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Told in the Drooling Ward
Short story.
- GenresFictionShort Stories
26 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1910
1 person is currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
Jack London
7,847 books7,781 followersJohn Griffith Chaney, better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to become an international celebrity and earn a large fortune from writing. He was also an innovator in the genre that would later become known as science fiction.
London was part of the radical literary group "The Crowd" in San Francisco and a passionate advocate of animal rights, workers’ rights and socialism. London wrote several works dealing with these topics, such as his dystopian novel The Iron Heel, his non-fiction exposé The People of the Abyss, War of the Classes, and Before Adam.
His most famous works include The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in Alaska and the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush, as well as the short stories "To Build a Fire", "An Odyssey of the North", and "Love of Life". He also wrote about the South Pacific in stories such as "The Pearls of Parlay" and "The Heathen".
London was part of the radical literary group "The Crowd" in San Francisco and a passionate advocate of animal rights, workers’ rights and socialism. London wrote several works dealing with these topics, such as his dystopian novel The Iron Heel, his non-fiction exposé The People of the Abyss, War of the Classes, and Before Adam.
His most famous works include The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in Alaska and the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush, as well as the short stories "To Build a Fire", "An Odyssey of the North", and "Love of Life". He also wrote about the South Pacific in stories such as "The Pearls of Parlay" and "The Heathen".
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 3, 2016
This was creepy, but interesting.
Don't really care about this story.
Here's what I wrote for my school assignment:
The story being written from Toms point of view gives us a look into the way that he thinks. I also think that it incites a different feeling from the reader. Instead of feeling bad for him, or pity, you feel maybe a little happy that Tom enjoys his life, where he is at. If it was told from a nurses or doctors perspective it would incite more pity, and we also wouldn’t really get to know Tom. The doctors and nurses don’t know what Tom is thinking, they don’t know that he thinks he’s normal.
Don't really care about this story.
Here's what I wrote for my school assignment:
The story being written from Toms point of view gives us a look into the way that he thinks. I also think that it incites a different feeling from the reader. Instead of feeling bad for him, or pity, you feel maybe a little happy that Tom enjoys his life, where he is at. If it was told from a nurses or doctors perspective it would incite more pity, and we also wouldn’t really get to know Tom. The doctors and nurses don’t know what Tom is thinking, they don’t know that he thinks he’s normal.
April 6, 2017
Interesting biography of a drooler, who thinks that everyone around him in the ward are also droolers & he states the reasons behind calling them but never admits that he is one too in the beginning. He might be or not be a drooler, sometimes you do feel that he's just making all this up & at times you do believe him..
Whatever the truth is, I like the story.. & I also like the fact that literature always brings us those people to whom we will never meet in person, so we get to meet different people from different walks of life at difficult situations & conditions.
It has always been in human nature to hold some curiosity in getting to know about others & their lives, so its a pleasure to read about different sort of people (also patients in the case of this story) through short stories & novels. I guess its sometimes better to read about them also, rather than only reading about love stories & other fantasies.
This is the story about some of the droolers in Tom (the protagonist, who's a drooler too)'s life https://loa-shared.s3.amazonaws.com/s...
Whatever the truth is, I like the story.. & I also like the fact that literature always brings us those people to whom we will never meet in person, so we get to meet different people from different walks of life at difficult situations & conditions.
It has always been in human nature to hold some curiosity in getting to know about others & their lives, so its a pleasure to read about different sort of people (also patients in the case of this story) through short stories & novels. I guess its sometimes better to read about them also, rather than only reading about love stories & other fantasies.
This is the story about some of the droolers in Tom (the protagonist, who's a drooler too)'s life https://loa-shared.s3.amazonaws.com/s...
March 6, 2019
Different interesting, and sad. I believe this to be based on a facts, which makes it sad. This is about state run facility for people with mental disorders as good by London. Could have read more, to find out what happened to some of his fellow friends. All in all, liked what I read the writer gave a good feel to live in facilities.
June 8, 2023
Небольшая, забавная (в реальности - смешного мало) история от лица пациента сумасшедшего дома, который там так освоился, что ухаживает за тяжёлыми больными. Некоторые замечания о жизни, как два эпилептика, повествователь и неподвижный идиот отправились искать золотую жилу в горах Калифорнии.
December 28, 2020
Crazies be crazy.
January 18, 2025
Pacing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot: ⭐️⭐️
Style: ⭐️⭐️
Setting: ⭐️⭐️
Character: ⭐️
Theme: ⭐️⭐️
Plot: ⭐️⭐️
Style: ⭐️⭐️
Setting: ⭐️⭐️
Character: ⭐️
Theme: ⭐️⭐️
April 11, 2016
You may read online at Story of the Week - Library of America.
Jack London riding through his ranch in Sonoma Valley, undated photo. Image courtesy of the Jack London State Historic Park website.
From LOA:
During his last decade London expanded the boundaries of his fiction beyond the naturalism of his early writing, and his final novels and stories include science fiction, supernatural tales, and experimentation with technique. “Even though London’s life in the bucolic setting of Sonoma Valley may seem far from an experimental context, in fact his ranching innovations and his new approaches to writing went hand-in-hand,” writes literary scholar Jeanne Campbell Reesman in her survey of his short fiction, and she singles out “Told in the Drooling Ward” as “one of London’s unique experiments with point of view.” In this case, the connection between London’s rural home and the subject of the story is direct: The narrator is a resident of a mental institution, and London’s ranch abutted the grounds of the California Home for the Care and Training of the Feeble Minded (which changed its name to the Sonoma State Home in 1909). Moreover, part of the story actually takes place on Beauty Ranch—and London and his wife, thinly disguised, make cameo appearances.
Jack London riding through his ranch in Sonoma Valley, undated photo. Image courtesy of the Jack London State Historic Park website.
From LOA:
During his last decade London expanded the boundaries of his fiction beyond the naturalism of his early writing, and his final novels and stories include science fiction, supernatural tales, and experimentation with technique. “Even though London’s life in the bucolic setting of Sonoma Valley may seem far from an experimental context, in fact his ranching innovations and his new approaches to writing went hand-in-hand,” writes literary scholar Jeanne Campbell Reesman in her survey of his short fiction, and she singles out “Told in the Drooling Ward” as “one of London’s unique experiments with point of view.” In this case, the connection between London’s rural home and the subject of the story is direct: The narrator is a resident of a mental institution, and London’s ranch abutted the grounds of the California Home for the Care and Training of the Feeble Minded (which changed its name to the Sonoma State Home in 1909). Moreover, part of the story actually takes place on Beauty Ranch—and London and his wife, thinly disguised, make cameo appearances.
August 23, 2017
I have always liked the stories and books that Jack London has written. The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and the Sea Wolf are some of his greatest novels. Yet, he wrote many more stories that one should read to get a real good concept of his writings. In 1914, London wrote a short story entitled, "Told in the Drooling Ward." The story is told by Tom a man living in "The Drooling War" part of a California Mental Institution. Tom the narrator is intriguing. He evokes sympathy and laughter and the story is told through his eyes. Tom spends time with these patients and shows care and affection for these people. Instead of hearing about patients who are crazy London writes about a person who is normal and pulls it off. Many readers might think Tom is crazy but I think he is just struggling on the inside with is own mental issues. London could have chosen anyone else to narrate this story such as a doctor, nurse or any other credible writer but that would have revealed details that could affect the judgement of the reader. No he pulls this story off by telling it from the patients view point and he succeeds.
February 26, 2016
The narrator is very disconcerting.
July 11, 2019
One of London's most unusual stories, and well worth reading. Captures the time and place perfectly!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews