Michael Steeves reviewed The Sea Wolf by Jack London
Review of 'The Sea Wolf' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Ambrose Bierce was right, a great character study ruined by romance.
The core of the novel is In the interplay between hardened sea captain Wolf Larsen and his belief that the strong naturally dominate the weaker, as there is nothing after this life, and spoiled literary critic Humphrey Van Wyden who holds that man has a higher purpose to do good for other men for their immortal souls.
Unfortunately this is never really resolved by the end of the book. London introduces a love interest for the two of them to compete over. She also acts as a bit of a foil to the two of them, in particular pushing Hump to be more of a man standing in his own two legs, however the ending of the story wraps up in the best Hollywood fashion -- Wolf suffers a series of debilitating strikes that lead to his death, while …
Ambrose Bierce was right, a great character study ruined by romance.
The core of the novel is In the interplay between hardened sea captain Wolf Larsen and his belief that the strong naturally dominate the weaker, as there is nothing after this life, and spoiled literary critic Humphrey Van Wyden who holds that man has a higher purpose to do good for other men for their immortal souls.
Unfortunately this is never really resolved by the end of the book. London introduces a love interest for the two of them to compete over. She also acts as a bit of a foil to the two of them, in particular pushing Hump to be more of a man standing in his own two legs, however the ending of the story wraps up in the best Hollywood fashion -- Wolf suffers a series of debilitating strikes that lead to his death, while Hump shows that he can stand on his own two feet as he reaches himself and the damsel in distress.
It's sad, as the central question and if Hump could break free from Wolf without becoming the thing he despises.
