- Paperback: 124 pages
- Publisher: Hesperus Press; New edition edition (Aug 15 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1843910977
- ISBN-13: 978-1843910978
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.7 x 1.1 cm
- Shipping Weight: 200 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #716,813 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Library Journal
London is far from the Yukon in this story, which was first serialized in 1906. In a way, it's London's take on the jungle man theme made popular first by Kipling's The Jungle Books and Burroughs's Tarzan. The story follows a California man who experiences visions of a prehistoric society led by Big-Tooth, who actually is the protagonist. This edition contains a map of Big-Tooth's world as well as numerous illustrations.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Review
"Students of early science fiction will welcome the University of Nebraska Press''s series Bison Frontiers of Imagination."—Times Literary Supplement
(Times Literary Supplement )
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
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First Sentence
Pictures! Pictures! Pictures! Often, before I learned, did I wonder whence came the multitudes of pictures that thronged my dreams; for they were pictures the like of which I had never seen in real wake-a-day life. Read the first page
Front Cover | Table of Contents | Excerpt
Pictures! Pictures! Pictures! Often, before I learned, did I wonder whence came the multitudes of pictures that thronged my dreams; for they were pictures the like of which I had never seen in real wake-a-day life. Read the first page
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Survival,
This review is from: Before Adam (Paperback)
I only started reading Jack London's work three years ago, but I've had an interest in prehistoric times and evolution since I was ten. When I tried explaining to other children that humans and apes may have evolved from a common ancestor they just sort of sneered in disbelief. This was over a hundred years after Charles Darwin had died. Jack London's first SF novel "Before Adam" is an imaginitive, compelling read. Through his dreams, a twentieth century man "remembers" events from another time and place - a life lived at the dawn of time. The narrator "Big-Tooth" shows us the harsh brutality of prehistoric life, the endless struggle to survive, the constant danger posed by predators looking for food, and the menace of the "Fire Men" - a race more advanced than the species Big-Tooth belongs to, a race that have learned to use fire and kill prey with bows and arrows. It's very rare for anyone to live beyond middle age. Most people die violent deaths, either at the hands of a rival, or satisfying the hunger of a beast. This is not the first story with a prehistoric setting (Jack London was apparently accused of plagiarism by another author, Stanley Waterloo), but it's a wonderful book nevertheless. London later wrote a book with a similar premise called "The Star Rover", in which a condemned prisoner puts himself into a trance and experiences his past lives. It's possible that J.G. Ballard had also read "Before Adam" before writing "The Drowned World", another book about race memory and the retreat into prehistory. There's a lot of psychology in it. As a species we've certainly come a long way, or so we like to think. The slaughter initiated by the Fire Men looking for living space has been repeated time and time again. Our "intelligence" has enabled us to come up with more ingenious ways to kill each other, moving from bows and arrows to guns to weapons of mass destruction. From what can be seen on television or read in newspapers, it seems we're still a long way from "growing up". Jack London's novel should teach us not to be complacent.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic,
By
This review is from: Before Adam (Paperback)
While I'm not much into reading fiction or Sci-Fi type books; I have to say, this is probably one of the best books, I've ever read in my life. ( and I'm an avid reader)Jack London has a way of really pulling your mind into the picture. ( Or putting pictures/stories inside your head) If you're looking for a book to take your mind of things, or want to live a vicarious experience, I can think of no better book than this one. This is one of Jack Londons stellar achievements. The ending will surprise you. An awesome book, that you'll have trouble putting down, until you're finished.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Read it many years ago, worth re-reading!,
By "vspringer" (Lexington Park, MD USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Before Adam (Hardcover)
I read this book many years ago, when I was in Junior High, and had no clue it was the same Jack London that wrote "Call of the Wild". The book was that timeless, I thought it was a contemporary writer. I have been looking for it for years and will definitely get another copy to read again. If you're a SciFi/Fantasy Fan looking for some thought provoking, but "light" reading, this is a great book.
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