Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “The Valley of the Moon” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

Read Book* *Different edition

The Valley of the Moon

Jack London

really liked it 4.00 · Rating details · 1,455 ratings · 129 reviews

A road novel 50 years before Kerouac, The Valley of the Moon traces the odyssey of Billy and Saxon Roberts from the labor strife of Oakland at the turn of the century through central and northern California in search of beautiful land they can farm independently.

Get A Copy

Paperback, 404 pages

Published November 3rd 2006 by Hard Press (first published 1913)

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about The Valley of the Moon, please sign up.

Be the first to ask a question about The Valley of the Moon

Lists with This Book

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein

Moon

294 books — 67 voters

Best California Books

342 books — 219 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

really liked it Average rating 4.00 ·

Rating details

· 1,455 ratings · 129 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Start your review of The Valley of the Moon

Aug 09, 2007 Amber rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: topshelf

If you were to read any book by Jack London, this is the one. Especially if you are twenty something and live in the San Francisco East Bay Area. The book may have been written almost one hundred years ago, but all the issues are still very real and very applicable. It is a moving story and very refreshing.

flag 12 likes · Like · see review

Oct 03, 2017 J.K. Grice rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: could-not-finish

Jack London is one of my favorite authors, and this is his only book that I just did not like at all. It's sort of set up as a novelized agrarian treatise, but it's also rather contrived, trite, and dull. Big disappointment. ...more

flag 12 likes · Like · see review

Jun 16, 2014 Corinne rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-literature, working-class-awesome, set-in-past

Here now is my Sock Puppet Theater script for this book:

Saxon: Hello.
Billy: Hello. I enjoy talking about my ancestors, and how white they were, and what good stock they were, and how much they suffered.
Saxon: I enjoy talking about how they came here before these other dirty immigrants, and are therefore way more awesome. Also how my form and figure reflect the old stock.
Billy: We should get married, and talk about this all the time.
Saxon: Yay!
Saxon's Sister: BITCH YOU HAVE MORE THAN ONE PA ...more

flag 8 likes · Like · see review

May 21, 2020 Daniel Villines rated it liked it · review of another edition

While relying on fiction for historical information is a risky business, good contemporaneous fiction can preserve the substance of its characters at the time of their existence. I would consider The Valley of the Moon to be such a book in that the nature of its two main characters, Saxon and Billy, are honestly preserved. For the last hundred years, they have been frozen in time, coming to life in the eyes of the reader every so often.

And the reason why I think this book’s characters are import While relying on fiction for historical information is a risky business, good contemporaneous fiction can preserve the substance of its characters at the time of their existence. I would consider The Valley of the Moon to be such a book in that the nature of its two main characters, Saxon and Billy, are honestly preserved. For the last hundred years, they have been frozen in time, coming to life in the eyes of the reader every so often.

And the reason why I think this book’s characters are important is because of who they are. They are the result of a limited education that has been structured with a form of white-pride patriotism that's been shaded favorably towards capitalism. It left the winners of capitalism multiple hand-holds with which to manipulate masses of people with feelings of pride and honor while working away their lives for subsistence wages. It shut out the idea that capitalism may owe something to the society that allows it to flourish. And it blamed other cultures for problems that such a limited education brings upon itself.

Sound familiar? When London wrote this book, he was immersed in an American culture that accepted these human characteristics as the norm. That is where the value lies in The Valley of the Moon. We can compare London's norm with the present-day. When we do, we can see that we have come a long way in realizing the benefits of cross-cultural interactions and the advancements that an education based in science and reason, rather than one filled with emotional hand-holds for others to manipulate, can achieve. But The Valley of the Moon and our present-day political climate in America also shows that America still has a long way to go to leave London’s norm behind.

Given this window into the past that still illuminates our present, The Valley of the Moon holds its relevance. It is indeed a bit drawn out in later chapters and the solution to the plot's main problem seems to be served up on a silver platter. But until America can put the Saxons and Billies behind us, The Valley of the Moon is an honest look at the worst that America (Americans) can be, which makes it an interesting book for the foreseeable future. ...more

flag 8 likes · Like · see review

Jan 31, 2013 Chris Shank rated it liked it

Jack London never fired blanks. There isn’t a book of his that I’ve read where he isn’t trying to mortally wound a lazy convention, a notion taken for granted, or what often passes for common sense. London’s exhortation is always, in my words, “Think! Act! Live to the fullest!” He believes in the power of the will and body, and despises those who fear their own breath fogging the mirror. One of my favorite lines from his works, “I'd rather sing one wild song and burst my heart with it, than live Jack London never fired blanks. There isn’t a book of his that I’ve read where he isn’t trying to mortally wound a lazy convention, a notion taken for granted, or what often passes for common sense. London’s exhortation is always, in my words, “Think! Act! Live to the fullest!” He believes in the power of the will and body, and despises those who fear their own breath fogging the mirror. One of my favorite lines from his works, “I'd rather sing one wild song and burst my heart with it, than live a thousand years watching my digestion and being afraid of the wet.” Pretty much sums him up.

That being said, Valley Of the Moon definitely was London-esque, but it wasn’t my favorite for a few reasons. There weren’t as many good one-liners. He took too long telling the story. The plot became too swollen with needless details about how his characters were outsmarting everybody else. Of course, to be fair, it was written as a kind of manual for people in his time to know how to escape their situation. But I’m not them. They can write their own reviews and give him 5 stars if they want to. Oh wait, they’re dead.

So, the protagonists in this story were Californian urbanites, mired in hand-to-mouth living, and finally having their financial Achilles-heel snipped by a union strike that embroils them in riots, incarceration, and an widening distance from each other in their marriage. The beginning of the book is heavily steeped in mawkish romance between the characters: “I love you more! No, I love you more!” It starts feeling like the story is about to end 100 pages in. Everything is so perfect. Sickeningly so. Come on, London! Send a plague or something! If I’m going to read 400 more pages of this, I need a plague or some severed limbs…something!

So, half-way through the book it gets really interesting. Everything’s calculated to dump old-timey religion, antiquated values, and dumb sense halfway through the book. It’s a Jack London signature move: skinning the weak and boring, and re-fleshing them with something more, well, readable. The heroine, Saxon, finally hits rock-bottom (thank you Jack), starts wading out into the San Francisco bay to collect mussels to eat so she doesn’t starve. Her man is incarcerated for nearly crushing a man’s skull. Their neighbors are afraid, and people are getting stalked and killed over the scarcity of employment. Then suddenly, struck with a new vision of freedom, Saxon and Billy let go of their choked, wheezing pittance of the city-life, and go on the road with just their backpacks and a little bit of cash. Bravo!

To be sure, initially there appears to be some white-supremacy overtones in the story, but this actually turns into high praise for Hispanics and Asians who are smart, hard workers and have progressed further than whites because of their ingenuity and courage…two qualities London extols above all others. So, was he really a supremacist, or merely calling for whites to catch up to their hardworking brothers-from-other-mothers? I’ll bet that London was probably most in love with his own self and his hard body, and tended to dwell on people and ancestry that resembled his narcissistic self. Even Saxon’s name referred to past Anglo honor and grit up to the early days of pioneering. But I have to hand it to this heroine; she was a boss! A master of herself and others. She drew on her inner reserves, and “she rebelled…fluttered and beat her soul against the hard face of things as did the linnet against the bars of wire…She did not belong in the trap. She would fight her way out of the trap… It was the stupid that remained and bowed their heads to fate.” She was independent and emanated love and concern for others, but she had a commanding aspect to her that enabled her to take the reins from her husband when he became abusive and began to neglect himself and his family. She singlehandedly created a life-strategy during a period of want, led her family out of Oakland with the marvelous slogan, “Oakland’s just a place to start from”, slept on the ground, went without food, humbled herself to demeaning roles to survive financially, and ultimately guided others around her to live out their strengths and make a better life together with her. Such a powerful example of a proud and noble woman.

Of course, the characters are WAY too lucky, and it doesn’t help matters that even the title of the book signifies a utopian ideal that is impossible to realize. But I’ll be darned if our heroes don’t actually find a spot in California that fits their dream and is actually called The Valley Of the Moon (Sonoma Valley)! Seriously? Whatever happened to the line from the book, “I don’t want to dream…I want things real!” I’ll tell you what happened. London went out playing with the butterflies again instead of writing us a book that helps the rest of us who haven’t yet found the greener grass, and may never. Geez, thanks Mr. “just-giving-you-the-hardcore-truth-so-you-can-learn-to-live-better-and-smarter-and-not-in-a-fairy-tale-land-that-will-ultimately-leave-you-bleeding-in-a-hole-somewhere”!! Yeah, thanks Jack…for a friggin’ lot of JACK SQUAT!!

But I still love him. Overall a good story, good points; just took too long.
...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Apr 10, 2008 Heather rated it really liked it

I bought the book on a camping trip to see Jack London's home in Sonoma county. I'm just reading it now, and am about halfway through. I'm impressed with how well London writes from a female perspective, though there is a certain lack of depth. That said, it is fascinating to read a book set in Oakland in the early 1900s, reading about familiar places and streets is great for the imagination. Jack London's opinion of the world comes through clearly in each character, and you can recognize his ab ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Nov 30, 2010 Kristie (fabk) rated it really liked it

Shelves: all-time-favourites, 2013, kindle, sbc-13

I read this book in highschool and absolutely fell in love with it. Definetly a good read!
Re-read in 2013. Loved it as much this time around as the first time around! The characters and their journey really spoke to me!

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jul 06, 2016 Rebecca Rosenberg rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

My favorite of Jack London's novels-- an autobiographical depiction of Jack and his wife Charmian leaving working on the Oakland docks to live in idyllic Sonoma Valley. ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jan 28, 2021 Betsy D rated it liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I found this book, which I bought when visiting Jack London State Park in 2019, to be a mixed bag. I have mixed feelings about the style, but if I could simply say "this book is 105 years old", I could go with it and enjoy it as a novel.
It's the story of a young couple in Oakland, how they met, how they married. Bill is a respected semi-pro boxer who works as a teamster (drives horses) for a day job. When his union goes on strike there is a lot of violence, which on one level he relishes becaus I found this book, which I bought when visiting Jack London State Park in 2019, to be a mixed bag. I have mixed feelings about the style, but if I could simply say "this book is 105 years old", I could go with it and enjoy it as a novel.
It's the story of a young couple in Oakland, how they met, how they married. Bill is a respected semi-pro boxer who works as a teamster (drives horses) for a day job. When his union goes on strike there is a lot of violence, which on one level he relishes because he enjoys hitting people. But he goes downhill, due to his pride and his despair at not being able to provide for his wife.
After a month in jail ends, his wife says they must leave Oakland and find a way to prosper in the countryside. They travel on foot as far south as Carmel, as far north as the Rogue River Valley in Oregon (having somewhat improbable adventures), and then make their way to the Valley of the Moon, just north of Sonoma, CA. They reach it on page 450! I was hoping to read about the history or early days of the area, and finally in the last 50 pages I do. They have learned a lot from people they met on their travels, and parley that into success. I'm dying to go back to that valley and trace the route they took from Santa Rosa to reach Glen Ellen--described in detail.
I hardly know what to make of the attitudes in this novel, other than that it frequently made me uneasy. London was a socialist, at least part of his life, and that shows in the novel, but his darling couple end it by figuring out how to gouge money out of others who need their services, and are making plans to sell water to the town of Glen Ellen. Then, their conversation about people of various ethnicities whom they encounter, uses every rough term available. And Bill soon joins his wife, whose first name is Saxon, in feeling inordinately proud of their Angle-Saxon and wagon-train stock. However, most of what London says about the various people, such as Portuguese growing fruit around Antioch, Dalmatians farming in the Paharo Valley, Chinese workers they hire for their farm in VofM, is highly respectful of their enterprise, highly-developed skills in farming, and their intelligent ways of obtaining land. His characters moan a couple of times, "There won't be anything left for us!" But my final conclusion is that London genuinely respected all these people, or at least had me respecting them. And the underlying ethos is that everyone should have a chance, which London shows the competitiveness of capitalism makes unlikely, at best. ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Mar 23, 2015 Lorraine rated it really liked it · review of another edition

So many people associate Jack London with Call of the Wild, The Sea Wolf, White Fang, and of course the short story “To Build a Fire.” Most do not realize that he wrote some 50 books and hundreds of short stories and essays. The Valley of the Moon was written in 1913, three years before he died at the age of 40.

The first part of the book takes place in Oakland during troubled economic times and labor strikes playing havoc on many people’s lives. Billy and Saxon are the main characters who are n So many people associate Jack London with Call of the Wild, The Sea Wolf, White Fang, and of course the short story “To Build a Fire.” Most do not realize that he wrote some 50 books and hundreds of short stories and essays. The Valley of the Moon was written in 1913, three years before he died at the age of 40.

The first part of the book takes place in Oakland during troubled economic times and labor strikes playing havoc on many people’s lives. Billy and Saxon are the main characters who are newly married and who struggle to keep afloat in rough times. Billy is a teamster and is also a popular amateur boxer when Saxon meets him, but he explains he has given it up because of the low life crowds who come to see the fights—they want a blood bath and not a sport. Saxon works in a laundry and is ready to quit her job as soon as they marry, and she does. Billy ends up in prison and Saxon does everything she can to stay alive. Halfway through the book, just before Billy is released from prison, she comes to realize that they do not have to stay in Oakland, but they can start an adventure and leave. “Oakland’s just a place to start from.” After going through strikes and fights, and starvation, and losing a baby, Saxon decides that they CAN leave and they will go an adventure and find the perfect place to live; she called it her valley of the moon.

The second part of the book is the story of their adventure, their pilgrimage. Even though they nothing about farming, they decide they will find the perfect place to farm. They meet many people along the way and learn things like how to plow, how to finance horse trading, how to draw customers to the market, and many other simple things like cooking a steak and washing woolens. All things they never would have known about living in the city. When they finally find the perfect place to settle—their valley in “a golden land of small hills and valleys,” you know that things are going to work out for them. And it does!

The book is more complicated than this review. It deals with racial consciousness, socialism, feminism, immigration and westward expansion—each a topic worth exploring separately. Native Californians can really appreciate this book, as can those who are interested in the history of California at this time. I liked the second part of the book much better than the first part. There was so much description and so many fights and so many setbacks, that I just got tired of it all. Knowing Sonoma Valley (it’s breathtaking) and knowing where Jack London did settle in the last years of his life and did farm, made the book all that much more meaningful. What’s even more delightful is that Jack London Historic Park in Sonoma Valley is a beautiful place to visit and enjoy.
...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Dec 03, 2015 Perry Whitford rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Working class, proto-Beat Generation epic, fifty years before Kerouac and company, set in Oakland during the first years of the 20th century.

Saxon Brown, who works in a laundry sweatbox, and Billy Roberts, a teamster and occasional prizefighter, have a whirlwind romance then struggle to get by against a backdrop of the tensions between capital and labor, which result in strikes and hardships.

But through all the hard times, plucky Saxon, who is proud of the image her name conjures up and of the Working class, proto-Beat Generation epic, fifty years before Kerouac and company, set in Oakland during the first years of the 20th century.

Saxon Brown, who works in a laundry sweatbox, and Billy Roberts, a teamster and occasional prizefighter, have a whirlwind romance then struggle to get by against a backdrop of the tensions between capital and labor, which result in strikes and hardships.

But through all the hard times, plucky Saxon, who is proud of the image her name conjures up and of the memory of her mother, who came West across the Plains as a girl, 'buckled on the armor again for the hardest fight in the world's arena - the woman's fight.'

Billy is the thick of the scabs and picketers, but this is Saxon's story; her pride in her 'man-boy', her private grief at the loss of a child, her bewilderment at the wrongness of the world and despairing rejection of the God her mother told her about.

She meets some interesting and well drawn characters along the way, such as her crafty and possibly crazy neighbour in Oakland, Mercedes Higgins; an organised and helpful female farmer in San José, Mrs. Mortimor; and a colony of bohemian artists in Carmel, based on London's own crowd.

They all teach Saxon and Billy some valuable lessons about life. And farming. For the second half of the novel, where their metaphorical quest to find the Valley of the Moon begins in earnest, is both a lament and call to arms aimed at American farmers, who London berates for ruining the land and losing it to immigrants, who make better use of it.

As a result, the story of Saxon and Billy loses some momentum amongst all the didacticism, and grows a little too slushy as their fortunes improve, but this doesn't ruin the book. The characters are just too likeable for that, I really felt like I knew them by then,and wanted to keep knowing them until the end.

A large book, but a little known one amongst London's classics, it's also very different to the likes of The Sea Wolf or Call of the Wild.

I am still yet to read a Jack London book that I didn't like. ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Feb 25, 2010 Susie is currently reading it

After spending a long weekend in 'the valley of the moon', I felt compelled to read this book. I'm only a few pages in, but I like it already. ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Sep 26, 2019 Nadia Zeemeeuw rated it liked it · review of another edition

The first fall of my teens idols. I adored this book so much when I was a teenager that I still can remember the whole passages of its translated version I have been rereading again and again. Finally I decided to reread a book in English. The first two parts gave exactly the same feelings I had before. I liked the Oakland strike section even more. The idea of adult who actually starts growing up is appealing to me a lot these days. I do love how London managed it. But I must admit that his hars ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Nov 11, 2013 K. rated it it was ok

Shelves: too-boring-to-finish

I can't believe I tortured myself through 500 and some odd pages! Boring and sappy. How I hate wasting this much investment in a story thinking surely it'll get better but it just gets worse. I stuck with it because the time period's union strife might've been educational but it wasn't other than some realism regarding the brutality, and I thought it'd be fun to read about the SF Bay area back then, but even that lacked in depth. Nothing but a cheesy, too drawn out story about two naive married ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jan 11, 2013 Carole rated it really liked it

I had never heard of this book by Jack London until we chose it to read in my book club. I'm glad that we did. The language is often filled with slang of the era in which it takes place, and that was a little hard to get used to at first. I have a problem sometimes with slangy writing. However, the story of Saxon and Billy is, among other things, a love story that starts off with a bang, and then endures through difficulties and hard times. Saxon and Billy end up pursuing a pretty wonderful drea ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Aug 11, 2008 Peter rated it it was ok

Very boring. Basically the story is a couple's life in Oakland sucks, so they move to Sonoma. ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Aug 05, 2018 Pegggggy rated it it was amazing

Wow how had I waited so long to read this? What a wonderful story. Their life in Carmel and descriptions of Monterey and really all of Northern California were amazing. Read this.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Apr 08, 2018 Bruce rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Ooh, Mr. Jack London. This book, "the Valley of The Moon. You have done it. Rarely, one might find a monumental book, but this book is majestic. It should be in every American Literature class in every school.
Billy, " one of those rare individuals that radiate muscular grace through the ungraceful non garments of civilization, " and Saxon, pragmatic , wise, demure, and beautiful. Of pioneer stock, both their families having driven across the country with ox team, both working in Oakland, she Ooh, Mr. Jack London. This book, "the Valley of The Moon. You have done it. Rarely, one might find a monumental book, but this book is majestic. It should be in every American Literature class in every school.
Billy, " one of those rare individuals that radiate muscular grace through the ungraceful non garments of civilization, " and Saxon, pragmatic , wise, demure, and beautiful. Of pioneer stock, both their families having driven across the country with ox team, both working in Oakland, she on the steam irons and he as a teamster. They meet, and marry.
Written at the turn of the century, published in 1913, Jack London's descriptions of the living conditions, hardship, scraping for a dollar are so precise. The jargon and colloquialisms of the day are of interest, and one can see the persistence of many into following generations.
Ultimately, they become disenchanted c urban poverty,, and union life. Strikes, scabs, fighting, ( Billy was a part) , sentences to death for murder. " But she wondered why it was when men wanted to work, and there was work to do, yet they were unable to work because their unions said no. Why were there unions? And, if unions had to be, why were not all workingmen in them?"
" You are brave young things, ...I only wish I were going with you, my pack upon my back....If ever I can do anything for you, just let me know. You're bound to succeed, and I want a hand in it myself."
They make their decision, and seek a better life. They start afoot, through San Leandro, the Pajaro valley ( Pajaro apples), on to Carmel, meeting the residing bohemian artists , the Carmel Mission, to Bierce's Cove, and the King of the Sacerdotal Lizards, the" tribe of the Abalone Eaters." " Abalone is the food of the gods."
The Hymn To the Abalone... " oh, some like ham and some like lamb,
And some like macaroni,
But bring me in a pail of gin
And a tub of abalone."...
But they seek the " Valley of The Moon", a term adopted in jest while visiting new friends and looking through a telescope. They go via train to San Francisco, Black Diamond and the wharf, and they embark on the " Roamer", heading through the New York Cutoff Slough, The Montezuma Hills, the Sacramento River Country, where they stay 2 weeks, Billy driving team. but, " there are no redwoods here, Saxon said. We must go west toward the coast."
Onward, to the north, into Oregon, via wagon, to the Coquille River, where they revert, and head south again. the wild Rogue River, " South they held along the coast, hunting, fishing, swimming, and horse-buying." Turning to the east at old Fort Ross, and entered the Russian River Valley.
And onward, to Sonoma, where Saxon"s father had helped raise the Bear Flag Rebellion, and Sonoma Valley, where, after 3 years, Saxon says" it has everything we wanted."
" But you don't understand, my dear, This IS the Valley of The Moon. This is Sonoma Valley. Sonoma is an Indian word, and means the Valley of the Moon. That was what the Indians called it for untold ages before the first white men came, We, who love it, still so call it. "
The majesty of this book is the zeitgeist of the times, the exquisite descriptiveness of California, of the redwoods, the mountains, the sunshine, the fog. But what is most majestic is the relationship of Billy and Saxon, together, working together, seeking together.
" Say, Saxon, Billy said, after a pause had fallen, " sing Harvest Days," won't you? And when she had complied: " The first time you sung that song for me was comin' home from the picnic on the train- " The very first day we met each other...." " An' what'd you think of me?"
"Oh, ...I wondered if you were the man. Those were the very words that flashed into my mind---
' Is he the man' ? "

...more

flag Like · see review

Jan 27, 2017 Cwl rated it liked it

The first half of this book is compelling. It depicts the brutal struggle for survival in an urban setting back in the good old factory-fire days. And it's timely because it devotes tons of space to characters hanging onto their tenuous heritage because that is all that they have. The guy who owns the shirt factory probably doesn't talk for hours about his Saxon mom who crossed the plains, but our protagonists sure do. They have little else in life of which they can be proud. Dialogue like

"We're ...more

flag Like · see review

Aug 02, 2020 Darryl Beckmann rated it really liked it

London’s redundancy is obvious. He plays with the serious London reader i.e. Charmian never worked in a factory. She is portrayed (by others) as spoiled, self-centered, and self-indulgent. So she was a known run-around, confident in handling men. Brings down London’s marriage and in 1919 writes a heated love letter to another married man: Harry Houdini. Charmian didn’t like butter on her bread, maybe caviar? But to suggest she had a relationship with a 16-year-old on a small dinghy in the Oaklan ...more

flag Like · see review

Sep 11, 2019 David N rated it it was amazing

Fascinating how people and books come into our lives at the right time. I met a Bay Area transplant at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival who gave me this book. It introduced me to Jack London. Part love story and part road trip, the book starts in working class Oakland. We follow Saxon from picking up boys through her marriage and journey through northern California and southern Oregon. Saxon and Billy are working class and Oakland is only a place to start from. They go to the movies and decide to ...more

flag Like · see review

Aug 22, 2020 Joe Pags rated it did not like it

There are very few books I cannot finish. Of the 100 or so I have reported here, perhaps 4 I could not complete. I love Jack London's Seawolf and expect the same of White Fang when I get round to it.
And I know the characters, setting and style are historically accurate and depict the author's vision of realism in that time... but in COVID and the middle of potentially the biggest Civil Rights movement in the last 60 years, the overwhelming "whiteness" of the novel, their problems, their langu ...more

flag Like · see review

Feb 15, 2021 Nora rated it really liked it

Shelves: best-of-1913

I haven’t read that much Jack London and I thought he only wrote nature stories about wolves and people dying in the snow. So this novel took me by surprise, especially the social commentary on working class life. The story is about a factory girl named Saxon who falls in love with a teamster/former prizefighter named Billy. Life is hard, the teamsters’ strikes keep getting busted, the cops are shooting strikers, and all the stress is driving Billy to drink and be brutal to Saxon. But just when ...more

flag Like · see review

Jun 30, 2019 Kerry rated it it was amazing

News flash: Jack London is a great writer. He's a great storyteller, a great drawer of characters, a artist with natural descriptions, and able to bring any adventure to life by drawing on his own wildly varied experience, in addition to his talent. I believe I would have loved this book under any circumstances, but being a resident of northern California and familiar with all the settings he described, I enjoyed it even more. It also contains some surprisingly prescient commentary on the saluta ...more

flag Like · see review

Feb 13, 2020 Janet Lynch rated it it was ok

Shelves: fiction

I'm a Jack London fan, but the xenophobia, the racism, and especially the male chauvinism in this novel is hard to stomach. I'm a stubborn reader, however, and saw it to its end. I wonder if the main character, Billy, has attitudes much like London himself. Billy treats his wife like a gold brick, and both he and she think her sole purpose in life is to stand by him, be beautiful for him, put up with all his horrible actions, and admire him in spite of it all.

I picked this novel up for research ...more

flag Like · see review

May 22, 2019 Chelsea Hite rated it did not like it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

flag Like · see review

Jan 19, 2019 Purevdorj Damba rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

It is the most beautiful book that i have ever read.This story is about a new couple, their purpose, adventure, true love and being dreamer.After i read that book i just thought that OMG....if you want something from your heart, even you didn’t see or heard about it,it will truly happen one day but you have to be patient and persistent.
I would highly recommend this book for everyone.

flag Like · see review

Jan 02, 2017 Gina rated it really liked it

Although it seems like a good story book, it really promotes an out-of-the-box thinking and through the naration teaches life lessons on how to turn over your "luck" and life when you don't like its current state.
...more

flag Like · see review

May 18, 2017 Mark rated it liked it

Not Grapes of Wrath but entertaining and worth reading. A longer version of this review appears at www.cloquetriverpress.com.
Peace.
Mark ...more

flag Like · see review

Sep 05, 2017 Sylvia rated it it was amazing

Learned a lot about Jack London and loved his writing

flag Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend It | Stats | Recent Status Updates

Readers also enjoyed

See similar books…

Genres

Classics

43 users

Fiction

39 users

Literature

10 users

Literature > American

8 users

Adventure

8 users

Historical > Historical Fiction

6 users

Novels

5 users

Historical

3 users

Romance

2 users

See top shelves…

About Jack London

Jack London

5,487 followers

Jack London was an American novelist, journalist, social-activist and short-story writer whose works deal romantically with elemental struggles for survival. At his peak, he was the highest paid and the most popular of all living writers. Because of early financial difficulties, he was largely self educated past grammar school.

Jack London was a white supremacist and socialist. In his 1901 essay "T ...more