The Pearls of Parlay

by Jack London

The Pearls of Parlay (1911) Parlay, who has become the ruler of the atoll of Hikihoho after marrying the queen there, summons the leading traders of the South Seas to his atoll for an auction of the whole of his fabulous collection of pearls. But that day is precisely at the peak of the hurricane season and when their ships have gathered in the atoll's lagoon the barometer starts going through the floor, as the mother of all hurricanes is on the verge of destroying not only all the ships but the island as well.

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Published June 26, 2024

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

[Forked Radish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oysters encapsulate the souls of drowned sailors in their nacre which explains why so many pearls are grotesquely baroque. 🦪