Jack London

[Blackthorn]

Back in March on a trip to Hawaii I discovered the writings of Jack London. I had always thought he wrote only of the far north, but was surprised to see books by him in the stores there in the islands. Come to find out, he wrote prolifically on many subjects and places. Since so much of his writing is available for free on Kindle, I have spent a lot of time over the last months reading his material and have been blown away by the quality of his story telling. I recently read his story of hobo life across Wyoming, also the stories of the fish patrol in the Bay Area of California, many stories of Hawaii, and the book of his battle with alcohol in "John Barleycorn." I have ordered a number of his collections of short stories in hard copy because i like to always have a book with me, and his writing is among my very favorite now.

His writing is brilliant.

 

[Metatron]

Very high quality writing. I have read one of his classic animal books, Fang I think. While it is undeniably brilliant, I found that I was mostly engaged when humans were involved in the story. Very hard to have true empathy for , non-anthropomorphic wild animals!

 

[Blackthorn]

I have never read White Fang or Call of the Wild. I"ve only read his short stories and am now reading John Barleycorn, and I love the way his characterizations. This is really what has made me a fan of his.

 

[tmal]

First book I ever read was the Call of the Wild. I was 5-6 years old. I still have the book!

 

[Touchofevil]

White Fang and Call of the Wild were stories I read and reread many times when I was much younger. I cannot remember what else he wrote that I have read, but this thread has made want to revisit his works.

 

[John Galt]

Go to the ranch in Sonoma if you can. It will blow your mind. I went as a child, but still remember lifted and rotating feeding troughs for hogs, so they had to stand and walk on their hind legs and their hams would consequently be bigger, and also concrete floors with gutters in the pig pens to reduce filth & disease. Brilliant man!

Call of the Wild was one of my very early books.

 

[Blackthorn]

Go to the ranch in Sonoma if you can. It will blow your mind. I went as a child, but still remember lifted and rotating feeding troughs for hogs, so they had to stand and walk on their hind legs and their hams would consequently be bigger, and also concrete floors with gutters in the pig pens to reduce filth & disease. Brilliant man!

Call of the Wild was one of my very early books.

We have reservations there, in Sonoma, within the next couple of months. Can't wait.

We have also made reservations at Wolf Creek inn in Oregon, where he stayed from time to time while working on stories. I guess this is my Jack London discovery year. I'm loving it.

Here I am recently in Oakland at his old hangout. I'm currently reading his book, John Barleycorn, in which he mentions this place many times:

 

[John Galt]

Very cool!

 

[Touchofevil]

We have reservations there, in Sonoma, within the next couple of months. Can't wait.

We have also made reservations at Wolf Creek inn in Oregon, where he stayed from time to time while working on stories. I guess this is my Jack London discovery year. I'm loving it.

Here I am recently in Oakland at his old hangout. I'm currently reading his book, John Barleycorn, in which he mentions this place many times:

My brother, who lives somewhat nearby, has mentioned Heinolds many times as being very cool and a place we need to meet up at. We have yet to do so.

 

[Blackthorn]

It's a great place to sip some John Barleycorn and listen to the faded voices from the past.

 

[MikeKardec]

It is VERY interesting to read John Barleycorn (his real-ish autobiography) and Martin Eden (his fictional autobiography) back to back. It gives you an interesting perspective on how an author will adjust truth to form fiction without really departing from the truth ... or something. It's an interesting comparison.

The Cruise of the Dazzler builds a beautiful picture of turn of the century San Francisco. And "Holding Her Down" is a great view of what it takes to hop a train. My Dad rode quite a few freights in his time and this was as close to his stories as I have ever seen a written story come.

 

[Blackthorn]

It is VERY interesting to read John Barleycorn (his real-ish autobiography) and Martin Eden (his fictional autobiography) back to back. It gives you an interesting perspective on how an author will adjust truth to form fiction without really departing from the truth ... or something. It's an interesting comparison.

The Cruise of the Dazzler builds a beautiful picture of turn of the century San Francisco. And "Holding Her Down" is a great view of what it takes to hop a train. My Dad rode quite a few freights in his time and this was as close to his stories as I have ever seen a written story come.

Very interesting post, Mike. I've only just scratched the surface of his writing so far, but am loving it. I'm about one third of the way through John Barleycorn, reading it slowly, savoring it all. His depictions of events as a fifteen year old oyster pirate, and all the characters he knew, are riveting to someone like myself.

I got a lot of his books on my Kindle, and have just browsed through a lot of it, and I discovered a chapter called "Tramps passing in the night." Having always had a fascination for hoboes and tramps, I read that chapter immediately and loved it.

I have read all his stories of the fish patrol and most of his Hawaiian stories. I feel like I have discovered a gold mine.

With your post in mind, Mike, I just ordered "The Road" on my kindle. The Amazon.com description says: "The Road is Jack London's memoir of his days spent tramping across North America. Each of the nine chapters of this book discusses a different aspect of hobo life, such as jumping trains, begging for meals, or run-ins with the law. Part autobiography, part instruction manual, part glossary of hobo jargon--The Road provides an excellent first-hand account of the tramping experience. It brilliantly encapsulates a way of life practiced by thousands of unemployed men during the glory days of the railroad at the turn of the last century."

This should be a great read!

In a few weeks my wife and I are headed up to a hotel where London spent some time while he was writing a couple of his short stories. it'll be cool to be where he wrote.

 

[Renault]

Martin Eden!

 

[Blackthorn]

Martin Eden!

I'm going to have to check that one out!

 

[Wire9Vintage]

Oh! I can talk about JL ad nauseum as he was one of my main focuses in grad school. As far as recommended reading, the short stories are the best("Samuel" is my particular favorite). But Before Adam is a great book. My favorite of his novels, though, is The Star Rover. I loved teaching that to undergrads...London is SO much more than Call of the Wild and White Fang. If anyone cares, I can give you a run-down of the more interesting short stories...

 

[Blackthorn]

Oh! I can talk about JL ad nauseum as he was one of my main focuses in grad school. As far as recommended reading, the short stories are the best("Samuel" is my particular favorite). But Before Adam is a great book. My favorite of his novels, though, is The Star Rover. I loved teaching that to undergrads...London is SO much more than Call of the Wild and White Fang. If anyone cares, I can give you a run-down of the more interesting short stories...

I care!

 

[Touchofevil]

Oh! I can talk about JL ad nauseum as he was one of my main focuses in grad school. As far as recommended reading, the short stories are the best("Samuel" is my particular favorite). But Before Adam is a great book. My favorite of his novels, though, is The Star Rover. I loved teaching that to undergrads...London is SO much more than Call of the Wild and White Fang. If anyone cares, I can give you a run-down of the more interesting short stories...

I care as well! Blackthorn's thread and its discussions has reignited the passion I had for his stories when I was a young'un.

 

[Renault]

I think my all time fav JL short was "The Whale Tooth". Believe that is correct title.

 

[ingineer]

Free
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=jack+london
Richard

 

[Blackthorn]

Free
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=jack+london
Richard

Wow, great resource, Ingineer! Thanks!