Jack London on the Road: The Tramp Diary and Other Hobo Writings
by Jack London
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As Jack joined Kelly's Industrial Army in 1894 starting in Oakland, CA and headed for Washington, DC; he wrote of his travels while on the road. He recorded his experiences and thinking. America was changing dramatically as it headed into the 20th Century. This collection includes the complete Tramp diary, as well as essays, short stories and a poem about his days as a hobo.Tags
Member Reviews
A collection of essays from Jack London’s early years, focusing on tramping and being a hobo, which he had experienced firsthand. The collection is pretty hit and miss, with the worst being the very raw and hard to follow ‘Tramp Diary’ London kept when he tramped across America in 1894 at age 18 to join a march on Washington DC. He had already been working throughout his teens in some very difficult jobs, and after the economic Panic of 1893, working men faced unemployment and difficult times. Despite his confidence in his own abilities and his feeling of rugged individualism, he threw his lot in with the working man, and this experience was truly formative for him. He became a socialist before the label had been branded with a show more negative stigma by the wealthy, corrupt people in power, and his writings that lay out the case for this, in particular ‘What Life Means to Me’ from 1906 are fantastic. His harrowing descriptions of hitching rides on trains, including to the rods beneath the cars in ‘Rods and Gunnels’ from 1902, were also very interesting. Don’t confuse the essay titled ‘The Road’ that’s included here with his 1907 book though. show less
This is an interesting collection of works by Jack London. The Tramp Diary that London kept while traveling with Kelly's Army during the great panic is an interesting account of the times. London shares the trials and tribulations of traveling such a great distance by train, foot, and raft. You can get a feeling of what him and the others went through by this account.
Most of the articles that London pitched as magazine articles are a bit difficult to read and not overly interesting. It doesn't seem that he was yet a master of his craft at the time. I can see why he had trouble selling these.
The real gems in this collection are "The Apostate" and "The Princess". These are definitely worth reading and the Apostate may be one of my show more favorite short stories I've read in the last several years. show less
Most of the articles that London pitched as magazine articles are a bit difficult to read and not overly interesting. It doesn't seem that he was yet a master of his craft at the time. I can see why he had trouble selling these.
The real gems in this collection are "The Apostate" and "The Princess". These are definitely worth reading and the Apostate may be one of my show more favorite short stories I've read in the last several years. show less
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The Works of Jack London
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1,806+ Works 81,947 Members
One of the pioneers of 20th century American literature, Jack London specialized in tales of adventure inspired by his own experiences. London was born in San Francisco in 1876. At 14, he quit school and became an "oyster pirate," robbing oyster beds to sell his booty to the bars and restaurants in Oakland. Later, he turned on his pirate show more associates and joined the local Fish Patrol, resulting in some hair-raising waterfront battles. Other youthful activities included sailing on a seal-hunting ship, traveling the United States as a railroad tramp, a jail term for vagrancy and a hazardous winter in the Klondike during the 1897 gold rush. Those experiences converted him to socialism, as he educated himself through prolific reading and began to write fiction. After a struggling apprenticeship, London hit literary paydirt by combining memories of his adventures with Darwinian and Spencerian evolutionary theory, the Nietzchean concept of the "superman" and a Kipling-influenced narrative style. "The Son of the Wolf"(1900) was his first popular success, followed by 'The Call of the Wild" (1903), "The Sea-Wolf" (1904) and "White Fang" (1906). He also wrote nonfiction, including reportage of the Russo-Japanese War and Mexican revolution, as well as "The Cruise of the Snark" (1911), an account of an eventful South Pacific sea voyage with his wife, Charmian, and a rather motley crew. London's body broke down prematurely from his rugged lifestyle and hard drinking, and he died of uremic poisoning - possibly helped along by a morphine overdose - at his California ranch in 1916. Though his massive output is uneven, his best works - particularly "The Call of the Wild" and "White Fang" - have endured because of their rich subject matter and vigorous prose. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, Literature Studies and Criticism
- DDC/MDS
- 818.5209 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American miscellaneous writings in English 20th Century 1900-1945 Biography
- LCC
- PS3523 .O46 .A6 — Language and Literature American literature American literature Individual authors 1900-1960
- BISAC
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- Reviews
- 2
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- (4.20)
- Languages
- English, Finnish
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- Paper
- ISBNs
- 4
