The Sea Wolf

By: Jack London

Narrated by: Brian Emerson

He is a man capable of abandoning two sailors in an open boat, yet he is an avid and thoughtful reader of the moral philosophers. He is Wolf Larsen, captain of the seal-hunting Ghost and the unforgettable protagonist of one of the world's great sea novels. Tormented by his own convictions, Larsen is an enigma both fascinating and repellent to his reluctant crewman, Humphrey Van Weyden.

Throughout their long and perilous voyage together, the captain's ruthless belief in the survival of the fittest is pitted against Van Weyden's "civilization", a contest between two opposing views of life that demonstrates Jack London's gift for expressing complex ideas with exciting action. The Sea Wolf is a superb example of the genius of a writer who was, in the words of Maxwell Geismar, "the poet of the savage Darwinian struggle".

Public Domain (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Laborious

Narrator read in a monotone. Painful to listen to. Boring. Not enjoyable. Not much more to say

A Different Tack for London

So different a book for Mr. London! An amazing story of courage and humanity, with a love story to boot!

Classic, Unfortunately Better When I was 12

Jack London wrote many books that I remember from childhood. Too bad that I grew up and the book isn't as great as I remember. The performance didn't elevate the book. Overall the story is still good, but the characters came off as immature and petulant from the narration.

Flat characters, great reading

Great reading, interesting to observe the philosophic and moral themes from London’s perspective, but the characters are awfully flat, perhaps so flat that it adds to their charm?

Wolf Larson is one of Fiction's great characters

I loved it, perhaps more than it deserved, but it resonated with me. At once a book of meditative philosophy, a romantic adventure, and a castaway story tied all together.

I enjoyedd the whole Humphrey Van Weyden v. Wolf Larson set up, even if it was a tad contrived. The struggle between Humphrey and Wolf allows London the room to explore everything from God, to the Nature of Man, to Love. The Humphrey and Maud climax at the end was probably the books weakest piece, but Wolf Larson is one of the great characters in all of Fiction, IMHO.