Jack London

St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture, Jan 29, 2002 by J. Allen Barksdale

As London's literary career progressed, he continued his involvement in an assortment of unusual pursuits. During 1905, he stood unsuccessfully as the Socialist candidate in the campaign for mayor of Oakland. Later in the year, he purchased a large tract of land in California's Sonoma Valley to enjoy the life of a country squire. Eventually this project became the primary focus of London's energies, but his attention was diverted by one of his most publicized adventures: an attempt to sail around the world in a ship of his own design. Given the nature of his writing, it is understandable that the public was intrigued by this escapade. The original plan was to depart from San Francisco in the fall of 1906 and spend the next seven years circling the globe. Unfortunately, the voyage was doomed from the start. London's dream ship, The Snark, ended up costing five times the initial estimate, and its slow construction delayed the voyage for six months. The resulting vessel proved to be less than seaworthy and major repairs were required when the party reached Hawaii in May 1907. By the time the ship crawled into the South Seas, London and his crew were demoralized and suffering from an assortment of health problems, some of which would trouble London for the remainder of his life. Forced to confront failure, the voyage was abruptly terminated at the end of 1908. Despite these setbacks, the sailor continued to write. As had been the case with his Yukon experience, he mined the tropic setting of his ill-fated voyage for an assortment of short stories. Many of these are collected in the volumes South Sea Tales (1911) and The House of Pride and Other Tales of Hawaii (1912).

The Sonoma Ranch occupied increasing attention during London's final years. While he was of a distinctly urban origin, he confronted the mysteries of agronomy with the same zeal he had displayed towards education and politics. Accounts of his actual success are contradictory, but he was clearly a pioneer of a scientific approach to farming. Once again, his life was reflected in his writing. In one of his last major novels, The Valley of the Moon (1913), London provides an epic account of two members of Oakland's working poor who flee the horrors of the city to find prosperity and happiness in the California countryside.

By contrast, the thematic sequel to this work, Little Lady of the Big House (1916), provides a darker vision of agrarian life and can be seen as a reflection of the chaos and unhappiness that confronted London toward the end of his life. The later book concerns a California rancher who is professionally successful but plagued by personal anguish. The last three years of London's life involved an assortment of medical and economic difficulties. Despite his reputation for ruggedness, he had always been careless about his physical health, and before he reached the age of 40, his body was failing from a combination of abuse and neglect. At the same time, reckless spending and questionable investments drained his finances and forced him to accelerate his work schedule to meet the demands of his creditors. During 1916, he traveled to Hawaii with an eye towards recuperation, but it was too little too late. On November 22, London succumbed to uremic poisoning.