A rare pearl is fought over during a hurricane on a South Sea island. A zealous missionary sets out to spread the Gospel in a land of cannibals. The son of a Polynesian chief becomes the slave of a white man. These stories and others portray life in the South Seas in the days of tall ships a century ago. In powerful and compelling language that seems not the least bit dated, Jack London tells eight tales of high daring and great savagery, of bravery and death, even of occasional humor, that could only take place in the exotic South Sea islands. Based around themes London considered important—race, culture, justice, and heroism—the stories derive their intensity from the author's own far-flung adventures, conveying an impassioned, unsparing vision borne only of experience.
If you know London primarily through novels like WHITE FANG, these stories will provide a new perspective. Full of intriguing characters and snippets of pidgin, they also highlight London's concern with social issues. Lloyd James reads them wonderfully, turning a one-man reading into a lyrical presentation that feels like a full-cast production. Not only does James handle half a dozen accents easily, he shifts pace to capture the cadence of London's vivid passages of extended description and allows London's near-poetry to ring out powerfully. My only objection is the lack of labeling; the collection doesn't indicate what stories are contained or on which discs. G.T.B. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine
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