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La Croisière du « Snark »
Réédition de l’odyssée de Jack qui parcourt le Pacifique sur un navire construit il y a tout juste cent ans et qu’il apprendra à gouverner « sur le tas », en cours de route, après la désertion du capitaine. Ce voyage ne fut pas seulement pour lui l’occasion d’envoyer les articles qui constituent ce livre et dans lesquels il décrit avec l’humour et la ferveur qu’on lui connaît un monde dont la beauté sauvage semble être un hymne à sa liberté chérie – hymne d’autant plus déchirant qu’il commence à être assourdi par cette drôle d’invention qu’est le progrès. Il fut aussi l’occasion pour lui d’écrire parmi ses plus grands livres – dont Martin Eden –, de se découvrir un don pour le surf – son texte en lance la mode aux Etats-Unis – et de voir, mélancolique, son corps épuisé poser des limites à sa nietzschéenne volonté.le public Celui de Jack London, celui de Melville, celui de Stevenson, celui des très grands en somme.
266 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1907
118 people are currently reading
1107 people want to read
About the author
Jack London
7,624 books7,683 followersJohn 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".
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".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews
April 8, 2018
THE CRUISE OF THE SNARK by Jack London
I loved Jack London's life when I was much younger, and well, I still do. I dreamed of sailing the seas as he had. I loved his stone house in Glen Ellen and wished to live there, and I loved and wanted all of his souvenirs from the different islands that he had visited. I also loved that his wife went on the ocean voyages with him. And last of all, I even like some of this politics.
Back in my younger days I had a VW bug with a license plate that read, "The Snark." That is how much I loved London. I remember when I was driving to Glen Ellen to see his home one day, as I often had, a man stopped me to comment on my license plate, and I told him that I wanted to paint my car pale yellow, and he replied that boats that color sink. I never painted my car yellow, maybe for that reason; I painted it an alpine white, and it sank a few weeks later when I ran off the road into a wooden corral that meant to keep the horses inside. A neighbor stopped to help me keep the horses inside and my husband rebuilt the neighbor's corral. I should have painted my car yellow.
Anyway, I spent many a day traveling from Berkeley to Glen Ellen, either alone or with friends, and we would spend the day at Jack London's home, going into the museum, walking the grounds, picnicking, and sitting by the lake.
At that time I had only read "The Call of the Wild," and I was not impressed by it, not because of the way it was written but because of its rawness, its graphic details. For this same reason I don't read much of Ernest Hemingway but love the places he lived, although not his life. I wanted London's life, but I would not have wanted to box with him like his wife had to do. I think, Had.
So while I read about the Snark at the Jack London museum, I never read another book by him. I did read his biography a few years ago and loved it. But this year I had decided to read "The Cruise of the Snark" and then onto some of his other works. I will also read more of Hemingway but plan to skim over the graphic details of bull fighting, etc.
But this book was somewhat boring most of the time, which made it hard to want to pick it back up. I really had hoped to have learned much more about the natives, and I had also hoped that it would have been more adventuresome. It certainly was not "Kon-Tiki" or even "Paddle to the Amazon"--books that I recommend to all who love adventure. This book read like a ship's log, so it felt like to me that he had been keeping this log and then that is what he handed in to his publisher. Sure some of the stories were interesting, but that is all, just interesting, not exciting. I especially liked the story of Nature Man and then the story of their bouts with disease since they were both more interesting and the stories were more developed.
I loved Jack London's life when I was much younger, and well, I still do. I dreamed of sailing the seas as he had. I loved his stone house in Glen Ellen and wished to live there, and I loved and wanted all of his souvenirs from the different islands that he had visited. I also loved that his wife went on the ocean voyages with him. And last of all, I even like some of this politics.
Back in my younger days I had a VW bug with a license plate that read, "The Snark." That is how much I loved London. I remember when I was driving to Glen Ellen to see his home one day, as I often had, a man stopped me to comment on my license plate, and I told him that I wanted to paint my car pale yellow, and he replied that boats that color sink. I never painted my car yellow, maybe for that reason; I painted it an alpine white, and it sank a few weeks later when I ran off the road into a wooden corral that meant to keep the horses inside. A neighbor stopped to help me keep the horses inside and my husband rebuilt the neighbor's corral. I should have painted my car yellow.
Anyway, I spent many a day traveling from Berkeley to Glen Ellen, either alone or with friends, and we would spend the day at Jack London's home, going into the museum, walking the grounds, picnicking, and sitting by the lake.
At that time I had only read "The Call of the Wild," and I was not impressed by it, not because of the way it was written but because of its rawness, its graphic details. For this same reason I don't read much of Ernest Hemingway but love the places he lived, although not his life. I wanted London's life, but I would not have wanted to box with him like his wife had to do. I think, Had.
So while I read about the Snark at the Jack London museum, I never read another book by him. I did read his biography a few years ago and loved it. But this year I had decided to read "The Cruise of the Snark" and then onto some of his other works. I will also read more of Hemingway but plan to skim over the graphic details of bull fighting, etc.
But this book was somewhat boring most of the time, which made it hard to want to pick it back up. I really had hoped to have learned much more about the natives, and I had also hoped that it would have been more adventuresome. It certainly was not "Kon-Tiki" or even "Paddle to the Amazon"--books that I recommend to all who love adventure. This book read like a ship's log, so it felt like to me that he had been keeping this log and then that is what he handed in to his publisher. Sure some of the stories were interesting, but that is all, just interesting, not exciting. I especially liked the story of Nature Man and then the story of their bouts with disease since they were both more interesting and the stories were more developed.
October 27, 2021
Jack London's The Cruise of the Snark is not so much a book as a collection of magazine articles packaged as a book. And that is its main weakness. Toward the end, when the Snark is visiting the Solomon Islands and London becomes ill with a strange skin disease, London's writing becomes different and considerably darker than the earlier chapters. That's because the articles about the cruise were not written from a distance, where the author could enforce a standard of consistency.
The chapter of surfing in Hawaii, the visit to Molokai, the stay on the Marquesas and Tahiti -- all were written pretty much during the cruise, which is why the lack of consistency stands out so clearly.
Even so, it is a good book that deserves to be read, though far from London's best.
The chapter of surfing in Hawaii, the visit to Molokai, the stay on the Marquesas and Tahiti -- all were written pretty much during the cruise, which is why the lack of consistency stands out so clearly.
Even so, it is a good book that deserves to be read, though far from London's best.
September 24, 2022
This is the third Jack London book and i'm loving him more and more each time. I'm also wondering why he isn't more widely read in modern times?
His stories always have a real vitality and sense of life bursting off the pages. Jack London really LIVED is the sense i get from reading him.
So this book is non-fiction, it tells the simple story of a cross-Pacific sailing trip he undertook in about 1906. He visited Hawai, French Polynesia and the Solomon Islands. It is an easy reading book that flows casually but still contains enough meat to chew on so to speak.
I'd recommend it to anyone who likes a cracking good adventure yarn.
His stories always have a real vitality and sense of life bursting off the pages. Jack London really LIVED is the sense i get from reading him.
So this book is non-fiction, it tells the simple story of a cross-Pacific sailing trip he undertook in about 1906. He visited Hawai, French Polynesia and the Solomon Islands. It is an easy reading book that flows casually but still contains enough meat to chew on so to speak.
I'd recommend it to anyone who likes a cracking good adventure yarn.
July 6, 2021
The author is a bit snarky at times, and occasionally, socialism rears its ugly poll. But it's a great humorous seafaring adventure tale with a serious moral... And that is: keep away from the #%&@ Solomon Islands!
August 31, 2017
This was an interesting read, last year I'd read Sailing Alone around the World by Joshua Slocum, so this book was a natural for me as London was inspired to try to sail around the world by Slocum, my favorite chapters are LEPERS OF MOLOKAI, and THE AMATEUR M.D.
You can get the book for free at Amazon or Project Gutenberg
You can get the book for free at Amazon or Project Gutenberg
August 20, 2008
On April 23, 1907, Jack London sailed out of San Francisco Bay to Hawaii, accompanied by his wife and a small crew, aboard the ship he built, the Snark. The details of that journey, which would take London and crew throughout the South Pacific and ultimately to Australia, are recounted in The Cruise Of The Snark.
On their journey, they encountered an amazing variety of hospitality from nearly everyone they met, the exception being the cannibals of the Solomon Islands. They also encountered an astonishing variety of illness, which ultimately forced London to call of the expedition.
What’s interesting about this book is to look at what the South Pacific (and even the world in general) was like in 1907, especially in light of reading Diamond’s Guns, Germs & Steel. London maintains a sort of genial good nature throughout his writing about the voyage of the Snark but the diseases and illnesses he’s talking about were passed back and forth from outsiders to residents and from residents to outsiders. And those diseases and illnesses caught and carried by London and his crew could not have been easy to bear. They would develop fevers and live ulcers that ate their skin on an almost regular basis by the time their journey came to an end.
The chapter on the leper colony on Molokai in Hawaii was particularly interesting. Until the disease was cured in the 40’s, all Hawaiians diagnosed with Hansen’s Disease (leprosy) were sent to a colony on the island of Molokai. This colony was the center of much sensationalist journalism, so much so that London claimed one resident asked him to set things straight by writing about what the colony was really like. London was obviously affected by the people he met on Molokai because his description has a loving quality to it.
The other chapter that stood out for me was on surfing, how London saw it and how he learned to do it. Surfing was first observed by Europeans in 1767, but it’s still pretty groovy to read about a man learning to surf in 1907.
And a great mystery was cleared up! London describes a group of natives from Tanna Island. “Before we could catch our breaths a swarm of black Tannese was alongside and aboard – grinning, apelike creatures with kinky hair and troubled eyes, wearing safety pins and clay pipes in their slitted ears…” That’s where the fashion came from! The island of Tanna! I thought at first London was calling something a safety pin that differed from what I understand to be a safety pin. However, research tells me the safety pin was invented (or reinvented, apparently) in 1849 by one Walter Hunt. That means those islanders very well could have been wearing safety pins!
My one complaint is that the book is a bit jumbled in places and a little repetitive. The Cruise Of The Snark could use a good editing and some footnotes.
Overall, a really interesting read.
On their journey, they encountered an amazing variety of hospitality from nearly everyone they met, the exception being the cannibals of the Solomon Islands. They also encountered an astonishing variety of illness, which ultimately forced London to call of the expedition.
What’s interesting about this book is to look at what the South Pacific (and even the world in general) was like in 1907, especially in light of reading Diamond’s Guns, Germs & Steel. London maintains a sort of genial good nature throughout his writing about the voyage of the Snark but the diseases and illnesses he’s talking about were passed back and forth from outsiders to residents and from residents to outsiders. And those diseases and illnesses caught and carried by London and his crew could not have been easy to bear. They would develop fevers and live ulcers that ate their skin on an almost regular basis by the time their journey came to an end.
The chapter on the leper colony on Molokai in Hawaii was particularly interesting. Until the disease was cured in the 40’s, all Hawaiians diagnosed with Hansen’s Disease (leprosy) were sent to a colony on the island of Molokai. This colony was the center of much sensationalist journalism, so much so that London claimed one resident asked him to set things straight by writing about what the colony was really like. London was obviously affected by the people he met on Molokai because his description has a loving quality to it.
The other chapter that stood out for me was on surfing, how London saw it and how he learned to do it. Surfing was first observed by Europeans in 1767, but it’s still pretty groovy to read about a man learning to surf in 1907.
And a great mystery was cleared up! London describes a group of natives from Tanna Island. “Before we could catch our breaths a swarm of black Tannese was alongside and aboard – grinning, apelike creatures with kinky hair and troubled eyes, wearing safety pins and clay pipes in their slitted ears…” That’s where the fashion came from! The island of Tanna! I thought at first London was calling something a safety pin that differed from what I understand to be a safety pin. However, research tells me the safety pin was invented (or reinvented, apparently) in 1849 by one Walter Hunt. That means those islanders very well could have been wearing safety pins!
My one complaint is that the book is a bit jumbled in places and a little repetitive. The Cruise Of The Snark could use a good editing and some footnotes.
Overall, a really interesting read.
September 14, 2019
“Tutto ebbe inizio in piscina a Glenn Ellen. Tra una nuotata e l’altra era nostra abitudine uscire e stenderci sulla sabbia, consentendo alla nostra pelle di respirare l’aria calda ed immergersi nella luce del sole. Roscoe era un diportista. Io ero stato occupato un po’ per mare. Era inevitabile che dovessimo parlare di imbarcazioni. Affermammo che non avevamo paura di girare il mondo su una piccola imbarcazione, diciamo di 40 piedi. [...] ”Facciamolo” dicemmo per scherzo. [...] La volta successiva in cui facemmo respirare le nostre pelli sulla sabbia presso la piscina dissi a Roscoe: “Facciamolo”.
Facevo sul serio, e lui lo stesso, poiché disse: “Quando partiamo?”
Questo è l’inizio di un’avventura nata per caso a bordo piscina, fare un viaggio intorno al mondo per mare e per questo desiderio fu così che London diede vita allo “Snark”, una piccola imbarcazione di 14 metri dotata di vele e anche di un motore a benzina che sarebbe stato usato solo in situazioni di pericolo ed estremo bisogno, l’equipaggio sarebbe stato composto da 7 membri (fra cui anche la moglie Charmian) dove l’unico particolare ad accomunare tutti era quello dell’inesperienza (nessuno infatti aveva esperienze di navigazione in mare aperto) ma compensata dalla grande voglia di avventura.
L’idea di viaggio, come era stata organizzata prima della partenza, era quella di toccare moltissimi luoghi fra cui Honolulu, le Hawaii, Samoa, la Nuova Zelanda, la Tasmania, l’Australia, la Nuova Guinea, il Borneo, Sumatra, le Filippine, il Giappone, la Corea, la Cina, l’India, l’Australia, il Mar Rosso e l’Europa navigando per mari, oceani e fiumi.
Il 23 Aprile 1907 lo Snark prese il mare e da lì ebbe inizio l’avventura che li avrebbe portati a conoscere isole remote, cannibali, tifoni, lebbrosai, giungle, vulcani, missionari, usanze arcaiche, personaggi unici, paesaggi incontaminati e tante altre situazioni al tempo quasi sconosciute.
Il viaggi finì peró purtroppo molto prima delle aspettative fiaccato sotto i colpi delle tante malattie che assalirono tutto l’equipaggio.
Il racconto, che venne prima pubblicato a puntate fra il 1908 e il 1910 e poi raccolto in questo volume, trasuda emozioni tangibili e vere.
La penna di London riesce con sapienza a farci vivere vividamente e quasi materialmente le loro peripezie, in ogni pagina si percepisce l’emozione, la felicità e la voglia di avventura dello scrittore, quasi venissimo catapultati in uno dei suoi tanti racconti senza invece percepire che quella raccontata è la realtà vissuta fra le isole Hawaii, Marchesi, Salomone e Tahiti.
Lungo tutto il dipanarsi del racconto vedremo London imparare, da autodidatta, ad usare un sestante per prendere la rotta, a curare, sempre da autodidatta, se stesso e il suo equipaggio dalla malaria e dalle piaghe (che saranno i motivi del “naufragare” anticipato del viaggio nel Novembre del 1908), lo accompagneremo su vulcani e pianure lussureggianti alla ricerca della tomba di Stevenson, lo aiuteremo nel difendersi, fucile spianato, dall’assalto di tribù ostili e persino nelle vesti di Surfista.
Un diario di viaggio vivo, vibrante, pregno di emozioni, di paure, di soddisfazioni e delusioni, un lascito quasi testamentario di questo grande scrittore.
Un racconto che merita di essere letto perchè specchio di una vera avventure ma ancor di più perchè testimone di un periodo storico ormai perso.
Uno scritto, questo, sicuramente da leggere per gli amanti di London ma non solo.
Facevo sul serio, e lui lo stesso, poiché disse: “Quando partiamo?”
Questo è l’inizio di un’avventura nata per caso a bordo piscina, fare un viaggio intorno al mondo per mare e per questo desiderio fu così che London diede vita allo “Snark”, una piccola imbarcazione di 14 metri dotata di vele e anche di un motore a benzina che sarebbe stato usato solo in situazioni di pericolo ed estremo bisogno, l’equipaggio sarebbe stato composto da 7 membri (fra cui anche la moglie Charmian) dove l’unico particolare ad accomunare tutti era quello dell’inesperienza (nessuno infatti aveva esperienze di navigazione in mare aperto) ma compensata dalla grande voglia di avventura.
L’idea di viaggio, come era stata organizzata prima della partenza, era quella di toccare moltissimi luoghi fra cui Honolulu, le Hawaii, Samoa, la Nuova Zelanda, la Tasmania, l’Australia, la Nuova Guinea, il Borneo, Sumatra, le Filippine, il Giappone, la Corea, la Cina, l’India, l’Australia, il Mar Rosso e l’Europa navigando per mari, oceani e fiumi.
Il 23 Aprile 1907 lo Snark prese il mare e da lì ebbe inizio l’avventura che li avrebbe portati a conoscere isole remote, cannibali, tifoni, lebbrosai, giungle, vulcani, missionari, usanze arcaiche, personaggi unici, paesaggi incontaminati e tante altre situazioni al tempo quasi sconosciute.
Il viaggi finì peró purtroppo molto prima delle aspettative fiaccato sotto i colpi delle tante malattie che assalirono tutto l’equipaggio.
Il racconto, che venne prima pubblicato a puntate fra il 1908 e il 1910 e poi raccolto in questo volume, trasuda emozioni tangibili e vere.
La penna di London riesce con sapienza a farci vivere vividamente e quasi materialmente le loro peripezie, in ogni pagina si percepisce l’emozione, la felicità e la voglia di avventura dello scrittore, quasi venissimo catapultati in uno dei suoi tanti racconti senza invece percepire che quella raccontata è la realtà vissuta fra le isole Hawaii, Marchesi, Salomone e Tahiti.
Lungo tutto il dipanarsi del racconto vedremo London imparare, da autodidatta, ad usare un sestante per prendere la rotta, a curare, sempre da autodidatta, se stesso e il suo equipaggio dalla malaria e dalle piaghe (che saranno i motivi del “naufragare” anticipato del viaggio nel Novembre del 1908), lo accompagneremo su vulcani e pianure lussureggianti alla ricerca della tomba di Stevenson, lo aiuteremo nel difendersi, fucile spianato, dall’assalto di tribù ostili e persino nelle vesti di Surfista.
Un diario di viaggio vivo, vibrante, pregno di emozioni, di paure, di soddisfazioni e delusioni, un lascito quasi testamentario di questo grande scrittore.
Un racconto che merita di essere letto perchè specchio di una vera avventure ma ancor di più perchè testimone di un periodo storico ormai perso.
Uno scritto, questo, sicuramente da leggere per gli amanti di London ma non solo.
November 27, 2016
London's story of his attempt to sail around the world on a largely self-built yacht, the Snark. It was pretty much a failure of a trip, with problems starting even before they set sail from San Francisco. The yacht cost much more than London had figured, and the departure was delayed, in part, by liens put on the boat by his creditors. His preparations were given lots of attention in the press -- he was the world's bestselling author at the time -- and he spends a lot of pages quoting from letters he received from those who wanted to accompany him.
Problems stared right away: the gasoline engine never worked. Lots of food was spoiled (some by gasoline leaking from its storage), the boat leaked, and London didn't know anything about navigation. They made it to Hawaii, where the boat needed lots of repairs, but that gave London time to learn to surf, and he wrote a long chapter in the book about it. Next was the leg south to the Marquesas, and along the way they almost ran out of water and almost overshot the islands. After that, on to the Solomons and then London went to Australia. In the Solomons London and company were best by Yaws, a painful skin infection, and due to mysterious swelling in his hands, London had to return to California.
It's a strange book, and London doesn't tell lots of the story you would expect him to. We learn very little about the personalities of his shipmates and his wife. The disquisition on surfing and especially navigation are interesting, and his visit to Typee is well handled. London is also fairly reticent about his own emotions during the trip. Descriptions of the residents of the various islands are more perfunctory than I had expected. Another standout chapter is the one on the 'pigeon' or 'beche de mer' language used in Polynesia; I'd bet the linguistics is pretty faulty, the telling is great.
Problems stared right away: the gasoline engine never worked. Lots of food was spoiled (some by gasoline leaking from its storage), the boat leaked, and London didn't know anything about navigation. They made it to Hawaii, where the boat needed lots of repairs, but that gave London time to learn to surf, and he wrote a long chapter in the book about it. Next was the leg south to the Marquesas, and along the way they almost ran out of water and almost overshot the islands. After that, on to the Solomons and then London went to Australia. In the Solomons London and company were best by Yaws, a painful skin infection, and due to mysterious swelling in his hands, London had to return to California.
It's a strange book, and London doesn't tell lots of the story you would expect him to. We learn very little about the personalities of his shipmates and his wife. The disquisition on surfing and especially navigation are interesting, and his visit to Typee is well handled. London is also fairly reticent about his own emotions during the trip. Descriptions of the residents of the various islands are more perfunctory than I had expected. Another standout chapter is the one on the 'pigeon' or 'beche de mer' language used in Polynesia; I'd bet the linguistics is pretty faulty, the telling is great.
October 8, 2015
The story of Jack London's ill-fated voyage halfway around the world over a hundred years ago gets one thumb up from me. While it was entertaining in several aspects and places, it bogged down in the minutia of who had what tropical disease for how long and how much they vomited, etc, etc, etc as well as that of parts of the boat I am unfamiliar with. (In fairness, maybe I am a little burned out on sailing stories just now.)
There were some surprising revelations, such as islanders "driving" fish by lining up in canoes and splashing rocks tied to ropes on top of the water repeatedly to scare the fish into the shallows where others waited to grab them and throw them ashore. Or the fact that some old-time medicine chests had treatments numbered (e.g. 1 for headache, 2 for nausea, 3 for rash, etc.) and how some sea captains would simply substitute 1 plus 2 when they ran out of 3.
Maybe it's the old-timey language in which the book was written so long ago, but it seemed more like I was reading about the cruise of the Snark rather than riding along. I'm going to put away the sailing books for the season and pick up something more current.
There were some surprising revelations, such as islanders "driving" fish by lining up in canoes and splashing rocks tied to ropes on top of the water repeatedly to scare the fish into the shallows where others waited to grab them and throw them ashore. Or the fact that some old-time medicine chests had treatments numbered (e.g. 1 for headache, 2 for nausea, 3 for rash, etc.) and how some sea captains would simply substitute 1 plus 2 when they ran out of 3.
Maybe it's the old-timey language in which the book was written so long ago, but it seemed more like I was reading about the cruise of the Snark rather than riding along. I'm going to put away the sailing books for the season and pick up something more current.
September 16, 2017
Jack London's squall-infused, sickness-filled, Snark-y voyage is a sailing classic and product of its time, for better and worse. Compare his tongue-in-cheek narrative with his very real sufferings, his sympathetic view of Molokai versus his feelings of white superiority, or his socialist convictions with his celebrity lifestyle, and you'll find a fully flawed, yet vivid memoir with plenty of takeaways. I would have liked to hear more about his small crew, which is why Penguin was smart to include some excerpts from Martin and Charmian in the back. Overall, an educational adventure into the South Pacific of the early twentieth century.
September 1, 2021
I have been overwhelmed by the writings of Jack London for quite some time. The first book I had read was Call of the Wild after which White Fang piqued my interest. They were good books but my experience was limited to that feel good effect that doesn’t last very long.
Once the pandemic had set in, I read Martin Eden and since that moment I had become obsessed with Jack London’s writings. The star rover, Smoke Bellew, The Sea wolf and The Cruise of the Snark have certainly lived up to the expectations but none bypassed Martin Eden.
Martin Eden resembles him in various ways but still it was a creation of his imagination. But this voyage on the Snark was no fiction. Martin Eden was conceived during this journey. The name martin was also derived from the boy who volunteered to go with the London’s on this journey as a cook.
However, this isn’t the right space to talk about Martin Eden, so I must keep my attention towards the voyage which jack and others intended to carry out and did carry out. There is always a sense of realism and nearness one feels while reading jack’s books and his writings always have something supernatural or magical in them. It is difficult to believe that something of that sort took place and even more difficult to not believe the same. Jack’s personality creates this dilemma.
This sense of romanticism and heroism in his books makes one wonder where did that come from. What sort of inspiration did jack receive?
Jack’s greatest books seem to be the one he wrote throughout his living. The most popular story he wrote was the one which he was living. It was his life and experiences derived therein that made him such a wonderful writer. It seemed so natural and real. Here was finally a chance for jack to prove once again that his stories weren’t only the creation of his imagination. He wanted to make his readers and more importantly the entire world including himself realize that he was still capable of being a man of adventures of great measure.
Sea has always played an important role in Jack’s books. Also, his life was shaped by the sea. Jack always thought of himself as a sailor. And mind you when I say sailor, jack has a few ideas of his own over what the definition of a sailor should be. Jack is coming from a time period which was still in the shadow of the transcendentalist movement which was started by Ralph waldo Emerson and the Walden movement by H.D Thoreau. The idea of self-reliance looms large over London’s mind. And to make matters even more interesting Joshua Slocum had sailed around the world all by himself in a boat.
Jack had been inspired by the readings of Hermann Melville, but more importantly here was a moment that doesn’t come too often, to live a story which you would have wanted one of your characters to have lived. To travel around the world in a 43 feet boat with 3-4 others.
His ideas of him being an able seaman were out of proportion if not too idealistic. But we can cut him some slack. A little bit of heroics will be present throughout his writings.
This book became less about the journey than about the man jack London. A man who never knew how to navigate, learnt navigation by being on the sea and reading books about it, learnt dentistry just by reading about it and experimenting, learnt surfing through falling and trying, and when it came to finding out the co-ordinates of the boat or distance or latitudes, I was dumbfounded that such a man could know so much by practical experience.
Before this journey he might have overqualified himself as being an able sailor but post the Snark journey it would be injustice to not call him a master of the seas. But still he was not a master of the circumstances. The seas tortured him. Eventually making him so ill that he had to finally cut short his voyage and return home to better his worsening condition.
The daily hardships of the seas never stopped his routine of writing. It only strengthened the man that was jack.
In the end the voyage turned out to be much difficult and different than previously imagined but what a journey it must have been. It definitely was a treat for me. For anyone who wants to get a first hand look at who Jack London was this book would be of the utmost significance.
Once the pandemic had set in, I read Martin Eden and since that moment I had become obsessed with Jack London’s writings. The star rover, Smoke Bellew, The Sea wolf and The Cruise of the Snark have certainly lived up to the expectations but none bypassed Martin Eden.
Martin Eden resembles him in various ways but still it was a creation of his imagination. But this voyage on the Snark was no fiction. Martin Eden was conceived during this journey. The name martin was also derived from the boy who volunteered to go with the London’s on this journey as a cook.
However, this isn’t the right space to talk about Martin Eden, so I must keep my attention towards the voyage which jack and others intended to carry out and did carry out. There is always a sense of realism and nearness one feels while reading jack’s books and his writings always have something supernatural or magical in them. It is difficult to believe that something of that sort took place and even more difficult to not believe the same. Jack’s personality creates this dilemma.
This sense of romanticism and heroism in his books makes one wonder where did that come from. What sort of inspiration did jack receive?
Jack’s greatest books seem to be the one he wrote throughout his living. The most popular story he wrote was the one which he was living. It was his life and experiences derived therein that made him such a wonderful writer. It seemed so natural and real. Here was finally a chance for jack to prove once again that his stories weren’t only the creation of his imagination. He wanted to make his readers and more importantly the entire world including himself realize that he was still capable of being a man of adventures of great measure.
Sea has always played an important role in Jack’s books. Also, his life was shaped by the sea. Jack always thought of himself as a sailor. And mind you when I say sailor, jack has a few ideas of his own over what the definition of a sailor should be. Jack is coming from a time period which was still in the shadow of the transcendentalist movement which was started by Ralph waldo Emerson and the Walden movement by H.D Thoreau. The idea of self-reliance looms large over London’s mind. And to make matters even more interesting Joshua Slocum had sailed around the world all by himself in a boat.
Jack had been inspired by the readings of Hermann Melville, but more importantly here was a moment that doesn’t come too often, to live a story which you would have wanted one of your characters to have lived. To travel around the world in a 43 feet boat with 3-4 others.
His ideas of him being an able seaman were out of proportion if not too idealistic. But we can cut him some slack. A little bit of heroics will be present throughout his writings.
This book became less about the journey than about the man jack London. A man who never knew how to navigate, learnt navigation by being on the sea and reading books about it, learnt dentistry just by reading about it and experimenting, learnt surfing through falling and trying, and when it came to finding out the co-ordinates of the boat or distance or latitudes, I was dumbfounded that such a man could know so much by practical experience.
Before this journey he might have overqualified himself as being an able sailor but post the Snark journey it would be injustice to not call him a master of the seas. But still he was not a master of the circumstances. The seas tortured him. Eventually making him so ill that he had to finally cut short his voyage and return home to better his worsening condition.
The daily hardships of the seas never stopped his routine of writing. It only strengthened the man that was jack.
In the end the voyage turned out to be much difficult and different than previously imagined but what a journey it must have been. It definitely was a treat for me. For anyone who wants to get a first hand look at who Jack London was this book would be of the utmost significance.
May 25, 2018
Jack London got me laughing as he writes in such a comical way. Right from building a 40ft boat or was it 43ft when adrift? The thought of building a boat from scratch is just amazing. He must have had a lot of knowledge on boat building and what it takes to sail.
Some things mentioned in this book are so profound that in day to day life you would not realize they happen. For example the fact that the sun when used to tell time is not always accurate; also that one minute could mean a 15 mile difference when navigating. I learnt about how certain you have to correct the chronometer. I also know that the smaller the vessel you are in the less accurate you become when trying to pin your position. The navigators of old used the stars to navigate and thus astronomy is an interest of all who navigate.
The dream to go round the world on a vessel is possible since we have more water in this world in this world that land. The skill however is a totally different ball game, as the water distances are in nautical miles and so expanse. I learnt about boat surfing and the physics behind waves. Many people have been crushed by waves and it was a true revelation that the water does not move. How to define a wave is an impression of a certain force (gravitation) and comes in ripples. I honestly thought board surfing was a preserve for the elite, until Jack London changed that notion. When you see a crashing wave coming your way, you puddle as fast as possible using a swan stroke towards the beach….the catch the drift….if it crashes on you, please get into the water with the board on top of you and allow the wave to crash ontop of you when there is at least a few inches of water above you. If one must know how to surf you must know how to get into the water.
Jack London also talks of how a sun burn can be debilitating especially near the equator. He talks about various maladies and diseases and sheds so much light on their impact on society and the stigma that comes with it. I found it illuminating that there are various types of Leprosy i.e European and biblical leprosy. No one can point from where it comes from, what causes it or how to treat it, but that there are people who live with it and are exceptionally happy. The contrast Jack London makes between having a meal from a woman with Elephantiasis is mind boggling.
I will not forget to mention the resumes mentioned by people who wanted to be a part of the cruise. I learnt so much about the parts of a boat and by extension a ship and that they have compartments that are airtight. I learnt about the trade winds and how unreliable they can be, and also learnt about the magnetic north and how evasive that can be. True north was aptly defined.
Almost forgot to mention long pig. Cannibalism is real.
There is so much to say about this book, I will end it here.
Some things mentioned in this book are so profound that in day to day life you would not realize they happen. For example the fact that the sun when used to tell time is not always accurate; also that one minute could mean a 15 mile difference when navigating. I learnt about how certain you have to correct the chronometer. I also know that the smaller the vessel you are in the less accurate you become when trying to pin your position. The navigators of old used the stars to navigate and thus astronomy is an interest of all who navigate.
The dream to go round the world on a vessel is possible since we have more water in this world in this world that land. The skill however is a totally different ball game, as the water distances are in nautical miles and so expanse. I learnt about boat surfing and the physics behind waves. Many people have been crushed by waves and it was a true revelation that the water does not move. How to define a wave is an impression of a certain force (gravitation) and comes in ripples. I honestly thought board surfing was a preserve for the elite, until Jack London changed that notion. When you see a crashing wave coming your way, you puddle as fast as possible using a swan stroke towards the beach….the catch the drift….if it crashes on you, please get into the water with the board on top of you and allow the wave to crash ontop of you when there is at least a few inches of water above you. If one must know how to surf you must know how to get into the water.
Jack London also talks of how a sun burn can be debilitating especially near the equator. He talks about various maladies and diseases and sheds so much light on their impact on society and the stigma that comes with it. I found it illuminating that there are various types of Leprosy i.e European and biblical leprosy. No one can point from where it comes from, what causes it or how to treat it, but that there are people who live with it and are exceptionally happy. The contrast Jack London makes between having a meal from a woman with Elephantiasis is mind boggling.
I will not forget to mention the resumes mentioned by people who wanted to be a part of the cruise. I learnt so much about the parts of a boat and by extension a ship and that they have compartments that are airtight. I learnt about the trade winds and how unreliable they can be, and also learnt about the magnetic north and how evasive that can be. True north was aptly defined.
Almost forgot to mention long pig. Cannibalism is real.
There is so much to say about this book, I will end it here.
August 9, 2023
The Cruise of the Snark
In this book, the writer, Jack London, chronicles his adventure, sailing across the seas, with a small ship, named Snark. The trip took place from 1907 until 1909 and inside the ship was London, his wife, a friend and a small crew. Together they travelled to various exotic locations and lived real life adventures.
This was a very interesting travelogue. It's the first book I've read by Jack London and it's clear that he was an immensely talented writer. The way he expresses the call of adventure and the love of life in the sea is amazing. Everyone who feels love and admiration for the unknown is going to be enchanted from the first pages of this book. No one who love adventure is gonna be able to read this without considering following London's steps. Of course, the harshness of reality is going to stop him, so he'll have to be contempt with the book (for now).
One of the highlights of the book are the long descriptions of exotic places, different lifestyles and the habits of the locals in various islands. This gives a very interesting perspective, not only of different civilization, but also of London's view of the world. That being said, the absence of an actual story made it very hard for me to keep being interested in this book. At the end I really enjoyed it, because I got invested in London's adventures, but it took me a while, so some chapters were a pain to go through. In general, the chapters where the ship is sailing in the sea are way more interesting than the ones where London is in an exotic country and is talking about it. Sometimes these chapters can be amazing as well, like I previously mentioned, but occasionally he focuses on specific things that he obsesses with, for numerous pages and that can be extremely uninteresting, if the reader isn't also obsessed with those things. Also, some times London overestimates the reader's knowledge of sailing and ship terminology, as well as his interest in it. There are pages filled with weird words about boats, that I could never understand. Furthermore, London, some times says things that are questionable. In today's climate they'd be considered a tad sexist, but even though I disagree with these thoughts, I guess it's ok to look passed them in a book that was written more than 110 years ago, by a guy who was actually very progressive for his time. Of course, I don't think we should forgive such ideas, I simply suggested ignoring them in a book like this, in order to benefit from the multiple positives that it contains.
Overall, this was a very nice book with many positives and negatives, but at the end the positives win, thanks to the great writing and the amazing spirit of adventure.
7.5/10
In this book, the writer, Jack London, chronicles his adventure, sailing across the seas, with a small ship, named Snark. The trip took place from 1907 until 1909 and inside the ship was London, his wife, a friend and a small crew. Together they travelled to various exotic locations and lived real life adventures.
This was a very interesting travelogue. It's the first book I've read by Jack London and it's clear that he was an immensely talented writer. The way he expresses the call of adventure and the love of life in the sea is amazing. Everyone who feels love and admiration for the unknown is going to be enchanted from the first pages of this book. No one who love adventure is gonna be able to read this without considering following London's steps. Of course, the harshness of reality is going to stop him, so he'll have to be contempt with the book (for now).
One of the highlights of the book are the long descriptions of exotic places, different lifestyles and the habits of the locals in various islands. This gives a very interesting perspective, not only of different civilization, but also of London's view of the world. That being said, the absence of an actual story made it very hard for me to keep being interested in this book. At the end I really enjoyed it, because I got invested in London's adventures, but it took me a while, so some chapters were a pain to go through. In general, the chapters where the ship is sailing in the sea are way more interesting than the ones where London is in an exotic country and is talking about it. Sometimes these chapters can be amazing as well, like I previously mentioned, but occasionally he focuses on specific things that he obsesses with, for numerous pages and that can be extremely uninteresting, if the reader isn't also obsessed with those things. Also, some times London overestimates the reader's knowledge of sailing and ship terminology, as well as his interest in it. There are pages filled with weird words about boats, that I could never understand. Furthermore, London, some times says things that are questionable. In today's climate they'd be considered a tad sexist, but even though I disagree with these thoughts, I guess it's ok to look passed them in a book that was written more than 110 years ago, by a guy who was actually very progressive for his time. Of course, I don't think we should forgive such ideas, I simply suggested ignoring them in a book like this, in order to benefit from the multiple positives that it contains.
Overall, this was a very nice book with many positives and negatives, but at the end the positives win, thanks to the great writing and the amazing spirit of adventure.
7.5/10
January 4, 2023
No es una novela pero un poco como si lo fuera. Le encuentro sentido del humor a pesar de haberse escrito a principios de 1900. Tiene un capítulo particularmente aburrido donde describe las corrientes del viento. A pesar del escenario, no ahonda en cuestiones marítimas, lo que agradezco. Se enfoca en la aventura y las dificultades del viaje lo que me resulta entretenido en un 75%. Relata sobre la lepra, la elefantiasis y otras enfermedades tropicales de los nativos así como las sufridas por la tripulación. Dedica un capítulo a su amistad con Ernest Darling el llamado hombre de la Naturaleza el que más disfruté. Todo el libro contiene fotos documentales.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 24, 2017
This is Jack London's account of building and then sailing a 43 foot boat from California to Hawaii and the South Seas. Some interesting stories--and a lot about tropical diseases.
June 30, 2025
I read this a long time ago - before I was on Goodreads. I love this book. Highly recommend.
December 26, 2018
I actually finished with Martin Johnson's book, Through the South Seas with Jack London, about the same voyage, before reading London's The Cruise of the Snark. And it's interesting to contrast the two. Of course, London's is the more literary of the two, although Johnson has a somewhat gifted, albeit exaggerated, style of his own. But the odd thing is that if you want a detailed, even more accurate description of the Snark as it sailed from San Francisco to Hawaii and then on to other South Seas locations, then Johnson's is the better book.
Yet London's book is the more memorable. His imagery, his ability to capture the moment, and his skill at stepping outside himself make for a more psychologically complete picture. That is not to say it doesn't have its more disappointing parts. The long discussion on the physics of waves and the chapter devoted to learning navigation are tedious--although they give insight into how London's mind works and his doggedness in pursuing and solving problems. A similar chapter on London's acquisition of certain medical skills, on the other hand, is humorous and reads through at a snap.
And that brings us to the tone of The Cruise of the Snark, which often is, well, snarky. London says he christened his vessel the Snark because he was inspired by Lewis Carroll's imaginary animal that provided an elusive goal. That did prove the case, here, as London was unable to complete his trip due to serious illness among all the crew. But London is well and truly snarky, in the informal sense of the word, throughout. I'm not sure when the word gained its current usage, but London mocks himself, his crew, his wife, many of the people he encounters, as well as his boat. Especially his boat, because, as it turns out, the Snark was a lemon. Just about everything that could go wrong, did go wrong with it. All the promises made in construction turned out to be lies or pipe dreams, and London paid far above and beyond anything resembling a fair price in the purchase. And never does a man skewer himself with such snarkiness for his naivete than does London.
There are also some dreamlike moments, the greatest of which comes when the Snark visits the valley of Typee on Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas, where Herman Melville's novel and real life experiences took place and from which subsequent readers became so enamored of the South Seas. Melville was there in 1842. London arrived sixty-five years later, just in time to see the very last remnants of the world Melville found disappearing into a sort of twilight memory among the very few survivors of the Typee. It is probably the strongest chapter in the book.
Don't let the tone of the book deceive you, however. This was a dangerous journey. The Americans, Japanese, and Tahitians who undertook it with London were from a generation used to privation and difficulties. They were different. They could set sail in a small ketch and cross the Pacific without detailed knowledge of the means to achieve their goals. They could do so even learning navigation while on the job so to speak. The journey of the Snark was a brave adventure. Don't mistake it for an early twentieth century version of today's fake TV survival/adventure shows. It isn't. It was the real thing.
Yet London's book is the more memorable. His imagery, his ability to capture the moment, and his skill at stepping outside himself make for a more psychologically complete picture. That is not to say it doesn't have its more disappointing parts. The long discussion on the physics of waves and the chapter devoted to learning navigation are tedious--although they give insight into how London's mind works and his doggedness in pursuing and solving problems. A similar chapter on London's acquisition of certain medical skills, on the other hand, is humorous and reads through at a snap.
And that brings us to the tone of The Cruise of the Snark, which often is, well, snarky. London says he christened his vessel the Snark because he was inspired by Lewis Carroll's imaginary animal that provided an elusive goal. That did prove the case, here, as London was unable to complete his trip due to serious illness among all the crew. But London is well and truly snarky, in the informal sense of the word, throughout. I'm not sure when the word gained its current usage, but London mocks himself, his crew, his wife, many of the people he encounters, as well as his boat. Especially his boat, because, as it turns out, the Snark was a lemon. Just about everything that could go wrong, did go wrong with it. All the promises made in construction turned out to be lies or pipe dreams, and London paid far above and beyond anything resembling a fair price in the purchase. And never does a man skewer himself with such snarkiness for his naivete than does London.
There are also some dreamlike moments, the greatest of which comes when the Snark visits the valley of Typee on Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas, where Herman Melville's novel and real life experiences took place and from which subsequent readers became so enamored of the South Seas. Melville was there in 1842. London arrived sixty-five years later, just in time to see the very last remnants of the world Melville found disappearing into a sort of twilight memory among the very few survivors of the Typee. It is probably the strongest chapter in the book.
Don't let the tone of the book deceive you, however. This was a dangerous journey. The Americans, Japanese, and Tahitians who undertook it with London were from a generation used to privation and difficulties. They were different. They could set sail in a small ketch and cross the Pacific without detailed knowledge of the means to achieve their goals. They could do so even learning navigation while on the job so to speak. The journey of the Snark was a brave adventure. Don't mistake it for an early twentieth century version of today's fake TV survival/adventure shows. It isn't. It was the real thing.
September 8, 2012
I haven't decided if the experience of the book was made by the narrator, or ruined by him. One one hand, he brought Jack London's humour to life. I can still hear him interjecting "PROUD" every few sentences as Jack successfully taught himself how to navigate. On the other hand, he was almost over the top.
I enjoyed Jack's stories about their experiences as they set about to sail around the world. This book made me wish that I had known Jack London, the man.
I enjoyed Jack's stories about their experiences as they set about to sail around the world. This book made me wish that I had known Jack London, the man.
August 9, 2025
A collection of short stories like diary entries or articles. Jack sails on a yacht from San Francisco to Hawaii to the South Pacific. I enjoyed reading about the adventures, challenges and struggles at sea. The crew had to endure repeated fevers, insect bites, ulcers, seasickness, sunburns and the challenges of sailing a yacht in the Pacific Ocean, which is enough of a reminder to keep me to sailing on only large vessels such as cruise ships.
June 23, 2013
London was an expert sailor. The Snark, which he had specially built for what he thought would be an around the world voyage, was an ill-found vessel with numerous flaws which quickly became evident upon departure out of San Francisco Bay. No sea trials. Also London turned out to be the only competent sailor/navigator aboard. Not good overall. Never got out of Pacific. But great narrative.
August 25, 2014
Excellent chronicle of Jack London's exploits on his sail of the Pacific aboard the Snark. His descriptive writing makes you feel like part of his crew. My only complaint is that it ended too soon!
Read
December 20, 2016Books 2016
1. My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem
2. The Confession of Jean Jacque Rousseau by Jean Jacque Rousseau
3. The Trail and Death of Socrates (Apology and Phaedo) by Plato
4. On Becoming Madison by Michael Singer
5. Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death by Patrick Henry
6. The Founding Gardners by Andrea Wulf
7. The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan by Ben Foss
8. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
9. Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
10. A View From the Bridge by Arthur Miller (play)
11. Proof by David Auburn (play)
12. The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking
13. Luna Gale by Rebecca Gilman (play)
14. Spinning into Butter by Rebecca Gilman (play)
15. Hurlyburly by David Rabe (play/movie)
16. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
17. The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf
18. Measuring the World by Daniel Kehlmann
19. Anomalisa by Charlie Kaufman (Play/movie)
20. The Loudest Voice in Room by Gabriel Sherman (Bio of Roger Ailes)
February
21. The Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard
22. Amerigo by Felipe Fernandz-Armesto
23. The Bridge at San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
24. Aristole by Thomas Brickhouse
25. The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr
26. The Nicomachean Ethics by Artistole
27. Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell
28. Mao by Jung Chang
29. Our Town by Thornton Wilder
30. A Primate's Memoir by Robert Sapolsky
31. The Story of Civilization: Rousseau and Revolution by Will Durant/Ariel
32. After the Fall by Arthur Miller Marilyn Monroe and Miller's relationship
33. My House in Umbria by William Trevor
34. Leave it to Psmith by P. J. Wodehouse The idyll of Blandings Castle is about to be disturbed, for the Hon. Freddie Threepwood is poised to make his debut as a jewel thief. Freddie, however, is not alone: Blandings is simply brimming with criminals and impostors all intent on stealing Aunt Constance's 20,000-pound diamond necklace. It is left to the debonair Psmith, with his usual aplomb, to unscramble the passion, problems, and identities of one and all.
35. Lilian's Story by Kate Granville (Austrialian) Young girl institutionalized by dysfunctional father. ****
36. A Little Bit on the Side by William Trevor short stories
37. The Secret River by Kate Granville
38. Wit: a play by Maragaret Edson (Woman diagnosed with cancer Emma Thompson play)
39. Circle Mirror Transformation: a play by Annie Baker Play
40. Super Genes by Deepak Chopra and Rudoph E. Tanzi?
41. Brain That Changes Itslef by Norman Doidge
42. The Life of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht translate by David Hare. Play
March
43. Faster:The Acceleration of Everything by James Glick
44. The Geography of Genius by Eric Weiner
45. Indonesia Etc. by Elizabeth Pisani
46. The Lady in the Van by Alan Bennett
47. North Korea Undercover by John Sweeney
48. A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland by Samuel Johnson and James Boswell ****
49. The Brain's Way of Healing by Norman Doidge
50. The Amateur Emigrant by Robert Lewis Stevenson
51. The Life of Samuel Johnson by Will Durant
52. The Vanity of Human Wishes by Samuel Johnson
53. Plenty by David Hare A female in wwll doesn't leave the agnes of war beyond
54. White Lies by Witi Ihimaera ***** New Zealand Maori who passes for white
55. The Monsters of Templeton by Laura Groff
56. Augustine: Conversion to Confessions by Robin Lane Fox ****
57. The 4 % Universe by Richard Panek
58. Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson
59. The Emperor's Club by Ethan Canin (also known as “The Palace Thief”)
60. In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri **** writes in Ttalian for 2 years)
61. A Thousand Miles to Freedom by Eunsun Kim (North Korean esapee) When Breath Becomes Air by Paul KalanithThe Organize Mind by Daniel J Levitin
April
62. The Little Red Chairs by Edna O'Brien
63. Shrinks by Jeffrey A. Lieberman
64. Playing to the Edge by Michael Y. Hayden
65. American Girls by Nancy Jo Sales
66. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
67. Love Poems by John Donne (1572-1631)
68. Cultural Literacy by E.D. Hirsch Jr.
69. The Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodward
70. The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson (second reading, better)
71. Smarter Faster Better by Charles Duhigg
72. How We'll Live on Mars by Stephen Petranek
73. Hatred's Kingdom: How Saudi Arabi Supports the New Global Terrorism by Dore Gold
74. The Teenage Brain by Frances E. Jensen
75. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz (read by Lin-Manuel Miranda)
76. Shoedog by Phil Knight (founder of Niki)
77. The Painted Word by Tom Wolfe
May
78. In Montmartre: Picasso, Matisse and the Birth of Modernist Art by Sue Roe
79. Paris 1200 by John W. Baldwin
80. The Rainbow Goes and Comes by Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt
81. Nothing Left Unsaid: Mary Polce-Lynch.
82. The Taliban Shuffle by Kimberly Barker
83. Good Dog. Stay by Anna Quindlen
84. The Age of the Unthinkable by Joshua Ramo
85. The Vanish Velazquez by Laura Cumming
86. Dictator by Robert Harris (historial fiction series on Cicero, Caesar)
87. The Knowledge: how to rebuild our world from Scratch, by Lewis Dartnell
88. SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard
89. Joan of Arc by Mark Twain * last novel written at 61
90. Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson ****
91. The Jefferson Lies by David Barton (not sure of credibility)
92. Noli Me Tangere by Jose Rizal published 1887 in Berlin, Rizal died 189? firing squad, librivox recording.
93. From Eternity to Here by Sean Carroll
94. The Universe Within by Neil Shubin
June
95. The Alliance by Chris Yeh
96. Palimpsest by Matthew Battles
97. Infinite Potential by Lothar Schafer
98. Confessions of an English Opium Eater by Thomas De Quincey
99. The Vegetarian by Han Kang ? Strange **
100. Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jeremy Carter
101. The Language Hoax by John McWhorter
102. Asia's Cauldron by Robert D. Kaplan
103. Ocean of Life by Callum Roberts
104. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
105. The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James
106. The Story of Human Languages by John McWhorter
107. Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? By Frans De Waal
108. Seeds of Hope by Jane Goodall
109. Reason for Hope by Jane Goodall
110. Jane's Journey by Jane Goodall
111. Tap Dancing to Work by Carol J. Loomis
112. The Start-up of You by Reid Hoffman
113. The Male Brain by Louann Brizendine **** excellent objective view
114. St. Francis of Assissi by C. K. Chesterton * poor history, dated, biased
115. THE World Beyond your Head by Matthew Crawford ****
116. The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee ****
117. The Seventh Sense by Joshua Ramo **** on the cutting edge of networking
118. African in Colonial Louisiana by Gwendolyn Midlo Hall (hard copy)
July
119. Sex Object by Jessica Valent
120. The Girls by Emma Cline **** adolescent girl view of 1960 cult life in California, vaguely linked to the Mason killings.
121. BarkSkins by Annie Proulx
122. The Silk Road by Peter Frankopan
123. In the Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides
124. The Alice Behind Wonderland by Simon Winchester **** (insight into Lewis Carroll pedophilia)(my rage
against when society portraits a figure inaccurately)
125. Shakespeare- The World Stage by Bill Bryson
126. The Industries of the Future by Alec Ross **** robotics, genomics, estonia, indonesia, power of women, careers
127. Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville (for me a rebirth of what is America) ****
128. The Light That Failed by Rudyard Kipling (painter goes blind, thriving for the love of ambitious woman and paints a beggar woman who transforms, There are trerrible choies to be made between the love of the woman he treasures & the love of the men who stood by him at the front)
129. The Bedwetter by Sarah Silverman
130. Bone in the Throat by Antony Bourdain (mystery novel of no interest to me)
131. Roughing It by Mark Twain
132. Mating In Captivity by Esther Percel ***** most realitist theory of relationship, marriage, sex, relationship
133. Neurologic: The Brain's Hidden Rationle Behind Our Irrational Behavior by Eliezer Stemberg
134. The Commitment by Dan Savage (**** Candid view of gay marriage/relationship/child rearing)
135. The Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
136. The Greatest Minds and Ideas of all Time by Will Durant
137. The Rise and Fall of Nations: Force of Change in a post Crisis World (Ruchir, an Indian born investor and has written widely on global economics and politics. As head of the Emerging Markets Equity team at Morgan Stanley.
138. The Dream of Reason by Anthony Gottlieb (in sight into the classics)
139. The Big Picture by Sean Carroll (science, history, philosophy, quantum, qualia)
140. Genet: A Biography by Edmund White
141. Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
August
142. She's Not There by Jennifer Finney Boylan (personal exerience of the transgender life)
143. Nobody's Fool by Richard Russo (Paul Newman movie of an average funny joe )
144. How to Build a Dinosaur by Jack Horner
145. The Art of Fiction by Ayn Rand
146. Meditations on First Philosophy by Rene Descartes
147. The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel *** surreal novel, Canadian, ape, autopsy, Peter, Ben- father son
148. Philosophic Thoughts by C.S. Lewis
149. Siracusa by Delia Ephron
150. George MacDonald by C.S. Lewis (biased toward religion) hard to listen
151. Justinian's Flea by William Rosen
152. Talk Like Ted by Carmine Gallo
153. The Inevitable by Kevin Kelly
154. The Course of Love by Alain de Botton (in agreement with view of relationship/live)
155. A Discourse of Method by RenE' Descartes
156. The Art of Writing and the Gifts of Writers by C. S. Lewis
157. The Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard (author “The River of Doubt” T. Roosvelt)
158. Lucky by Alice Sebold (personal description of rape)
159. Infinite Reality by Jeremy Bailenson and Jim Blascovich (
160. The Universe by John Brockman
161. Beyond Boundaries by Miguel Nicolelis (neurology) Brazil author
162. The Language of God by Herman Wouk (author of “The Caine Mutiny” Wouk is a believer
163. It's Your World by Chelsea Clinton
164. The Genome War by James Shreeve (Craig Venter vs Francis Collins)
165. Originals by Adam Grant
166. Are you Smart Enough to Work at Google by William Poundstone
167. Seinfeldia by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
168. A Book About Love by Jonah Lehrer
169. The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney
170. A Rage for Order by Robert Worth
171. The Success Equation: Untangling Skill and Luck by Michael Mauboussin (boring, too head, topic trivial)
will relook, probably this is my stuff. Didn't finish
September
172. Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein
173. Everybody's Fool by Richard Russo
174. The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis
175. American Heiress by Jeffrey Toobin (uninteresting didn't finish, kidnapping of Patrica Heast)
176. Patient: HM by Luis Dittrich
177. Antigone by Jean Anouilh
178. Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
179. I am just Me by Tig Notario
180. This Will Make you Smarter by John Brockman
181. The Digital Divide by Mark Bauerlein
182. The Churchill Secret by Jonathan Smith (he had a stroke)
183. Origins: The Search for Our Prehistoric Past by Frank H.T. Rhodes
184. Fake by Eric Simonson In 1914, renowned mystery writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle invites four guests to his English country home. Each visitor has a connection to the infamous "Piltdown Man,
185. Apache Wars by Paul Andrew Hutton
186. The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer
187. This Explains by John Brockman
188. Girls and Sex by Peggy Orenstein
189. Kill'em and Leave by James McBride
190. How Adam Smith can Change your Life: An Unexpected Guide to Life and Happiness by Russ Roberts
191. Communication Matters by Deborah Tannen
192. Power: the 48 laws by Robert Greene
October
193. Sex and The Seasoned Woman by Gail Sheehy
194. Mastery by Robert Greene
195. The Art of Seduction by Robert Greene
196. Daring: A Memoir, My Passages by Gail Sheehy
197. The Copernicus Complex by Caleb Scharf
198. Pre-Suasion by Robert Cialdini
199. Genesis Code: A Thriller of the Near Future by Jamie Metzl
200. Secondhand Time by Svetlana Alexievich ****
201. Beauty Disrupted by Carre Otis ***
202. A Ghost at Noon by Alberto Moravia (Italian) (Contempt: the movie)
203. Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli
204. The Autobiography of Red” by Anne Carson ****
205. How Not to Be Wrong by Jordan Ellenberg (at the Lensic Oct 18, 2016)
206. Hilbilly Elegy by JD Vance ****
207. Talk Like Ted by Carmine Gallo
208. Quantum Man by Lawerence Krauss
209. Time Regained by Marcel Proust
210. The End of Power by Moises Naim ****(born in Libya, Venezuelan Minster of Trade and Industry, Executive Direstor of the World Bank)
211. Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff by Pappy Pariah (Sean Penn?) -***
212. A Conversation with Joseph Finder and Malcolm Gladwell by Gladwell and Finder
213. Jack London: An American Life by Earle Labor
214. The Undeniable by Bill Nye
215. The Power of Fifty Bits by Bob Nease
216. The Wild Truth by Carine by McCandless
217. I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt
218. Reality Is Not What it Seems by Carlo Rovelli
November
219. The Red One by Jack London (science fiction: alien red metal ball lands in Salmon Island, discovered by a white sailor adventurer.
220. The Queen of Katwe by Tim Crothers (14 yr female of the slums, chess champion of Uganda)
221. The Cruise of the Snark (from Lewis Carroll) by Jack London
222. Sight Unseen by Donald Margulies (a play: about trying to revive love, artist visit married lover in England)
223. Machine Learning by Ethem Alpaydin (little new info)
224. Blockchain Revolution by Don Tapscott and Alex Tapscott
225. Euphoria by Lily King
226. Galileo's Middle Finger by Alice Dreger
227. The Age of Ems by Robin Hanson ****
228. The Rivalry by Norman Corwin (play) Lincoln/Douglas debate ***
229. Sex Object: Memoir by Jessica Valenti ***
230. Going to St Iyes by Lee Blessing (play) Mother of African dictator, goes to England for laser surgery, kills her son with help her doctor, doctor goes to Africa to help mother leave africa
231. The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan (Australian prison of war building Burmese Rail) *
232. The Originalist by John Strand (Play) ***
233. White Trash by Nancy Isenberg ****
234. A Face in The Crowd (movie) ****
235. The Kingdom of Speech by Tom Wolfe ***
236. Greeting from Utopia Park by Claire Hoffman ****
237. Souls of Black Folk by WEB Du Bois ***
238. A Disease in the Public Mind by Thomas Fleming**
239. The Unwinding by George Packer ****
240. Time Travel by James Glick ***
241. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery ****
242. Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life by Steve Martin****
243. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond ****
244. The Attention Merchants: the epic battle to get inside your head, by Tim Wu
245. The Way We Eat by Pete Singer
December
246. Infinite Reality by Jim Blascovich (speed of AI/VR/alogrithms in our lives) ****
247. The Uprising by David Sirota (rise of populism in america)
248. Zero to One by Peter Thiel
249. The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost (hippie's adventure in Pacific Isles)
250. DreamLand by Sam Quinones (drugs in middel america)
251. In RealLife by Sherry Turkle (effects of the computer age)
252. Alone Together by Sherry Turkle
253. Murder in the Bayou by Ethan Brown ** Murder/drug Jennier 7, killings
254. Utopia is Creepy by Nicholas Carr
255. Thomas Paine's Rights of Man by Christopher Hitchens.
256. Henry VI Part I by William Shakespeare
257. The Vindication of Women's Rights by Mary Wollstonecraft ****
258. Henry VI Part II by William Shakespeare
259. The Meaning of Human Existence by E.O. Wilson
March 15, 2022
O livro O Cruzeiro do Snark nos leva a uma viagem a mares distantes , tanto em distância quanto no tempo .
Escrito antes da 1 guerra Mundial ,existe neste livro ainda um ar romântico , de antes das guerras e no começo da grande prosperidade econômica nos EUA que aconteceu antes da 1 grande guerra.
Neste livro o autor Jack London relata as aventuras com sua esposa , dentro de seu barco Snark no ano de 1906 . Construído e projetado juntamente com ele , o Snark tornou-se seu sonho e seu pesadelo , após 115 empresas atrasarem todos os projetos e muita dor de cabeça. . Este livro retrata as aventuras do escritor dentro de seu barco de 12 metros em suas viagens para as ilhas do Havaí e da Polinésia Francesa .
Os lugares maravilhosos , paisagens de tirar o fôlego ,e um povo amistoso e simples , retrata de maneira fiel e envolvente a sua aventura entre o mar e a terra .
Polinésia francesa , após 100 anos do seu relato ainda é um lugar magnífico , e hoje é o local onde os mais caros resorts estão localizados .
A Polinésia Francesa, uma coletividade ultramarina da França, abrange mais de 100 ilhas no Pacífico Sul e se estende por mais de 2.000 km. Dividida entre os arquipélagos Austral, Gambier, Marquesas, Sociedade e Tuamotu, ela é conhecida por suas lagoas rodeadas de corais e hotéis de bangalô sobre a água. As ilhas se caracterizam por praias de areia preta e branca, montanhas, áreas remotas selvagens e cachoeiras imponentes.
Jack London foi um escritor americano, autor de romances e contos. Teve uma vida muito aventureira, o que transparece em toda a sua obra literária e atrai leitores do mundo inteiro. É um dos autores dos Estados Unidos mais traduzidos para outros idiomas.
Escrito antes da 1 guerra Mundial ,existe neste livro ainda um ar romântico , de antes das guerras e no começo da grande prosperidade econômica nos EUA que aconteceu antes da 1 grande guerra.
Neste livro o autor Jack London relata as aventuras com sua esposa , dentro de seu barco Snark no ano de 1906 . Construído e projetado juntamente com ele , o Snark tornou-se seu sonho e seu pesadelo , após 115 empresas atrasarem todos os projetos e muita dor de cabeça. . Este livro retrata as aventuras do escritor dentro de seu barco de 12 metros em suas viagens para as ilhas do Havaí e da Polinésia Francesa .
Os lugares maravilhosos , paisagens de tirar o fôlego ,e um povo amistoso e simples , retrata de maneira fiel e envolvente a sua aventura entre o mar e a terra .
Polinésia francesa , após 100 anos do seu relato ainda é um lugar magnífico , e hoje é o local onde os mais caros resorts estão localizados .
A Polinésia Francesa, uma coletividade ultramarina da França, abrange mais de 100 ilhas no Pacífico Sul e se estende por mais de 2.000 km. Dividida entre os arquipélagos Austral, Gambier, Marquesas, Sociedade e Tuamotu, ela é conhecida por suas lagoas rodeadas de corais e hotéis de bangalô sobre a água. As ilhas se caracterizam por praias de areia preta e branca, montanhas, áreas remotas selvagens e cachoeiras imponentes.
Jack London foi um escritor americano, autor de romances e contos. Teve uma vida muito aventureira, o que transparece em toda a sua obra literária e atrai leitores do mundo inteiro. É um dos autores dos Estados Unidos mais traduzidos para outros idiomas.
May 28, 2022
After re-discovering Jack London beyond his Alaska/Sea Wolf novels (last year’s Mooks® Award Winner: Martin Eden), I found that the guy wrote a lot more than I realized. A lot. So as I searched around, I found plenty of future titles that interested me as new possibilities … but then I stumbled upon The Cruise of the Snark. What’s this? A Jack London novel, but a non-fiction account of his attempted circumnavigation of the globe in a yacht? Sailing, Jack London? Instead of being merely interested, this premise catapulted The Cruise of the Snark to the front of the list.
Immediately, I fell in with Jack London’s thoughtful detailing of the building of his ship and forming of his plans and crews. Within this opening, we get a wide range of London: his amusing trivialities (something you don’t get as much of in his more serious fiction stories), his societal musings, and valuable life lessons. This, I realized, promised to be far better than just a pleasure cruise!
And then … it turns into a pleasure cruise. Sure, it’s a pleasure cruise with Jack London as the narrator, which means that we get intelligent, often sardonic, aesthetic reports on navigation in a sailboat, Hawaii, lepers, the South Sea islands and cultures, maladies (where things transition from pleasure cruise to displeasure cruise), and more. There are worse ways to spend your time.
Because health issues cut the voyage short, the narrative too feels cut short, and the long list of fascinating observations by London remain truncated and independent of any higher philosophy or meaning. Again, if you like sailing, exploring, learning about cultures and people from just past the turn of the twentieth century, this is fun and interesting … just not—even for its length—lasting.
Immediately, I fell in with Jack London’s thoughtful detailing of the building of his ship and forming of his plans and crews. Within this opening, we get a wide range of London: his amusing trivialities (something you don’t get as much of in his more serious fiction stories), his societal musings, and valuable life lessons. This, I realized, promised to be far better than just a pleasure cruise!
And then … it turns into a pleasure cruise. Sure, it’s a pleasure cruise with Jack London as the narrator, which means that we get intelligent, often sardonic, aesthetic reports on navigation in a sailboat, Hawaii, lepers, the South Sea islands and cultures, maladies (where things transition from pleasure cruise to displeasure cruise), and more. There are worse ways to spend your time.
Because health issues cut the voyage short, the narrative too feels cut short, and the long list of fascinating observations by London remain truncated and independent of any higher philosophy or meaning. Again, if you like sailing, exploring, learning about cultures and people from just past the turn of the twentieth century, this is fun and interesting … just not—even for its length—lasting.
May 30, 2021
No quería terminar mayo sin haber leído un solo #libro 📖, así que este domingo -bajo la lluvia y con viento ☔😬- he conseguido mi propósito. 💪 Me gusta que haya sido en unas condiciones un tanto desfavorables, pues imaginaba a #jacklondon 👨✍️ escribiendo a bordo del #snark ⛵ en unas mucho peores. Aún así, disfrutó de su aventura extrema retando a la naturaleza.
.
Autor de unos 50 libros, entre ellos #colmilloblanco 🐶, London fue una de las plumas estadounidenses mejor pagadas de su tiempo. No es algo que le viniera hecho, pues antes de eso fue vagabundo, buscador de oro y hasta piratilla. Tuvo una vida tan novelesca o más que su propia literatura. Por eso, tenía muchas ganas de leerle.
.
Cuando decidió construir un barco para recorrer el mundo a vela con su mujer y unos amigos, ya era conocido. Parecía una locura, pero hizo realidad un sueño. Lo que pasa es que, como suele ocurrir, no todo fue tan idílico como había imaginado. Desde el principio, el grupo se enfrentó a no pocos contratiempos. Aún así, aprendiendo a surcar el océano 🌊🏄 sobre la marcha, siguieron adelante dos años más.
.
A través de este relato de su viaje por los #maresdelsur 🌏 vamos conociendo la personalidad del autor, su sentido del humor y su especial forma de escribir. También nos describe la situación de 🏝️islas como #Molokai, #lasMarquesas o las Solomon a principios del siglo XX, cuando las fiebres, las llagas y otras enfermedades tropicales eran una verdadera pesadilla 🤒 🦶 Al final, al deteriorarse tanto su estado de salud, London no ve otra salida. Si quiere sanar, es hora de volver a casa.
.
Autor de unos 50 libros, entre ellos #colmilloblanco 🐶, London fue una de las plumas estadounidenses mejor pagadas de su tiempo. No es algo que le viniera hecho, pues antes de eso fue vagabundo, buscador de oro y hasta piratilla. Tuvo una vida tan novelesca o más que su propia literatura. Por eso, tenía muchas ganas de leerle.
.
Cuando decidió construir un barco para recorrer el mundo a vela con su mujer y unos amigos, ya era conocido. Parecía una locura, pero hizo realidad un sueño. Lo que pasa es que, como suele ocurrir, no todo fue tan idílico como había imaginado. Desde el principio, el grupo se enfrentó a no pocos contratiempos. Aún así, aprendiendo a surcar el océano 🌊🏄 sobre la marcha, siguieron adelante dos años más.
.
A través de este relato de su viaje por los #maresdelsur 🌏 vamos conociendo la personalidad del autor, su sentido del humor y su especial forma de escribir. También nos describe la situación de 🏝️islas como #Molokai, #lasMarquesas o las Solomon a principios del siglo XX, cuando las fiebres, las llagas y otras enfermedades tropicales eran una verdadera pesadilla 🤒 🦶 Al final, al deteriorarse tanto su estado de salud, London no ve otra salida. Si quiere sanar, es hora de volver a casa.
August 6, 2021
One of my favourite works of travel literature, this charts Jack London’s ill-fated trip around the world in a ketch he had built specially. Even before they set sail and throughout the voyage, he and the crew are plagued by disasters: going way over budget on the building of the boat, losing half their supplies, and a series of extremely unpleasant tropical diseases that decimated an already minimalist crew.
The reader is alternately in awe of London’s bravery, perseverance and resourcefulness, and appalled and exasperated by his impetuous, and at times reckless behaviour: they’ve already set sail when they realise no one actually took the trouble to learn to navigate. Doh! Not to mention his alarming self-medicating (not just self, for he eventually appoints himself ship’s doctor) for the numerous maladies that he and the crew suffer from).
But, ultimately, whether he’s teaching himself to surf in Hawaii – and subsequently nearly killing himself because he didn’t have the right size board – what remains with the reader is London’s sheer grit and spirit: his voracious curiosity and appetite for life; his extraordinary capacity for learning (he teaches himself celestial navigation whilst sailing); his iron will.
It also gives you a sense of perspective where travel is concerned: you'll think twice the next time you feel like whining because the GPS isn’t working or they run out of champagne on your flight…
The reader is alternately in awe of London’s bravery, perseverance and resourcefulness, and appalled and exasperated by his impetuous, and at times reckless behaviour: they’ve already set sail when they realise no one actually took the trouble to learn to navigate. Doh! Not to mention his alarming self-medicating (not just self, for he eventually appoints himself ship’s doctor) for the numerous maladies that he and the crew suffer from).
But, ultimately, whether he’s teaching himself to surf in Hawaii – and subsequently nearly killing himself because he didn’t have the right size board – what remains with the reader is London’s sheer grit and spirit: his voracious curiosity and appetite for life; his extraordinary capacity for learning (he teaches himself celestial navigation whilst sailing); his iron will.
It also gives you a sense of perspective where travel is concerned: you'll think twice the next time you feel like whining because the GPS isn’t working or they run out of champagne on your flight…
September 14, 2017
Un libro felice.
Da ogni pagina traspare le felicità e il godimento di Jack per tutta la durata del viaggio, felicità che trasforma anche le situazioni più difficili (malaria, frambesia, cacciatori di teste, problemi di navigazione) in spunti narrativi godibilissimi. Anche perché sempre pervasi da un’ironia a volte tenera (verso la moglie che deve mantenere a “perle e vulcani” e questa è una delle profferte d’amore più belle che abbia mai letto), a volte graffiante (sia verso i compagni di viaggio un po’ troppo tronfi della propria superiorità fisica, Martin e Nakata), sia verso le situazioni.
La capacità di narrare gli incontri con nuove persone, di visitare nuovi luoghi, di provare nuove esperienze è strabiliante (favoloso il capitolo sul surf).
Jack narra con una vivezza tale che fa venire voglia di partire per le Samoa (se non fosse che quelle Samoa non esistono più).
Qualsiasi cosa sotto la sua penna diventa narrazione, da curriculum ricevuti alle fatiche per determinare longitudine e latitudine e quindi la rotta. Man mano che mi avvicinavo alla fine rallentavo la lettura: non volevo che Jack mi lasciasse, per trasformarsi nelle ultime pagine di Martin Eden.
Da ogni pagina traspare le felicità e il godimento di Jack per tutta la durata del viaggio, felicità che trasforma anche le situazioni più difficili (malaria, frambesia, cacciatori di teste, problemi di navigazione) in spunti narrativi godibilissimi. Anche perché sempre pervasi da un’ironia a volte tenera (verso la moglie che deve mantenere a “perle e vulcani” e questa è una delle profferte d’amore più belle che abbia mai letto), a volte graffiante (sia verso i compagni di viaggio un po’ troppo tronfi della propria superiorità fisica, Martin e Nakata), sia verso le situazioni.
La capacità di narrare gli incontri con nuove persone, di visitare nuovi luoghi, di provare nuove esperienze è strabiliante (favoloso il capitolo sul surf).
Jack narra con una vivezza tale che fa venire voglia di partire per le Samoa (se non fosse che quelle Samoa non esistono più).
Qualsiasi cosa sotto la sua penna diventa narrazione, da curriculum ricevuti alle fatiche per determinare longitudine e latitudine e quindi la rotta. Man mano che mi avvicinavo alla fine rallentavo la lettura: non volevo che Jack mi lasciasse, per trasformarsi nelle ultime pagine di Martin Eden.
May 15, 2020
The trip that tore Jack London apart physically. And yet he seemed to love every moment of it. I think the most fascinating thing about this book, is that all of the islands they visit, including Hawaii, were only reachable by boat as air travel, especially commercial, was still a ways off. Over a hundred years ago, though, and it is so easy to feel every emotion along with this intrepid crew. What an adventure.
December 8, 2024
Well, I read most of this book, if not all. I read it by chapter and not in order, as I was searching for quotes as I went. I read it on a sailboat trip, in the Caribbean, and used a new quote for each sailing day activity which I recoded in Strava. The account was enjoyable, learning about how Jack London went on long round the world sailing adventures with minimal experience. I especially enjoyed his account of surfing in Hawaii. Yes, he surfed!
August 19, 2019
It was quite charming to read this book. I think it shows a different style of Jack unseen in his other books.
It reminded me of the 1980's travel documentaries that I used to watch on my black and white TV.
At a given point one loses the perception that the book was actually written in 1902 and that Jack and his wife love those adventures at that time, despite all the dificulties at the early 20th century.
Great little book. 3 stars because I wanted so much more. I wanted to read the adventures all the way to Europe. But that wasn't possible. Also wanted to get to know a bit more of how was life after the adventure.
It reminded me of the 1980's travel documentaries that I used to watch on my black and white TV.
At a given point one loses the perception that the book was actually written in 1902 and that Jack and his wife love those adventures at that time, despite all the dificulties at the early 20th century.
Great little book. 3 stars because I wanted so much more. I wanted to read the adventures all the way to Europe. But that wasn't possible. Also wanted to get to know a bit more of how was life after the adventure.
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