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    Marx's Das Kapital: A Biography
    Marx's Das Kapital: A Biography
    Marx's Das Kapital: A Biography
    Audiobook3 hours

    Marx's Das Kapital: A Biography

    Written by Francis Wheen

    Narrated by Simon Vance

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    In this brilliant book, Francis Wheen, the author of the most successful biography of Karl Marx, tells the story of Das Kapital and Marx's twenty-year struggle to complete his unfinished masterpiece. Born in a two-room flat in London's Soho amid political squabbles and personal tragedy, the first volume of Das Kapital was published in 1867 to muted praise. But after Marx's death, the book went on to influence thinkers, writers, and revolutionaries, from George Bernard Shaw to V. I. Lenin, changing the direction of twentieth-century history. Wheen shows that, far from being a dry economic treatise, Das Kapital is like a vast Gothic novel whose heroes are enslaved by the monster they created: capitalism. Furthermore, Wheen argues, as long as capitalism endures, Das Kapital demands to be read and understood.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateDec 5, 2007
    ISBN9781400173921
    Marx's Das Kapital: A Biography
    Author

    Francis Wheen

    Francis Wheen is an author and journalist. He is a regular contributor to Private Eye and is the author of several books, including a highly acclaimed biography of Karl Marx which has been translated into twenty languages and the bestselling How Mumbo Jumbo Conquered the World. He recently wrote the screenplay for The Lavender List, a biopic of Harold Wilson's last days in government.

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    Reviews for Marx's Das Kapital

    4.5/5

    64 ratings6 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Marx's Das Kapital is one of the most influential books of the modern era, but it is also over 1000 pages of torture and few people have the time or mental capacity. It ranks up there with Kant for pure incomprehensibility. This short biography of the book provides an excellent and understandable overview of how it came to be written, what it actually says, and how it has influenced others. Not being an economist I had trouble following the economic theories, but the literary aspect of the book was unknown and surprising. It's essentially written as a satire of the classic 17th and 18th century economic philosophers, Edmund Wilson called it one of the greatest ironic works ever written. Marx references 100s of great literary authors and works, including Tristam Shandy, which Das Kapital resembles with its endless digressions, and incredibly Frankenstein, which was a favorite of his. Marx was disappointed when no one took notice of its literary merits. Instead it was picked up by an obscure group of Russians who under Lenin molded the theory to include the concept of a "proletariat intelligentsia" (working class thinkers) to run the show, an idea Marx was against. Thus started the misuse of Marx by every dictator in the world up until this day. Ironically it is only in the West, with its freedom of academic discussion, that real Marxists can exist. This is a short book but dense with insight and ideas, it would reward reading again and I hope to do so, it's probably the closest I'll ever come to actually reading the book itself.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Good read about Karl Marx and critique of his work
    • 3/5
      This give a better view on Marxism, whether you agree or disagree on the ideas
    • 5/5
      The depth of the author’s scholarship and his lyrical prose made for most enjoyable listening.
    • 5/5
      A terrific short book - more an essay than a book - that will inspire anyone reading it to immediately find their copy of Das Kapital, blow off the dust, and have another look.
    • 4/5
      Marx's Das Kapital: A Biography Books that changed the world by Francis Wheen is a little book under 150 pages. I checked this book out of the library and I really enjoyed it. I’m sure it sounds dull to many. While I’m not an economist I thought since we are going through a troubled economy at present, this book would be worthwhile to read. I’ve read The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx but that was the only translated original work of his that I’ve read. This book was by Francis Wheen who did an excellent job. I really appreciated his writing style. He made it very entertaining and informative. From the early days in Marx’s life, illnesses in his home, growing up poor, his veracious reading and intelligence (at least that’s what I got out of reading this book), his interaction with Friedrich Engels, Engles’ criticism of his writing, and after translation of the original Das Kapital how it was read, interpreted and used by other countries. Wheen, for me, did an excellent job with his critique of the book and some of the ideas in it, and how other economist's ideas on the subject. It appeared that Wheen is a Marx fan and he gives a challenge to people in the modern age to take up where Marx left off and see what they can make of his ideas. I am an American and I love my country but I really do wonder about humanity, the greed and prices continuing to rise an ask myself, “How can this continue?” a lot. I’m sure it has something to do with supply and demand and the public keeping the prices down but so far I don’t see that panning out. I do not think, as Marx posits, that the Capital system will crash on its self and the Proletariat or working class will rise up. Maybe what we are currently seeing is all about that happening. I do like how Wheen help up the idea of production. Anyway, if any of you want to read this book and talk to me about it, I’d be happy to. I’d give this book 4 stars-it was great. Even though I prefer to base my thoughts on original sources rather than somebody else’s thought, I do not want to read 1000 pages of Marx’s magnum opus. Wheen said that Engels’ had too many critical comments about the writing, the difficult concepts and Marx’s lame excuse in his work basically saying, “It’s up to the reader to get the words and concepts” and he refused to break it down. I’m also thankful that I grew up in the United States of America where we can study this stuff openly. Thank God for America!