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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In particularly, the second of London's short stories in 'The Road', 'Holding her down' captured me as he recounts the many different methods and techniques he would employ at each train station to avoid being 'ditched' by 'the shacks'. His wit, instinct and cunning is unarguable and the ideological success of living as a hobo is somewhat inspirational. The idea of surviving on 'the road' with as few provisions and possessions as possible has truly kindled and further inspired me in this collection of short stories. I read the whole thing in a day: i just couldn't put London down. I had previously read 'the call of the wild' and 'white fang', not forgetting other short stories such as 'batard' and 'moon face': these stories are strongly canine based however, they inspired my determination to live in the wild and when combined with these stories of living on the road, London is a truly inspirational character to me. I recommend this to anyone contemplating a picaresque existence.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
An account of Jack Londons time as a Hobo, travelling across America, hopping the freight trains being thrown off the freight trains, time spent in prison, almost freezing to death, learning to jump onto a moving wagon without losing your legs, meeting the pros who spend a lifetime doing this, learning the slang the do's and dont's, the comradeship and seeing America as he wanted to see it. Jack London was one of the first to live this life and write about it,a great read.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
10 reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
The American Cult of the Hobo.
27 Dec 1996
Format:Paperback
I rate this book very highly more because of its uniqueness and value to the social historian, than for its relatively poor literary merit. This is London's lighthearted remeniscence of days spent as a train-hopping hobo in the 1890s, a period when the culture of the hobo was still in its genesis. He was only 18 at the time, and was arrested for vagrancy and imprisoned for three months in the Northeast. It was this harsh experience which turned him into a lifelong socialist. The book is resplendant with character sketches of nineteenth-century hobos, hobo culture and language, train travel, and locales. An important American [sub]cultural narrative, and well worth the read
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Impressing
30 Jan 2003
Format:Paperback
I read this book when I was a teenager: it was a very old german copy, printed in gothic caractes: I can tell you it's hard to read an old gothic font if you are not used to it!
Yet I read the whole book very fast and with great pleasure. I still remember it as one of the best I ever read.
It is a wonderful, adventurous and very human tale of a different America. I think it has both literary qualities and social interest.
As for the "missing historical background", as one reader says, I do not think this is a "serious falling": the story gets even more fascinating being a bit "mysterious". If you are interested in learning more about Kelly's Army, go to a library ore use Google: this is not a school book!
And there IS an end: a quite sad one too, that makes you understand how London did not really fit in a "normal" life -- and in fact he ended up killing himself.
Read this book.
Yet I read the whole book very fast and with great pleasure. I still remember it as one of the best I ever read.
It is a wonderful, adventurous and very human tale of a different America. I think it has both literary qualities and social interest.
As for the "missing historical background", as one reader says, I do not think this is a "serious falling": the story gets even more fascinating being a bit "mysterious". If you are interested in learning more about Kelly's Army, go to a library ore use Google: this is not a school book!
And there IS an end: a quite sad one too, that makes you understand how London did not really fit in a "normal" life -- and in fact he ended up killing himself.
Read this book.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
The Road
11 Feb 2001
"The Road", by Jack London is one of his best books that I have read, it is written as though it is a dairy and it is not really written like a story. I bought a copy in Okland California at the Jack London museum. Its is about his travels and experiences during the late 1800s and early 1900s when he was a hobo on the railroad. In my opinion this book is one of Jack London's better lesser know books, I highly recommend it!
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