10 of the best books of Jack London
The famous American writer of the early 20th century, Jack London, is known and loved by many today, although he did not receive a quality literary education because he could not pay for it. Nevertheless, Jack London was the second by the number of published books in the USSR. The total circulation of published books was 77.153 million copies.
Jack made a difficult journey from the unskilled laborer, the sailor and the gold digger to the classic, whose books read both children and adults. His first serious work called "Typhoon off the coast of Japan," he wrote, being a 17-year-old boy. This work was highly appreciated by critics, and the writer's fame from that time began to spread far beyond America.
To develop such a penetrating, bright and rich syllable, the writer was helped by the love of literature. He avidly read the works of recognized world classics. Not being able to go to university, the young man engaged in self-education and quite successfully. Working hard to be able to at least feed, the future writer came to the conclusion that you can earn good money only by doing intellectual work. But life again forced Jack to go to Alaska as a prospector. By the way, he never found gold there, but he was able to collect a lot of material for his future books. Subsequent works by Jack London opened for the wide circle of readers the true beauty of the North and revealed the talent of the young writer to the world. London began to earn good money by printing and publishing its literary works. In our rankings collected the most popular and interesting, according to readers and writers, the works of Jack London.
Top Jack London's Best Books
| Nomination | a place | Composition | rating |
| Top Jack London's Best Books | 1 | Martin eden | 4.9 |
| 2 | White Fang | 4.8 | |
| 3 | Wanderer by the stars | 4.8 | |
| 4 | Sea wolf | 4.7 | |
| 5 | Hearts of three | 4.7 | |
| 6 | Call of the Ancestors | 4.7 | |
| 7 | Time-no-wait | 4.6 | |
| 8 | Little mistress of a big house | 4.5 | |
| 9 | Moon valley | 4.5 | |
| 10 | Love of life | 4.5 |
Martin eden
Book author: Jack London
Rating: 4.9
"Martin Eden" - occupies the first line of our rating, being one of the most popular novels by Jack London, both in his homeland and far beyond its borders. The novel was first published in 1908 in the magazine "Pacific Monthly" and only in 1909 it was published as a separate book by the publishing house MacMillan Company.
The novel is largely autobiographical. An attentive reader can draw many parallels between the author and his main character. Martin Eden and Jack himself are people from the lower strata of society who have succeeded in the literary field thanks to their own efforts. As a young man, Jack tried many professions, which is why he so organically weaves the main character’s adventures into the plot, which he works as a seaman, a worker in a factory and a laundry room to achieve his dream.
The image of the main character - the beloved Martin - a girl from the higher bourgeois circles, for whom he decided to achieve success, was inspired by the writer with his first love - Mable Applgart.At the end of the novel, Jack London suggests that the main character, all his life searching for love only and seeking recognition in society for love, came to understand that he spent himself on emptiness and illusion. There is no place for a creative, vulnerable person in bourgeois society. And all attempts to become friends among strangers, the pursuit of material values - lead only to one thing - to the premature inner death of a person. In shaping the character’s image, Jack London relied on the philosophy of Herbert Spencer and Friedrich Nietzsche. The film based on the novel was released 10 years after its first publication (1918).
White Fang
Book author: Jack London
Rating: 4.8
The legendary story of a wolf named White Fang occupies the second position of our literary rating. The adventure story “White Fang” (White Fang) was first published in The Outing Magazine, in numbers from May to October, in 1906.
The novel tells about the difficult fate of a half-dog-half-wave, which was tamed by people during the gold rush in Alaska, which occurred in the late 19th century. This story is full of different events - sometimes strange, sometimes sentimental, and even dramatic. But life teaches our protagonist that no matter how severe the outside world is, a person can cause another much more suffering. And so that we, people, could see ourselves from the outside, the writer helped the reader to look at himself.
Most of the book is shown through the eyes of animals that clearly notice people's attitudes toward themselves. The author subtly reveals the psychology and motives of the actions of White Fang and leads to the fact that sometimes a kind word and simple kind attitude towards the world, animals, people and nature can save your life. Good begets only good.
The novel was filmed 6 times. It was first filmed in the USSR in 1946 (dir. A. Zguridi). The last film adaptation was presented to the public in 2018, in the form of an animated feature film (dir. A. Espigares).
Wanderer by the stars
Book author: Jack London
Rating: 4.8
“The Wanderer by the Stars” or “Straitjacket,” which is the apotheosis of Jack London's work, occupies the third level of the rating. Published in 1915, the novel actually describes real events. At that time, torture of prisoners with a straitjacket was indeed used in the prisons of San Quentin. This story Jack London learned from a former convict convicted of robbery robberies, Ed Morrell, who became the prototype of the main character, and his name was used for a secondary character. London secured the release of Morrell, and subsequently he often visited the writer at his ranch.
Based on the title, one could argue that this work is a science fiction, but this is too atypical for the author. The novel represents a kind of esoteric offshoot, which is also not entirely in the format of London.
The story is based on the story of a former professor of agronomy, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in a solitary confinement cell in a California prison. Tied up with a piece of tarpaulin, and forced to be in such a state for hours, the prisoner finds a way to free himself from the bonds of matter and begins to travel outside the body and space, getting into old France, now in ancient Egypt, then to the West United States during times of great migration.
Some of these journeys are described very vividly and emotionally, others are made through the plot with light strokes. However, a realistic narrative is combined with an inattentive attitude to the story. The novel is replete with inaccurate dates, names and fictional historical events that an attentive reader will notice without difficulty.
The thread of excellence over matter passes through the whole work as a burning thread. London accurately reveals the subject of the indestructibility of the spirit, optimism and willpower of a person even in the face of difficult life circumstances.Perhaps this is not the best book to get acquainted with the author, but it would be wrong for fans of Jack London to ignore it. The novel has gone through two film versions. In 1920, under the name The Star Rover and in 2005, when the tape came The Jacket, based on the work "The Wanderer by the Stars."
Sea wolf
Book author: Jack London
Rating: 4.7
Jack London's novel Sea Wolf, written back in 1904 and vigorously greeted by public and critics, falls into fourth place in the rating. The work tells about the complex human relationships of two completely opposite people who have extremely different outlooks on life.
In the center of the plot is either a man, or a beast named Wolf Larsen, who reads Shakespeare's works and, at the same time, does not hesitate to express his animal instincts. He is fierce, cruel and implacable. The prototype of the Wolf Larsen was Alexander MacLaine - one of the most famous poachers of the 19th century, who by the age of 34 had become an outstanding captain of the Western flotilla. By the time the novel was written, MacLane had become a true legend — he was wanted by 5 states and was suspected of 70 murders.
But one day life confronts Wolf Larsen with his complete opposite. On the ship "Ghost", the captain of which he is, by chance gets an intellectual and literary critic pampered with high life, a real gentleman Humphrey Van Weyden. The only thing that unites these two is the love of literature. What will this chance encounter lead to? What will win - highly moral human qualities or animal nature?
Through the eyes of two characters we seem to see the world from different angles - on the one hand it is kind and beautiful, and on the other it is cruel and merciless. And everything depends only on what the observer is inside. Found in this, in some gloomy plot, a place for true love, which is precisely that saving schooner, capable of carrying through all sorrows and sufferings and showing the way to salvation.
Hearts of three
Book author: Jack London
Rating: 4.7
The novel “The Hearts of Three”, written actually before the writer's death, and published in 1919-1920, is at the fifth level of the literary rating. This is an atypical work for Jack London, which stands out from its general literary heritage for its adventure character. The book has a place for pirates, treasures, women and intriguing dangers.
Initially, the novel was written to order, as a screenplay, in collaboration with the screenwriter. This is stated in the preface to the book. Maybe that's why many readers say that they expected more from this work. There are no deep psychological characters, a bright inner world of heroes, intriguing backstage, what fans of London like there like.
The plot is based on the constant change of scenery. And even despite the fact that love is almost the central theme - there are no particularly sensual lyrical moments in the book. Everything is quite simple: a love triangle, which was formed between the flighty Leoncia and two brothers Henry Morgan Francis and Henry Morgan, who came to the island in South America in search of treasure. This book is most likely to be perceived as a novel, with which you can relax, distract from your own problems and plunge into exciting movie adventures.
Initially, together with screenwriter Charles Goddard, Jack London planned to release a serial series based on the novel in 1916, but the shooting never took place. The second attempt was made in 1992: the film of the same name was filmed at the A. Dovzhenko film studio and became the last film released in the USSR.
Call of the Ancestors
Book author: Jack London
Rating: 4.7
The story "The Call of the Ancestors", which was published in 1903, is on the sixth step of the rating. The protagonist of the work is a dog named Beck (Buck), who turned from a pet into the leader of a wolf pack.
Events unfolding in Canada in the 19th century, during the time of the gold miners who survived in the conditions of the stern North. This book is about inner strength, dignity, animal beginnings and loyalty. It shows how strong the primary instincts are, and how nature takes possession of the animal essence, one has only to become akin to the wild. Beck (Buck), caught from the California shepherd's ranch, in the harsh everyday life of a sled dog, eventually becomes a predatory beast and forgets about his former life. The story tells that the primitive wildness of an animal always remains at the level of sleeping instincts, both in animals and in humans. But if an animal, in fact, has no choice, then people, despite the harsh and wild living conditions, can still remain human.
The prototype of Beck (Back) was a dog, whose owners were the friends of the writer - Louis and Marshal Bond. The author received material for the novel while he was on his way to Klondike through Alaska in 1897. There he had the opportunity to collect a lot of information about the real life of sled dogs, which was the basis of the story. The film has gone through 7 versions, the first of which was released in 1927 in the form of silent films. The latter is in 2009 as a 3D cinema (USA).
Time-no-wait
Book author: Jack London
Rating: 4.6
“Time doesn’t wait” - the novel about adventurer Elam Harnisch, nicknamed Time-awaits, published in 1910, is on the seventh stage of the rating. The book was popular in certain circles, although it did not receive much recognition among the general public.
But the work nevertheless deserves attention primarily because it reveals the meaning and subtleties of the work of the stock exchange at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. This is perhaps the only story where the reader is presented to the stock exchange before the 1st world crisis (“Great Depression”), caused just by exchange activity. To some extent, this work can be called a cult, because it describes the real backstage of stock market games aimed at absorbing companies.
The main character is Elam Harnish, who lives by the principles of the game, cynically acquires millions, bluffing, deceiving, anticipating and shaping many financial events. However, life according to the laws of the jungle continues until the moment when the hero meets Did Manson. It is from this moment that his life changes abruptly: from a player, a sharper and a millionaire, he turns into a good family man. Harnish abandons the state and settles in a small country ranch, thus choosing peace of mind and love instead of material values. The author took on the image of the main character in a real stockbroker, Frank Smith, who eventually collapsed. The novel was repeatedly screened in 1914, 1923, 1928 and 1975.
Little mistress of a big house
Book author: Jack London
Rating: 4.5
The book "The Little Mistress of a Big House", first published in 1916, falls on the eighth step of the rating. Jack London himself considered this work to be the best, although many critics and lovers of the wise, saturated with life examples and deeply penetrating psychology of the writer's style are in some confusion about this kind of lyrical digression. The author noted in an interview that the novel is the peak of his writing career and what he has been striving for all his life.
At the heart of the plot is the usual "love triangle." The main characters are Paola Dustin and Dick Forrest, who have been married for 12 years. Dick - almost perfect husband and businessman. He is constantly at work, contains the estate and his wife, investing all his free time in this. Paola is an athlete, a "Komsomol" and just an ideal woman in all respects, which combines the incompatible. It would seem that they are happy in their little world, but then Evan appears on the arena, and everything collapses. Gradually, Paola falls in love with a new hero, who, realizing this, nevertheless, is in no hurry to leave his friend's hospitable estate.
Reading about the life of practically Nietzschean demigods, it’s hard to believe that such people really exist. They, like the screen characters, do not cause a response and spiritual experiences. And even the tragic finale seems somehow contrived and illogical. After all, supermen always do the right thing. They have long won their own weaknesses and solve problems like adults, not like teenagers. Perhaps the author leads to the idea that ideal people do not exist, and all this ostentatious gloss is only a mask for an unripe soul that succumbs to temptations just like an ordinary person?
Partially the novel is autobiographical. The author on his farm in California tried to create an “ideal estate” by constantly applying new agricultural technologies. And in the work “The Small Mistress of a Big House”, he most likely embodied his dreams of an ideal life. However, in reality, such experiments led to large debts. The novel was filmed in 1921, in the United States (The Little Fool).
Moon valley
Book author: Jack London
Rating: 4.5
"Moon Valley", which is one of the last works written in 1913, occupies the penultimate, ninth row of the rating. The book describes the real historical events of the beginning of the 19th century in America using the example of one of the working families.
Saxon Brown and Bill Roberts are simple workers who are faced with a difficult economic period. Strikes, fights, strikebreaks, the beginning of the "Great Depression". And they decide to go on a journey, in search of the Moon Valley, in which, in their opinion, they will finally find happiness.
In the novel, the author shows the embodiment of the American dream of his time, the strength of the spirit of ordinary people and their desire for a better life. He clearly demonstrates the difference between different strata of the population and the difficult situation in which the simple working people have fallen. The same writer emphasizes that you need to be able to dream and achieve their goals. After all, the heroes still managed to find their Moon Valley, despite all the difficulties that they had to overcome. Critics call the novel utopian, a kind of fiction of the early 20th century. It is said that Jack London had a powerful creative crisis at the end of his life, and perhaps in this way the author himself tried to find his own valley, having embodied the dreams of it in another work. In 1914, a film was made based on the novels with Myrtle Steadman and Jack Conway in the lead roles.
Love of life
Book author: Jack London
Rating: 4.5
The story Love of Life, written by Jack London in 1905 and published as part of an adventure series of gold miners in 1907, completes our rating. The main idea of the work was the writer's need to show that everything loses up before the love of life. In a critical situation, it is the desire to survive at any cost that becomes the main weapon that can overcome even nature. If love, life, freedom and hope are at stake - the person is ready to go to the last, and even yesterday's thirst for material gain goes into the background.
The story is not so big in terms of volume, but absolutely wild and not romantic. Survival in the inhuman conditions of a simple hard worker who was betrayed and abandoned by a comrade comes to the fore. This someone, a man without a name, is doing everything possible and impossible, winning his right to life from the merciless impassable Canadian tundra. He leaves all his valuables - a gun, a hat, matches, and even a bag of gold, which was obtained with great difficulty. He is being pursued by a bear and a wolf, who are also so exhausted that they cannot attack a person, and simply follow him, waiting for him to die soon.
In some ways, the story is very symbolic. Who follows on the heels of a man, hoping to eat them? Maybe this wild animal is a part of each of us and all we need is not to surrender to him and go to the end, throwing away all unnecessary and leaving the love of life? Maybe. But the love of life conquers all.
Attention! This rating is subjective, is not advertising and does not serve as a guide to the purchase.Before buying, you should consult with a specialist.
