- Paperback: 432 pages
- Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks; Reissue edition (April 26 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0199554943
- ISBN-13: 978-0199554942
- Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 12.7 x 2.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 322 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
-
Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#6,970 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #10 in Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > 20th Century
- #11 in Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > Collections & Readers
- #23 in Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > Short Stories
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
Book Description
Published in 1904, and drawing on London's own experience on board a sealing ship, The Sea-Wolf describes the struggle between the civilized and the pagan, between the values of the ruthless sea-captain, Wolf Larsen, and the moral, literary Humphrey Van Weyden. One of his most popular novels, it also reveals London's preoccupation with the Nietzschean idea of the superman, and his interest in the brute underlying social behaviour.
About the Author
Jack London was born in a poor family and lived a very short life. He had a long list of jobs, writer and journalist were among them. Call of the Wild remains his most famous book. John Sutherland is Professor of English at the California Institute of Technology, USA.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
So he wasn't Lucifer afterall....,
By
This review is from: Sea Wolf (Audio Cassette)
This is not a book that one easily forgets. True, you can read it as a simple adventure story of life on a turn-of-the-century seal-hunting schooner, but it is far more than this. It is essentially the story of Wolf Larson- and Wolf Larson is the entire mainstream of 19th and 20th century America in microcosm.Larson is no simple brute. He is, rather, a complex brute. He is a master of men and a master of the seas- but that is ALL that he is. Larson is an intelligent, driven, ruthless master of industry (in this case, seal hunting.) He has succeeded through his own abilities, hard work, and talent- or so he would have you believe. Truth is, brutal backstabbing, deception, exploitation, and disregard for the law has played an equal measure in his rise and dominance. You see, Larson believes in the rule of the jungle. He believes in it so much that he is driven to prove that this is all there is to existence. He must always seek to degrade and destroy anyone who seeks to rise above this state. This is also why he must disregard the possibility of the existence of a human soul. Larson is an intelligent, hard-nosed materialist that simply cannot conceive of anything beyond a social Darwinist hell of survival of the fittest. And Wolf Larson must be the fittest of them all. As much as money means to Wolf, it is really power over other beings- men and animals that means the most to him. Without this power to sadistically degrade and dominate others, the money would have no meaning. Ultimately that explains why he has risen to command his own vessel at all costs- he is a control freak that MUST be in absolute, totalitarian command of his whole world. This is why he only mans his ship with the lowest, most bestial types of human being, and does everything in his power to make them worse- not unlike many modern corporations. This is also why the sudden presence of a higher sort of individual, with ideals that transcend mere survival and materialism are so totally threatening to him. There are moments when one is almost tempted to sympathize with the Wolf as a champion of freedom- until you realize that in his sort of world his "freedom" means that everyone else must be a slave. Ultimately, the Wolf meets the inevitable fate in a world ruled like the jungle. When he loses his sight and strength, the monsters that he has surrounded himself with turn on him. In the last measure there is nothing great about Larson after all, for in facing death he proves to be a petty, murdering, weakling that would rather take all those around him down with him. It seems that despite his grand pretensions, he was no Lucifer at all, but merely a sick, pathetic, sociopath incapable of making the leap into being truly human.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.5 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews) 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
An epic tale of the sea,
By James Henderson "Frugal Reviewer" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Sea-Wolf (Paperback)
Many consider The Sea-Wolf by Jack London to be among the best sea stories ever written. I found it a moving and epic tale. Not only did it achieve great popular and literary success, but it also was effectively realized in several cinematic versions (most recently as a TV mini-series). The story ranks in the great tradition of one of London's literary influences, Herman Melville, while I saw similarities to another story of a life changed by sea voyage, captured by Rudyard Kipling in Captains Courageous.Drawing upon his experiences seal hunting in the North Pacific, London created a story with a lot of realism. He put himself and his contradictory nature into the two opposing characters, the captain Wolf Larsen, a ruthless and rugged individualist, the superman, and Humphrey van Weyden, a weak, but highly cultivated and virtuous gentleman. It is in the clash of these two forces that London gives vent to his innermost struggles: idealism versus materialism, conscience versus instinct, desire versus soul. 7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
So he wasn't Lucifer afterall....,
By OAKSHAMAN "oakshaman" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Sea Wolf (Audio Cassette)
This is not a book that one easily forgets. True, you can read it as a simple adventure story of life on a turn-of-the-century seal-hunting schooner, but it is far more than this. It is essentially the story of Wolf Larson- and Wolf Larson is the entire mainstream of 19th and 20th century America in microcosm.Larson is no simple brute. He is, rather, a complex brute. He is a master of men and a master of the seas- but that is ALL that he is. Larson is an intelligent, driven, ruthless master of industry (in this case, seal hunting.) He has succeeded through his own abilities, hard work, and talent- or so he would have you believe. Truth is, brutal backstabbing, deception, exploitation, and disregard for the law has played an equal measure in his rise and dominance. You see, Larson believes in the rule of the jungle. He believes in it so much that he is driven to prove that this is all there is to existence. He must always seek to degrade and destroy anyone who seeks to rise above this state. This is also why he must disregard the possibility of the existence of a human soul. Larson is an intelligent, hard-nosed materialist that simply cannot conceive of anything beyond a social Darwinist hell of survival of the fittest. And Wolf Larson must be the fittest of them all. As much as money means to Wolf, it is really power over other beings- men and animals that means the most to him. Without this power to sadistically degrade and dominate others, the money would have no meaning. Ultimately that explains why he has risen to command his own vessel at all costs- he is a control freak that MUST be in absolute, totalitarian command of his whole world. This is why he only mans his ship with the lowest, most bestial types of human being, and does everything in his power to make them worse- not unlike many modern corporations. This is also why the sudden presence of a higher sort of individual, with ideals that transcend mere survival and materialism are so totally threatening to him. There are moments when one is almost tempted to sympathize with the Wolf as a champion of freedom- until you realize that in his sort of world his "freedom" means that everyone else must be a slave. Ultimately, the Wolf meets the inevitable fate in a world ruled like the jungle. When he loses his sight and strength, the monsters that he has surrounded himself with turn on him. In the last measure there is nothing great about Larson after all, for in facing death he proves to be a petty, murdering, weakling that would rather take all those around him down with him. It seems that despite his grand pretensions, he was no Lucifer at all, but merely a sick, pathetic, sociopath incapable of making the leap into being truly human. 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Excellent Read,
By Mt Walley - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Sea-Wolf (Paperback)
Simply, an excellent read. Interesting story, quality writing, and deep character development. For me, this is one of those books [another is Old Man And the Sea, perhaps The Great Gatsby] I will read again and again over the decades. There are precious few books I would re-read, but re-reading this one and others is like listening to an old friend re-tell a story of his or her while we share a particularly pleasing libation and pick at some warmed cashews. Tangentially, as I read this, I could see Gregory Peck in the role of Wolf Larsen.
|
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Literature & Fiction > Classics > United States
- Books > Literature & Fiction > Literary
- Books > Literature & Fiction > Short Stories > United States
- Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > 20th Century
- Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > Classics
- Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > Collections & Readers
- Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > Short Stories
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
