''Marx Returns'' is the

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

by the British writer and filmmaker

Jason Barker Jason Barker (born 1971) is a British theorist of contemporary French philosophy, a film director, screenwriter and producer. He is a professor of cultural studies at Kyung Hee University in the Graduate School of British and American Language an ...

. It tells the story of the German philosopher

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

and his struggle to complete his magnum opus ''

Capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

''.

Reception

Reviewing ''Marx Returns'' in the ''

Los Angeles Review of Books The ''Los Angeles Review of Books'' (''LARB'' is a literary review magazine covering the national and international book scenes. A preview version launched on Tumblr in April 2011, and the official website followed one year later in April 2012. ...

'',

Nina Power Nina Power is an English writer and philosopher. She is a senior editor of and columnist for the online magazine ''Compact''. Power received her PhD in philosophy from Middlesex University on the topic of humanism and antihumanism in postwar ...

described it as "an imaginative, uplifting, and sometimes disturbing alternative history". Writing for ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'', Peter Beilharz declared that "The story that Barker tells is incredibly witty, clever, and creative. It is amusing and entertaining as well as instructive." Barker discussed his novel at the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

’s Karl Marx bicentennial event on 5 May 2018. Other invited speakers were

Clive Coleman Clive Coleman (born October 1961) is an English barrister turned journalist, who, from 2010 to 2020, has been the BBC News Legal Correspondent. He is also a playwright, film and sitcom writer. Early Years Coleman grew up in North London attending ...

and

Richard Bean Richard Anthony Bean (born 11 June 1956) is an English playwright. Early years Born in East Hull, Bean was educated at Hull Grammar School, and then studied social psychology at Loughborough University, graduating with a 2:1 BSc Hons. He the ...

, writers of the 2017 West End play ''

Young Marx The correct place of Karl Marx's early writings within his system as a whole has been a matter of great controversy. Some believe there is a ''break'' in Marx's development that divides his thought into two periods: the "Young Marx" is said to be ...

'', along with "the team behind

Raoul Peck Raoul Peck (born 9 September 1953 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti) is a Haitian filmmaker, of both documentary and feature films. He is known for using historical, political, and personal characters to tackle and recount societal issues and historical ...

’s film ''

The Young Karl Marx ''The Young Karl Marx'' (french: Le jeune Karl Marx; german: Der junge Karl Marx) is a 2017 historical drama film about Karl Marx, directed by Haitian filmmaker and political activist Raoul Peck, co-written by Peck and Pascal Bonitzer, and starrin ...

''". The event was moderated by

Eleanor Marx Jenny Julia Eleanor Marx (16 January 1855 – 31 March 1898), sometimes called Eleanor Aveling and known to her family as Tussy, was the English-born youngest daughter of Karl Marx. She was herself a socialist activist who sometimes worked as a ...

biographer Rachel Holmes. In an interview with Marx200, a German commemorative website set up by the

Rosa Luxemburg Foundation The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation (german: Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung), named in recognition of Rosa Luxemburg, occasionally referred to as ''Rosa-Lux'', is a transnational alternative policy lobby group and educational institution, centered in Germa ...

, Barker observes that "''Marx Returns'' is not a philosophical novel" and is "an adventure story."

References

External links

* 2018 British novels Works about Karl Marx Zero Books 2018 debut novels {{2010s-hist-novel-stub