Jack London (January 12, 1876 - November 22, 1916)

Introduction

Jack London is famous An American novelist, he created about 50 volumes of works in his lifetime, the most famous of which are "The Call of the Wild", "Sea Wolf", "White Teeth", "Martin Eden" and a series of excellent short stories " "League of Old Men", "Odyssey of the North", "Mapushi's House", etc. Jack London was a child laborer since he was a child, drifting on the sea, trekking in the snowfields, and only achieved success after working part-time and studying. His legendary and romantic short stories often describe the lives of indigenous people and white people in the snowy Pacific Islands and Alaska. Most of them can be said to be the adventures of his short life. The realistic style and multi-dimensional themes in his works, as well as the strongly revealed unique personality of the writer, have been deeply attracting readers of different times and experiences for many years. "Love of Life" was once praised by Lenin, and Lenin still held it in his hand until a few days before his death.

A strong desire to read in the "childhood-adolescence" period

Jack London's family was in a difficult situation when he was young, but his interest and ideals in literature were unstoppable. His desire to read is very strong. Therefore, in order to balance life and study, Jack London has had to work and study part-time since he was 10 years old. Whenever possible, he will spend all his time reading. When he was less than 9 years old, Jack London had already read Alhambra, Washington Irving's Spanish travelogue. He also read some dime-a-piece novels he borrowed from hired hands, reading whatever he could get his hands on. Jack London left the ranch and came to Auckland at the age of 11, devouring the first book he could borrow in the free public library. Until the age of 16, he had been working--reading, studying--working.

At this time, Jack London developed a strong desire to go out for adventure, so he got acquainted with some oyster thieves, joined the gang and started robbing oysters, and then joined the hunt for oyster thieves. Thief's water patrol. Later, he boarded a sea ship and went to the coast of Japan and the Bering Sea to catch seals. He passed many islands in the Pacific along the way. These experiences at sea later became the material for his stories about the South China Sea. The ocean life in the stormy sea was difficult, but he did not forget to read. When he sailed back into San Francisco Bay, he had already read Flaubert's "Madame Bovary" and Tolstoy's "Anna Cara". Lenina".

Won the first prize for his first writing

In 1893, when the American economy fell into a depression, Jack London occasionally wrote some exercises while looking for a job. At that time, San Francisco's "The Voice" held an essay competition. With the encouragement of his mother, Jack London tried to write an article "Hurricane on the Sea of ??Japan" and won the first prize with a bonus of 25 yuan. Jack London, who had only received an elementary school education, showed his creative talent for the first time, thanks to his usual diligent study - he carefully read the excellent works of literary masters and developed the habit of taking notes.

The following year, Jack London began to wander throughout the United States, from California to Boston, and then from Canada back to the Pacific Coast. In Canada, he was arrested and jailed for living on the streets, receiving a short sentence. Jack London's wandering life in the eastern United States made him experience the miserable life of selling manual labor.

Alaska's "Northern Story" and the publication of the first novel

In 1896, gold mines were discovered in the Klondike, and Jack London joined the gold mining team that flocked to Alaska. Not only did he fail to find gold sand, but he contracted scurvy. But during the long journey, he heard many stories and legends and took notes. These experiences and insights later became the best material for his creation.

Although he often lived a life of wandering, adventure and hard labor, Jack London's enthusiasm for reading has not diminished at all. He has read a large number of works by European and American writers.

He read carefully, worked hard to learn the writing methods of Kipling and Stevenson, and wrote down his experiences and the wonderful writings he read in his notebook at any time. He has no formal education, but the knowledge and writing skills he has learned through hard work are better than those of liberal arts students who have graduated from higher education institutions.

After Jack London’s father passed away, he started working odd jobs again in order to support his family. While looking for a job, Jack London wrote "Down the River," but the manuscript was returned. While waiting for the manuscript to be rejected, he wrote another serial novel about twenty thousand ghosts, but unexpectedly it was also rejected. Although the manuscript was rejected time and time again, Jack London still found time to write and continued to write new themes. Finally, "Mainland Monthly" published his first novel - "Toast to those on the road", and the manuscript fee was only 5 yuan. Soon, "Black Cat" magazine offered him another 40 yuan to write a novel, and finally there was a turn for the better.

In order to achieve further achievements in creation, Jack London began to read famous works in various fields: in terms of philosophy, he read the works of Kant, Hegel, Spencer, Nietzsche and Marx; In terms of economics, he read "The Original Rich" by Adam Smits; he also continued to read many European and American literary masterpieces.

Establish a foothold in the literary world and win a reputation

Since 1900, Jack London published a series of short stories and began to gain a foothold in the American literary world. After that, he wrote "The People of the Abyss" based on what he saw in the UK, which shocked European and American readers. In the same year, "The Call of the Wild" came out and sold well in the United States and other countries; the next year, he wrote another masterpiece One is "The Waves," followed by "White Teeth." In 1909, his masterpiece "Martin Eden" was published.

After 1913, Jack London’s creations obviously began to decline. Later, due to financial setbacks and family disputes, he suffered a severe mental blow and became addicted to alcohol. In 1916, like the protagonist in his masterpiece "Martin Eden", he committed suicide in a state of extreme spiritual emptiness, pessimism and despair.

Among American writers, Jack London can be said to be my son. In his 16-year creative career, he wrote more than 150 short stories and 19 novels. In addition to other articles, his complete works Up to 49 volumes. Jack London has gained popularity in the American literary world with his creative ability.

Jack London's reading method

The small note becomes a treasure bag

Everyone who has been to the home of the American writer Jack London finds it strange : There are all kinds of small notes posted everywhere on the curtains, clothes hangers, cabinets, bedside, mirrors, and walls. People who first arrived in his room thought they were some special decorations. .

Actually, these little notes are not blank. It is filled with all kinds of materials he collected: beautiful words, vivid metaphors, and all kinds of information. Jack London never wanted to let time slip by in vain. Before going to bed, he silently read the small note posted on the bedside; when he woke up the next morning, he read the small note on the wall while getting dressed; while shaving, he looked at the small note on the mirror; While pacing and resting, he recalled the contents on the small note and searched everywhere for vocabulary and information that inspired his creation. This is not only true at home, but also when going out. When he went out, Jack London put the small note in his pocket. Whenever he had time, he would take it out to read it, think about it, and take note of it. Because he persevered in collecting and accumulating materials, putting them into his mind bit by bit, and then using them flexibly, he wrote brilliant works one after another.

The Death of Jack London

On November 22, 1916, Jack London committed suicide by taking an overdose of morphine at his luxurious ranch. His death provided an important example of the phenomenon of writer's suicide. We could make a long list of writers who committed suicide: Maupassant, Virginia Woolf, Hemingway, Kawabata Yasunari, Akutagawa Ryunosuke, Mishima Yukio, Yesenin, Mayakovsky, Zwei Taeva, Haizi, etc.

When people talk about the phenomenon of writer's suicide, they always try to understand some philosophical implications from the writer's pain, loneliness and despair. This over-explanation may simply poeticize the complex phenomenon of writer's suicide.

Of course, human beings are in a situation of living towards death after all. The finite nature of life prevents human beings from giving up thinking about death, and writers focus more on people’s inner world, the pursuit of self-ideal and the pursuit of death. The pursuit of the meaning of life is more intense, and the real world is more sensitive and demanding. Therefore, the suicide of a writer is indeed a spiritual event to a large extent.

Jack London's belief in individualism and superman philosophy is related to the painful memories of his childhood. It is precisely because he has experienced the pain of poverty, hardship, and wandering that Jack London's inner impulse to break out from unfair and unequal social situations becomes particularly strong. Rather than waiting helplessly and weakly, it is better to fight fate to the death. Jack London's life was a highly stressful one, and he spent his entire life seeking to rise from the bottom and succeed from adversity. He went out to do odd jobs to make a living when he was 11 years old. At the age of 14, he was caught participating in a surprise attack on a private oyster farm and was punished with hard labor. Later, he became a sailor and began his sailing career. At the age of 18, he joined the "Keeling Army", an unemployed organization that "marched" to Washington. After the march was banned, he resumed his wandering life, living between prison and the streets. At the age of 20, he was admitted to the University of California, but dropped out due to poverty, and went to Alaska to pan gold with his brother-in-law. His rough life experience and deep experience of the bottom life provided him with rich material for his writing.

In his short story "Love of Life", the protagonist is a hungry and cold gold digger. He encounters a sick wolf in the wilderness. The gold digger finally wins the battle with his strong will to life. Fight and radiate the light of life. Jack London did not give this gold digger a specific name. "He" was a fragile but tenacious fighter. Jack London's intention in describing this miracle of life was not to create a "strong man", but to focus on expressing the life energy that bursts out of people in desperate situations. At the beginning of the novel, Jack London wrote such a poem: "This is the only wealth in life. It's good to live and experience pain. It's good to be able to do this. Even if you lose the last bet." "I I must achieve my goal. There is hope for everything. I mustered up the courage with a sense of strength and left the noisy hell behind. The fog on the deck floated like a ghost in the night. , the air is very sweet, pure and peaceful." This is a passage written by Jack London in "The Waves". According to Jack London, the purpose of life is to achieve by crushing obstacles and overcoming setbacks.

But what happens once you reach the pinnacle of success?

What Martin Eden found after becoming famous through personal struggle was not joy, but a terrible emptiness, and he ultimately committed suicide. Jack London wrote: "When life becomes painful and boring, death will come to coax you to sleep and never wake up." Jack London revealed this through his works and his own life experience. The tragedy is that when a person is in trouble, he can persevere through his dreams, but once he gets out of trouble and succeeds, the meaning of life becomes a problem. Suffering can make people mentally strong, but success can destroy everything.

In the process of a person working his way up from the bottom, what drives him to keep making progress is the aura of success and the glory of getting ahead. And once you have money, fame and power, the ultimate question comes before you: What is the purpose of a person's life's struggle? What is the meaning of life? A life without expectations can only breed endless despair. As Socrates said: "You must pursue a good life far beyond life." The blankness of dreams and the absence of ideals are fatal. Poetry always grows in the extension of the process of life. Once the other side is lost, the candlelight and lighthouse are lost, the calling and listening are lost, the poetry of life will drift away completely.

After becoming famous, Jack London fell into the quagmire of money. His writing was shoddy and he copied some inferior works in batches.

His life is also full of depravity. He buys cruise ships and builds luxurious villas to kill his inner boredom. When boredom reaches its limit, death becomes the only option. Jack London ended his life at the age of 40 by committing suicide. This ending is not only the end of life, but also a denial of an empty life, and an eternally suspended question about the meaning of life. Jack London betrayed his success by dying. He can endure pain and suffering, but cannot face happiness and comfort.

Nietzsche said: "Creation is the great relief of pain and the comfort of life." After bidding farewell to suffering, Jack London's creativity and writing quality declined rapidly, and he went further and further on the road to losing his spiritual self. Jack London, who adhered to the belief of the strong and the philosophy of Superman throughout his life, became extremely fragile in the face of emptiness and loneliness. He was defeated by the successful career he had created. Jack London seems to be telling people with his death: literature is destined to be a suffering career, and an overly comfortable and luxurious life will be its end.

Quotes about Jack London

1. Everything that expands life and makes the mind sound is good; everything that shrinks life and harms and squeezes it That's bad.

2. The only way to get wisdom is to buy it with youth.

3.Youth are always young, only old age will make you old.

4. Love came first in the world, and then there was the language to express love. In the youthful period when love first came into the world, it learned a set of methods, which it has never forgotten.