A review by kris_mccracken
The Sea-Wolf by Jack London

2.0

Yeah. Like a lot of London's works, this has not aged well. Early on I enjoyed the creation of the characters, and was involved in what the author was trying to achieve, but eventually - quite quickly really - I tired of the heavy-handedness and wooden atmosphere.

Perhaps I've been spoiled by more modern explorations of this theme - I'm thinking of something like The North Water by Ian McGuire here - in which the fuller sense of personality (i.e. sexuality, mental fragility, socialisation etc) brings a greater sophistication to what is presented here as a rather deterministic take on human nature.

Similarly, while I am certain that the presentation of Maud Brewster was quite revolutionary at the time, it seems utterly twee and condescending here. Best avoided.