Wire9Vintage
A-List Customer
- Messages
- 411
- Location
- Texas
JL stories fall into a few main categories: the North Pacific, the South Pacific, California, and then the "others". They were typically published in collections, so it's always interesting to look at how he packaged them up, but certainly they can all stand alone.
JL can be problematic. He is considered quite racist at times, primarily against Asian people. Yet he is very sympathetic usually toward indigenous Americans, and rather than try and capture a dialect, tends to write their dialogue in almost King James style.
Some favourites that come to mind are "Mauki," "The Red One," "Samuel," "A piece of Steak," .... And a lot of others!
He also was a great photographer, and between his and his wife Charmian's photos, they capture nearly the whole world of their day. I particularly like his book People of the Abyss about the East End of London.
And a key thing.., He did NOT commit suicide. An early biographer jumped to a ton of conclusions and reported that. His medical records do not support that, his wife and daughters denied it, and there is zero evidence for that claim. He was very sick when he died at the very young age of 40, and had struggled for most of his life with various health problems. He also lost most of his teeth quite young, which is why photos of him smiling big enough to show teeth are rare.
I could go on...
if you want to learn more about him--and he's almost more interesting than any of his fiction, read anything by my former professor Jeanne Campbell Reesman, or Clarice Stasz. The Jack London Online Collection is at http:/london.sonoma.edu and is excellent.
JL can be problematic. He is considered quite racist at times, primarily against Asian people. Yet he is very sympathetic usually toward indigenous Americans, and rather than try and capture a dialect, tends to write their dialogue in almost King James style.
Some favourites that come to mind are "Mauki," "The Red One," "Samuel," "A piece of Steak," .... And a lot of others!
He also was a great photographer, and between his and his wife Charmian's photos, they capture nearly the whole world of their day. I particularly like his book People of the Abyss about the East End of London.
And a key thing.., He did NOT commit suicide. An early biographer jumped to a ton of conclusions and reported that. His medical records do not support that, his wife and daughters denied it, and there is zero evidence for that claim. He was very sick when he died at the very young age of 40, and had struggled for most of his life with various health problems. He also lost most of his teeth quite young, which is why photos of him smiling big enough to show teeth are rare.
I could go on...
if you want to learn more about him--and he's almost more interesting than any of his fiction, read anything by my former professor Jeanne Campbell Reesman, or Clarice Stasz. The Jack London Online Collection is at http:/london.sonoma.edu and is excellent.
