Before Adam
by Jack London
A book I have states about the D.W. Griffith film Man's Genesis that it "…may have been inspired by the 1907 publication of Jack London's novel, Before Adam". I've found some of the connections made by this source between s.f. literature and film to be dubious at times. But if truth be known, I enjoy reading vintage science fiction as much as digging up silent s.f. films.
Add to this is the fact that Jack London is a heck of a storyteller and a neglected contributor to science fiction. For instance, I'd highly recommend "The Science Fiction Stories of Jack London" (Edited by James Bankes). Some of the short stories in that compilation are very reminiscent of those of H.G. Wells. "A Thousand Deaths", "The Shadow and the Flash", "The Enemy of All the World", "The Unparalleled Invasion" and "The Scarlet Plague" are among my favorites.
So it was a matter of time before I read Before Adam. It turned out to be up to these standards. Did it truly have anything to do with Man's Genesis? Who knows? The story involves early man evolving in the use of tools, weapons, fire and the like. Certainly Before Adam was not the first story to deal with this theme. London himself was accused of plagiarizing Stanley Waterloo's "The Story of Ab: A Tale of the Time of the Caveman".
Before Adam is narrated by a modern man who is highly in touch with his genetic ancestral memories. In his disjointed dreams he relives the primitive life of "Big-Tooth" and his times amongst the Folk, the Tree People and the Fire People. Along the way, we learn of the "Swift One" who becomes Big-Tooth's mate and "Red-Eye", the tribe's bully.
There are similarities to the film. The story of Man's Genesis is also told in the present (by an old man to a boy and girl). The characters Weakhands, Lily White and Brute Force resemble those from London's tale. Another commonality: Man is just discovering weaponry (it's not giving much away to say that this is how Weakhands defeats Mr. Force).
I would rate Before Adam a top-notch couple of hours of entertainment. Jack London goes to the top of my list of gaslight authors of which I would like to read more (genre or not).
On the other hand, while Man's Genesis tries to tell a serious story, somehow it does come across as silly at times (tho' it has its good moments). In fairness, it was made in a period of time when s.f. films were just beginning to transform from being solely vehicles for parody and comedy. The movie did receive enough notoriety to have footage added and re-released as Primitive Man.
written: 3/22/2003