I am not a fan of Jack London. Anyone who writes a Marxist novel as embarassing as 'The Iron Heel' or anthropomorphises a stupid dog as in the children's 'classic' 'White Fang' is no literary hero of mine.
I like his quotes about his time in Korea, though. Some details from the site 'Literary Traveller'
Some examples:
Soju is ". . . white, biting stuff distilled from rice, a pint of which would kill a weakling and make a strong man mad and merry.", makgeolli "...a warm, sourish, milky-looking drink, heady only when taken in enormous doses.", and
Kimchi a pickle "... ungodly hot but which one learns to like exceeding well... It is a sort of sauerkraut. When it is spoiled it stinks to heaven."
His novel 'The Star Rover' has a section on Korea starting here: Star Rover chapter 15
The main character gets drunk, eats dog, has Duk crammed into his mouth by kisaeng, chases the local women and gets in trouble after a change in management. All fairly familiar stuff, really.
One quote from a book of reportage about Korea always makes me laugh. London writes "... the first weeks of a white traveler on Korean soil are anything but pleasant. If he be a man of sensitive organization he will spend most of his time under the compelling sway of two alternating desires. The first is to kill Koreans, the second is to commit suicide"
Not my experience, certainly, but then my organization is not as sensitive as it used to be.
