I'm absolutely sure there is no such a person on Earth who doesn't know Jack London... You might read one of his impressive novels: "The Call of the Wild" or "White Fang". Or you might watch the movies based on his stories. You might just be 'forced' to learn his works while you were studying at school... One way or another you heard of him at least once.
He was a bright star. A man who always tried to do something to change his life for better. He failed and started again and went on. Anyone could envy of his hardworking nature and perseverance. But today not just about him. Today I would like to share with you my impressions and thoughts after reading London's relatively unknown autobiographical novel "John Barleycorn".
It stroke me... London didn't just tell us something, didn't describe some events. The book isn't just his memories. But he made me feel his joy and pain, understand his intentions and think about his inner turmoil...
The main character in the novel is alcohol. Sounds weird, doesn't it? But only think how this substance affects the way of life of some of us. And it is not about the very liquid, but about people's behaviour after contact with it. I can judge about this because I live in the country where the whole nation can't drink in a decent way.. I think there is no family where they wouldn't have suffered from that calamity. Even among my relatives I have (unfortunately already had) a young man who had stopped breathing just because was deadly poisoned by alcohol... Murders, accidents, car crashes, suicides, toxications happen every week under alcohol's affection. People get mad, make their loved ones' life unbearable and lose their own...
London explains what causes them to begin, to make the first gulp and carry on. He explains every small detail: every physical sense and every thought. He tells who was beside him and how they provoked him and why he wasn't be able to say "No". He undergoes all this and shares it with us. He tries to alert the whole society!
"...The way to stop war is to stop it. The way to stop drinking is to stop it... Treat John Barleycorn like tuberculosis germs. Don't let him lie around, licensed and legal, to pounce upon our youth. Not of alcoholics nor for alcoholics do I write, but for our youth, for those who possess no more than the adventure-stings and the genial predespositions, the social man-impulses, which are twisted all awry by our barbarian civilisation which feeds them poison on all the corners. It is the healthy, normal boys, now born or being born, for whom I write..."
Jack London, John Barleycorn, 1913
This book should be the part of all educational programs by literature. My conviction is it could help avoid a lot of serious problems in somebody's life...
P.S. I give my endless gratitude for this book to my friend Lara! Without you I would never know about this novel...
