The 11 Best Jack London Books

*Overview of the best according to the editors of Healthy Food Near Me. About selection criteria. This material is subjective, is not an advertisement and does not serve as a guide to the purchase. Before buying, you need to consult with a specialist.

Jack London is a popular American writer who was at the peak of popularity among Soviet youth. A young man from the lower class, who did not have the opportunity to enter the university, took up self-education. The craving for knowledge and love for literature brought fame to the young man, and a busy life gave many ideas for exciting works.

We have compiled for you a rating of the best books by Jack London, taking into account reader reviews.

Best Books by Jack London

Martin Eden

Rating: 5.0

The success of this novel is largely due to the fact that the main character is very similar to his creator.

Martin Eden, a young sailor, like the writer himself, was born into a poor family. After he got to a dinner party, to which he was invited by a stranger saved by him, he decides to radically change his life. The reason is love at first sight for a noble girl, for the sake of which Martin wants to become smarter and more educated.

Jack London himself has tried many different professions, so he describes the work in the factory and in the laundry as accurately as possible. Such a long journey to the top ends with the fact that, like him, Eden became a sought-after writer.

But the result of such attempts to get into high society is the thought that all this was in vain and that a vulnerable creative person has no place among the bourgeois elite.

This is the main difference between the writer and the main character, because Jack London, despite the trials passed, did not give up on life.

This work was not immediately published as a separate book. In 1908, it was published in the Pacific Mansley magazine, and only a year later, the Macmillan Company published a full-fledged novel. And after another 10 years, in 1918, a film was made on it.

White Fang

Rating: 4.9

The protagonist of one of Jack London’s most famous works is White Fang, half wolf, half dog. The action takes place in Alaska, during the gold rush.

The narration comes from the face of animals, noticing the slightest shades of human attitude towards them.

There are many different events in this story and they sometimes cause conflicting feelings. At the end of the book, the protagonist comes to the conclusion that no matter how cruel the outside world is, it is a person who can bring the most suffering. Jack London wanted people to look at themselves and realize that such behavior can only be destructive.

In addition, the writer argued that the White Fang personifies the process of civilization of dogs – the development in it of a sense of home, love for the owner, unconditional devotion, fidelity and other valuable qualities.

Despite the fact that the book was written in 1906, the problems it touches on are still relevant today. This explains the number of adaptations of the story – 6 films were made on it. The first one was released in 1946 in the USSR, and the last one in 2018 in France in the cartoon genre.

Call of the Ancestors

Rating: 4.8

This is another book by Jack London where the main character is an animal. This time it’s a dog named Buck, who is kidnapped by dog ​​dealers from his owner’s house and sold to Alaska.

In the harsh conditions of the North, so unlike his sunny homeland, he has to endure the bad attitude of the owners and suffer from the cruelty of other animals. To survive, Baek must resurrect the memory of his wild ancestors. And he was able to defend his freedom by becoming the leader of a wolf pack and forgetting the past life of a pet.

In this book, the writer showed how powerful primary instincts are and how quickly nature takes over the animal or human essence after entering the wild. But only animals have no choice, people, even in the worst conditions, can retain the ability to sympathize.

The book is set in 19th century Canada, where gold diggers survived in harsh northern conditions. Jack London typed material for the book on the way to the Klondike, the path to which lay through Alaska. Here he saw many sled dogs and was able to collect detailed information about how they live and used it in the work.

The prototype of the protagonist of the book was the dog of the writer’s friends, a cross between a Scottish collie and a St. Bernard.

The work was filmed 7 times, the first film (silent film) was released in 1927, and the last in 2009 in 3D.

Hearts of three

Rating: 4.7

This is one of the last works of Jack London, the 50th work written almost before his death. It differs from other books by the writer in the absence of exciting intrigue and characters with complex psychology.

Nevertheless, this is a bright, adventurous work, where there are treasures, harsh pirates, constant dangers and, of course, love. The book is about how the son of a millionaire, Francis Morgan, went in search of the treasures of the founder of the family, Henry Morgan.

It was a commissioned work, a screenplay co-written with screenwriter Charles Goddard. That is why the plot turned out to be very dynamic, the characters, having got out of one trouble, immediately fall into another. At the same time, the central theme of the book is a love triangle, in which the cousins ​​Morgan and the beautiful Leoncia, to whom both brothers have tender feelings, find themselves.

It was planned to be a multi-part series in 1916, but the film adaptation was cancelled.

Although “Hearts of Three” is significantly different from other works by Jack London and more like a Hollywood movie, the book is on the list of the most popular. But unlike other works that make you think and largely reconsider your life values, while reading this novel, you can simply relax and escape from everyday life, plunging into the world of exciting adventures.

Wanderer by the stars

Rating: 4.6

This novel has other titles: Interstellar Wanderer and Straitjacket. The plot was based on real facts – in the prisons of San Quentin of that time, a special type of torture was really tried on – the prisoner was wrapped in a piece of tarpaulin and he lay motionless for hours.

This fact became known to Jack London from Ed Morrell, who served time for robbery. The writer helped him get out of prison and Morrell often came to visit him.

The writer took the fate of this convict as the basis for creating the image of the protagonist of the book, a professor of agronomy, who is serving a life sentence in solitary confinement in a California prison.

Forced to constantly lie motionless, wrapped in a straitjacket, he learned to free his mind and move to different countries and time dimensions outside of the body and space. So, the hero visited ancient Egypt, old France and Western America during the period of the great migration.

Some journeys are described in detail, others are only superficially mentioned. But, despite the realistic narration, the author’s inattention to historical facts is observed in the book. You can notice erroneous dates, incorrect names, and even fictional historical events.

However, this did not prevent the book from taking its rightful place among the works of Jack London. The main idea of ​​the work is the superiority of spirit over matter; through the main character, the writer shows that the spirit of freedom cannot be broken.

According to our experts, The Wanderer by the Stars is not the best choice for getting to know the writer’s work. Nevertheless, his fans should not ignore this novel, although it is completely atypical for the style of Jack London.

The work was filmed twice: in 1920 and in 2005.

Sea Wolf

Rating: 4.5

This book was written at the beginning of the career of Jack London, in 1904. The main character is the captain of the schooner “Ghost” Wolf Larsen, a man who knew Shakespeare’s sonnets by heart and at the same time had pronounced animal instincts.

It was based on Alexander McLane, the famous poacher who was already a legendary figure when Jack London began writing the book. He was suspected of dozens of murders and put on the wanted list in 5 countries.

Wolf Larsen lived the same life as his Alexander, until one day Humphrey Van Weyden got on his ship – a man of the world, a real gentleman, the complete opposite of the protagonist. But these two personalities were united by one thing – a boundless love for literature.

Through these heroes, Jack London showed the world from opposite angles – from one angle it is beautiful and full of kindness, from the other it is ruthless and filled with cruelty. And it depends only on the reader which option will be closer to him.

It should be noted that, despite the gloomy plot, there is true love in the work, which shows the hero the way to salvation.

Time-does-not-wait

Rating: 4.4

This novel by Jack London was published in 1910 and became in demand only in certain circles.

According to our experts, the main feature of the work is the disclosure of the intricacies of the stock exchange and the description of its backstage before the Great Depression.

The protagonist of the book is Elam Harnish, an adventurer who makes a fortune on the principles of the game, bluffing and deceiving others. He believed that you need to seize the moment, getting the maximum benefit from any opportunity. Because of this philosophy, he received the nickname Time-doesn’t-wait.

This behavior of the hero ends with the appearance in the life of the woman he loves, Did Manson. Meeting with her turned the unscrupulous sharper into a respectable family man who abandoned the fortune acquired by deceiving others. Harnish preferred a calm measured life with his family to material values ​​and spent the rest of his life in the countryside.

The prototype of the protagonist was Frank Smith – who also played on the stock exchange, but eventually went bankrupt.

This novel by Jack London was filmed 4 times: in 1914, 1923, 1928 and 1975.

Moon valley

Rating: 4.3

This novel was written in 1913, it became one of the last works of Jack London.

It is based on real historical events and describes the life of an ordinary American family in the 19th century.

Saxon Brown and Bill Roberts are a young couple who have just started their life together. At this time, strikes of workers begin, demanding higher wages, but the management hires strikebreakers, people who are on the side of the administration. Fights break out regularly in which Bill is also involved. After the loss of their long-awaited first child, their husband’s imprisonment and a long period of lack of money, the couple decide to go on a journey to find a suitable place and start farming.

The search dragged on, and the young people spent more than 2 years on the road. They constantly met new people, made acquaintances, but no one believed in their dream, saying that they were looking for Moon Valley. It was understood that such a fertile place could only be on the Moon. But the couple did not give up and eventually found exactly what they were looking for. They start a farm and their business immediately begins to go uphill, and peace returns to the family.

This book has not received such wide recognition as the rest of the works of Jack London. Critics called the novel a utopia and fantasy. They considered that the writer had a creative crisis, and Moon Valley was his own dream, which would help find a way out of it.

Nevertheless, the book was regularly reprinted, and in 1914 a film based on it was made.

Little mistress of a big house

Rating: 4.2

This novel came out at the end of Jack London’s writing career and, according to the author himself, is his best work. However, critics did not share this opinion, as a result, the book received negative reviews.

The plot of the novel is based on a love triangle, in which the spouses Paola Dusten and Dick Forrest, as well as the latter’s friend Evan Graham, participate. Before the appearance of the new hero, husband and wife lived happily, both were rich and had a lot of dignity, and, despite their condition, often took part in the work. But since Dick was constantly busy, the appearance of his old friend Evan led to the fact that the guest and Paola spent a lot of time together and as a result fell in love with each other.

The denouement of the novel is unexpected and tragic, but, according to Jack London, this was the only way to resolve the situation.

The main characters are almost perfect people, and perhaps the writer wanted to show that no one is perfect.

The novel was filmed once, in 1921.

Love of life

Rating: 4.1

This short story, written in 1905, tells of an unnamed gold digger who injured his leg while crossing a river. His comrade Bill left him in this condition and the main character with a sore leg goes through the Canadian tundra, hoping to get to the river, where they left the boat with supplies.

During this long journey, he fights a bear and finds the remains of Bill, eaten by the wolves. The hero’s clothes wear out, his leg swells, losing consciousness from hunger, he loses direction and goes in the other direction, gradually getting rid of the found gold. When his strength was completely running out, he notices that an old wolf is following him, who does not dare to attack and just waits for the person to die. So they walk together until the main character notices a whaler’s ship and tries to reach it. The fight with the old wolf nevertheless took place, and the man emerged victorious from it, after which he was noticed from the ship and taken to San Francisco.

Love for life is shown in the book through simple (gathering, hunting, kindling a fire, etc.) and terrible things (hunger, deprivation, betrayal, etc.). At the beginning of the story, the protagonist is a man who has a friend and gold, and at the end he is a helpless creature desperately fighting for life. However, he retains a vestige of human dignity, not wanting to eat the remains of a dead friend despite his desperate hunger.

In this short story, Jack London was able to vividly show how strong the thirst for life is in a person.

Smoke Bellew

Rating: 4.0

This book, written by Jack London in 1912, is about a young man named Chris Bellew who lives a high life and works for a fashion magazine. A carefree life ends when his uncle invites him to accompany his cousins ​​who are going to the North for gold and help them drag equipment.

Chris seizes on this offer to escape the routine and initially suffers from harsh conditions and rough food, but quickly adjusts to the new circumstances. As a result, he says goodbye to his uncle and leaves for Dawson, the capital of gold diggers. Here he meets a servant, whom he asks to call him Smoke, meaning that he smoked a lot for a long journey. With him, exciting adventures began, which are described in the story.

This book is written in easy language, tells about true friendship and love. But it is worth noting that Jack London did not depict the harsh reality of northern conditions, but showed an ideal world in which any adventure ends well.

The book was filmed once, in 1976.

Attention! This material is subjective, is not an advertisement and does not serve as a guide to the purchase. Before buying, you need to consult with a specialist.