I read White Fang and Call of the Wild when I was a kid and hated them. But now as an adult I find myself wanting to revisit authors and books I didn't like as a child and seeing if I can enjoy them now. And I don't know about White Fang or Call of the Wild but I absolutely loved this book. Which is strange because I'm not really one for realistic fiction nor do I really have any interest in the South Seas. But I am a sucker for olden day adventure stories and I think I may have liked this one so much because it reminded me of one of my favorite books as a child, Call it Courage By Armstrong Sperry.

This book is a compilation of short stories about adventures around the South Seas, most likely inspired by Jack London's many travels and adventures. Big warning if you are sensitive to non-political correctness, due to the time this was written there are racial slurs, there are ideals of race and gender that are outdated and can be offensive. With classic literature such as this you just need to take a book like this with a grain of salt.

My favorite story in this book is called The Heathen. This story almost brought me to tears at the end and I really wish it didn't end.
But all the stories in this book were very enjoyable for me. I'm glad I took the time to try out Jack London again, maybe now I'll give White Fang or Call of the Wild another shot.

3.5

Entertaining and lively prose, but fraught with inaccuracies and troubling historical attitudes.

From start to finish the trouble here is London's portrayal of whites enslaving Melanesians. His stories lend his sympathies evenly to all men, with the islanders having dignity and some of the whites being horrible brutes. But he still falls into the trap of portraying the islanders as Noble Savages. Or good servants, particularly troubling in the story The Heathen. I should be generous and say London was a man of his time but we look to fiction like this to elevate, to give insight, and I don't think London did.

The story that I liked best was The Seed of McCoy. Mostly because it doesn't revolve around the blackbirding slave trade. It's a straight-up two fisted tail of adventure on the High Seas, and very well written for that. His writing is so clean and smooth too, words honed for the craft.

Also troubled by inaccuracy, because we look to writing from 100 years ago for insight into its time. But Jack London never went to the South Pacific, so all these stories are secondhand. I think that's part of why his portrayal of islanders is so frustrating. Also I got stuck particularly on "Mauki"; a central plot point is the geography of Lord Howe Island, how it's flat and with no bush to hide. Only Lord Howe is a mountainous island, with plenty of bush. It's a tiny point, just change the island name and the story works, but it irritated me and made me wonder what else was inaccurate.

For those who grew up in the Pacific and particularly those who have had large exposure to Polynesian communities this book will beguile and bewitch you. The tales are all gripping and seem to offer access to the inner world of cultures so rarely spoken about. Jack London's empathy is seen so clearly through these stories. This novel goes a long way in staking a claim for pacific narratives as worthy of mainstream consciousness. Reading this along with a book like Typee or Omoo also shows the progression in America's view and regard of Polynesia. In contrast to Melville's myopic interpretation of 'the savages", London seems to be able to inhabit the minds of the noble people of the Pacific and paint them as the honourable men and women they are, compared to the often savage and bestial Caucasians.

I enjoyed this collection a lot more than I thought I would. Some stories are much better than others, as is the case in general with these sorts of collections, but on the whole, I thought each story had something of interest to offer. What surprised me the most was London’s portrayal of the harsh realities of colonialism and how the islanders suffer from colonial greed and brutality. The sympathy to the islanders was what drew me to many of these stories, since these are, to some extent, criticisms of the colonial way.

Favorites from this collection: The House of Mapuhi, Mauki, “Yah! Yah Yah!” The Inevitable White Man. There were no stories in this collection that I straight up disliked, but those four were ones that I greatly enjoyed. London’s depiction of the islands effortlessly drew me in; they were so detailed and vibrant, that I felt as if I were there. I also loved his characters; they felt so real, that I can’t help but think that they must have been based on real people.

Definitely pick it up if you’re a London fan; if you’re at all interested in colonial writings, this is something to check out as well. I wouldn’t say it’s a must-read, but it’s interesting and provides some insight to life in the colonized islands.

Also posted on Purple People Readers.

This is a weird one to rate. I got this book mainly to read about the history of Oceania. I also love Jack London's other books The Call of the Wild and White Fang. Although I'm still drawn to his writing style, I wasn't really into this one. Out of the 8 stories here, I only liked The Heathen (mainly because of the ridiculous ending) and The Seed of McCoy. The others I just didn't care for. I think as I'm discovering my reading preferences anthologies are a genre I consistently have trouble getting into.

I will say this was interesting to read about an early 20th century Western perspective on the cultures of Polynesia and Melanesia. There is obviously the racism (and lots of the N word) but I was also surprised to find a bit of admiration or respect for the islanders. It's very strange reading a hundred year old book like this and seeing how different people viewed each other.

Overall, I only liked 2 out of 8 short stories. London's writing is still great but be prepared for some outdated language and viewpoints. I'm giving it a 2/5. I think maybe anthologies and short stories just aren't my thing so I'm going to move away from those for a while.