The Sea Wolf (urspr publ 1904; utgåvan 1984)

3.75 stars

Humphrey is "rescued" from drowning by a ship called the Ghost, captained by a very brutal man, Wolf Larsen. After Humphrey is rescued, he is forced to stay aboard the Ghost, despite being a "gentleman" and not knowing a thing about ships. Larsen figures it will build character and he'll learn something. Wolf Larsen, however, is a man who will do whatever he wants/needs to to get what he wants, including murder. Surprising to the bookish Humphrey, is how intelligent and well-read Larsen is. However, it's a hard life, at sea, especially under Larsen.

I wasn't sure if I would like this one or not, not being about animals (in comparison, of course, to The Call of the Wild and White Fang). I was very surprised at how much I liked it. It was good and it picked up in the second half. It was also very quick to read. ( )

The Sea Wolf is the book I read to shreds when I was 12 and it was probably at least indirectly responsible for all the time I spent in my late teens-early twenties riding in not-particularly-seaworthy ferries, or working in fish canneries and pickle factories, or generally spending a lot of time having adventures i.e. bumming around. Even though I'm now a suburban mama of two this book totally still calls to me, I'm only partly embarrassed to admit. Its only flaw is the character of Maude Brewster, who should have stayed on dry land and entirely out of this book. ( )

Wolf Larsen rivals Hannibal Lecter as a villain. ( )

Home of probably my favourite character in fiction. This book is a lesson in characterisation. Jack London can do so much with words. He writes description in detail but it doesn't slow you down. I would've given it five stars but the plot wasn't quite as good as I think he could've made it. Well worth a read though. ( )

I really liked the reflective and philosophical aspects of White Fang. In this, listening to the sea Wolf pontificate gets a little old, but it's equally interesting. I've come to appreciate how lucky i am to live in an age and society and class that is less physically base. The rich protagonist is Shanghaied and survives a dysfunctional crew and devil captain. The voyage ends much like it begins (definitely a high school talking point). You question your humanity and wonder if you could have made it through. ( )