally insightful, this is just yet another fish in the endless steam of Marxian apologists, with the same old arguments.

Game Explanation of Why Marxism Still Matters

British literary critic and theorist Terry Eagleton sets forth why Marxism still matters and continues to wield great explanatory power of the world around us. Each chapter in the work is a refutation of a common centrist or right wing objection to Marx--i.e. Marxism is tied to the 19th century, Marxism has nothing to say about contemporary problems of race or gender, Marxism ineluctably leads to totalitarianism, and so on. I don't think Eagleton knocks down all the arguments equally well (For example, the idea that the classical liberal general suspicion of power is a an excessively tender-minded reification that is not justified where power is used for 'emancipatory' reasons is a real blind spot. Another blind spot is the idea that problems of power and acquisitiveness will disappear once a material 'sufficiency' is attained). That said, Eagleton does a great job expounding on the core dialectical principles of Marxism, the debts contemporary schools of thought owe to it, and its insights into how economic power is used and abused in a capitalist order. And Eagleton's writing style is pithy, accessible, and humorous. The reader was fine but the plummy English accent may not be to everyone's taste. I didn't become a Marxist after listening to this book, but it did make me rethink a lot of the rah rah triumphalism that often comes with defenses of capitalism.

helpful, informative and straightforward

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

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.

Reason’s Triumph

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

Well put sir

Loved the book. Stylistically it was wonderful, and it both had enough concision to keep from being tedious and enough detail to prove useful. My only issue was one of a personal sort that has no real place in terms of this review.

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.

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.

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.

A Tough Listen...

I love audiobooks for helping me listen to and get through some tough subjects, subjects that would normally have me throwing away a regular book on a dusty shelf somewhere never to be finished.

This audiobook was almost the digital version of that discarded book. It was a very tough listen from start to finish, partly because of the style of language used and partly because of the style of narration. I found myself drifting in and out of chapters, unable to focus on the content of it or take most of it in. Chapter 2 sounded almost exactly like chapter 8, with the narrator banging on about 'class society', 'the bourgeois', and capitalism, always interspersed with needless superfluous iterations of "in fact". Sentence structures so long that you miss the point of what is being said by the time you get to the end of it. This sadly seems the norm for this type of leftist ideology which dresses up subjects such as socialism with overtly academic gobbledygook. It did make me wonder whether the eccentric style of narration was the readers own method of trying to make light of what must surely have been a boring experience in recording this.

I've slogged through it to the end and still have no idea whether Marx was right or wrong, or the exact message/statement the book was making. I've listened to some great audiobooks, some several times over, but this won't be one of them.

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

Great

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

Good for those new to Marxism

Eagleton does an okay job at explaining fundamentals but save a few genuinely good chapters (like when he separates historical materialism from determinism) this is a book for beginner Marxists. Also, lists of three examples but the third thing is quirky aren't as funny as he thinks.

a challenging listen

Marx's ideas are fascinating and very convincing. however the topic is still unbelievably dry listening. Good effort though

Dispels a lot of myths!

Selected this book to extend my political knowledge but enjoyed it far more than expected.
Whilst the narration was good, I think I would have chosen a less sombre voice to assist in 're-branding' Marxism as much less frightening and doom-laden than usually portrayed?

Riveting and stirring

Regardless of whether one believes that Marx was right or not, the book itself is an intellectual and emotional journey through all the critiques invariably levelled against Marx and Marxism.
The book is witty and entertaining, and the narration by Roger Clark gives one the feeling of a true intellectual romp. Highly recommended.

Finally!

What a joyful book,yes joyful, as someone,Terry Eagleton, sets about to explain to the lame of soul "why Marx was right" and succeds.
The semi theatrical performance by Roger Clark is apprpriate in explaining concepts and expressing feelings.
What a book, sincere in intention and result.