Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • South Sea Tales

  • By: Jack London
  • Narrated by: Lloyd James
  • Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
  • 3.9 out of 5 stars (26 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

South Sea Tales

By: Jack London
Narrated by: Lloyd James
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £15.99

Buy Now for £15.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

Most readers are familiar with Jack London's stories of the frozen northland, such as White Fang and To Light a Fire, but many critics feel he should be equally acknowledged for his fascinating stories of the South Pacific. Here is another remote corner of the world, a background for his magnificently colorful and entertaining Tales of the South Pacific. London is able to pierce the stereotype of his era concerning the "Noble Savage" and present the people who lived on these exotic islands as individuals who had to deal with the white man's intrusions, the racism, foreign diseases, biased legal systems, and brutality. These stories are based on the themes Jack London considered most important: race, culture, justice, and heroism.
©1909
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Sea Wolf cover art
Jack London: The Short Stories cover art
The Slave Dancer cover art
Nobody's Slave cover art
Captain Nemo cover art
Boone cover art
The Green Odyssey cover art
The Phantom Rickshaw cover art
Blue Lagoon cover art
Captains Courageous (Dramatised) cover art
Bartleby the Scrivener and Other Stories cover art
Tipperary cover art
When the Lion Feeds cover art
A Falcon Flies cover art
Sailing Alone Around the World cover art
Mr Midshipman Hornblower cover art

What listeners say about South Sea Tales

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10
  • 4 Stars
    8
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    13
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent writing and reading spoilt by poor editing.

Poor editing. There was not a single seconds break between the stories. Often realise I was already listening to the next stories. Lazy editing quite often in audio books.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Has he sent whale teeth?

Missionaries, cannibals and colonialism feature in this collection of short stories where cultures clash to brutal effect. The 'N' word is used repeatedly in The Inevitable White Man - so make sure you have your headphones on. The language is historically appropriate and is an important testimony of a vile attitude but this didn't make it any easier to listen to and I had to take a break because I felt so angry. Likewise, the final story captures the unrelenting misery inflicted by human upon human during this period of history.

The audio is abrupt with each story stopping without a pause. Given the subject matter, a small interlude or musical break would help give the reader time to reflect.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

True adventure stories

Loved it, enjoyed every minute off it! Specially the story off two friends and changing names.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Varied, but some good stories

Some of these stories I could take or leave, but a few were actually quite good. 'The Heathen' and 'The Seed of McCoy' in particular.

The editing is badly done, there is no gap at all between stories. It has the last sentence of one, the title of the next, then right into it with no more of a gap than between two sentences.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent collection & narration

I am reading everything from Jack London right now, and I love this collection and narration. It draws you in throughout, very much like the spell binding last story of the collection. The editing between the stories is rough, too tight and clipped, seemingly letting the end of each story run into the next, like a wave crashing on top of another. Hopefully this will be fixed. But even with this editing faux pas it’s a beautiful audio book and I listen to it like the ‘page turner’ it is; in one go.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Most will find the language offensive

Despite the fact this book is set in a different era, most will struggle to accept the racist language. Probably best avoided.
The book lacks any plot and is a collection of random seafaring diary type ramblings. Not the best!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!