Adventure

Adventure is a novel by American writer Jack London, published in 1911 and first issued by Macmillan. Set on a coconut plantation in the Solomon Islands of the South Pacific, it follows white planter David Sheldon, who runs his enterprise alone on a tropical island while facing unbearable heat and malaria, tensions among local laborers, and the wild forces deep in the jungle; rumors of drifting raiders and the island's complex realities push him to the edge of physical and mental exhaustion. Then Joan Lackland, an independent and daring woman accustomed to sailing the South Seas alone, arrives by boat, her conduct and views utterly at odds with the "civilized order" Sheldon takes for granted, and their meeting and time together gradually change his understanding of the world and himself. Jack London had visited the islands of this region, and the novel's geography and details of life are grounded in real experience, while its plot is everywhere informed by reflection and questioning of colonial institutions, racial prejudice, and the mentality of "civilized superiority." Since publication it has stirred controversy for its blunt depictions of slavery and ethnic conflict: whether the protagonists' views are faithfully presented by the author or endorsed by him remains a focus of reader debate. Less frequently mentioned than The Call of the Wild and White Fang, this novel shows Jack London weaving together sea adventure, tropical exoticism, and a test of human nature.