The Shadow And the Flash

by Jack London, Stan Timmons (Illustrator)

Paul and Lloyd. Alike as two drops of water, be it in appearance or character. Handsome, stalwart, intelligent, proud. And perpetually competing with each other: in play, in study, in love. Both looking for a method to achieve invisibility...

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Classics, American, Fiction

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1903

About the author

John Griffith Chaney, better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to become an international celebrity and earn a large fortune from writing. He was also an innovator in the genre that would later become known as science fiction.

London was part of the radical literary group "The Crowd" in San Francisco and a passionate advocate of animal rights, workers’ rights and socialism. London wrote several works dealing with these topics, such as his dystopian novel The Iron Heel, his non-fiction exposé The People of the Abyss, War of the Classes, and Before Adam.

His most famous works include The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in Alaska and the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush, as well as the short stories "To Build a Fire", "An Odyssey of the North", and "Love of Life". He also wrote about the South Pacific in stories such as "The Pearls of Parlay" and "The Heathen".

Reviews

[lanius_minor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Páni! Náhodná výpůjčka v knihovně. Padla mi do oka. Knižní zákusek k odpolednímu čaji. Povídka sama o sobě zajímavá, ale co z ní dělá knihomolskou delikatesu, je grafické zpracování. Okouzlilo mě hned zkraje dvojportrétem Lloyda a Paula a nadšení mi vydrželo až do konce příběhu. Asi nejvíc mě dostala genialita neviditelného psa a obrázku po otočení té stránky. Až si někdy budete chtít udělat radost, dopřejte si šálek dobrého polozeleného čaje a Světlo a stín!

[Book's Calling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Výborná záležitost jak obrazově, tak slovně.

[sberatelka.knih · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obsahově zajímavý kousek pojednávající o dilematu, jestli máme přijmout svět takový, jaký je, nebo ho nepřijmout a bojovat proti němu. Nicméně výjimečný je svým zpracováním, které je velmi originální!

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book, two of the protagonists carry out a lifelong competition with one another. It starts out in their childhood, and for some odd reason, they remind of the Vern and Teddy characters from the movie Stand by Me...Both grow up to be brilliant scientists in different fields of study, but instead of supporting each other...they continue with their petty bickering and competitiveness.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful, iridescent gem in the rough. And to think these quirky ideas came from a sailor.
He could have just written about the invisibility paint, which is already ahead of its time. But he stepped out of amateur bounds and included a feud between two twins. These are the traits of a truly inspired author, of a communion with the common artistic consciousness.

[Alexander de Bree · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strong writing but jarring premise. I’d categorise it as fantasy posing as hard sci fi, which spoiled it for me. Because all character arcs remain flat, it draws the attention even more to the faulty science. I did think the scene at the pool was very well done.

[Lou Hughes · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'll make the short story even shorter for you: Two lads need to man up and realise that competing with each other isn't worth a near death experience- and you can have your own life without taking competition too far.

[Stefano Amadei · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bellissimo il racconto e altrettanto posso dire per l'edizione curatissima e inaspettata! Meraviglioso lavoro, da leggere assolutamente.

[Jessie Briggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yeah pretty cool.

[Michał F · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well SF aspect of this is more of nonsense fiction, and the story doesn't offer anything beyond SF concepts which were more than disappointing.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lowered to a 3.75 rating, the first Jack London I have read in decades.
Enjoyable and it reminded me of how London was good at recounting
fights. Audiobook.

[Phil Giunta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two scientists, competitors since childhood, race to develop invisibility paint. The story is told by a mutual friend who attempts to keep the peace between the two men.

[Kateřina Vodičková · Rating 3 out of 5]

celkem mid. hezký ilustrace, ale nic výjimečného.

[Tony Ciak · Rating 4 out of 5]

strange story

[Ralph McEwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Competition to develop transparency (invisibility).

Audio Book MP3 downloaded from
http://librivox.org/short-science-fic...

The Shadow And The Flash by Jack London, Stan Timmons

Public Domain stories from Project Gutenberg, that are read by volunteers.
I listen to these short stories while walking to and from work.

Play Duration: 00:33:50
Read By: Gregg Margarite

[Sneh Pradhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an old Chinese aphorism that says " Be ready to dig one's own grave along with your enemy's when you have vowed to take revenge ." A typical revenge story based against Jack London's ubiquitous science fiction backdrops . Just a nice one-time read , however .

[Sarawut Kururatphan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is Science to blame? Maybe it's the two men's problem.

[Timothy Morrison]

Does black really work like that?