Selected Works of Jack London: Chinese-English Parallel Text

Author: Jack London / Lei Ming Annotation
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: Jack London (1876–1916) was an American writer. Born into a bankrupt farming family, he worked hard from a young age, selling newspapers, unloading cargo, and working as a child laborer. As an adult, he served as a sailor and laborer, and even went to Alaska to pan for gold, contracting scurvy. From then on, he devoted himself to reading and writing, becoming a professional writer. He wrote a total of 19 novels, over 150 short stories and tales, 3 plays, as well as essays and special reports. His early works included a short story collection depicting the lives of gold prospectors in the North (including three collections published between 1900 and 1902, collectively known as "Northern Tales"); a special report collection The People of the Abyss (1903), which portrayed the life of the poor in London; and the novel The Sea Wolf (1904), which depicted brutal and selfish cruelty. His works exposed the flaws of capitalist society, celebrated the tenacious will of the working people, and showed sympathy for their suffering. They also reflected the author's social evolutionist ideas of "survival of the fittest" and Nietzschean philosophy of the "superman." In the 1890s, he participated in socialist movements, and after 1905, he joined the Socialist Party, during which time he created some excellent realist works, such as the political fantasy novel The Iron Heel (1908), which called on the working class to abandon illusions and prepare for long-term armed struggle; and the autobiographical novel Martin Eden (1909), which depicted a realist writer of working-class origin who drowned himself after his ideals were shattered. The novel portrays the suffering of the working people, showcases the revolutionary struggles of the working class, and exposes the hypocrisy, opportunism, and selfishness of the bourgeoisie. However, the protagonist of the novel emphasizes personal will and detachment from the masses, embodying the "superman." In his later years, Jack London gradually distanced himself from social struggles and pursued personal enjoyment. Although he wrote excellent novels such as A Piece of Meat (1911) and Under the Deckhouse (1913), he also produced works that slandered the labor movement and preached the end of the world, such as The Mutiny of the Elsinore (1914) and The Red Death (1915). In 1916, he took his own life in the depths of spiritual anguish and emptiness.