The title of one of the famous stories by Jack London. Jack London

The works of Jack London have been and remain extremely popular all over the world. He is the author of numerous adventure novels and short stories. It is worth noting that in the USSR he was the most published foreign author after the storyteller Andersen. The total circulation of his books in the Soviet Union alone amounted to more than 77 million copies.

Biography of the writer

Jack London's works were originally published in English. He was born in San Francisco in 1876. He began his working life early, while still a schoolboy. He sold newspapers and set up pins in the bowling alley.

After school he became a worker at a canning factory. The work turned out to be hard and poorly paid. So he borrowed $300 and bought a small used schooner, becoming an oyster pirate. He caught oysters illegally and sold them to local restaurants. In fact, he was engaged in poaching. Many of Jack London's works are written from personal memories. So, while working in a poaching flotilla, he became so famous for his courage and bravery that he was accepted into a fishing patrol that fought against poachers. "Tales of the Fishing Patrol" is dedicated to this period of his life.

In 1893, London went fishing to the shores of Japan to catch fur seals. This journey formed the basis of numerous stories by Jack London and the popular novel The Sea Wolf.

Then he worked at a jute factory, changed many professions - a fireman and even an ironer in a laundry. The writer's memoirs about this period can be found in the novels "John Barleycorn" and "Martin Eden."

In 1893, he managed to earn his first money through writing. He received an award from a San Francisco newspaper for his essay "Typhoon Off the Coast of Japan."

Marxist ideas

The following year, he took part in the famous march of the unemployed on Washington, was arrested for vagrancy and spent several months in prison. This is the subject of the essay “Hold On!” and the novel "Straitjacket".

At that time he became acquainted with Marxist ideas and became a convinced socialist. He was a member of the Socialist Party of America either from 1900 or 1901. London left the party after a decade and a half, due to the fact that the movement had lost its fighting spirit, setting a course for gradual reforms.

In 1897, London left for Alaska, succumbing to the gold rush. He failed to find gold, instead he fell ill with scurvy, but he received a lot of subjects for his stories, which brought him fame and popularity.

Jack London worked in all sorts of genres. He even wrote science fiction and utopian stories. In them, he gave free rein to his rich imagination and amazed readers with his original style and unexpected plot twists.

In 1905, he became interested in agriculture, settling on a ranch. Tried to create the perfect farm, but to no avail. As a result, I got into big debts.

In the last years of his life, the writer began to abuse alcohol. He decides to write detective novels, even buys the idea from But he does not have time to finish the novel “The Murder Bureau”. In 1916, the writer dies at the age of 40.

According to the official version, the cause was poisoning with morphine, which was prescribed to him for a kidney disease. London suffered from uremia. But researchers are also considering a version of suicide.

Stories by Jack London

The stories brought great popularity to the writer. One of the most famous is called "Love of Life".

Events take place in Alaska during the gold rush. The main character was betrayed by a friend and thrown into the snowy desert. He heads south to escape. He receives a leg injury, loses his hat and gun, encounters a bear and even enters into combat with a sick wolf, who did not have the strength to attack a person. Therefore, everyone waited to see which of them would die first. At the end of the journey he was picked up by a whaling ship and taken to San Francisco.

"Journey on the Dazzling"

Jack London wrote this story in 1902. It is dedicated to the real fact of his biography - illegal oyster mining.

It tells about a young guy who runs away from home. To earn money, he has to get a job on an oyster pirate ship called the Dazzling.

"White Fang"

Perhaps the most famous works of Jack London are dedicated to the gold rush. These include the story "White Fang". It was published in 1906.

In the story "White Fang" by Jack London, the main character is a wolf. His father is a purebred wolf and his mother is half dog. The wolf cub is the only one to survive from the entire brood. And when he and his mother meet people, she recognizes her old master.

White Fang settles among the Indians. He quickly develops, considering people to be cruel but fair gods. At the same time, the other dogs treat him with hostility, especially when the main character becomes the head of the sled team.

One day, an Indian sells White Fang to Handsome Smith, who beats him to understand who his new owner is. He uses the main character in dog fighting.

But in the very first fight, the bulldog almost kills him; only the engineer Weedon Scott from the mine saves the wolf. The story "White Fang" by Jack London ends with his new owner bringing him to California. There he begins a new life.

Wolf Larsen

A couple of years before this, another famous novel by Jack London, “The Sea Wolf,” was published. The story centers on a literary critic who goes on a ferry to visit his friend and ends up in a shipwreck. He is rescued by the schooner "Ghost", commanded by Wolf Larsen.

He sails to the Pacific Ocean to catch seals, and amazes everyone around him with his furious temper. The main character of the novel "The Sea Wolf" by Jack London professes the philosophy of life's sourdough. He believes: the more leaven a person has, the more actively he fights for his place in the sun. As a result, something can be achieved. This approach is a form of social Darwinism.

"Before Adam"

In 1907, London wrote a very unusual story for himself, “Before Adam.” Its plot is based on the concept of human evolution that existed at that time.

The main character has an alter ego who is a teenager living among cave ape people. This is how the writer describes Pithecanthropus.

In the story they are opposed by a more advanced tribe called the People of Fire. This is an analogue of Neanderthals. They already use an arrow and bow for hunting, while the Pithecanthropus (in the story they are called the Forest Horde) are at an earlier stage of development.

London science fiction

Jack London demonstrated his skill as a science fiction writer in 1912 in his novel The Scarlet Plague. The events in it take place in 2073. 60 years ago, a sudden epidemic on Earth destroyed almost all of humanity. The action takes place in San Francisco, where an old man who remembers the world before the deadly epidemic tells his grandchildren about it.

He says that throughout the 20th century, the world was repeatedly threatened by destructive viruses. And when the “scarlet plague” came, everything was controlled by the Council of Magnates, social stratification in society reached its apogee. A new disease broke out in 2013. It destroyed most of the world's population because they simply did not have time to invent a vaccine. People died right on the streets, infecting each other.

Grandfather and his comrades managed to hide in a shelter. By this time, there were only a few hundred people left on the entire planet who were forced to lead a primitive lifestyle.

"Moon Valley"

Jack London's book appeared in 1913. The action of this work takes place at the very beginning of the 20th century in California. Bill and Saxon meet at a dance and soon realize that they are in love.

The newlyweds begin a happy life in a new home. Saxon takes care of the housework, and soon she finds out that she is pregnant. Their happiness is only marred by a strike at the factory, which Bill joins. The workers' demands are increased wages. But management hires strikebreakers instead. Clashes constantly occur between them and the factory employees.

One day such a fight happens near Saxon's house. Due to stress, she goes into premature labor. The child dies. Hard times are coming for their family. Bill is passionate about strikes, he drinks and fights a lot.

Because of this, he ends up in the police custody and is sentenced to a month in prison. Saxon is left alone - without a husband and money. She is starving, and one day she realizes: in order to survive, they need to leave this city. With this idea, she comes to her husband, who has changed a lot in prison and has rethought a lot. When Bill is released, they decide to start farming and make money from it.

They go on a journey in search of the perfect site to start their business. They have a clear idea of ​​what it should be like. They meet people, many of whom become their friends. They jokingly call their dream "Moon Valley". In their minds, the land that the main characters dream about can only be on the Moon. Two years pass and they finally find what they were looking for.

By coincidence, the area that suited them was called the Moon Valley. They open their own farm, and things go uphill. Bill discovers his entrepreneurial spirit; it turns out that he is a born businessman. Only his talent was buried deep for a long time.

The novel ends with Saxon admitting that she is expecting a child again.

Off Cape Horn

One of Jack London's most fascinating novels is Mutiny on the Elsinore. It was written in 1914.

Events take place on a sailing ship. The ship sails to Cape Horn. Suddenly the captain dies on board. After this, confusion begins on the ship, the crew splits into two opposing camps. Each of them has a leader who is ready to lead people.

The main character finds himself among the raging elements and mutinous sailors. All this forces him to stop being an outside observer and begin to make complex and responsible decisions himself. Become a strong-willed and strong person.

Jack London; birth name: John Griffith Cheney; USA, San Francisco; 01/12/1876 – 11/22/1916

Jack London is an internationally recognized master of the adventure and fantasy genre. Thanks to his socialist beliefs, his works are in second place after among the most published foreign authors in the USSR. Jack London's books have been filmed more than once and at the moment there are more than 100 films based on his works. Jack London's contribution to world literature is truly enormous and the popularity of his books 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 of San Francisco. His birth was preceded by a loud scandal involving his mother. According to her, Jack's father was astrologer William Chaney, 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 outcry in society. Immediately after the birth, Flora left Jack London in the care of her former slave, Virginia Prentiss, who looked after the child until his mother married John London, who gave a new surname to Flora's child.

John London was a disabled Civil War veteran and had two daughters. The eldest of them, Eliza, became Jack London's faithful friend for life. Since the onset of the economic crisis in 1973, the London family traveled a lot in search of work. In this regard, John's training was sporadic and he graduated from school in Auckland. Here he became addicted to literature. This was possible thanks to a responsive librarian at the local library, who in every possible way encouraged the boy’s desire for education.

Even during his school years, Jack London worked as a newspaper delivery boy, set up pins in a bowling alley, and did many other small jobs. At the age of 14, he got a job at a canning factory, where he worked for almost a year. At the age of 15, he borrowed money from Virginia Prentiss, who had become close to him, and bought a small schooner, which allowed him to become an oyster pirate. An oyster pirate was a man who illegally caught oysters in the bays of San Francisco. When his schooner was damaged, he took a job on a fishing patrol that fought poaching. And already at the age of 18 he set off on his first long voyage on the whaling ship Sophie Sutherland. It was this voyage that formed the basis of Jack London’s first book, “A Typhoon Off the Coast of Japan,” which was published in 1893.

After this, Jack London took part in the march of the unemployed on Washington, for which he received a month in prison, joined the Socialist Party and is trying to continue his studies. But 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 endeavors are unsuccessful, but he gains invaluable experience for his future literary career. This is exactly what he begins to do immediately after returning from Alaska. In 1900, Jack London's first collection of short stories, Son of the Wolf, was published. In the same year he marries for the first time. From his marriage to Bessie Maddern he had two daughters, Bass 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 married Charmian Kittredge, with whom he had been in love for about two years. By this time he was already a fairly well-known writer and with the proceeds he bought the Glen Ellen ranch in California. Since that time, he has increasingly devoted himself to agriculture, expanding his ranch and trying new technologies in agriculture. In this regard, he faces financial difficulties, due to which he has to write to order, and in 1914 even go to Mexico. Here he works as a war correspondent and justifies the actions of American soldiers who invaded Mexico. This caused a flurry of criticism against him from members of the Socialist Party, which partly became the reason for his resignation 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.

Books by Jack London on the Top books website

Jack London's books are so popular to read that they have been included in our site's ratings more than once. Most often, our rating includes the work of Jack London “Martin Eden”, which is presented in the school curriculum. Therefore, from time to time it is included in our rating.

(estimates: 3 , average: 3,67 out of 5)

Jack London, whose real name is John Griffith Cheney, was born in the middle of winter - January 12, 1876 in the States. The parents of the future writer cannot be called ordinary: John’s mother was always stubborn, self-willed, and besides, she was involved in spiritualism; his father was an astrologer and loved adventure, which was inherited by Jack London.

Little John received the surname “London” when he was not even a year old. During this time, his mother married a Civil War veteran, John London. Soon the stepfather's surname became the writer's creative pseudonym. By the way, Jack is just a shortened version of the name John.

Jack was accustomed to hard work since childhood: as a schoolboy, he sold newspapers. To earn money, he got up before dawn. Both before and after classes the boy returned to work. Oddly enough, this did not stop him from reading: as a child, Jack liked adventure literature most of all.

Jack London loved the sea no less than books, so at the age of thirteen he bought a small boat with his own money. On it he took boat trips, fished and read.

When Jack turned fifteen, he had to get a job in a canning factory, since the family had almost no money left to live on. The conditions at the factory were terrible, the wages were pitiful, and people were injured every day. Energetic Jack could not stand the monotonous mechanical work, so he began to look for alternative ways to earn money. So he began to engage in illegal oyster fishing and, beginning to lead a riotous life, spent all his earnings on drinking bouts. Having come to his senses in time, Jack hired a ship for legal work - catching fur seals.

In general, in his youth, the future writer managed to try almost all the “delights” of life: after working on a ship for six months, he joined the march of the unemployed, and as a result lived for the same amount of time with vagabonds. During this period, Jack decides to get an education and start a writing career. Now he began intellectual work: he graduated from high school and even passed the entrance exams to the University of California, Berkeley. But since young London did not have enough money, he had to give up his studies.

Jack began writing his first stories and novels at the age of 22. All his works were constantly returned from the editorial offices of newspapers and magazines, which soon served as the basis for writing a novel. After six months of persistent unsuccessful attempts, his story was finally published.

The dizzying success became a real gift of fate for Jack London: now he earned incomparably more than ever and could afford everything he wanted. Yes, the writer, who grew up in poverty, highly valued his wealth.

Jack London lived only forty years, but managed to write more than two hundred stories, novellas and novels. His works became known throughout the world, and “White Fang” and “Hearts of Three” were included in the school curriculum. But the main thing is not even this, but the fact that this man, thanks to his perseverance, courage and hard work, managed to make his dream come true.

Jack London, bibliography

All books by Jack London:

Novels

• 1902 - “Daughter of the Snows”
• 1903 - ""
• 1903 - “Letters from Campton to Wes”
• 1904 — " "
• 1906 - ""
• 1908 - ""
• 1909 - ""
• 1910 — “Time-can’t-wait”
• 1911 - “Adventure”
• 1912 — “The Scarlet Plague”
• 1913 - ""
• 1914 - "Mutiny on Elsinore"
• 1915 — "

Name: Jack London (John Griffith Chaney)

Age: 40 years

Activity: writer, socialist, public figure

Family status: was married

Jack London: biography

The biography of Jack London is full of interesting facts and unexpected twists of fate: before becoming a famous author of novels and short stories, London had to go through a difficult path full of hardships. Everything about Jack’s life story is interesting, from the writer’s strange parents to his numerous travels. London became one of the most popular foreign authors read in the Soviet Union: the American overtook the American in terms of circulation in the USSR.

The future writer was born on January 12, 1876 in San Francisco, California. Some writers joked that John Griffith Cheney (Jack London's real name) became famous even before he was born. The fact is that the writer’s parents are extravagant personalities who loved to shock the public. His mother, Flora Wellman, is the daughter of Marshall Wellman, an influential entrepreneur from Ohio.

The girl moved to California to earn money by teaching. But Flora’s work was not limited to music lessons; the future writer’s mother was fond of spiritualism and claimed to be spiritually connected with the Indian leader. Flora also suffered from nervous breakdowns and frequent mood swings due to typhus, which the girl suffered from at the age of twenty.

While in San Francisco, the esoteric lover meets an equally interesting person - William Cheney (Chaney), an Irishman by birth. Lawyer William was skilled in mathematics and literature, but was famous for being one of the most popular professors of magic and astrology in America. The man led a wandering lifestyle and loved sea travel, but he devoted 16 hours a day to astrology.

The eccentric lovers lived in a civil marriage, and after some time Flora became pregnant. Professor Cheney insisted on an abortion, which provoked a terrible scandal that made headlines in local newspapers: a desperate Wellman tried to shoot herself with a rusty old revolver, but the bullet only slightly wounded her. According to another version, Flora staged a suicide attempt due to the cooling of her lover’s feelings.

However, San Francisco journalists cashed in on the story; the news, titled “The Abandoned Wife,” was sold out at newsstands throughout the city. The yellow press wrote based on the stories of William’s ex-girlfriend and discredited the name of the esotericist. Journalists talked about Cheney as a child killer who abandoned many wives, and also served time in prison. The professor-soothsayer, disgraced by disrepute, left the city once and for all in the summer of 1875. In the future, Jack London tried to contact William, but never saw his dad, who had not read a single work by his eminent son, and also refused paternity.

After the birth of her son, Flora had no time to raise the child, since she did not deny herself social events, so the newborn boy was given to the care of a nanny of black origin, Jenny Prinster, whom the writer recalled as a second mother.

The mysterious Wellman, even after the birth of her son, made money through spiritualistic séances. In 1876, John London, who had lost his wife and son, turned to Flora for spiritual help. A war veteran, John was known as a good and kind man, raised two daughters and was not shy about any work. After Wellman and London’s wedding in 1976, the woman took her newborn son into John’s family.

The boy had a warm relationship with his stepfather, John Sr. replaced the future writer's father, and the young man never felt like a stranger. Jack became friends with his half-sister Eliza and considered her his best friend.

In 1873, an economic crisis began in America, due to which many residents of the country lost their income. The Londons lived in poverty and traveled throughout the state's cities in search of a better life. In the future, the author of the novels recalled that Flora had nothing to serve on the table, and little Jack did not know what it was to have his own toys. The first shirt bought in a store was given to the child when he was 8 years old.

John Sr. attempted cattle breeding, but the extravagant Flora did not like it when work moved slowly. The woman constantly had adventurous plans in her head, which, in her opinion, should help her get rich quickly: sometimes she bought lottery tickets, hoping for luck. But because of Wellman's strange desires, the family was more than once on the road to bankruptcy.

After wandering, the Londons settled in Oakland, not far from San Francisco, and in this city the boy went to elementary school. The future writer was accustomed to being called Jack, a shortened name for John, as a child.

Jack London was the most frequent visitor to the Auckland library: the future writer went to the reading room almost every day and devoured books one after another. Miss Ina Coolbrith, winner of a local literature prize, noticed the boy's passion for books and adjusted his reading range.

Every morning at school, little Jack took a pen and a piece of paper and wrote down about a thousand words to get out of singing lessons. The boy was constantly silent in the choir, for which he received a punishment, which in the future would come to the benefit of the writer.

Jack had to get up early in order to have time to sell the latest school newspaper before classes, and London also set up pins in the bowling alley on weekends and cleaned beer pavilions in the park in order to get at least some money.

When London Jr. was 14 years old, he graduated from primary school, but the boy was unable to continue his education because he had nothing to pay.

And the future writer did not have time for classes: in 1891, the breadwinner of the family, John London Sr., was hit by a train and became disabled, which made the man unable to work. Therefore, young Jack, after graduating from primary school, had to go to work at a canning factory. For a 10-12 hour working day, the future author of immortal stories received one dollar. The work was hard and exhausting; according to the writer’s recollections, he did not want to turn into a “work animal” - such thoughts pushed the teenager to leave the factory.

In his youth, Jack London was drawn to adventure; perhaps the passion for adventure was passed on to Jack from his mother. So filled with hope to end poverty, a 15-year-old boy borrows $300 from his nanny Jenny and buys a used schooner. "Captain Jack" assembles a pirate crew from his teenage friends and sets off to conquer the "oyster territories." Thus, Jack and his comrades stole shellfish from a private bay in San Francisco.

The young sea wolves sold their captured catch to local restaurants and received good money: Jack even saved up three hundred to pay off his debt to the nanny. But in California they began to monitor the illegal pirate business more closely, so London had to leave the profitable business. In addition, money spoiled the young man: most of the funds were spent on a riotous lifestyle, endless drinking bouts and fights.

Jack London fell in love with sea adventures, so he willingly agreed to serve as a “fishing patrol” to fight poachers, and in 1893 the future writer set off on his first voyage to the shores of Japan to catch fur seals.

London was impressed by sailing; later, autobiographical stories became the basis of the collection “Stories of the Fishing Patrol,” and the writer’s adventures influenced the plots of many “sea” novels. After traveling by water, London again had to return to the position of a factory worker, only now he worked at a factory for the production of textile fabric from jute. In 1894, Jack takes part in the march of the unemployed on Washington, and later the young guy is arrested for vagrancy - this moment in his life became key for writing the story “Straitjacket.”

At the age of 19, the young man passed the exams and entered the University of California, but was forced to leave his studies due to lack of money. After grueling wanderings around factories and part-time jobs where they pay a pittance, London comes to the conclusion that he is not ready to lead a “bestial” lifestyle, full of physical labor, which was not appreciated.

Literature

London began trying himself as a writer while still at the jute factory: then the working day lasted 13 hours, and he had no time left for stories: the young guy needed at least an hour a day to spend time having fun.

In San Francisco, the local newspaper Call awarded an award for the best story. Flora encouraged her son to take part, and London’s literary talent began to manifest itself during his school years, when the boy wrote essays instead of singing. So, knowing that he needs to be at work at 5 am, Jack sits down at midnight to write a story, and this lasts for three nights. The young man chose “Typhoon off the coast of Japan” as his theme.

London sat down to write the story, sleepy and exhausted, but his work took first place, and second and third places went to students from prestigious universities. After this incident, London begins to seriously think about a writing career. Jack writes a few more stories and sends them to the newspaper, which chose him as the winner, but the editors rejected the young man.

Then hope again left the young talent, and London was sent as a laborer to a power plant. After learning that a colleague committed suicide due to lack of money, Jack regains his belief that he is capable of fighting.

In 1897, Jack London was obsessed with the gold rush and went in search of the precious metal to Alaska. Jack failed to mine gold and get rich, and he also fell ill with scurvy.

“I gave up writing, deciding that I was a failure, and went to the Klondike for gold,” recalled the great writer.

Later, all the adventures of the future writer will become the basis of his numerous stories and novels. So, after returning from gold mining in 1899, London began a serious literary career and wrote “Northern Stories,” for example, “White Silence.” A year later, the writer publishes his first book, “Son of the Wolf.” Jack devotes all his energy to writing books: the young author wrote almost the whole day, leaving a few hours for rest and sleep.

In 1902, Jack moved to the capital of Great Britain, where he wrote significant stories and novels: “The Call of the Wild” (1903), “White Fang” (1906), “Martin Eden” (1909), “Time Waits Not” (1910), “ Valley of the Moon" (1913), etc.

Jack considered his best work to be “The Little Mistress of the Big House,” a tragic novel published in 1916. This work differs from the writer’s adventure and adventurous books. The novel was written in the last year of London's life and reflects the inherent mood of the American at that time.

Personal life

Jack London's literary work reflects his personal life. After all, all the writer’s heroes are people who struggle with life’s difficulties, despite the obstacles. For example, the story “Love of Life,” published in 1907, tells the story of a lonely man who, after the betrayal of a friend, goes on a journey. The main character receives a leg injury and encounters wild animals one-on-one, but continues to move forward. This is how London itself can be characterized, because not every adult can experience what the writer encountered in childhood.

In life, Jack was a cheerful and funny person who smiled all the time. Jack was selective in his choice of woman, and in 1900 he married the fiancée of his deceased friend, Bessie Maddern.

From his first marriage, the writer had two daughters, Bass and Joan. But the family life of the author of the books cannot be considered happy: after 4 years, London told his wife that he intended to get a divorce. Why there was a sharp cooling of Jack’s feelings, his ex-wife wondered for a long time; the first assumption was that London had resumed his affair with Anna Strunskaya.

Maddern later learned that London was in a relationship with Charmian Kittredge, whom the writer initially could not stand. The girl was not distinguished by beauty, and also did not shine with intelligence; sometimes her acquaintances laughed at Charmian, as she ran after men. Why the writer left his previous wife and began to get carried away with the unsightly bride is anyone’s guess. It later became clear that Kittredge had captivated London with numerous letters of declarations of love. At least London had fun with his new wife, because she is the same as the writer - a lover of adventure and travel.

Death

In the last years of his life, Jack London experienced a creative decline: the writer did not have the strength or inspiration to write a new work, and he began to look at literature with disgust. As a result of this, the writer begins to abuse alcohol. Jack managed to quit the bad habit, but alcohol greatly affected his health.

He suffered from kidney disease and died from poisoning with morphine, a painkiller. Some biographers of London believe that the drug overdose was planned, and Jack committed suicide. There were prerequisites for this: the theme of suicide can be traced in the writer’s works. However, this version cannot be considered reliable.

Jack London's last novel was Hearts of Three, published posthumously in 1920.

• Jack London did everything he could to get money. In his youth, the guy even hunted street cats to sell meat to the Chinese.
• In 1907, the adventurer tried to go on a trip around the world on a ship built according to his own drawings.
• London admired Russian writers and appreciated their creativity.
• I read the story “Love of Life” before going to bed. This happened 2 days before the death of the leader.
• Throughout his life, London was kind to dogs and especially loved wolves. And this is not surprising, because Jack’s numerous stories describe the life of this wild animal. These include “White Fang”, “Brown Wolf”, etc.

• At the moment of creative crisis, Jack was unable to write the plot on his own, so the writer bought the idea for the novel from Sinclair Lewis in 1910. Jack began working on the book "The Murder Bureau", but never finished the work. According to the writer, he did not come up with a logical continuation of Lewis's idea.
• Jack worked as a correspondent during the Russo-Japanese and Mexican Civil Wars.
• When London became famous, he received $50,000 per book. Rumor has it that Jack became the first American literary figure to earn a million.

Quotes

• “You shouldn’t wait for inspiration, you have to chase it with a baton.”
• “If you think clearly, you will write clearly; if your thought is valuable, your writing will be valuable.”
• “A person should not see himself in his true form, then life becomes unbearable.”
• “Life always gives a person less than he requires from it.”
• “If you concealed the truth, hid it, if you did not get up from your seat and did not speak at the meeting, if you spoke without telling the whole truth, you have betrayed the truth.”
• “Intoxication always lends a hand to us when we fail, when we weaken, when we are tired. But its promises are false: the physical strength it promises is illusory, the spiritual uplift is deceptive.”
• “I'd rather be ashes than dust. It would be better for my flame to dry up in a blinding flash than for mold to choke it out!”

Bibliography

• 1903 - Call of the Wild
• 1904 - Sea Wolf
• 1906 - White Fang
• 1909 - Martin Eden
• 1912 - Scarlet Plague
• 1913 - John Barleycorn
• 1915 - Straitjacket
• 1916 - The Little Mistress of the Big House
• 1917 - Jerry the Islander
• 1920 - Hearts of Three

Annotation

The volume presents the most famous works of the classic American literature Jack London.

JACK LONDON

White Silence

Son of the Wolf

At forty mile

In a distant land

For those who are on the way!

Northern Odyssey

Great mystery

Daughter of the Northern Lights

Law of life

Old Men's League

A thousand dozen

Tertiary era fragment

Love of life

Brown wolf

One-day stay

The path of false suns

Lone Leader Disease

bonanza

Aliens from the Sunny Land

Where the paths diverge

Courage of a woman

Piece of meat

Mapui House

Atu them, atu!

Scary Solomon Islands

Jokers from New Gibson

Night on Goboto

Pearls of Parley

Like the Argonauts of old...

JACK LONDON

Collection of stories and novellas

White Silence

Carmen won't last two days.

Mason spat out a piece of ice and looked sadly at the unfortunate animal, then, raising the dog’s paw to his mouth, he again began to bite the ice, which had frozen in large lumps between its fingers.

No matter how many dogs I have met with fancy nicknames, they were all no good,” he said, having finished his business, and pushed the dog away. - They weaken and eventually die. Have you seen anything bad happen to a dog whose name is simply Kasyar, Sivash or Husky? Never! Look at Shukum: he...

Once! The emaciated dog flew up, almost slamming his fangs into Mason’s throat.

What did you come up with?

A strong blow to the head with the handle of a whip knocked the dog over into the snow; she shuddered convulsively, yellow saliva dripped from her fangs.

I say, look at Shukum: Shukum won’t give up. I bet it won't even be a week before he hits Carmen.

And I,” said Malemute Kid, turning over the bread that was thawing by the fire, “I bet we’ll eat Shukum ourselves before we get there.” What do you say to this, Ruth?

The Indian woman threw a piece of ice into the coffee to settle the grounds, looked from Malemute Kid to her husband, then to the dogs, but did not answer. 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 harness, since it was a short day's stop, and enviously watched their every bite.

No breakfasts from tomorrow, said Malemute Kid, and keep an eye on the dogs; They’ve gotten completely out of hand, and just look at it, they’ll pounce on us if the opportunity presents itself.

But I was once the head of a Methodist community and taught Sunday school!

And, for some unknown reason, having announced this, Mason plunged into the contemplation of his moccasins, from which steam was emanating. Ruth brought him out of his reverie by pouring him a cup of coffee.

Thank God we have plenty of tea. I've seen tea grow back home in Tennessee. What I wouldn’t give for a hot cornbread now!.. Don’t worry, Ruth, just a little more and you won’t have to go hungry anymore, and you won’t have to wear moccasins either.

At these words, the woman stopped frowning, 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 you can see not only an animal or a beast of burden.

Yes, Ruth,” her husband continued in that conventional language, the only one in which they could communicate with each other, “soon we will get out of here, get into the white man’s boat and go to Salt Water. Yes, bad water, rough water - like water mountains jumping up and down. And how much there is of it, how long it takes to drive along it! You drive ten dreams, twenty dreams - for greater clarity, Mason counted the days on his fingers - and all the time there was water, bad water. Then we arrive in a large village, there are a lot of people, like midges in the summer. The wigwams are so tall - ten, twenty pines tall!.. Eh!

He fell silent, unable to find words, and cast a pleading glance at Malemute Kid, then carefully began to show with his hands how high it would be if twenty pine trees were placed one on top of the other. Malemute Kid smiled mockingly, but Ruth's eyes widened in surprise and happiness; she thought that her husband was joking, and such mercy gladdened her poor woman's heart.

And then we’ll sit in... in the box, and - piff! - go. - By way of explanation, Mason threw an empty mug into the air and, deftly catching it, shouted: - And here it is - puff! - we've 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 here 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’s 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 are in Fort Yukon, and I am in Arctic City. That's what they are, shamans!

Ruth smiled so innocently at this fairy tale that the men roared with laughter. The noise raised by the fighting dogs interrupted the stories about the wonders of the distant country, and by the time the fighters were separated, the woman had already tied up the sledge, and everything was ready to set off.

Go ahead, Baldy! Hey, go ahead!

Mason deftly flicked his whip and, when the dogs began to slowly squeal, pull on the lines, he leaned against the turning pole and moved the frozen sleds from their place. Ruth followed with the second team, and Malemute Kid, who had helped her get going, brought up the rear. A strong and stern man, capable of knocking down a bull with one blow, he could not beat the unfortunate dogs and, if possible, spared them, which drivers rarely do. Sometimes Malemute Kid almost cried with pity, looking at them.

Come on, lame-legged ones! - he muttered after several futile attempts to move the heavy sledge.

Finally his patience was rewarded, and, yelping in pain, the dogs rushed to catch up with their brothers.

The conversations stopped. The difficult path does not allow such luxury. And driving in the north is hard, deadly work. Happy is the one 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 paving the road. At every step, the wide wicker skis fall through, and my legs sink into the snow up to my knees. Then you need to carefully pull your foot out - a deviation from the vertical by an insignificant fraction of an inch threatens disaster - until the surface of the ski is clear of snow. Then step forward and you begin to lift your other leg, also at least half a yard. Whoever does this for the first time collapses from exhaustion after a hundred yards, even if before that he does not hook one ski over the other and does not stretch out to his full height, trusting the treacherous snow. Whoever manages to never get under the feet of dogs during the whole day 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 Northern Path will be the envy of the gods.

The day was approaching evening, and the travelers, suppressed by the greatness of the White Silence, silently made their way. Nature has many ways to convince a person of his mortality: the continuous alternation of ebbs and flows, the fury of a storm, the horrors of an earthquake, the thunderclaps of heavenly artillery. But most powerful, most crushing of all is White Silence in its impassivity. Nothing moves, the sky is bright like polished copper, the slightest whisper seems sacrilege, and the person is afraid of his 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 spontaneously, the mystery of the universe seeks its expression. And a person is overcome by fear of death, of God, of the whole world, and along with fear - hope for resurrection and life and longing for immortality - the vain desire of captive matter; That’s when a person is left alone with God.