The Strength of the Strong Annotated edition by Jack London Literature Fiction eBooks
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Old Long-Beard paused in his narrative, licked his greasy fingers, and wiped them on his naked sides where his one piece of ragged bearskin failed to cover him. Crouched around him, on their hams, were three young men, his grandsons, Deer-Runner, Yellow-Head, and Afraid-of-the-Dark. In appearance they were much the same. Skins of wild animals partly covered them. They were lean and meagre of build, narrow-hipped and crooked-legged, and at the same time deep-chested, with heavy arms and enormous hands. There was much hair on their chests and shoulders, and on the outsides of their arms and legs. Their heads were matted with uncut hair, long locks of which often strayed before their eyes, beady and black and glittering like the eyes of birds. They were narrow between the eyes and broad between the cheeks, while their lower jaws were projecting and massive.
It was a night of clear starlight, and below them, stretching away remotely, lay range on range of forest-covered hills. In the distance the heavens were red from the glow of a volcano. At their backs yawned the black mouth of a cave, out of which, from time to time, blew draughty gusts of wind. Immediately in front of them blazed a fire. At one side, partly devoured, lay the carcass of a bear, with about it, at a respectable distance, several large dogs, shaggy and wolf-like. Beside each man lay his bow and arrows and a huge club. In the cave-mouth a number of rude spears leaned against the rock.
“So that was how we moved from the cave to the tree,” old Long-Beard spoke up.
They laughed boisterously, like big children, at recollection of a previous story his words called up. Long-Beard laughed, too, the five-inch bodkin of bone, thrust midway through the cartilage of his nose, leaping and dancing and adding to his ferocious appearance. He did not exactly say the words recorded, but he made animal-like sounds with his mouth that meant the same thing.
“And that is the first I remember of the Sea Valley,” Long-Beard went on. “We were a very foolish crowd. We did not know the secret of strength. For, behold, each family lived by itself, and took care of itself. There were thirty families, but we got no strength from one another. We were in fear of each other all the time. No one ever paid visits. In the top of our tree we built a grass house, and on the platform outside was a pile of rocks, which were for the heads of any that might chance to try to visit us. Also, we had our spears and arrows. We never walked under the trees of the other families, either. My brother did, once, under old Boo-oogh’s tree, and he got his head broken and that was the end of him.
The Strength of the Strong Annotated edition by Jack London Literature Fiction eBooks
An exciting and varied collection of short stories by a famous author. A good read for anyone who wants to learn about life.Product details
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The Strength of the Strong Annotated edition by Jack London Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews
Where are the rest of the stories? This Jack London book should have a number of other stories. This is a bit bizarre.
The Strength of the Strong is a collection of short stories, most of which are good but not great. These were written about the middle of London's career, after his Klondike period and before his South Pacific period, when there was quite a bit of variety in his work, so these stories take place in diverse settings. Many of them deal with political issues, and display London's devotion to Socialism. Probably the best-known story and one of the better written in the collection is the piece for which the book is named. It's an allegorical tale set in caveman times, in which London explains the class struggle from a Socialist perspective, with various characters standing as symbols for government, industry, labor, religion, etc. Three stories, "The Unparalleled Invasion", "The Enemy of All the World", and "The Dream of Debs", are "What if?" histories of political events that take place in the near future (London's future, our past). For the most part they are imaginative in their speculations, but not particularly engaging in character or plot. "The Dream of Debs" is the best of the three. It's about a general strike that reeks havoc on San Francisco. "The Unparalleled Invasion" tells the story of China's rise as a superpower and how the West deals with it. Unfortunately it's marred by a racist attitude toward the Chinese and a glorification of genocide. "South of the Slot" is an unexceptional tale of class struggle in San Francisco. "The Sea-Farmer" is a sailor's tale, above average but once again not remarkable.
The real surprise in this collection was the final story, "Samuel", which tells the story of Margaret Henan of Island McGill, Ireland, and her four sons named Samuel who died untimely deaths. London shows a surprisingly touching sensitivity to human emotion in this story. It's also quite suspenseful, not because of any action or adventure in the plot, but rather just the skillful way in which London reveals piece by piece the mystery of this old woman's past, heightening the reader's interest until the very last page. In terms of the style and skill of the writing, this story seems years ahead of much of London's work; it could have been written by William Faulkner. As a whole this collection, though nothing earth-shattering, will prove enjoyable to London fans. Those new or indifferent to London's charms should just read "Samuel".
The book is as advertised. I am a happy customer.
anything by london is of high quality
love all Jack London stories .. he had a great imagination and great knowledge of the world and people ..
An exciting and varied collection of short stories by a famous author. A good read for anyone who wants to learn about life.
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