The death ship - B. Traven
One of B. Traven's best known and earliest novels (first written in 1923 or '24). It's the story of a sailor who loses his papers and, unable to prove his very existence, ends up working on a "death ship" which is destined to be sunk for the insurance money. A cry from the heart against capitalist exploitation and all the bureaucratic paraphernalia of border control that goes with it. Working class grim humour at its finest!
Here presented in MOBI (Kindle format) and PDF.
The cotton pickers - B. Traven
B Traven's novel about migrant labourers, poverty, crappy jobs, and the occasional successful strike... Set in 1920s Mexico. Here presented in Kindle and PDF format.
The treasure of the Sierra Madre - B. Traven
B. Traven's best known novel about three men prospecting for gold in the mountains of Mexico, and the things it drives them to do.
More than any of Traven's novels, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is reminiscent of Jack London at his best. The story tells of three American adventurers who hunt for gold in the rugged Sierra Madre of Mexico. Since so many have seen the John Huston film starring Humphrey Bogart there is no need to recount the plot here.
Marut, Ret: The Early B. Traven - James Goldwasser
Submitted by Red Marriott on Aug 7 2009 23:39
A 1990s article surveying the then recently-acquired Ret Marut archive, now residing with the University of California. The documents confirm certain known facts of Marut's life and times, prior to his (now generally accepted) transformation into the reclusive anarchist novelist B. Traven. The collection also provides some further fuel for speculation on the life and identity of the enigma that remains B. Traven.
Marut and his partner Irene Mermet published the anti-war anarchist magazine "Der Zeigelbrenner" (The Brickmaker or Brickburner) throughout the 1st World war - and continued post-war, after Marut became a fugitive wanted for his participation in the Bavarian Council Republic.
Review of B. Traven's The Death Ship
A communist in Australia reviews B. Traven's The Death Ship, and relates it to the 2002 attacks on the working conditions of maritime workers in Australian waters.
Sadly, these days B.Traven and his many novels have been assigned to relative obscurity in the world of literature and politics. Traven was but one of the many aliases used by this mysterious author, adventurer and revolutionary.
Traven, B. – An Anti-Biography
Submitted by Red Marriott on May 22 2007 00:24
A short biography of the writer and anarchist, B Traven, also known as Feige, Ret Marut, Torsvan, Croves...
B. TRAVEN – AN ANTI-BIOGRAPHY
"An author should have no other biography than his books."
“The biography of a creative man is completely unimportant.”
– B. Traven
– B. Traven
Traven, B., 1890-1969
Submitted by Steven. on Sep 14 2006 14:24
A short biography of B. Traven, German underground author, anarchist and writer of the Treasure of Sierra Madre. [This article contains several factual inaccuracies and is typical of the many myths and half truths that have circulated concerning the mysterious B. Traven. For example, the date and location of birth given here are entirely speculative. For the known facts concerning Traven and a far more accurate account, see here; http://libcom.org/library/b-traven-anti-biography]
B. Traven, aka Ret Marut, Hal Croves, Traven Torsvan, Bruno Traven, Arnold, Barker, Otto Feige, Kraus, Lainger, Wienecke, and Ziegelbrenner
Born 5 March 1890 - Chicago, USA, died 26 March 1969 - Mexico City, Mexico
The Actor and the King - Ret Marut/B. Traven
A short story by the anarchist Ret Marut, who in later years became the well-known radical novelist B. Traven.
Assembly Line - B. Traven
This is an early Traven story, taken, in an uncredited translation, (probably by Traven himself - I have Anglicised the spelling) from The Night Visitor and other stories, Allison & Busby, 1983 - a volume long out of print. The original German version - Der Grossindustrielle - was first published by the Buchergilde Gutenburg in 1928, as part of the collection Der Busch.
In the Freest State in the World - Ret Marut (B. Traven)
A satirical text about German democracy and the Munich Soviet Republic of 1919, in which Ret Marut (who later became B. Traven) participated.
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