The Sea Wof 书评.doc

The Sea Wof by Jack London (1879-1916) China Book Press, Beijing, 2005, 207p, ￥19.05 ISBN 7-5068-1190-1 This book tells vividly a thrilling sea voyage of a gentleman scholar, Humphrey Van Weyden, who is rescued by a seal-hunting schooner after a ferryboat accident in San Francisco Bay. The auther London uses Van Weydens life-and-death struggle and romantic love to explore powerful themes of ambition, courage, and the innate will to survive, reflect praise for the strong will of the working people and expresse sympathy for them. The Sea Wolf also introduces the most memorable character, Wolf Larsen, the schooners brutal captain, who ruthlessly crushes anyone standing in his way. The personal character of the novels antagonist Wolf Larsen is attributed to a real sailor London had known, Captain Alex MacLean. According to London himself, much of the Sea Wolf is imaginary development, but the basis is Alexander McLean. Van Weydens experiences in the novel have some similarity with experiences London had or heard when he sailed on the Sophia Sutherland. To much degree,the sailor Wolf Larsen is a portrayal of the autodidact sailor Jack London himself. Londons intention in writing The Sea-Wolf was an attack on (Nietzsches) super-man philosophy. Nietzsche and Schopenhauer are mentioned in the novel. The novel also contains references to Herbert Spencer, Charles Darwin, Edgar Allen Poe, Shakespeare and John Milton. The story is told in the first person by a soft, gentle protagonist who is an intellectual man, named Humphrey van Weyden. He is forced to become tough and self-reliant by exposure to cruelty and ruthlessness. The story starts with that he is aboard a San Francisco ferry, called Martinez, which collides with another ship in the fog and sinks. He floats in the sea, eventually being picked up by Wolf Larsen. Larsen is the captain of the seal-hunting schooner, the Ghost. Wolf is not Larsens real given name. He is called Wolf because of his nature and evilness, and