Evening star., 1939-12-03
lack London and His Times
BIZ Joan London. Ne,p York

by JOuH LOfLUOH. NcU " n.
Doubleday, Dordn & Co.. Inc.
This comprehensive and enter
tanning book gives clear picture
not only of the troubled mind of
Jack London, from the day of his
birth in 1876 until the day of his
death in 1916, but of the unsettled
state of the Nation during those
years The author, Joan London.
Jacks oldest daughter, apparently
holds back nothing in giving vivid
picture of her father as she knew
him.
Jack London. author, soldier of
fortune and exponent of socialism,
was the son of Flora Wellman, a
pianist and spirtualist. and William
Henry CLANCY. an astrologer. who
deserted his wife little more than a
year after their marriage. While
the future author was still a baby,
Flora married John London. who. in
spite of failure after failure in his
own life. encouraged Jack. The boy
loved him and believed him his
father.
Jack was pessimistic and morose
even as child, hating the stratum
of life in which he was born and for
ever striving to become member
of the middle class. He hated work
with his hands. which it was his
misfortune to have to do in order to
support himself and, oftentimes, his
mother and father. In his early
2Os, he was an ardent Socialist, a
sailor, tramp. a follower of Kelly S
Industrial Army, an oyster pirate, a
member of the coast patrol, a gold
seeker in Alaska. and a widely
travelled young man.
At no time in London's life did
he write for the sheer love OF writ
ing, his daughter relates. He found
writing the only way by which he
could earn a living without manual
labor. He listened intently where
ever he went and stored up in his
mind everything that he heard. His
gift as a story teller was to remem-
ber and to use stories and expert
ences he heard related at various
times.
His language was always very
simple, and his dramatic powers
and imagination relied for express
sion on his voice and mobile features
and his rare, wide gestures" Joan
London says. He did not write
this way. The writing vocabulary
was quite different; larger, richer,
more supple, and conveyed very
efficiently what the lifted eyebrow
and twisting mouth and quick move
ment of the hands had added to his
spoken words"
I'm later years. Joan writes,
Jack was fond of saying 1T was
in the Klondike that 1 found my
self. There nobody talks. Every
body thinks. You get your per-
spective. I got mine" r. A. E.
The Second World War
By Duff Cooper. New York.
Charles Scribner's Sons.
Another Englishman here allows
himself the privilege of saying: Il
told you So" Winston Churchill and
Anthony Eden already have availed
themselves of the opportunity af-
forded by Europe's present situa-
ton to vindicate their rejected
counsels, and now Duff Cooper
makes a third. He is the younger
statesman" who resigned the job
of first lord of the admiralty be-
cause he could not In conscience
subscribe to the appeasement a.
Munich. Since that time he has
been writing articles and making
speeches more or less continually,
predicting the thing which has hap
pened and deploring his counlry's
course at each of those successive
steps which have brought it so in
evitably to the present situation.
His book is those speeches and arti-
cles collected, with explanatory in
Productions and engagements. 1t is
as neat and concise a little diplo-
matte history of these last months
as you can viz to find.