The People of the Abyss

"The People of the Abyss" (1903) is a book by Jack London about life in the East End of London in 1902. He wrote this first-hand account by living in the East End (including the Whitechapel District) for several months, sometimes staying in workhouses or sleeping on the streets. The conditions he experienced and wrote about were the same as those endured by an estimated 500,000 of the contemporary London poor.

Antecedents and Successors

There had been several previous accounts of slum conditions in London, most notably The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844 by Friedrich Engels. However, these were second hand sources and not based upon first hand study. Jack London was a very successful man, and his account was far more popular.

In 1890, Jacob Riis published "How the Other Half Lives" which created a sensation. It has been suggested as a source of inspiration for the "The People of the Abyss". A contemporary advertisement for Jack London's book said that it "tingles" with the "directness only possible from a man know knows London as Jacob Riis knows New York," suggesting that his publisher, at least, perceived a resemblance. ["The American Monthly Reviews, 1903, vol. XXVIII, advertisement by The MacMillan Company, p. 771 [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&vid=LCCN40012665&id=zCTcLm65F-gC&as_brr=1&pg=PA771&lpg=PA771&dq=%22people+of+the+abyss%22] ]

When London wrote his book, the word "the Abyss" was in wide use to refer to the lowest strata of society. H. G. Wells's 1902 book, "Anticipations", uses this phrase in this sense throughout, and in several places uses the phrase "the People of the Abyss." [cite book | last = Wells
first = H. G.
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1999
origyear = 1902
title = Anticipations of the Reactions of Mechanical and Scientific Progress Upon Human Life and Thought
publisher = Courier Dover Publications
location = New York
id = ISBN 0-486-40673-3 p. 107: "the working classes—or, more properly speaking... the People of the Abyss..."] . One writer, analyzing "The Iron Heel", refers to the phrase "the People of the Abyss" as "H. G. Wells' phrase." [cite book | last = Rideout
first = Walter B
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1992
title = The Radical Novel in the United States, 1900-1954
publisher = Columbia University Press
id = ISBN 0-231-08077-8 , p. 44: "London focuses his climax on 'the People of the Abyss'—H. G. Wells' phrase now appears as a chapter title."]

George Orwell was inspired by "The People of the Abyss," which he read in his teens, and in the 1930s he began disguising himself as a derelict and made tramping expeditions into poor section of London himself, in emulation of Jack London. The influence of "The People of the Abyss" can be seen in "Down and Out in Paris and London" and "The Road to Wigan Pier". [cite book | last = Shelden
first = Michael
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1991
title = Orwell: The Authorized Biography
publisher = HarperCollins
location = New York
id = ISBN 0-06-016709-2 p. 62, read "The People of the Abyss" while at St. Cyprians; pp. 121, London's book a "definite source of inspiration;" Orwell "was following its example."]

References

1. OCR British Depth Study 1906-1918 ISBN - 0719577349 Reference - Page 10 Source 4 =

External links

* [http://london.sonoma.edu/Writings/PeopleOfTheAbyss/ Online text of the 1903 edition of "The People of the Abyss," with illustrations]
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