Reviews for Roads of Destiny, Whistling Dick's Christmas Stocking and Other Stories

The average rating for Roads of Destiny, Whistling Dick's Christmas Stocking and Other Stories based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-01-13 00:00:00 Todd Burrow Excellent collection of short stories. I was very impressed with how varied they were in terms of writing style. I didn't know Jack London had so many sides to him. Some of these stories are written in his signature 'naturalism', while others are a bit more philosophical, Gothic and mysterious. Some feature strong willed female protagonists (a fact that somewhat surprised me as I wasn't used to strong females in his works). Some of these stories had a bit of the kind of dark and morbid fascination in them that reminded me of E.A. Poe. Highly recommended! Moon-Face: A Story of Mortal Antipathy 4/5 Superbly written, this is a first person narration of mortal antipathy. The ending was brilliant but on overall, the story was a bit too dark for me. I felt the ending a bit unfinished, but on the other hand that the whole brilliance and novelty of it- the way the story ended. The Leopard Man's Story Speaker Icon 3/5 Another well written and paced story. Altogether, quite dark and violent. Not for the sensitive souls. Local Color 3/5 An interesting read but not very memorable. It evaporated from my mind quickly. Amateur Night 5/5 What makes a good journalist? This story follows a brave young lady who is determined to get into journalism. Now, this is a story that is still relevant. Sometimes you just have to push your way through and be willing to try new things. The Minions of Midas 5/5 Very dramatic and nerve wrecking, it reads like a murder mystery but it is also an interesting commentary on social classes and changes as well as revolutionary movements of past times. There is also a chilling aspect to it, a feeling of guilt being the underlining tone of it. The Shadow and the Flash 5/5 The science fiction element to this story really surprised me. Two men in search of invisibility, two chemists battling it to the finish line. I kept thinking about Asimov while reading this one, wondering whether he had read it. Possibly my favourite story in the collection. The science of it is a bit shaky, but why the story itself? It's absolutely amazing. All Gold Canyon 4/5 This is London as I know him, describing the battle of man against nature. Excellent descriptions in this one, it is easy to imagine everything that takes place. Planchette 5/5 A ghost mystery of sorts, this story contains a lot of ambiguity. I was mighty impressed with it. Where does science end and supernatural begin? Or are the two somehow connected? I liked the commentary about the twenty century minds and their belief in science. In many ways, the subconsciousness mind is still a mystery. This story made me think about The Turn of a Screw, for there are a few ways to read and interpret it. Absolutely delicious reading!

Review # 2 was written on 2011-02-09 00:00:00 Josh Labass I downloaded this from Project Gutenberg, and I intend to read the whole collection, since I am a fan of London. For now I will post the review of "Moon-Face," which I read today for the Tales to Chill Your Blood Classic Horror Lovers group read. It was a bracing way of waking me up from the ennui induced by the extremely cold, bad weather and a bad case of cabin fever. As of yet, the four star rating is for "Moon-face". I will post more to this review when I read the other stories. This was a very effective story about the worst kind of evil to me: human evil. The narrator ruins a man and eventually murders him (and two innocent dogs) out of distaste for the man's features, and his determinedly cheerful mien. Perhaps it is inaccurate to call this an unreliable narrator, but London is so convincing in showing you why this man feels he is completely right in his awful deeds against the man who he calls 'Moon-face.' This is one of those stories that is very short, but manages to seep under your skin. The menace involved in the narrator's actions towards this poor man is very heinous, and unwarranted. I think that it illustrates very salient points about the foolishness of prejudice, and the belief that harming others has a justification. We can always argue that our actions are justified, and perhaps there are many cases where doing 'evil' might be more justifiable than this one. But at the end of the day, one should always question one's actions against another. Are they truly motivated by good intentions? When does the line get drawn in the sand that says it's okay to harm another person? How much better would it have been for this guy to remove himself from contact with this man, or better yet, get over himself? I have been an admirer of Jack London's adventure tales since high school when I read White Fang, and I had no idea that he was so talented with writing a chilling horror tale. I would like to read more of his work in this genre.