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 London's writing is still great but be prepared for some outdated language and viewpoints.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.