The best novels of Jack London. Jack London's stories in Russian
Who is Jack London? The biography of this person is extensive and diverse. We can say that it is full of adventures worthy of its heroes. Yes, it is: he wrote, drawing plots from own life, the conditions surrounding it, the people passing through it, their struggles and victories.
He always strove for the truth, tried to understand the system of values penetrating society and expose mistakes. How he looks like a Russian in this! But Jack is 100% American by birth. His phenomenon of similarity will surprise for a long time until the boundaries of mentalities are erased.
Childhood
In the middle of winter, January 12, 1876, John Griffith Cheney saw the light in Frisco. Unfortunately, the father did not recognize the pregnancy and left Flora without seeing his child. Flora was in despair. Leaving the newborn in the arms of the black nurse Jenny, she rushed to arrange her personal life.
As an adult, Jack London, whose biography is replete with adventures, did not forget her. He helped these women, considering both of them his mothers. Jenny sang songs to him, surrounded him with love and care. Later, it was she who lent him money for the sloop, giving away all the savings.
When the son was not even a year old, the family was reunited. Flora married a widower farmer with daughters Louise and Ida. The family moved constantly. Disabled war John London adopted Jack and gave him his last name. He grew up as a strong, healthy child. He taught himself to read and write at the age of five, and has been constantly seen with a book in his hand ever since. He even got caught for slacking off from household chores.
Stepfather became Jack's real father. A boy under 21 did not even suspect that he was not his own. They fished together, went to the market, hunted ducks. John gave him a real gun and a good fishing rod.
Young hard worker
There was always a lot to do on the farm. Coming home from school, Jack immediately joined in the work. He hated this "stupid work," as he called it. Even with great effort, this way of life did not lead to prosperity. The family rarely ate meat.
Finally ruined, the family moved to Auckland. Jack London has always loved books, he becomes a frequenter of libraries here. Reads avidly. When John was hit by a train and became crippled, thirteen-year-old Jack began to feed the whole family. Education was over.
He worked as a newspaper salesman, an errand boy in a bowling alley, and delivered ice. He gave all his earnings to his mother. From the age of 14, he becomes a worker at a cannery, and there is no time left for anything. But the head is free! And he thinks, thinks... Why do you need to turn into working cattle in order to live? Is there any other way to make money?
Jack himself believed that his work deprived him of adolescence.
Oyster Pirate
What did Jack London not work for! His biography also includes piracy. Fishing for oysters was regulated on the coast, a patrol followed the order. But sea romantics managed to illegally collect oysters under their noses and hand them over to a restaurant. There were frequent chases.
He was called the Prince of the Oyster Pirates for his courage at the age of 15. He himself said that if he had been convicted for all transgressions before the law, he would have received a sentence of hundreds of years. After that, he already served on the other side, in the oyster patrol. It was no less dangerous: desperate pirates could take revenge.
At the age of 17, he enters the service as a sailor and goes to the Japanese coast for seals.
How did he start writing
When Jack was eight years old, he read a book about the famous writer Italian boy from the peasants. From then on, he pondered, discussing with his sister, whether it was possible for him or not. teacher elementary school gave him written assignments during music lessons. Then he began to call himself Jack. This was the beginning of his writing career.
At the age of 17, his essay, written from his own experience, "A Typhoon Off the Coast of Japan", was highly praised by the San Francisco city newspaper. He writes that he knows well what he himself witnessed. At this moment, the writer Jack London was born. In 18 years he will write 50 books.
Jack London personal life
While studying at the university, Jack met a young man whose sister, Mabel, seemed to be an unearthly creature. The girl liked this rude guy, but marriage was out of the question - how to provide for a family? Jack is sure that you won't earn much with your hands. Need knowledge, and he sits down at the desk.
Jack London writes stories with the same tenacity with which he worked on the assembly line. He writes and sends them to the editors. But all manuscripts are returned. Then he becomes a laundry ironer until he leaves for Alaska. He does not find gold, he returns home and works as a postman. Still writing. The manuscripts are still coming back.
But here's the story accepts a monthly magazine, paying a fee. Following another magazine accepted another work. The young decided to get married, but Mabel's mother was against it. In funeral mood, at the grave of a friend, he meets Bessie, mourning her fiancé. Their feelings coincided, and they became spouses.
Jack becomes a famous writer, but Bessie is not interested in his work. The house is a full bowl and two daughters do not make him happy. Three years later, in 1904, he goes to Charmian. This " new woman”, as the writer called her, is a true friend, they go through life together. They had no children, but with Charmian he sailed in the Pacific.
She was his secretary, typing and answering letters. A true collaborator. She wrote a book about him. Firsthand, we now know what Jack London was, whose biography was recorded by the closest person. She survived her husband by four years and wished to lie next to him after death.
Alaska
In 1987, America was covered Golden fever. Jack goes to try his luck with his sister's husband. That's where his sailor skills came in handy. His name was Wolf. All whites were called that by the Indians, but Jack signed the letters "Wolf". Later, he will build the "Wolf House", dreaming of gathering friends there.
The area that was staked out was not rich in gold, but in mica. Scurvy finished off Jack, and he returned to native home. As always, he was in need. He sat down to write. He had something to fill the pages: during the long winter he absorbed the stories of hunters, prospectors, Indians, postmen and merchants.
Jack London filled his stories with their speech, their laws. Belief in goodness is the core of the entire Klondike series. He said he found himself there. “No one speaks there,” he wrote. Everyone thinks. Everyone, being there, received his worldview. Jack got his.
Data
Interesting facts about Jack London:
- He covered the events of the Russo-Japanese War, unequivocally condemning the methods of Japan. When the civil war broke out in Mexico, he again began to write on the front lines.
- He went on a circumnavigation. The sailboat "Snark" was built according to his drawings. Charmian learned to steer the ship along with him. For two years they conquered the Pacific Ocean.
- He advocated for the protection of animals from cruelty.
- Films based on Jack London only from 1910 to 2010 make up a huge figure - 136.
- Lake Jack London is in Russia, in the Magadan region.
- He is the first writer whose work brought in a million dollars.
Jack London for kids
Unshakable faith in a good beginning in a person, the triumph of friendship over meanness, self-sacrifice true love- all these principles make the writer's stories indispensable for the education of children. When you can’t see worthy examples in the surrounding life, literature saves:
- "White Fang" is a story that will not leave anyone indifferent. The adventures of the wolf dog and his appreciation for the friendship of the new owner completely change the nature of the animal. He even saves the house and those living in it from a dangerous criminal, and when the owner is in trouble, he tries to bark for the first time.
- "The Call of the Ancestors" is a story about a dog and written from her perspective, she, however, tells a lot about the people of the icy desert, mastering the land.
- "Hearts of Three" is the first films based on Jack London. But even despite the many film adaptations, it is still much more interesting to read the book.
- "White Silence" - stories about Alaska.
Jack London, whose books are in every library, instills courage in the face of trials. Its heroes are strong noble people. He was like that too.
Best Books
The works of Jack London, the list of which includes 20 novels, can be divided according to the direction of the plot:
- These are, first of all, "Northern stories", the novel "Daughter of the Snows".
- Then "Tales of the Fishing Patrol" and other marine works, the novel "The Sea Wolf".
- Social works: "John is a Barleycorn", "People of the Abyss" and "Martin Eden".
- "Tales of the South Seas", written on travels on the schooner "Snark".
- His dystopian novel Iron heel» (1908) portends the victory of fascism.
- "Moon Valley", "Little Housewife big house where he describes life on the ranch using his own experience.
- The play "Theft".
- Scenario "Hearts of three".
The works of Jack London (everyone has their own list of favorites) do not leave indifferent. Some like strength, struggle and victory over the elements. Others appreciate the love of life. Still others admire moral choice heroes.
To understand what it is like to freeze to death - to turn into an insensitive machine, to decide whether to live free or die - you can read the stories "Bonfire", "Apostate" and "Kulau the Leper".
ranch museum
When Jack became disillusioned with the "talking shop" about socialism, he got excited about the idea of farming. Realizing that everything comes from the earth - food, clothing, shelter - he literally started with himself, buying an infertile ranch with depleted soil. At first, they did not collect anything from him, they only invested.
Neighbors were surprised at the newcomer's success: his pigs brought in several times more income. The owner simply bought thoroughbred animals and looked after them according to science.
He called his ranch "Beauty" and lived here for the last 11 years. He insisted: “This is not a summer cottage, but a house in the country, because I am a farmer.” In the center of a valley of vineyards, among heady smells, it was supposed to become a family nest of Londons. A “Wolf House”, similar to a castle, is being built. it burns.Jack is sure it's arson.The carcass now stands as a memorial to his good intentions.
After the death of the writer, there is a park and a museum here. He bequeathed to bury himself right there.
grave
The writer died on November 22, 1916 at his ranch in Glen Ellen. Even when he bought it, he drew attention to the fenced oak. It turned out to be the grave of the children of the first settlers of Greenlaw. “They must be very lonely here,” Jack said. He chose this place for himself as his last refuge.
Shortly before his death, he expressed to his sister and Charmian the wish that his ashes be buried on the hill where the children of Greenlaw lie. And ordered to put instead tombstone big red boulder. And so it was done. The stone was taken out of the ruins of the "Wolf House" and carried on four horses.
He organically blended into the surrounding landscape. The fact that there is nothing made by human hands on the grave causes many thoughts and feelings. He wanted it that way. And until now, his grave speaks silently.
“I love my ranch so much!” - we feel, looking around. “David and Lilly, you are no longer alone. I am with you,” we understand the choice of location. “Don’t you dare put up a monument to me. I'm not the Commander," emanates from the stone. “Friends, I am with you. I am in my books. These are my letters to you,” we realize the message through the years.
Jack London; birth name - John Griffith Cheney; USA, San Francisco; 01/12/1876 - 11/22/1916
Jack London is an internationally recognized master of adventure and fantasy genre. Thanks to his socialist convictions, his works are second only to the most published foreign authors in USSR. Jack London's books have been filmed more than once. this moment there are more than 100 films created based on his works. Jack London's contribution to world literature the popularity of his books is truly enormous and in our time is the best proof of their high quality.
Biography of Jack London
Jack London was born in 1876 in a working-class neighborhood in San Francisco. His birth was preceded loud scandal associated with his mother. According to her, Jack's father was the astrologer William Cheney, but after the news of Flora Wellman's pregnancy, he demanded that she have an abortion. The girl made an unsuccessful attempt to shoot herself, which caused a wide resonance in society. Immediately after the birth, Flora left Jack London in the care of her former slave, Virginia Prentiss, who took care of the child until his mother married John London, who gave new surname Flora's child.
John London was disabled civil war and had two daughters. The eldest of them, Eliza, became Jack London's true friend for life. With the onset of the economic crisis in 1973, the London family traveled extensively in search of work. In this regard, John's education was episodic and he graduated from school in Auckland. Here he became addicted to literature. This was made possible thanks to a responsive librarian in local libraries who strongly encouraged the boy's desire for education.
Also in school years Jack London worked as a paperboy, set up skittles at the bowling alley and many other small jobs. At the age of 14, he got a job canning factory where he worked for almost a year. At the age of 15, he borrowed money from Virginia Prentiss, who became close to him, and bought a small schooner, which allowed him to become an oyster pirate. An oyster pirate is a man who fished oysters illegally in the bays of San Francisco. When his schooner was damaged, he took a job with a fishing patrol that fought poaching. And already at the age of 18 he went to his first distant voyage on the whaling ship Sophie Sutherland. It was this voyage that formed the basis of Jack London's first book, Typhoon Off the Coast of Japan, which was published in 1893. 
After that, Jack London participated in the march of the unemployed to Washington, for which he received a month in prison, joined the Socialist Party and is trying to continue his studies. But the lack of funds does not allow him to study at the University of California for more than three semesters, and he, succumbing to the gold rush, goes to Alaska. Here his undertakings are unsuccessful, but he gains invaluable experience for his future career. literary career. This is what he begins to do immediately after returning from Alaska. In 1900, Jack London's first collection of short stories, The Son of the Wolf, was published. In the same year he marries for the first time. From his marriage to Bessie Maddern, he left two daughters - Bess and Joan. At the same time, he works 15-17 hours a day and his books “The God of His Fathers”, “Children of Frost” and others do not go unnoticed.
In 1905, Jack London marries Charmian Kittredge, with whom he has been in love for about two years. By this time he's had enough famous writer and with the proceeds, he buys the Glen Ellen Ranch in California. From that time on, he devoted himself more and more actively to agriculture, expanding his ranch and trying new technologies in agriculture. As a result, he has financial difficulties, because of which he has to write to order, and in 1914 even go to Mexico. Here he works as a war correspondent and justifies the action of the American soldiers who invaded Mexico. This caused a flurry of criticism from members of the Socialist Party against him, which was partly the reason for his withdrawal from the party. At this time, he increasingly abuses alcohol, which leads to kidney disease. In order to reduce pain, he is prescribed morphine, from an overdose of which Jack London ultimately died. Whether it was an accident or suicide is still debated by the writer's biographers.
Jack London Books at Top Books
Books by Jack London are so popular to read that they have been included in the ratings of our site more than once. Most often, our rating includes the work of Jack London "Martin Eden", which is presented in school curriculum. Therefore, from time to time it also gets into our rating. And given the dynamics of Jack London's interest in reading, this is far from an isolated case, and the writer's books will continue to be presented in the ratings of our site.
Abstract
The volume presents the most famous works of the classic American Literature Jack London.
JACK LONDON
white silence
Son of the Wolf
Forty Mile
In a distant land
For those who are on the way!
Northern Odyssey
great riddle
Daughter of the Northern Lights
Law of life
League of Old Men
a thousand dozen
Tertiary shard
Love of life
brown wolf
One day stay
The path of false suns
Disease of the Lone Leader
gold mine
Aliens from the Sun
Where the paths diverge
The courage of a woman
Piece of meat
Mapui house
Atu them, atu!
scary solomon islands
New Gibson Jokers
Night on Goboto
Pearls of Parley
Like the Argonauts of old...
JACK LONDON
Collection of stories and novels
white silence
Carmen won't even last two days.
Mason spat out a piece of ice and looked dejectedly at the unfortunate animal, then, raising the dog's paw to his mouth, he began to bite the ice again, frozen between her fingers in large bumps.
No matter how many dogs I met with intricate nicknames, they were all no good, ”he said, having finished his business, and pushed the dog away. “They get weak and eventually die. Have you seen anything bad happen to the dog, which is simply called Kasyar, Sivash or Husky? Never! Look at Shukum: he...
Once! The emaciated dog shot up, almost grabbing Mason's throat with his fangs.
What did you come up with?
A strong blow to the head with the handle of the whip knocked the dog over into the snow; she trembled convulsively, yellow saliva dripped from her fangs.
I say, look at Shukum: Shukum will not let you down. I bet it won't be a week before he's bullied Carmen.
And I,” said Malemute Kid, turning over the bread that was thawing by the fire, “I bet that we ourselves will eat Shukum before we get to the place. What do you say to that, Ruth?
The Indian woman dropped a piece of ice into the coffee to settle the thick, looked from Malemute Kid to her husband, then to the dogs, but said nothing. Such an obvious truth did not require confirmation. They had no other choice. There are two hundred miles of unpaved road ahead, there is only enough food for six days, and there is nothing at all for the dogs.
Both hunters and the woman moved closer to the fire and began to eat a meager breakfast. The dogs lay in the harness, as it was a short day's stop, and enviously watched every bit of them.
WITH tomorrow no breakfasts, said Mailmute Kid, and keep an eye on the dogs; they are completely out of hand, and look, they will pounce on us if an opportunity presents itself.
But I was once the leader of the Methodist congregation and taught Sunday school!
And, having announced this for no reason, Mason plunged into the contemplation of his moccasins, from which steam was coming. Ruth snapped him out of his reverie by pouring him a cup of coffee.
Thank God we have plenty of tea. I've seen tea grow at home in Tennessee. What wouldn't I give now for a hot corn tortilla! Don't worry, Ruth, just a little more, and you won't have to starve anymore, and you won't have to wear moccasins either.
At these words the woman ceased to frown, and her eyes lit up with love for her. white master- the first white man she met, the first man who showed her that in a woman one can see not only an animal or beast of burden.
Yes, Ruth, - continued her husband in that conditional language, the only one in which they could communicate with each other, - soon we will get out of here, get into the boat white man and we'll go to Salt Water. Yes, bad water, stormy water - like water mountains jump up and down. And how much of it, how long to go on it! You drive ten dreams, twenty dreams - for greater clarity, Mason counted the days on his fingers - and all the time water, bad water. Then we will arrive in a large village, there are a lot of people, just like midges in summer. The wigwams are so tall - ten, twenty pines!.. Eh!
He fell silent, unable to find words, and cast a pleading look at Malemute Kid, then carefully began to show with his hands how high it would be if twenty pine trees were stacked one on top of the other. Malemute Kid smiled mockingly, but Ruth's eyes widened with surprise and happiness; she thought that her husband was joking, and such mercy gladdened her poor womanly heart.
And then we sit in ... in a box, and - piff! - go. - As an explanation, Mason threw an empty mug into the air and, deftly catching it, shouted: - And now - puff! - already arrived! O great shamans! You're going to Fort Yukon, and I'm going to Arctic City - twenty-five dreams. A long rope from there to here, I grab this rope and say: “Hello, Ruth! How are you?" And you say, "Is that you, hubby?" I say yes". And you say: “You can’t bake bread: there is no more soda.” Then I say: “Look in the closet, under the flour. Goodbye!" You go to the closet and take as much soda as you need. And all the time you're in Fort Yukon and I'm in Arctic City. Here they are, shamans!
Ruth smiled so innocently at this fairy tale that the men rolled with laughter. The noise raised by the fighting dogs interrupted the tales of the wonders of the distant country, and by the time the fighters were separated, the woman had already managed to tie the sledges, and everything was ready to move on.
Go ahead, Bald! Hey go ahead!
Mason deftly cracked the whip and, when the dogs began, slowly squealing, to stretch the traces, he rested on the swivel pole and moved the frozen sled from its place. Ruth followed him with the second team, and Mailmute Kid, who helped her to start, brought up the rear. strong and stern person, capable of knocking down a bull with one blow, he could not beat the unfortunate dogs and, if possible, spared them, which the drovers rarely do. Sometimes Mailmute Kid almost wept with pity as he looked at them.
Come on, lame-legs! he muttered after several futile attempts to move the heavy sled.
Finally, his patience was rewarded, and, squealing in pain, the dogs rushed to catch up with their brethren.
The conversations were silent. The hard way does not allow such luxury. And riding in the north is hard, murderous work. Happy is he who, at the cost of silence, endures a day of such a journey, and even then along a paved path.
But there is no more exhausting work than laying a road. At every step, the wide wicker skis fall through, and the legs sink into the snow up to the knees. Then you need to carefully pull out the leg - a tiny fraction of an inch deviation from the vertical threatens disaster - until the surface of the ski is clear of snow. Then step forward and you begin to raise the other leg, also at least half a yard. Whoever does this for the first time falls from exhaustion after a hundred yards, even if before that he does not hook one ski to another and does not stretch to his full height, trusting in the treacherous snow. Whoever manages all day long not to get under the feet of dogs once, he can climb into a sleeping bag with a clear conscience and with the greatest pride; and the one who walks twenty dreams along the great North Path, even the gods can envy.
The day was drawing to a close, and the travelers, overwhelmed by the grandeur of the White Silence, silently made their way. Nature has many ways to convince man of his mortality: the continuous alternation of the ebb and flow, the fury of the storm, the horrors of the earthquake, the thunderous peal of the celestial artillery. But the most powerful, the most devastating is the White Silence in its impassivity. Nothing moves, the sky is bright as polished copper, the slightest whisper seems sacrilegious, and a person is frightened. own voice. The only particle of the living, moving through the ghostly desert of the dead world, he is afraid of his insolence, acutely aware that he is just a worm. Strange thoughts arise by themselves, the mystery of the universe seeks its expression. And a fear of death, of God, of the whole world, finds itself on a person, and together with fear - the hope of resurrection and life and longing for immortality - the futile striving of captive matter; that's when a person is left alone with God.
Real name John Griffith Cheney(John Griffith Chaney). Born January 12, 1876 in San Francisco. The mother of the future writer, Flora Wellman, was a music teacher and was fond of spiritualism, claiming that she had a spiritual connection with an Indian leader. She became pregnant by the astrologer William Cheney, with whom she lived together for some time in San Francisco. Upon learning of Flora's pregnancy, William began to insist that she have an abortion, but she categorically refused and, in a fit of desperation, tried to shoot herself, but only slightly injured herself.
After the birth of the baby, Flora left him for some time in the care of her former slave Virginia Prentiss, who remained for London important person throughout his life. At the end of the same 1876, Flora married John London, an invalid and a veteran of the American Civil War, after which she took the baby back to her. The boy began to be called John London (Jack is a diminutive form of the name John). After some time, the family moved to the city of Oakland, neighboring San Francisco, where London eventually graduated from high school.
Jack London started his own career early working life full of hardships. As a schoolboy, he sold morning and evening newspapers. After graduating from elementary school at the age of fourteen, he entered a cannery factory as a worker. The work was very hard and he left the factory. Was an "oyster pirate", illegally caught oysters in San Francisco Bay (described in "Tales of the Fishing Patrol"). In 1893, he was hired as a sailor on a fishing schooner, going to catch seals to the shores of Japan and the Bering Sea. The first voyage gave London many vivid impressions, which later formed the basis of many of his sea stories and novels (The Sea Wolf, etc.). Subsequently, he also worked as an ironer in a laundry and as a fireman (described in Martin Eden).
London's first essay, "A Typhoon Off the Coast of Japan", which launched his literary career, for which he won first prize in a San Francisco newspaper, was published on November 12, 1893.
In 1894 he took part in the march of the unemployed to Washington (feature "Hold on!"), After which he spent a month in prison for vagrancy ("Straightjacket"). In 1895 he joined the Socialist Labor Party of the USA, from 1900 (in some sources 1901 is indicated) - a member of the Socialist Party of the USA, from which he left in 1914 (in some sources 1916 is indicated); The statement cited the loss of faith in its "fighting spirit" as the reason for the break with the party.
Self-prepared and successfully passed entrance exams, Jack London entered the University of California, but after the 3rd semester, due to lack of funds for his studies, he was forced to leave. In the spring of 1897, Jack London succumbed to the Gold Rush and left for Alaska. He returned to San Francisco in 1898, having experienced all the charms of the northern winter. Instead of gold, fate endowed Jack London with meetings with the future heroes of his works.
He became more serious about literature at the age of 23, after returning from Alaska: the first northern stories were published in 1899, and already in 1900 his first book was published - a collection of stories "The Son of the Wolf". This was followed by the following collections of short stories: "The God of His Fathers" (Chicago, 1901), "Children of the Frost" (New York, 1902), "Faith in Man" (New York, 1904), "Moon Face" (New York , 1906), The Lost Face (New York, 1910), as well as the novels The Daughter of the Snows (1902), The Sea Wolf (1904), Martin Eden (1909), which created the writer's widest popularity. The writer worked very hard, 15-17 hours a day. And he managed to write about 40 great books in his entire not very long writing career.
In 1902, London visited England, in fact, in London, which gave him material for writing the book "People of the Abyss" (People of the Abyss), which, to the surprise of many, was a success in the USA, unlike England. Upon his return to America, he gives lectures in various cities, mostly of a socialist nature, and organizes departments of the “Common Student Society”. In 1904-05. London works as a war correspondent for Russo-Japanese War. In 1907 the writer undertakes trip around the world. By this time, thanks to high fees, London becomes a wealthy man.
Jack London was very popular in the USSR and in Russia, not least because of his sympathy for the ideas of socialism, membership in the Socialist Labor Party, and also as a writer who glorifies the inflexibility of the spirit and life values non-material nature (friendship, honesty, diligence, justice), which was promoted in the socialist state and was natural for the mentality of the Russian people, which was formed within the Russian community. The attention of Soviet readers was not focused on the fact that he was America's highest paid writer. His fee reached 50 thousand dollars for a book, which was a fantastic amount. However, the writer himself never gave anyone a reason to accuse himself of writing for the sake of money. He lacked them - so it would be more accurate to put it. And in the novel "Martin Eden", the most autobiographical of all his works, Jack London showed the death of the soul young writer and his beloved under the influence of the thirst for money. The lust for life was the idea of his works, but not the lust for gold.
IN last years London was going through creative crisis, in connection with which he began to abuse alcohol (later he quit). Because of the crisis, the writer was even forced to buy a plot for a new novel. Such a plot was sold to London by the aspiring American writer Sinclair Lewis. London managed to give the future novel a name - "The Murder Bureau", - but he managed to write quite a bit, as he soon died.
London died on November 22, 1916 in the town of Glen Ellen (California). In recent years, he suffered from a kidney disease (uremia) and died from poisoning with morphine prescribed to him.
The most famous among the public is the version of suicide, however, doctors note that London did not have sufficient knowledge to calculate the lethal dose of morphine, nor serious grounds for suicide (he did not leave suicide note and chose a completely "unmanly" way). Deliberate self-poisoning began to spread in later times - suffice it to recall the fate of Sigmund Freud. But the fact that the very reasoning about the sources of suicides existed in his head is unequivocal. So, his favorite hero Martin Eden quite meaningfully commits suicide, being in a depressed state due to unfulfilled expectations about the principles of the existence of the "higher" American society and psychological fatigue from work. related topic the story "Semper Idem" is also dedicated; London also mentions his thoughts about suicide in the biographical story "John Barleycorn".
Fantastic in creativity.
Despite the fact that Jack London's main fame was brought by his "northern stories", in his work he repeatedly came out on the themes and problems of SF. Already in the first published story "A Thousand Deaths", the scientist uses his own son as a test subject, conducting experiments on rejuvenation; dedicated to the same topic humorous story"The Rejuvenation of Major Rathbone" (1899). In "Shadow and Flash" the idea of the invisible man is realized by scientific methods, and in the story "The Enemy of the World" (1908) - a superweapon that gives power over the world. Main character short story "The Red Deity" (1918), discovers a tribe lost in the jungle who worship a mysterious orb from outer space. The racist ideas of the "white man's burden", at one time shared by London, found expression in the story "An Unusual Invasion" (1910), in which "white" nations carry out genocide against the Chinese (the latter are simply poisoned like insects from the air) in order to establish on The land of utopia.
Some famous works London is devoted to the problems of evolution. In Before Adam (1906), which no doubt inspired William Golding's The Heirs, genetic memory allows consciousness to modern man travel to the prehistoric past, where "progress" (People of Fire) is gradually replacing historical scene innocent children of nature. The stories "The Power of the Strong" (1911) and "When the World Was Young" (1910) are devoted to the same theme. And in the story “A Fragment of the Tertiary Epoch” we are talking about another relic - a mammoth that has survived to this day.
The soul of the hero of the novel "The Interstellar Wanderer" (1915), a prisoner in an American prison, without any scientific justification is able to "spiritually" travel in time, incarnating in the previous reincarnations of the hero, from a Roman legionnaire to an American pioneer migrant. The world after the catastrophe, which again came to primitive barbarism, is impressively depicted in the story "The Scarlet Plague" (1912).
The political views of London led to the appearance of his utopian works, of which the most famous, the novel The Iron Heel (1907), belongs to the heights of the writer's work and literary utopia (or dystopia) of the beginning of the century. Back in the 27th century, historians study documents dating back to the late 20th century in which the US groans under the rule of a fascist oligarchy; the struggle of the oppressed proletariat against capital is only flaring up, but it is clear from the prologue that in time it will lead to success. Peru London owns a number of stories on the same subject: "A Curious Fragment" (1907), again representing the sinister figure of the ruler-oligarch; "Goliath" (1908), whose hero invents a new source of energy and with its help establishes a worldwide "proletarian dictatorship"; in the short story Debs' Dream (1909), the socialist revolution is victorious all over the world as a result of a general strike.
Collections have been published abroad fantastic works Jack London, whose composition varied markedly, depending on the task of the compiler. In Russian, a similar collection was published in 1993, when the compiler Vil Bykov tried to collect under one cover all the translated fantastic short prose by Jack London.
(V. Gakov, with changes)
Jack London) - famous American writer. Born January 12, 1876 in San Francisco. At birth, he was given the name Griffith Cheney (John Griffith Chaney). He worked in the genre of literature, the author of several dozen world-famous works.
With his birth, or rather the history of his birth, a not very bright story is connected. His mother Flora Wellman was a music teacher and was actively involved in spiritualism, i.e. summoning spirits. She claimed that she was in constant communication with the Indian leader, but it is very difficult to prove this. She lived with William Cheney, who was an astrologer. Upon learning of her pregnancy, the father of the future writer forced her to have an abortion, but she refused and tried to commit suicide, but as a result she only slightly injured herself by firing a pistol.
After the birth of Jack London, they gave the care of Virginia Prentiss, who was a former slave. For Jack, she became a second mother. In 1876, his mother married John London and took her son to her. Since then, they began to call him Jack London.
Before becoming a writer, Jack London eked out a half-starved existence. He sold newspapers and books, was a cannery worker, fished oysters illegally, was an ironer, a fireman and a sailor. It was the work of a sailor that became for him one of the biggest impressions in his life. He later wrote many nautical works about this, in particular The Sea Wolf.
The beginning of his literary career dates back to 1893. Then his first essay was published, called Typhoon off the coast of Japan. For this work he received his first prize. Close fiction he began to study only in 1899, when, after returning from Alaska, he wrote a whole cycle of stories about the northern lands. These books, stories and novels brought him worldwide fame. Some of the most famous are White Fang, Hearts of Three, Call of the Ancestors and so on. In total, he wrote about 40 books in his life. In addition to his adventure works, D. London also wrote several works: Goliath, Scarlet Plague, When the world was young and some others.
In the last years of his life, he began to abuse alcohol heavily, as he was going through a severe creative crisis. He even had to go to buy a plot for a new novel. For $78,000, he bought it from fellow writer Lewis Sinclair. The novel was called The Murder Bureau, but Jack London was never destined to write it.
November 22, 1916 at the age of 40, in the town of Glen Ellen, famous writer, who gave the world many amazing books that are still studied in schools in many countries, died of morphine poisoning. He was not a drug addict at all - morphine was prescribed to him for a kidney disease of uremia. His grave is in Jack London State Park (Glen Ellen).
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Books by Jack London:
White Fang
Daughter of the Snows
Moon Valley
Little mistress of a big house
Smoke Bellew
Sea Wolf
call of the ancestors
Scarlet Plague
In Addo Bay
In a distant land
great riddle
Great sorcerer
Enemy of the whole world
John - barleycorn
yellow handkerchief
Pearls of Parley
For those who are on the way
Law of life
green serpent
golden canyon
sperm whale tooth
moon valley
Interstellar wanderer
Traveling on the Snark
Northern Odyssey
Hearts of Three
Scary Solomon Islands
Son of the Sun
The path of false suns
A thousand deaths
Temple of Pride
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