Light Freights

by W.W. Jacobs

William Wymark Jacobs (1863-1943), was an English author of short stories and novels. He is now best remembered for his macabre tales "The Monkey's Paw" (1901) and "The Toll House" (in the collection of short stories The Lady of the Barge). However the majority of his output was humourous in tone. In 1879 he commenced work as a clerk in the civil service, in the Post Office Savings Bank, and by 1885 he had had his first short story published. His road to success was relatively slow. Jacobs' short story output declined somewhat around the First World War, and his literary efforts between then and his death were predominantly adaptations of his own short stories for the stage. Amongst his works are Many Cargoes (1896), A Master of Craft (1900), Light Freights (1901), At Sunwich Port (1902), The Lady of the Barge and Other Stories (1902), Dialstone Lane (1904), Odd Craft (1904), and Short Cruises (1907).

164 pages, Paperback

Published March 7, 2008

About the author

William Wymark Jacobs was an English author of short stories and novels. Quite popular in his lifetime primarily for his amusing maritime tales of life along the London docks (many of them humorous as well as sardonic in tone). Today he is best known for a few short works of horror fiction. One being "The Monkey's Paw"(published 1902). It has in its own right become a well-known and widely anthologized classic.


~Literary Works

Many Cargoes (1896)
The Skipper's Wooing (1897)
Sea Urchins (1898) /aka More Cargoes (US) (1898)
A Master of Craft (1900)
The Monkey's Paw (1902)
The Toll House (1902)
Light Freights (1901)
At Sunwich Port (1902)
The Barge (1902)
Odd Craft (1903) : contains The Money Box, basis of Laurel and Hardy film Our Relations (1935)
Dialstone Lane (1902)
Captain's All (1905)
Short Cruises (1907)
Salthaven (1908)
Sailors' Knots (1909)
The Toll House (1909)
Ship's Company (1911)
Night Watches (1914)
The Castaways (1916)
Deep Waters (1919)
Sea Whispers (1926)

Reviews

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming collection of short stories, P. G. Wodehouse claimed Jacobs was one of his greatest influences, it's not hard to see why. Jacobs stories are generally about the misadventures of sailors (tramp steamer sailors rather than Royal Navy)although there is the occasional non seafaring story, usually told by an old codger sitting outside a pub. There are sixteen stories here all are good lightly humorous pieces generally with a twist in the end.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light is right, with the exception of "Jerry Bundler," which is moody ghost story ala Jacobs's masterpiece "The Monkey's Paw," (not in this collection). Too many characters make it a weaker story, though. The others are Jacobs's bread and butter, comic tales of sailors practical jokes backfiring, which make for pleasant if not life-changing reading.