The Turtles of Tasman

This is one of Jack London's lesser known short story collections. In the opening story, "By the Turtles of Tasman", Frederic Travers, a responsible man of high standing, gets a visit from his dying brother Tom, a globetrotting vagabond. It's a study in contrast between the two men, who each embody opposing aspects of London's character: the successful workaholic vs. the wandering adventurer. The writing is very mature and insightful, indicative of some of the more accomplished work of London's later career. Another noteworthy story is "Told in the Drooling Ward", a first-person narrative as told by a feeble-minded inmate of a mental institution. London does an admirable job with the narrator's voice and treats the character with sensitivity and respect. A story I had never heard of that really blew me away was "Finis". A starving man, stranded along the Yukon River in winter, waits to prey upon an unsuspecting traveler in order to save himself. It is as bleak and visceral as London's famous story "To Build a Fire". Suspenseful and skillfully told, it's an excellent story that deserves to be better known. The other five stories in the collection are "The Eternity of Forms", "The Prodigal Father", "The Hobo and the Fairy", "The First Poet", and "The End of the Story".