Jack London: The Sea Wolf

[sparkchaser]

Humphrey van Weyden, a "gentleman", finds himself a castaway and is soon picked up by a seal hunting schooner. Instead of being passed off to a ship headed back to shore, he finds himself conscripted as cabin boy for the voyage by the Captain. Capt. "Wolf" Larsen is a cruel, brutal man who drives his crew hard and to the brink of madness. Larsen and van Weyden are polar opposites in everything and soon van Weyden realizes that if he is to survive, he's going to have to set aside his rosy view of life and adapt. Things become complicated for van Weyden when a boat of shipwreck survivors are picked up and one of them is a woman and now he must not only fight to save himself but her as well.

I was a bit disappointed in the lack of detail of the seal hunting.

 

[Robert]

I was a bit disappointed in the lack of detail of the seal hunting.

You must be a big fan of Moby Dick?

 

[sparkchaser]

Never read Moby Dick.

I was just expecting more than two sentences about skinning them and throwing the bodies to the sharks. Granted, the story wasn't about seal hunting but I think he could have thrown in a bit more detail.

 

[Robert]

Never read Moby Dick.

I was just expecting more than two sentences about skinning them and throwing the bodies to the sharks. Granted, the story wasn't about seal hunting but I think he could have thrown in a bit more detail.

If you're looking for those kind of details, then I really think you would like it.

I didn't really think seal hunting was that important in the story. I enjoyed the philosophical discussion between Larson and van Weyden and Larson's steadfast belief concerning God, even as he met his doom.

 

[sparkchaser]

I did enjoy the discussions between Larsen and van Weyden (and eventually Maud Brewster) and I got the impression that Larsen was read well enough in the literature that suited his way of thinking but didn't read anything that offered another view. Of course, that's not much different than most people.

 

[Robert]

I did enjoy the discussions between Larsen and van Weyden (and eventually Maud Brewster) and I got the impression that Larsen was read well enough in the literature that suited his way of thinking but didn't read anything that offered another view. Of course, that's not much different than most people.

Maud added that little extra something... a little romance. They already knew of each other before they met, the attraction was immediate and it made van Weyden saving Maud from Wolf imperative.

What a great book. I'm going to have to read it again soon.

 

[sparkchaser]

It struck me that before Maud showed up that Larsen and van Weyden had reached an uneasy understanding and truce and Maud was thrown in by London to stir things up a la deus ex machina (but without the negative connotations deus ex machina usually has).

 

[Phlebas]

I was a bit disappointed in the lack of detail of the seal hunting.

Not read this one but that rings true of his "dog stories" - White Fang, Call of the Wild etc. They seem more concerned with keepng the story moving and action packed rather than dwelling on the details, as opposed to Moby Dick which ... if I recall correctly... has and entire chapter on the geneology of whales.

 

[Writer44]

I have to go back and read The Sea Wolf again. Loved that book for Larsen more than Weyden.

Don't know anything about seal hunting but perhaps it could have been used metaphorically in the story. Still, I wouldn't have the nerve to tell London how to improve a story.

Just sayin'

 

[sparkchaser]

Still, I wouldn't have the nerve to tell London how to improve a story.

Just sayin'

I think I could take him today.

 

[Writer44]

Sparkchaser,

You're twice the nuclear engineer I dream of being. But, you know, that made me think, could I take him? Could I pen a story that would be worthy? It might be worth a shot.

But first I have a sequel to wrap and then I'm caught between a sort of Patrick O'Brian type thing (featuring a young American sea-captain embroiled in a hostage ransom situation with Barbary Pirates circa 1815) and an Orwell-esque tome focused on a guy who takes his kid to an off shore floating hospital for a radical cure.

Maybe I could bend one of these into a London duel.

 

[sparkchaser]

Nukular. It's pronounced nuke-you-lar.

I meant that these days I could take him mano a mano.