Anarchist fiction - B. Traven
Mar 15 2006 12:24
What do people on here think of the work of B. Traven?
I have to say, The Death Ship has got to be THE revolutionary anarchist novel. It's got everything: struggles against nationalism and nation states with the archetypal 'no borders' theme; the inscrupulous bosses sending workers to their deaths in ships worth only the insurance money; the dehumanising nature of toil; Traven-style wit, insight and humour. And all allegedly written from a cell in Brixton prison.
Then again, Traven's 'jungle' novels, though often harrowing, culminate in the totally inspiring and uplifting General from the Jungle when the peasant army spontaneously rises up against the might of the dictatorship and the slave-drivers.
Some of his short stories like The Kidnapped Saint or When The Priest is not at Home really rip the piss out religion, superstition and the church... or how about Assembly Line where the lowly Mexican indian straightens out the sophisticated US entrepreneur over the mechanics of capitalist production.
And let's not forget Treasure of the Sierra Madre - some of you may know the film version with Humphrey Bogart.
So am I the only member of any possible Traven appreciation society? Or are there other Traven fans out there?
Mar 15 2006 12:42
#2
I've been a big fan of Traven for a v. long time.
Added to the books mentioned by Serge above should be The Bridge in the Jungle- this came out as a Penguin paperback in the early 70s. It's about the death and funeral of a young boy. It has Traven's characteristic sympathy for Indian culture and his class hatred explodes like a solar flare at the end of the book. And that ending had me blubbing uncontrollably, big softy that I am.
Mar 15 2006 16:48
#3
Yeah, I was skrikin like a babbi and the White Rose made me blub as well.
Anyone seen the German language film of the Death Ship? Is it any good? I believe Traven didn't like it even though he advised on it.
I recorded the Rebellion of the Hanged series off the telly years ago. It's in Spanish and about five or six hours long - being a composite of the first four jungle novels. There's a great scene near the end, when the peasant revolutionaries have killed all the bosses and a group of them say to the one who's a bit of an intellectual: "You are now our leader!" The intellectual guy takes off his glasses, tries to look all heroic, then immediately falls arse over tit in a puddle.
Mar 15 2006 16:50
#4
That's a good little potted biog.
Mar 15 2006 17:01
#5
Serge Forward wrote:
That's a good little potted biog.
If you know any details to flesh it out please let me know!
Mar 15 2006 19:15
#6
The idea that he was born in Chicago to Swedish parents is not known, can never be proven, and more than likely is a red herring put about by Marut/Traven himself. In fact, the only thing certain about Marut/Traven's early life in fact, is that it's uncertain. That aside, it's not a bad biog.
Marut's essay In the Freest State in the World is interesting and contains an account of the destruction of the Bavarian Council Republic as well as how he managed to escape the firing squad.
It can be found on this site: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/3909/raete/freest.html
If I was to flesh the biog out, I'd have to do a bit of research and refresh my memory somewhat. So if I get the time...
Mar 15 2006 19:36
#7
Serge Forward wrote:
It can be found on this site: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/3909/raete/freest.htmlIf I was to flesh the biog out, I'd have to do a bit of research and refresh my memory somewhat. So if I get the time...
Cheers for that link will check it out and then chuck it in the library probably. But ok cool if you get the time please send it to us.
Mar 15 2006 20:26
#8
Here's an interesting Traven biog: http://www.voiceoftheslug.org.uk/travenhome.html though it continues the unproven assertion that Traven/Marut was Otto Feige - he may well have been, but it cannot be proven.
If anyone wants to check out his short story Assembly Line, it can be found at: http://www.voiceoftheslug.org.uk/assemblyline.html
Just checking you know we have a biography of B. Traven here:
http://www.libcom.org/history/articles/1890-b-traven/