The Mutiny of the Elsinore
Jack London
Read by Tom Crawford
This is the story of a voyage of a sailing ship from Baltimore to Seattle, east-to-west around Cape Horn in the winter. It is set in 1913 and the glory days of “wooden ships and iron men” are long over. The Elsinore is a four-masted iron sailing vessel carrying a cargo of 5000 tons of coal. She has a “bughouse” crew of misfits and incompetents.
This book was published in 1915 and some actions of some of the characters seem odd to us today. There is romance, but it is strangely platonic. Two important characters disappear with no real explanation. The disparity between the officers on the one hand and the fo’c’sle on the other is striking (literally). Some people will be offended by the bigotry.
The “men against the sea” descriptions -and the weather descriptions- are among Jack London’s finest. In my opinion he is right up there with Joseph Conrad and Joshua Slocum in this effort. We also have a mutiny, complete with shootings and deliberate starvation. My personal favorite is chapter 38.
Note: The chapter titles were assigned by the reader. London gave only numbers. (Introduction by Tom Crawford) (0 hr 29 min)
Chapters
01: I Don't Play Chopsticks | 16:14 | Read by Tom Crawford |
02: Mister Pike | 16:46 | Read by Tom Crawford |
03: The Greek Overboard | 11:01 | Read by Tom Crawford |
04: About Captain West | 8:03 | Read by Tom Crawford |
05: A Bughouse Crew | 16:46 | Read by Tom Crawford |
06: My Accomodations | 10:00 | Read by Tom Crawford |
07: We Never Discuss Sailors | 11:12 | Read by Tom Crawford |
08: Making Sail | 14:24 | Read by Tom Crawford |
09: Either a Calm or Northeast Gale | 18:40 | Read by Tom Crawford |
10: Mister Mellaire | 16:21 | Read by Tom Crawford |
11: Captain West is No Conversationalist | 10:52 | Read by Tom Crawford |
12: Captain West is a Samurai | 9:51 | Read by Tom Crawford |
13: Bedbugs! | 19:27 | Read by Tom Crawford |
14: Mulligan Jacobs | 17:07 | Read by Tom Crawford |
15: O'Sulllivan Used a Razor | 16:25 | Read by Tom Crawford |
16: Possum Has a Fit | 12:10 | Read by Tom Crawford |
17: The Gangsters in the Forecastle | 16:04 | Read by Tom Crawford |
18: The Greek Overboard Again | 12:21 | Read by Tom Crawford |
19: The Daughters of Herodias | 10:29 | Read by Tom Crawford |
20: Miss West is Never Idle | 11:39 | Read by Tom Crawford |
21: Charles Davis Murdered O'Sullivan | 9:32 | Read by Tom Crawford |
22: Captain West Reprimands Mister Mellaire | 8:33 | Read by Tom Crawford |
23: Two Sharks | 9:44 | Read by Tom Crawford |
24: Sidney Maltham | 10:09 | Read by Tom Crawford |
25: Rats | 6:46 | Read by Tom Crawford |
26: Slaves and Masters | 5:47 | Read by Tom Crawford |
27: "Oh Dear, oh dear" | 8:35 | Read by Tom Crawford |
28: Off the River Plate | 21:43 | Read by Tom Crawford |
29: A Sunset and Elsinore on Her Side | 13:45 | Read by Tom Crawford |
30: Number Three Hatch | 23:43 | Read by Tom Crawford |
31: She is Margaret | 16:14 | Read by Tom Crawford |
32: Old Stiff | 9:05 | Read by Tom Crawford |
33: Twenty-eight Point Six Four | 18:44 | Read by Tom Crawford |
34: Aloft in a Gale | 11:25 | Read by Tom Crawford |
35: A Cask and Three Devils | 31:41 | Read by Tom Crawford |
36: ...And no Westing | 11:33 | Read by Tom Crawford |
37: I have Found the Love of Woman | 13:38 | Read by Tom Crawford |
38: Did the Samurai Make a Mistake? | 28:31 | Read by Tom Crawford |
39: And God Help the Man That Don't Jump | 12:09 | Read by Tom Crawford |
40: We Make Westing | 17:35 | Read by Tom Crawford |
41: We Are Around the Horn | 6:06 | Read by Tom Crawford |
42: The Mutiny of the Elsinore | 32:45 | Read by Tom Crawford |
43: Twenty-seven of Them Against Eleven of Us | 21:27 | Read by Tom Crawford |
44: Where Do They Get Their Food? | 16:47 | Read by Tom Crawford |
45: Our First Truce | 14:46 | Read by Tom Crawford |
46: A Navigator Aft | 13:00 | Read by Tom Crawford |
47: Two Assaults and an Ambush | 15:15 | Read by Tom Crawford |
48: Rough-on-Rats | 9:51 | Read by Tom Crawford |
49: Sulfuric Acid and Sulfur Fumes | 23:50 | Read by Tom Crawford |
50: The Final Chapter | 31:08 | Read by Tom Crawford |
Reviews
Volunteer Readers Could Learn From Tom
Donald R Miller
Tom Crawford has one of the most important things going for him that any volunteer might want--and that is the wisdom to know which stories his voice is best suited for reading. His voice is perfect for reading stories about rugged manly men who wouldn't easily fit into a business suit. Thanks Tom!
wrenn jenny
Not my fav Jack London- a bit slower of a book but still interesting. While I do appreciate the volunteer readers, this gentleman's saliva smacking throughout the book was very distracting. Perhaps taking a drink of water prior to reading may help?
adventure
Oliver
great reading, love and character
love the reader's chapter headings
Darlene Boda
I'd give it five stars if London had edited out the narrator's intrusive thoughts about the captain's daughter. Hearing over and over, "she is a woman, and she is desirable" was somehow worse than his occasional racial reasoning toward the end that the blonder the hair and the lighter the eyes obviously equaled the right of rulership. White Fang's mother to the rescue, the narrator obviously needs to get eaten....
A Ripping yarn of the sea, replete with the casual racism.
BeWell Garforth
Good balanced reading, a few mispronuciations of French names, but overall good pacing and easy to listen to. A knowledgeable account of sailing, with good characterisation and convincing action. How far the narrator's views of natural hierarchy and racial theory are those of the author remain unclear. Though the author does recount the dreadful conditions and excessive brutality that led to the mutiny.
Great story,well read.
Paul Busman
The man definitely knew how to write a story! I'm a big fan of sea stories and this one is terrific. There's a lot of nautical terminology which some readers might want to look up..
Rick Matheson
thank you very much fine folks. Rick mathison Virginia Minnesota, North country of minors now and White pine loggers of past it is a tough land.
it was a great book I loved it. I liked the reader it seemed very real like I w…
A LibriVox Listener