Before Adam

Reading this book, titled Before Adam, written by Jack London in 1907 and published by Editorial Ediciones 29, is fast-paced and engaging. It is written in a clear and clever way. The author attempts to present us with an overview of those hominids at some point in evolution. It is not identified which ones they are; he implies that they are the ancestors of modern man, but is that really the case? Today we know that many species became extinct, and that there are still four or five related to modern man, such as chimpanzees or gorillas. It is an inaccuracy, although it shows that if, through his dreams, he traces back to his ancestors, there would be no doubt that it is modern man. Be that as it may, it presents a panorama of that world along the path of evolution and that is why I find it clever, mostly because you are experiencing the day-to-day life of someone many, many thousands of years ago. Although the book is presented as “a masterpiece of the terror that prevailed in remotest times, unbridled terror in remotest times,” it didn't seem like that big a deal to me; it doesn't generate terror, but rather a struggle for survival—although this struggle did imply a terror of many dangers, it also included adventures and discoveries. At least that is how the book is presented, and I imagine that, as a fictionalized work, it is in a very light version of what life must have been like back then, which I imagine must have been quite harsh and dangerous, although normal for life at the time.
Thus begins: “Here is the history of our forebears. Their history is our history. Do not forget it. It is certain that there was a day when, abandoning the swinging of the trees, we began to walk erect. But it is equally certain that, in times even more remote, we slithered from the shores of the seas to undertake our first adventure on Earth.”

This idea seems to intrigue him, and he returns to it in the middle of the book when he writes: “For Big-Tooth also had another self, and when he fell asleep, that other self drifted back in its dreams to the winged reptiles and the struggles of the dragons; and beyond, to the elusive life of the first mammals; and still, still farther, to the muddy shores of the primeval ocean. I dare not say more! It is too vague: but also too complex... and horrible. I have only intended to indicate those panoramas and visions, as vast as they are overwhelming, through which I have followed my self in the course of evolution, not only from the ape, advancing toward man, but from the worm in slow march toward the ape....”

In part, it reminds me of a book by Tacitus when he travels through Germania and describes the peoples he encounters. The character in this book also mentions, though does not describe, other peoples or species, the Fire-People or the Tree-People, for example. This leads me to wonder: for the author, were there species more advanced than the one from which modern man is derived? He seems to leave the impression that yes, since those tribes (I call them species, because the author himself differentiates them very well) knew technological advances such as making fire or the use of arrows, which the tribe in question that the book is about lacks—they do not have them—although in the end he leaves open the possibility of interbreeding between unions of those tribes (or species) and the one in the story itself.

So we will get to know the stories of Big-Tooth, Lop-Ear, Snag-Tooth, Swift-One, Red-Eye, Chalalaca, Marrow-Bone, Bald-Face, Song-Bird, Bow-Legs, Wide-Face, Long-Lip, Big-Face, and Beard-Face, who, as can be seen, almost all of them bore first and last names.

It is a good book to spend time enjoying fictionalized literature, and although there are many books that deal with the subject, these come more from the scientific side, whether through anthropology, branches of evolutionary studies, or more currently, some essays on neurosciences.

Originally published on June 17, 2013