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The House of Mapuhi
Excerpt from The House of Mapuhi
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About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Long 'distance Shopping Our thoroughly organized mail order service extends to distant patrons the same prompt and efficient attention accorded to those who shop in person. Our broad guarantee makes this store the most reliable and satisfactory place to completely out fit children and infants.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1908
4 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Jack London
7,844 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 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 23, 2025
A Jack London South Seas fable.
November 18, 2019
So first up it's important to note that this story, first published in the anthology "South Sea Tales" in 1911 is pretty racist by our modern standards. The phrase quarter-caste is thrown around, local Polynesians are depicted in places as thuggish and superstitious and, quite surprisingly for a story set almost exclusively on one atoll in the south pacific, London manages to work in one Jewish character; an ugly, untrustworthy trader. That last part thankfully is as jarring as it is short.
The story centres around two protagonists, shifting perspective two thirds of the way through; first we follow Alexandre Raoul, the son of a trading magnate who's job it is to travel from island to island and buy what valuables he can for his mothers company. When Raoul arrives on Hikueru, a small atoll with a population of 1200, he is told of a magnificent pearl in the possession of a local Islander, Mapuhi. On my first reading I was totally struck by the beauty of the description of this pearl, and it still gets me on subsequent readings, I can't quantify this, but there's just something about it. I've never really examined a pearl up close, and I can't imagine that this description is particularly accurate, but...:
"It was Alive. […] The purity of it seemed almost to melt into the atmosphere out of his hand. In the shade it was softly luminous, gleaming like a tender moon. So translucently white was it, that when he dropped it into a glass of water he had difficulty in finding it."
really just hits my buttons. Raoul ends up deciding against purchasing the pearl, as Mapuhi demands the eponymous house as payment at the insistence of his wife, daughter, and his mother Nauri. Raoul then sits with an old captain who is worriedly watching his barometer sink lower and lower, before we are blasted with a description of a hurricane so shocking I still find it terrifying on a re-read. It's really impossible to select a quote to include here, but it is a seriously harrowing passage that really stands out.
Following this, the perspective shifts to Nauri, who was blown out to sea and who landed battered and beaten by the force of the hurricane on an uninhabited islet. Her struggle to survive, and triumphant solo return is another harrowing but memorable passage.
Londons description of the island, the hurricane, the events surrounding the pearl and Nauri's trials are all told in an unemotive but thoroughly enthralling style. This story in my opinion is held back perhaps by its dryness and assumption of technical knowledge (I definitely had to google a few sailing and weather related terms), as well as its obviously dated prejudicial depictions of firstly Levy the Jewish merchant (totally ridiculous and unnecessary) and secondly the native Polynesians - although the description of the honour shown by natives during the hurricane as well as the perseverance of Nauri do at least lend some nuance to this depiction, especially when judged in light of other comparable western texts about the Pacific which don't even bother with the 'noble' aspect of the common "noble savage" trope of the time
The story centres around two protagonists, shifting perspective two thirds of the way through; first we follow Alexandre Raoul, the son of a trading magnate who's job it is to travel from island to island and buy what valuables he can for his mothers company. When Raoul arrives on Hikueru, a small atoll with a population of 1200, he is told of a magnificent pearl in the possession of a local Islander, Mapuhi. On my first reading I was totally struck by the beauty of the description of this pearl, and it still gets me on subsequent readings, I can't quantify this, but there's just something about it. I've never really examined a pearl up close, and I can't imagine that this description is particularly accurate, but...:
"It was Alive. […] The purity of it seemed almost to melt into the atmosphere out of his hand. In the shade it was softly luminous, gleaming like a tender moon. So translucently white was it, that when he dropped it into a glass of water he had difficulty in finding it."
really just hits my buttons. Raoul ends up deciding against purchasing the pearl, as Mapuhi demands the eponymous house as payment at the insistence of his wife, daughter, and his mother Nauri. Raoul then sits with an old captain who is worriedly watching his barometer sink lower and lower, before we are blasted with a description of a hurricane so shocking I still find it terrifying on a re-read. It's really impossible to select a quote to include here, but it is a seriously harrowing passage that really stands out.
Following this, the perspective shifts to Nauri, who was blown out to sea and who landed battered and beaten by the force of the hurricane on an uninhabited islet. Her struggle to survive, and triumphant solo return is another harrowing but memorable passage.
Londons description of the island, the hurricane, the events surrounding the pearl and Nauri's trials are all told in an unemotive but thoroughly enthralling style. This story in my opinion is held back perhaps by its dryness and assumption of technical knowledge (I definitely had to google a few sailing and weather related terms), as well as its obviously dated prejudicial depictions of firstly Levy the Jewish merchant (totally ridiculous and unnecessary) and secondly the native Polynesians - although the description of the honour shown by natives during the hurricane as well as the perseverance of Nauri do at least lend some nuance to this depiction, especially when judged in light of other comparable western texts about the Pacific which don't even bother with the 'noble' aspect of the common "noble savage" trope of the time
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 10, 2020
İçerisinde 2 hikaye vardı ve güzel hikayelerdi
April 1, 2024
The description of a hurricane in this story is stunning. I think it is worth the read just for that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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April 25, 2023I greatly enjoyed this very short story. This tale makes good use of detail to portray complicated subject matter; there is, first of all, a description of the atoll where the story takes place, and a description of the valuable pearl that has been found, and of course, the hair-raising details of the powerful storm that hits the island. Just as interesting are the characters. London treats with nuance the delicate economic situation, in which Europeans send people to the atoll to do business with the local Polynesians. One main character is the pearl's finder, and the other is biracial, whose family represents both sides of this cultural divide, and whose approach to his business dealings is at once strong and humble. Will he purchase the pearl? Will he survive the storm? And what will become of the man who found the pearl? A page-turner, for sure, and thought-provoking.
December 23, 2016
Story of a Tsunami and a family struggle of having vs. being
December 30, 2017
well written
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews