The Cruise of the Snark

Written by Jack London

Narrated by Andre Stojka

Jack London, one of the most popular American writers, produced over 50 books of fiction and non-fiction during his lifetime. In 1906, without studying navigation, he and his wife Charmian with a small crew set out for Hawaii, hoping not to get lost. His misadentures at sea led him through nativeuprisings, The Doldrums and the then unknown sport of surfing. The Listen2Read American Adventure Library is a series of historic first person accounts of extraordinary adventures by Americans or by visitors to America. The entire series an be previewed at Listen2Read.com

• Language: English
• Publisher: Listen2Read
• Release date: Jan 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9780983734451

Jack London

Jack London (1876-1916) was an American novelist and journalist. Born in San Francisco to Florence Wellman, a spiritualist, and William Chaney, an astrologer, London was raised by his mother and her husband, John London, in Oakland. An intelligent boy, Jack went on to study at the University of California, Berkeley before leaving school to join the Klondike Gold Rush. His experiences in the Klondike—hard labor, life in a hostile environment, and bouts of scurvy—both shaped his sociopolitical outlook and served as powerful material for such works as “To Build a Fire” (1902), The Call of the Wild (1903), and White Fang (1906). When he returned to Oakland, London embarked on a career as a professional writer, finding success with novels and short fiction. In 1904, London worked as a war correspondent covering the Russo-Japanese War and was arrested several times by Japanese authorities. Upon returning to California, he joined the famous Bohemian Club, befriending such members as Ambrose Bierce and John Muir. London married Charmian Kittredge in 1905, the same year he purchased the thousand-acre Beauty Ranch in Sonoma County, California. London, who suffered from numerous illnesses throughout his life, died on his ranch at the age of 40. A lifelong advocate for socialism and animal rights, London is recognized as a pioneer of science fiction and an important figure in twentieth century American literature.

Reviews for The Cruise of the Snark

[bagpuss-3 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

London and his wife build a yacht called ‘The Snark’ (after the Lewis Carroll poem) and after some delays they set off with a small crew to sail across the south Pacific, setting out from San Francisco in April 1907. This account charts their voyage and the adventures and mishaps they had along the way.

I read this as part of my ‘decades’ challenge, but I’m afraid for me it really didn’t live up to expectations. I found the bit about the leper colony in Molokai to be very interesting, but I also found large parts of it rather dull and it took me a while to read as it was one of those books that became a chore – I’m certain I would have given up if it wasn’t for the challenge. It did improve towards the end, but overall it wasn’t the best reading experience for me – but if I haven’t put you off it is free to download online in various formats!