“The description of the fight itself which forms the greater portion of the book is skilfully done. But it is only good journalism.”
| + | Sat. R. 100: 252. Ag. 19, ‘05. 160w. |
London, Jack. [The sea wolf.] $1.50. Macmillan.
“A ferryboat sinks in the San Francisco harbor, the passengers perish, but Humphrey Van Weyden, critic, æsthete, typical specimen of hyper-civilization, is picked up by the ‘Ghost,’ and compelled by the captain of that ‘hellship’ to become cook’s scullion. Van Weyden is a creature of overdeveloped brain-power, physically a plaything in the hands of Wolf Larsen, the ship’s captain, and thus arises a struggle between the primitive brutalities of the natural man and this last product of the twentieth century.... The plot has further and rather more conventional ramifications, but it is primarily the fight between the beast in man and the man who has worked out the beast that holds our attention, and, secondarily, the overshadowing personality of Wolf Larsen.”—R. of Rs.
“We do not wish to deny the cleverness of much in ‘The sea-wolf,’ but we must protest against this picture of rampant inhumanity and brutality.”
| + — | Acad. 68: 14. Ja. 7, ‘05. 310w. |
“This romance is one of the strongest and most original stories by an American novelist that has appeared in recent years. The story though powerful and quite out of the ordinary lines of romance, is not a novel that we can heartily recommend to the general reader.” Amy C. Rich.
| + + | Arena. 33: 452. Ap. ‘05. 610w. |
“Thus the story becomes essentially an account of the development of character under extraordinary conditions, and its aspect as a narrative of adventure is obscured by its aspect as a psychological study. It is not a pleasant tale to read—it is too strongly seasoned to be that,—but it acquires a certain fascination in the course of its telling, and fairly grips the attention in its culminating passages.” W. M. Payne.
| + + — | Dial. 38: 16. Ja. 1, ‘05. 440w. (Outline of plot). |