Review of The Iron Heel by Jack London

As part of my research in projects odtwe I have been reading some classics of utopian and dystopian fiction. Most recently I completed Jack London’s The Iron Heel.

Reading thorough the reviews on GoodReads, you can likely see that this novel of capitalist dystopia surpassed by utopian ideals splits opinion.

Published in 1908, it’s considered to be the first ‘dystopian novel’ and is very much of its time. About 60% of the book is a Socialist vs Capitalist diatribe wrapped in a loose plot. Then the last part of the book covers the violent struggle of the ‘people’ against the ‘The Iron Heel’. The narrative is the diaries of one of the characters with several footnotes of the discoverer of the diaries, who is looking back on them from the distant future.

It is said that the ‘The Iron Heel’ influenced 1984 and Player Piano (Vonnegut) so I was keen to read it. Not necessarily the best dystopian fiction I have ever read, but I found it compelling enough and enjoyable in places, more educational than entertainment.