Publisher's Synopsis
The Sea-Wolf is a 1904 psychological adventure novel by American novelist Jack London about a literary critic, survivor of an ocean collision, who comes under the dominance of Wolf Larsen, the powerful and amoral sea captain who rescues him. It is clearly constrained by the Victorian morality of the time. That said, it is thoroughly engaging, even if one is not familiar with the nautical terminology. Not to give away the plot, it is a necessarily allegorical tale of good and evil, superbly told. London was clearly influenced by Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast" as well as Shakespeare's "The Tempest." Caliban is in full force here, as is Ariel (female version). But it is the clash of humanistic philosophies that is most interesting, aside from the blazing sea adventure, unlikely as it is. London, of course was a seaman for much of his astonishing life, so it is unfathomable that he did not recognize the impossibility of the chain of events. It is ever more to his credit as a story-teller, that the reader never "gives up The Ghost" (pun intended). This is a classic story, one that should be on the reading list of every undergraduate Literature class.
