Jack London was an American writer who combines in his work the deepest realism with humanitarian feelings and pessimism.
John Griffith London was born in San Francisco, on January 12, 1876, the son of a traveling astrologer, whom he did not know, and of a spiritualist. He completed his high school studies while doing various jobs.
In 1897 and 1898 he traveled to Alaska, driven by the current of the gold rush. Before, he had been a sailor, a fisherman, and even a smuggler. Back in San Francisco he began to relate his experiences.
In 1900 he published a collection of short stories entitled The Son of the Wolf which brought him great popular success. He published more than 50 books that earned him great income but wasted on travel and alcohol.
Jack London was a war correspondent and had two stormy marriages. He committed suicide at the age of 40. With socialist ideas and always on the side of the workers, London was a militant communist and even a political agitator. But, self-taught as he was, the readings of the German philosopher Nietzsche led him to formulate that the individual must rise up in the face of the masses and adversities.
This individuality-collectivity contradiction is present in his work. His general thesis is that human beings are not good by nature, and only the strong manage to rise up in life that is hard; these beings will be the ones who lay the foundations for a more just society.
Many of Jack London’s stories, including his masterpiece, The Call of the Wild (1903), speak of the return of a civilized being to its primitive state, and the struggle for survival. His style, brutal, lively and exciting, made him enormously famous outside his country. His novels have been translated into numerous languages.
His main works include Los debajo (1903), on the life of the poor in London; The Sea Wolf (1904), a novel based on his experiences as a seal hunter; White Fang (1906) a pessimistic book about cruelty, the hegemony of the strongest and the fight for freedom. John Barleycorn (1913), an autobiographical account of his personal battle with alcoholism, and The Wanderer to the Stars (1915), a series of interrelated stories on the subject of reincarnation.
Jack London passed away on November 22, 1916 in California, USA.
Some of Jack London’s best quotes
“Wealth means influence.”
“All he wanted was a quiet place in the country, where he could write and walk.”
The words of the wild song were true. He was the coward; The only thing left for him was to flee, to run. “
“I would rather be ashes than dust! I’d rather have my spark burned in a bright fire than extinguished by dry disintegration. I would rather be a splendid meteor, every atom in me in magnificent splendor, than a sleepy and permanent planet. “
“Throwing the bone at the dog is not charity. Charity is sharing the bone with the dog when he is as hungry as he is.
