The most interesting facts about Jack London. Biography of the writer Jack London

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Biography, life story of Jack London

Jack London is an American writer and socialist.

Childhood

On January 12, 1876, a boy was born in San Francisco (California), who later became one of the most prominent people in world literature. The boy was named John Griffith Cheney. The mother of the newborn was Flora Wellman, a music teacher who was very interested in spiritualism. John's own father, astrologer William Cheney, was not at all happy that he would soon have a child. He even demanded that Flora have an abortion. However, the woman categorically refused. William continued to insist and drove the pregnant Flora into such hysterics that she even tried to shoot herself. Fortunately, the woman only slightly injured herself.

When little John was born, he spent the first months of his life not with his own mother, but with Virginia Prentiss, a former slave of Mrs. Wellman. At the end of 1876, Flora married American Civil War veteran John London. After this, Flora took her son and brought him to a new and larger family (Flora’s new husband already had two daughters). They began to call the baby John London, and among his family and people close to him they simply called him Jack.

The London family settled in one of the working-class areas of San Francisco. At that time the whole country was gripped by a terrible economic crisis, there was practically no money, people were fired in the thousands. The head of the family tried several times to start farming to feed his family, but Flora, a lover of easy money, constantly prevented him, assuring him that this was too long and painful. The family was poor. Londoners often moved from place to place, children had to change schools, forget friends. Perhaps this is precisely why the London offspring became close friends and were able to maintain a warm relationship until the end of their days. Last refuge family became the town of Oakland, which is located near San Francisco. It was there that Jack London finally managed to finish primary school.

CONTINUED BELOW

Due to the fact that the family was in dire need of money, Jack had to start working very early. So, while still a schoolboy, every morning and every evening he delivered newspapers to the surrounding areas. On weekends, he set up pins in the bowling alley and cleaned the beer pavilions in the park. At the age of fourteen, Jack abandoned his studies and got a job as a worker in a canning factory. But the work turned out to be too hard for young boy. Jack quit his job and began looking for new ways to make money. As a result, he asked Virginia Prentiss, with whom he supported everything friendly relations, three hundred dollars. The kind-hearted woman could not refuse the boy, whom she considered practically her own son. Taking the money, Jack bought a used schooner and began illegally catching oysters in San Francisco Bay. A little later, he got a job on a fishing patrol.

Youth

At the age of seventeen, Jack London went to work as a sailor on a fishing schooner called Sophie Sutherland. The team members were engaged in catching fur seals in the Bering Sea. The first long voyage impressed Jack very much; he was amazed by the vast expanses of the sea, the feeling of freedom and at the same time the feeling of defenselessness that the endless thickness of water gives.

After working as a sailor for some time, Jack London worked as an ironer in a laundry, and even as a fireman.

Education

At one time, Jack London decided to enter the University of California. He independently prepared for the entrance exams and passed them successfully. However, he studied for only three semesters. Jack simply did not have the money to pay for tuition at such a prestigious educational institution.

Political Views

In 1894, Jack London became acquainted with the works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Socialist ideas impressed young Jack so much that he immediately joined the Socialist Labor Party of America. In 1900 he became a full member of the Socialist Party of America. In 1914, Jack London renounced his beliefs, declaring that he had lost faith in the morale of socialism.

Literature

On November 12, 1893, the very first essay by Jack London was published in a San Francisco newspaper. The essay was called “Typhoon off the coast of Japan.” The debut work of the young and talented writer had some success.

In 1894, Jack London took an active part in the march of the unemployed on Washington. It was at that moment that he clearly realized that physical work cannot give him everything he dreams of. Only intellectual work is highly valued. So London came to the conclusion that he urgently needed to become a real writer.

Throughout his life, Jack London published great amount works - novels, stories, plays, short stories, essays... Each of his creations is a description of real situations that he encountered in his life. None of London's works were taken, as they say, from the sky. He himself experienced all those moments (or saw others experience them) that are captured on the pages of his books.

Jack London wrote in a very easy and poetic language. He could deftly and almost imperceptibly for the reader instantly immerse him in the thick of events, let him realize and feel the mood of the book. Jack London to this day is one of the few writers who can clearly characterize the hero only through dialogue.

"Golden fever"

In 1897, Jack London succumbed to the general madness and went with his comrades to Alaska in search of gold. At first, they were lucky - the friends were able to overtake many gold miners, get to the Yukon River and stake out one plot. True, they never found the precious metal there. As a result, almost all would-be hunters had to return home with nothing. Everyone except Jack London. He brought two things back from the trip: scurvy (a disease caused by an acute lack of vitamin C) and images of future heroes of his books.

Personal life

In January 1900, Jack London was legally married to Elizabeth Maddern, ex-fiancée his deceased university friend. Elizabeth gave birth to her wife two charming daughters - Bass and Joan. True, already in 1902 Jack fell in love with a girl named Charmian Kitturge. The passion between them was so strong that Jack left Elizabeth. In November 1905, Jack and Charmian were officially married.

Death

Last years In his life, Jack London was in the deepest creative crisis. At one time, he became so desperate that he began to wash down his pain with alcohol. Depression and alcoholism led to him developing uremia (kidney disease). On November 22, 1916, London died from an overdose of morphine (with its help, Jack coped with constant pain in the lumbar region). He was only forty years old. Many researchers are inclined to believe that the writer deliberately took an excessive amount of the drug, since he no longer had the strength to fight for his place in the sun.

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short biography

- famous American writer, famous for his adventure novels and short stories; public figure - born in San Francisco on January 12, 1876. His real name, received at birth, is John Griffith Cheney, and he became Jack London by the name of his mother’s second husband, with whom he lived since infancy. He had two daughters of his own, and the eldest of them became good friend writer.

His mother was an adventurous woman who dreamed of getting rich quickly and prevented her husband from establishing a stable income on the farm; The family was constantly in financial need, constantly changing their place of residence, and eventually settled near San Francisco in Oakland. In this city, Jack graduated from primary school and after that went to work. In his youth, he had the opportunity to try himself in a variety of roles - a factory worker, an ironer, a fireman. His work history also included sailing on a fishing schooner as a sailor (London was 17 at the time). Upon returning from a many-month voyage, he wrote an essay “A Typhoon off the Coast of Japan” for a literary competition announced by the newspaper and became its winner. With this publication on November 12, 1893, the countdown of his creative career began.

After returning home, Jack London was unemployed, took part in the 1894 march of the unemployed on Washington, and spent a month in prison for vagrancy. At this time, he makes a conclusion for himself about the impossibility of living with dignity through physical labor, about the need to engage in intellectual work, to become a writer. In 1895, London became a member of the US Socialist Labor Party.

Engaging in self-education and successfully passing the exams, in 1896 Jack London joined the ranks of students at the University of California, but did not graduate due to the inability to pay for further education. In the spring of 1897 future writer leaves for Alaska: he, like many, is seized by the “gold rush”. As a prospector, London did not achieve success and, in addition, suffered from scurvy, but acquired invaluable life experience, which he later used in his works.

Returning from Alaska, 23-year-old London focuses his efforts on literature. Since 1899, his “Northern Stories” have been published; in 1900, his first book, the stories “Son of the Wolf,” was published. London was famous for its high efficiency; it took 15-17 hours to write. In 1902, after the publication of the novel “Daughter of the Snows” and the book “People of the Abyss”, he became famous writer, incomes are growing and becoming more stable. Getting better and personal life: Having married Elizabeth Maddern, London becomes the father of two daughters.

In 1904, he wrote the novel “The Sea Wolf,” which is considered the most famous in his legacy. Throughout 1904-1905. London covers the events of the Russian-Japanese War as a war correspondent, establishing himself as a master of reportage. After returning from Asia, he breaks off relations with his wife and marries her friend. His desire to turn the ranch he bought in 1905 into an ideal farm resulted in large debts and the need to write for the needs of an undemanding public. Even the fact that he was paid very high fees could not satisfy his increased needs. In 1905, the writer was a candidate for mayor of Oakland; Having failed, he was still actively involved in politics until 1910. Jack London's biography also included a trip around the world, on which he went in 1907 on a ship built according to personal drawings. In the spring of 1914, the writer visited Mexico - again as a military correspondent.

The last years of J. London's life were marked by a creative crisis (he was forced to buy a plot for a new novel), as well as a kidney disease, the attacks of which he was forced to treat with morphine. On November 22, 1916, while in Glen Ellen, London took a fatal dose. Was it a fatal mistake or deliberate suicide - the answer to this question famous writer took it with him to the grave.

Biography from Wikipedia

Jack London(eng. Jack London; born John Griffith Cheney, John Griffith Chaney; January 12, 1876 - November 22, 1916) was an American writer, socialist, public figure, best known as the author of adventure stories and novels. Jack London was the second most published foreign writer after H. C. Andersen in the USSR in the years 1918-1986: the total circulation of 956 publications amounted to 77.153 million copies.

Jack London was born on January 12, 1876 in San Francisco. His mother, Flora Wellman, was fifth and last child builder of the Pennsylvania Canal Marshall Wellman, descended in the male line from Thomas Wellman (1615-1672), an English Puritan who settled in Massachusetts. Flora's mother was Welshwoman Eleanor Garrett Jones. Flora Wellman was a music teacher who was interested in spiritualism. She became pregnant by astrologer William Cheney, an ethnic Irishman, with whom she lived for some time in San Francisco. Having learned about Flora's pregnancy, William began to insist that she have an abortion. Flora categorically refused and, in a fit of despair, tried to shoot herself, but only slightly wounded herself. A terrible fuss was raised in the newspapers of that time (for example, in the article “The Abandoned Wife” in the Chronicle), the name of William Cheney was discredited, which subsequently served as the reason for his denial of paternity (in 1897, Jack London sent Cheney several letters in which asked whether he was his father or not, but Cheney unequivocally denied paternity).

After the birth of the baby, Flora left him for some time in the care of her former slave Virginia Prentiss, who remained an important person for London throughout his life. At the end of the same 1876, Flora married John London, a disabled veteran of the American Civil War, after which she took the baby back to her. It was then that the boy received the name John London (Jack is a diminutive form of the name John). The London family (John London brought his two daughters into the family, the eldest, Eliza, became true friend and Jack's lifelong guardian angel) settled in a working-class area of San Francisco, south of Market Street. At this time, the country was gripped by a severe economic crisis that began in 1873, hundreds of thousands of people lost their jobs and wandered from city to city in search of odd jobs. Jack's stepfather made several attempts to start farming, which were frustrated by Flora, who was always running around with adventurous plans to get rich quick. Constantly in need, the family moved from place to place until they settled in the city of Oakland, neighboring San Francisco, where London eventually graduated from elementary school.

Jack London began an independent working life full of hardships early. As a schoolboy, he sold morning and evening newspapers, and on weekends he worked part-time in a bowling alley, arranging pins, and also as a cleaner of beer pavilions in the park. At the end primary school, at the age of fourteen, entered a canning factory as a worker. The work was very hard, and he left the factory so that, as he put it, “not completely turn into a working animal.” For $300 borrowed from Virginia (Jenny) Prentiss, he bought a used schooner, the Razzle Dazzle, and became an “oyster pirate,” illegally catching oysters in San Francisco Bay and selling them to restaurants. In those years, there was a poaching “oyster flotilla” there. The fifteen-year-old teenager has fully mastered adult life and even made a girlfriend. Thanks to Jack’s brave character (he soon became the “king of the pirates”), he was lured into service by a fishing patrol that was fighting poachers. "Tales of the Fishing Patrol" is dedicated to this period of Jack London's life.

In 1893, he hired a sailor on the fishing schooner Sophie Sutherland, going to catch seals off the coast of Japan and in the Bering Sea. The first voyage gave London many vivid impressions, which later formed the basis for many of his sea stories and novels (“The Sea Wolf”, etc.). Returning home seven months later, he worked for some time in a jute factory, as an ironer in a laundry and as a fireman (the novels Martin Eden and John Barleycorn).

London's first essay, "A Typhoon Off the Coast of Japan," for which he received first prize from a San Francisco newspaper, was published on November 12, 1893, and marked the beginning of his literary career.

In 1894, he took part in the march of the unemployed on Washington (essay “Hold On!”), was arrested near Niagara Falls for vagrancy, after which he spent a month in prison in Buffalo (“Straitjacket”). While wandering along the roads with an army of vagabonds, London came to the conclusion that physical labor cannot provide a person with a decent existence and only intellectual work is valued. At this time, he became convinced that he should become a writer. During the campaign, he first became thoroughly acquainted with socialist ideas (and, in particular, with the “Manifesto Communist Party"Marx and Engels), which made a huge impression on him. In 1895, he joined the Socialist Labor Party of America, from 1900 (some sources indicate 1901) - a member of the Socialist Party of America, from which he left in 1914 (some sources indicate 1916). In the statement of resignation from the party, the reason given was the loss of faith in its “fighting spirit” (meaning the party’s departure from the path of revolutionary transformation of society and its course towards a gradual reformist path to socialism). Returning home, Jack enters high school. In the school magazine "Aegis" he published his first socialist essays and stories about the times of his wanderings along the roads of the United States. The pace of his studies categorically did not suit him, and he decided to leave school and prepare on his own to enter the University of California.

Having successfully passed the entrance exams, Jack London entered the University of California, but after the 3rd semester, due to lack of funds for his studies, he was forced to leave.

In the spring of 1897, Jack London succumbed to the gold rush and left for Alaska. At first, Jack and his comrades were lucky - ahead of many other gold miners, they were able to make their way to the upper reaches of the Yukon River and stake out a plot. But there was no gold on it, and it was not possible to stake out a new one until spring, and, to top it all off, during the winter London fell ill with scurvy. He returned to San Francisco in 1898, having experienced all the delights of the northern winter. Instead of gold, fate gifted Jack London with meetings with the future heroes of his works.

He began to study literature more seriously at the age of 23, after returning from Alaska: the first “northern” stories were published in 1899, and already in 1900 his first book was published - a collection of stories “Son of the Wolf”. This was followed by the following collections of stories: “The God of His Fathers” (Chicago, 1901), “Children of the Frost” (New York, 1902), “Faith in Man” (New York, 1904), “The Face of the Moon” (New York) , 1906), “The Lost Face” (New York, 1910), as well as the novels “Daughter of the Snows” (1902), “The Sea Wolf” (1904), “Martin Eden” (1909), which brought the writer wide popularity. The writer worked very hard, 15-17 hours a day, and wrote about 40 books throughout his not very long writing life.

London's artistic method is expressed primarily in the desire to show a person in a difficult life situation, at the turning point of fate; realistic descriptions of circumstances are combined with the spirit of romance and adventure (the author himself defined his style as “inspired realism, imbued with faith in a person and his aspirations”). London's works are characterized by a special poetic language, quick introduction of the reader into the action of his work, the principle of narrative symmetry, characterization of characters through dialogues and thoughts. He considered R. Stevenson and R. Kipling his literary teachers (although London did not agree with the latter’s chauvinistic worldview, admiring only his stylistic merits). H. Spencer, C. Darwin, K. Marx and F. Engels and, to some extent, F. Nietzsche had a huge influence on the writer’s philosophy of life. Jack London highly appreciated the works of Russian writers, especially M. Gorky (London calls his novel “Foma Gordeev” a “healing book” that “affirms goodness”).

In 1902 London visited England. His stay in London provided him with material for writing the book "People of the Abyss", which was successful in the USA (as opposed to England). Upon returning to America, he reads in different cities lectures, predominantly of a socialist nature, and organizes departments of the “General Student Society”.

In January 1900, Jack London married the fiancée of his deceased university friend, Bassie Maddern, who bore him two daughters, Joan and Bass. In the summer of 1903, having fallen in love with Charmian Kittredge, the writer left the family and married her in November 1905. During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. London works as a war correspondent. In 1907, the writer undertook a trip around the world on the ship “Snark”, built according to his own drawings (according to London’s plan, the trip was supposed to last 7 years, but was interrupted in 1909 due to the writer’s illness). During the journey, rich material was collected for the books “The Voyage of the Snark”, “Tales of the South Seas”, “Son of the Sun”. By this time, thanks to high fees, London had become wealthy man. His fee reached up to 50 thousand dollars per book, which was a very large amount. However, the writer himself was constantly short of money.

London's multifaceted talent brought him success in the field of writing utopian and science fiction stories. “Goliath”, “The Enemy of the Whole World”, “The Scarlet Plague”, “When the World Was Young” and others attract with their originality of style, richness of imagination and unexpected moves despite a certain sketchiness and incompleteness. Developed intuition and life observations in the country of the “yellow devil” allowed London to foresee and vividly depict the onset of the era of dictators and social upheavals (“ Iron heel" - the formation of an oligarchic dictatorship in the USA), world wars and monstrous inventions that threaten the existence of mankind.

In 1905, the writer purchased a ranch in Glen Ellen (California), which he expanded several times in subsequent years. Getting carried away agriculture, London actively implemented latest methods managing his land, trying to create the “ideal farm,” which ultimately led him to thousands of dollars in debt. To cover his debts, the writer was forced to engage in literary day labor, writing low-quality works for the needs of popular magazines (these, according to the author himself, were “Adventure”, “Smoke Bellew”). At some point, writing even began to disgust London. In the spring of 1914, on assignment from Colliers magazine, he went as a war correspondent to Mexico, where he wrote articles justifying US intervention in the internal affairs of other states, which caused a storm of indignation among his party comrades. .

In recent years, London has been experiencing a creative crisis, which is why he began to abuse alcohol (he later quit). Because of the crisis, the writer was even forced to purchase a plot for a new novel. Such a plot was sold to London by the aspiring American writer Sinclair Lewis. London managed to give the future novel the name “The Murder Bureau”, but he managed to write very little, since he soon died.

John Chaney, known around the world as , died November 22, 1916, in his 41st year, in Glen Ellen. In recent years he suffered from kidney disease (uremia) and died from poisoning from morphine prescribed to him. The most famous version is suicide. A version of deliberate self-poisoning also began to spread in later times. Reasoning about the sources of suicide existed in the writer’s head - for example, this can be judged by the plot events of the novel “Martin Eden”. London also mentions his thoughts about suicide in the autobiographical story “John Barleycorn.”

Flora Wellman outlived her great son by six years.

Bibliography

Stories:

"Aloha Oe" (1908)
Atu them, atu! (1908)
White Silence ( The White Silence, 1899)
Shameless
The Lone Chief's Disease (1902)
The Tramp and the Fairy
Brown wolf
"Bulls"
In the wilds of the North (1901)
Great mystery
The Great Magician (1901)
Faith in man
Hyperborean drink
Rot has started in Idaho (article, 1906)
John Barleycorn
Mapui House (1908)
Road ( The Road , 1907)
Daughter of the Northern Lights
Devils on Fuatino
Pearls of Parley
King's wife
Women's contempt
For those who are on the way!
Law of Life (1900)
The Call of the Wild (novel, 1903)
Golden Dawn
bonanza
Golden Canyon (1905)
Golden poppy
Sperm whale tooth
History of Jis-Uk
The disappearance of Marcus O'Brien
Like the Argonauts of old
How I became a socialist ( How I became a socialist)
Images
Kish, son of Kish ( Keesh, the Son of Keesh, 1902)
When the gods laugh
The end of a fairy tale
Bonfire
Kulau the leper ( Koolau the Leper, 1919)
Piece of meat
Old Men's League ( The League of the Old Men, 1902)
Amateur evening
Love of life ( Love of Life, 1905)
Small score for Swithin Hall
Mauki
Mexican ( The Mexican, 1911)
Local color
Tagged
Wisdom of the Snowy Path
Courage of a woman
On the shores of Sacramento
Night on Goboto ( A Goboto Night, 1911)
In a distant land
At Forty Mile
On the Makaloa mat
Nam-Bok is a liar
Unexpected
Indomitable a white man (1908)
About Me
One-day stay
Renegade ( The Apostate, 1906)
Feathers of the Sun
Primitive poet
By right of the priest
Under the sailing awning
Benefit of the Doubt
Lost face
Descendant of McCoy (1909)
Surf Kanaka
Confession
Adventure in the ocean of air
Goodbye Jack! (1909)
Born in the night
Sakaichou, Hona Ashi and Hakadaki (1895)
Northern Odyssey
Light-skinned Li Wang (1901)
The power of the strong
The Tale of Kish ( The Story of Keesh, 1902)
Straitjacket
Smoke Bellew
Smoke and Baby
The Dreaded Solomon Islands (1908)
"Snatched" ( "Pinched", 1907)
Son of the Wolf ( The Son of the Wolf)
Where the paths diverge
The path of false suns ( The Sun Dog Trail, 1910)
A thousand dozen
Kill a man
Temple of Pride
The Man with the Scar
Through the rapids to the Klondike
What does life mean to me
Chun Ah-chun
Sheriff Kona
Porportuk's joke ( The Wit of Porportuk, 1910)
Jokers of New Gibbon
Pagan (1908)

Other works

The Road (1907) - The Road (autobiographical sketch)
John Barleycorn (1913) - John Barleycorn (autobiographical sketch)
The People of the Abyss (1903) - People of the Abyss (essay)
Revolution, and others Essays (1910) - Revolution (essay)
The Cruise of the Snark (1911) - Voyage on the Snark (essay)
The Theft (1910) - Theft (play)

Translations into Russian

Collected works

Collected works in 7 volumes + additional volume. - M.: State Publishing House of Fiction, 1954-1957.
Collected works in 14 volumes. - M.: “Pravda”, 1961. - (Library “Ogonyok”).
Collected works in 13 volumes. - M.: “Pravda”, 1976. - (Library “Ogonyok”).
Collected Works in 8 volumes. - M.: “Fatherland”, “Polygran”, 1993-1995.
Collected works in 16 volumes. - Kharkov: “Folio”, 1994.
Collected works in 20 volumes. - M.: “Terra”, 1998-1999.
Collected works in 13 volumes. - Kharkov-Belgorod: “Book Club”, 2009.

Film adaptations

Just Meat (2013) ... story
A Scream in Silence (2012) ... based on the story "Francis Speight"
Jack London's Love of Life (2012) ... story
Cara de luna (2011) ... story; short film
Piece of Meat (2011) ... story; short film
Burning Daylight (2010) Burning Daylight (story)
The Call of the Wild (2009) Call of the Wild
Sea Wolf (TV series) (2008) Sea Wolf ... novel
The Sea Wolf (TV) (2008) Der Seewolf ... novel
Crochet au coeur (2005) Crochet au coeur ... story
Por un bistec (2004) Por un bistec ... story
Jour blanc (2004) Jour blanc ... novel
Cara perdida (2003) Cara perdida ... story
2003 To Build a Fire
The Iron Heel of the Oligarchy (1998) ... novel
Sea Wolf (1997) Sea Wolf, The ... novel
White Fang (video) (1997) White Fang ... novel
The Call of the Wild (TV) (1997) Call of the Wild: Dog of the Yukon, The ... novel
Legends of the North (1995) Legends of the North ... story
Alaska Kid (TV series) (1993)
White Fang (TV series) (1993) White Fang
The Call of the Wild (TV) (1993) Call of the Wild ... novel
Sea Wolf (TV) (1993)Sea Wolf, The ... book
Hearts of Three (TV) (1992)
The Sea Wolf (TV series) (1991) ... novel
White Fang (1991) White Fang
The Dog Who Could Sing (1990) ... story
Cesta na jihozápad (1989) Cesta na jihozápad ... story
Gold Diggers (1986) Cautatorii de aur
The Mexican Felipe Rivera (TV) (1984) Der Mexikaner Felipe Rivera ... novel
Theft (TV) (1982) ... play
Klondike Fever (1980) Klondike Fever (novel)
The Adventures of Red Michael (1979) Mihail, cîine de circ ... novel
The Lost Gold of the Incas (TV) (1978) Das verschollene Inka-Gold ... story
Martin Eden (TV) (1976) ... novel
The Call of the Wild (TV) (1976) Call of the Wild, The ... novel
Smoke and the Kid (1975) ... novel
Time - does not - wait (TV series) (1975) ... novel
Lockruf des Goldes (TV series) (1975) Lockruf des Goldes
The Sea Wolf (1975) Il lupo dei mari ... novel
Il richiamo del lupo (1975) Il richiamo del lupo ... novel
The Adventures of Kit (1974) Kit & Co. ...stories
White Fang (1973) Zanna Bianca ... novel
1973 Emperor of the North Pole (story)
The Call of the Wild (1972) Call of the Wild, The ... novel
Howl of the Black Wolves (1972) Der Schrei der schwarzen Wölfe ... novel
Claim na Hluchem potoku (1972) Claim na Hluchem potoku ... story
The Sea Wolf (TV series) (1971) Der Seewolf
Assassination Bureau (1969) Assassination Bureau, The ... novel
Nur Fleisch (TV) (1962) Nur Fleisch ... story
To Kill a Man (1960) ... story
Wolf Larsen (1958) Wolf Larsen ... novel
The Mexican (1955) ... story
The Fighter (1952) Fighter, The ... story
Schlitz Star Theater (TV series) (1951-1959) Schlitz Playhouse
Barricade (1950) Barricade ... novel
White Fang (1946) ... novel
The Mexican (1944) Mexicano, El ... story
Alaska (1944) Alaska ... novel
The Adventures of Martin Eden (1942) Adventures of Martin Eden, The ... novel
North to the Klondike (1942) North to the Klondike ... story
Sign of the Wolf (1941) Sign of the Wolf (story)
Sea Wolf (1941) Sea Wolf, The ... novel
1940 Queen of the Yukon (story)
Torture Ship (1939) Torture Ship (story)
1939 Wolf Call (novel)
Romance of the Redwoods (1939) Romance of the Redwoods ... novel
Mutiny of the Elsinore, The (1937) Mutiny of the Elsinore, The ... novel
1936 Conflict ... novel
The Rebels of Elsinore (1936) Mutinés de l’Elseneur, Les ... novel
White Fang (1936) White Fang
The Call of the Wild (1935) Call of the Wild, The
Sea Wolf (1930) Sea Wolf, The ... novel
1929 Smoke Bellew (story)
Construire un feu (1929) Construire un feu ... novel
Tropical Nights (1928) Tropical Nights ... story
Prowlers of the Sea (1928) Prowlers of the Sea (story)
Stormy Waters (1928) Stormy Waters (story)
Burning Daylight (1928) Burning Daylight ... novel
Devil's Skipper, The (1928) Devil's Skipper, The ... story
Haunted Ship, The (1927) Haunted Ship, The ... story
Morganson's Finish (1926)Morganson's Finish (story)
By Law (1926) ... story
Sea Wolf (1926) Sea Wolf, The ... novel
White Fang (1925) White Fang (story)
Adventure (1925) Adventure ... novel
1923 Call of the Wild (novel)
Abysmal Brute (1923) Abysmal Brute ... novel
Wolves of the Waterfront, The (1923) Wolves of the Waterfront, The ... story
Yellow Handkerchief, The (1923) Yellow Handkerchief, The ... story
Siege of the Lancashire Queen, The (1922) Siege of the Lancashire Queen, The ... story
Timberland Treachery (1922) Timberland Treachery ... story
Law of the Sea, The (1922) Law of the Sea, The ... story
Pirates of the Deep (1922) Pirates of the Deep (story)
Channel Raiders, The (1922) Channel Raiders, The ... story
Mohican's Daughter, The (1922) Mohican's Daughter, The
Giants of the Open(1922) Giants of the Open (story)
White and Yellow, The (1922) White and Yellow, The ... story
Son of the Wolf (1922) Son of the Wolf, The ... story
Little Fool, The (1921) Little Fool, The ... novel
Burning Daylight (1920) Burning Daylight ... novel
Mutiny of the Elsinore, The (1920) Mutiny of the Elsinore, The ... novel
Star Rover, The (1920) Star Rover, The ... novel
Sea Wolf (1920) Sea Wolf, The ... novel
The Iron Heel (1919) ... novel
Not Born for Money (1918) ... story
Iron Mitt, The (1916) Iron Mitt, The ... story
Burning Daylight: The Adventures of "Burning Daylight" in Civilization (1914) ... novel
Valley of the Moon, The (1914) Valley of the Moon, The ... novel
Chechako (1914) Chechako, The ... novel
Burning Daylight: The Adventures of "Burning Daylight" in Alaska (1914)…novel
1914 An Odyssey of the North (story)
Martin Eden (1914) Martin Eden ... novel
John Barleycorn (1914) John Barleycorn ... novel
The Sea Wolf (1913) The Sea Wolf, ... novel
1913 Two Men of the Desert (novel)
The Origin of Man (1912) Man's Genesis ... story (uncredited)
The Call of the Wild (1908) The Call of the Wild, ... novel
1908 For Love of Gold (story)
Jacket (2005) The Jacket, ... based on the novel “Wanderer in the Stars, or Straitjacket”

Films based on London's works have been produced repeatedly. There are more than a hundred film adaptations of Jack London's works. The writer himself once played a cameo role as a sailor in the first film adaptation of his novel The Sea Wolf (1913).

For the Love of Gold (1908), 9 min., USA
According to the law (1926), USSR
The Call of the Wild (1935), 95 min., USA
The Sea Wolf (1941), 100 min., USA
White Fang (1946), USSR
Mexican (1955), USSR
The Call of the Wild (1972), 100 min., Great Britain, France, Germany (FRG), Italy, Spain
Emperor of the North (1973), 120 min., USA
White Fang (1973), 102 min., France, Italy, Spain
Time-can't-wait (1975), USSR
Smoke and the Kid (1975), USSR
Martin Eden (1976), USSR
Let him perform... (1982), USSR
Theft (1982), USSR
Sea Wolf (1990), USSR
White Fang (1991), 107 min., USA
Hearts of Three (1992), Russia, Ukraine
Sea Wolf (1993), 90 min., USA
Alaska Kid (TV series), (1993), Russia, Germany, Poland
White Fang 2: Legend of the White Wolf (1994), USA
Iron Will (1994), 109 min., USA
The Call of the Wild (1997), 91 min., Canada
The Iron Heel of the Oligarchy (1997), Russia
The Call of the Wild (2009), 87 min., USA
Sea Wolf (2009), 180 min., Canada, Germany
Time Doesn't Wait (2010), 102 min., Canada

Memory

street in Ust-Kamenogorsk (Kazakhstan);
Jack London Lake (Magadan region)

London Jack (1876 - 1916)

American writer. Born in San Francisco. At birth he was given the name John Cheney, but eight months later, when his mother married, he became John Griffith London. London's youth came at a time of economic depression and unemployment, and the family's financial situation became increasingly precarious.

In his youth, he changed many professions: he worked at a cannery, a power plant, a jute factory, was close to the “oyster pirates” of San Francisco Bay, and in 1893 London set sail for eight months to fish for fur seals. Upon returning, he takes part in literary competition-writes an essay on “Typhoon on the Coast of Japan” and wins the first prize.

In 1894, London took part in the army of the unemployed's march on Washington; wandered around the USA and Canada, was imprisoned for vagrancy, and was arrested for socialist activities.

In 1896 he entered the University of California, but left due to the inability to pay tuition and went to Alaska, captured by the “gold rush,” and was a prospector.

Color and romance of the North, strong characters, the fight against deprivation and difficulties are the main motives in London’s work after his stay in Alaska. In 1902, the novel “Daughter of the Snows” and the book “People of the Abyss” about the life of the poorest quarter of London’s East End were published.

London gains fame, his financial situation stabilizes, he marries Elizabeth Maddern, and has two daughters. Under the strong influence of everything he saw and experienced in Alaska, he created a series of novels and stories published in his collections “Son of the Wolf”, “God of His Fathers”, “Children of Frost”. This cycle also included talented stories about animals “The Call of the Wild” and “White Fang”. In 1904, one of the most famous novels London "The Sea Wolf" about Captain Wolf Larsen. In the same year, London goes on a business trip to Korea for Russian-Japanese war. Returning, he divorces his wife and marries her ex-girlfriend Charmaine Kittredge.

In 1907-1909 London takes a sea voyage on the yacht Snark, built by him according to his own drawings.

Over the next seventeen years, he released two and even three. books a year: the autobiographical novel “Martin Eden” about a sailor who makes his way the hard way to the heights of knowledge and literary fame; an autobiographical treatise on alcoholism, John Barleycorn, a tragic argument in favor of Prohibition, and the novel Valley of the Moon.

On November 22, 1916, London died in Glen Ellen, California, from a fatal dose of morphine, which he took either to control the pain caused by uremia, or deliberately, wanting to commit suicide.

In 1920, the novel “Hearts of Three” was published posthumously.

During the first lesson at school, the teacher asked little boy: “What’s your name?” and he answered: “Jack London.” Despite the fact that in the book he was recorded as John Griffith Cheney, the guy really liked the name Jack and stayed with him for the rest of his life.

In literature, we also know the writer under this pseudonym; many critics tried to find out all his innermost secrets of life, and some nevertheless became known to the world public.

Jack was born under an unlucky star, January 12, 1876. The marriage of the parents of the astrologer Chani and the respectable Flora was illegal, and not entirely happy. My father wandered the seas for many years and wrote astrological memoirs, and Wash left home in her early youth and wandered around various cities and villages, earning a living by giving music lessons.

At 33, she suffered from typhus, became ugly, wore false hair and stayed away from people and society. They were brought together by a fateful day when Chani was on the pier of a small town, cut off from the world.

Flora gave birth to a child to the ill-fated cries of her husband - kill him and don’t show him to me. She could not withstand such torture and shot herself in the temple.

After all these terrible events, the man left the city forever, without recognizing the child as his son.

Later life of Jack London

Later it turned out that Flora’s suicide was fake, invented by Chan to make his departure from the city more truthful, and the single mother, already in the eighth month of the baby’s life, marries John London and lives with him for the rest of her life.

The stepfather loved the child, pampered and honored him; he was a gentle man by nature and very beautiful in appearance. He brought bright colors, warmth and family comfort into Jack's world. He gave the boy two excellent sisters from his first marriage, Elsa and Martha.

Later the family moved to Oakland, a suburb of San Francisco, due to financial situation. Therefore, from the age of 10, the boy was already earning his own living.

In a literary biographical sketch, he would later note: “I owe everything that is in me only to myself!” Work and only work made Jack a strong and strong-willed person.

At first, the child sold newspapers on the streets; when he was 14 years old, Jack became a worker at a canning factory. Read, drew, studied a lot mysterious stories cities and settlements. At the age of 15 he was called an oyster pirate, because he traded in illegal fishing sea fish. He sold the goods to restaurants and made good money.

And soon, in 1893, he went on a long voyage to the shores of Japan as a sailor. Returns to native home in eight months with one aspiration - to go to university. But in order to earn money and continue to do all the menial work, the guy would later write: “I didn’t know a single horse that worked harder than me!”

His mother pushed his son to write when, on long evenings, Jack told her about the traveler’s great wanderings and turned his dreams into reality. So, overnight, Jack London’s first story, “A Typhoon Off the Coast of Japan,” appeared.

First prize, praise from the audience and encouraging reviews from critics who had no idea that the author of the work was a 17-year-old boy without completed secondary education.

In 1896, the young writer was preparing to enter university. He passed the exams with flying colors and began to spend happy student days at the educational institution. Unfortunately, Jack only studied for a semester, and then he did not have enough money to support himself. I had to quit school and work all day as an ironer in the Belmont laundry. He also worked in a jute mill and as a fireman. The author subsequently conveyed this difficult life experience in his autobiographical novel “Martin Eden” (1909).

From captivity severe tests he was torn out by the Klondai gold rush. On July 25, 1897, the young man sails on a ship to Alaska for the coveted gold. He will spend many months on the brink of life and death, numerous dangers will await him at every step. During this time, Young Jack would write many essays and observations that would later bring him great honor. Unfortunately, he never made any money, returned home with empty pockets and learned that his beloved stepfather had died. Now all responsibility for the family fell on his shoulders.

The entire Klondai experience transferred to the pages of the rather well-known and popular “Son of the Wolf” these days; critics admired it and wrote bright and laudatory reviews. But while this was of little use, Jack worked a lot, and after a hard day he sat down exhausted at the table and wrote new essays. Everything was so complicated that one black day he began to think about death. Thank God that at that moment letters began to arrive from reputable literary publications “Monthly” and “Black Cat”, which began to pay the young talent his first fees. Literary success came to his house!

He would later get a job at the Post Office for $65 a day. It was a fortune for his family, which allowed Jack to marry his beloved Mabel.

He never stopped writing, his goal was a thousand words a day, and he never gave up on his desires. The writer's spiritual fathers were Darwin, Spencer, Marx and Nietzsche.

With his first literary successes, confidence and love of life came into his life.

In 1901, he wrote his first novel, “Daughter of the Snows,” then collected materials for another, “People of the Abyss,” and began receiving $150 every month for publishing rights.

Sorrows and disappointments

The mother of his beloved Mabel did not allow her daughter to agree to the marriage proposal of the ardent Jack, so he, according to the calculation of his mind, soon married the bride dead friend Bassey. Yes, in their marriage they had two daughters, but they soon separated scandalously. The homewrecker was an ardent passion for Charminan, 6 years older than Jack. She was never able to give birth to the desired son, and the daughter they shared died a month after birth. But the spiritual affection and cohesion of their relationship always warmed the soul of the wandering writer.

In 1908, a serious illness put Jack London to bed, then he underwent surgery and a year later returned to his ranch in Glen Helen and wrote a new novel, “Time Waits No.” Autobiographical essay about his difficult life.

No matter who Jack writes about, he always puts the characters in situations where they must show their best best qualities, show your essence, courage and fortitude.

The last years of the life of the great writer

In 1916, Jack London fell ill with uremia; constant fatigue, depression, lack of joy and pleasure led the writer to the grave.