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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
This book actually contains TWO Jack London stories. First is...
White Fang
It's riveting. London writes with an amazing ability to stay completely in the present. This leaves the reader scrabbling to figure out what will come next, but there is no sneaky planting of clues or leading you along. You just take each bite of the text and rush to gulp down the next so you can make sense of it all. This places us in the same position as the protagonist, White Fang. The key distinction between man and animals as defined by London at one point, is that they don't ask Why. Without the Why, we're constantly trying to make sense of the What from the limited perspective of a wild dog/husky mix. It's pretty intense.
Not sure what I think of all this "clay" talk. Basically it's nature v. nurture, but sometimes it feels as though London is playing fast-and-loose with that one. Despite all the talk about how all beings are shaped by their circumstances, he still makes reference to WF's basic "nature" and that kind of defeats the whole thing, doesn't it? If pressed, I think we'd find that Beauty Smith's nature outweighed the circumstances of his treatment due to being one ugly sonuvagun.
And, candidly, when I think of animal nature, at some point, I think we should have seen WF deal with the "call of the wild" female dog. Not so much. I read the intro and there is mention of that happening toward the end when WF is domesticated, but why wasn't he pulled away before? After all, his mother lured dogs away pretty easily just by frolicking around and being--female. Made even domestic dogs ditch the camp.
The descriptions of the beatings are hard going. They could have been worse, but, man, they are a heavy trip.
I think the general portrayal of the Indians was pretty shabby. The sour doughs were better, despite being more cruel. And finally, we meet our Grey Eyed Love Master and are supposed to be confident that WF's savior has arrived. I find this all a bit saccharine. Wish WF had bonded with Matt, the dog musher, but, oh well, that's not up to me.
I'm still riveted despite the fact that we're getting really Hallmark-y with WF's desperate efforts to stay with Scott. A bit hokey, but still a good read.
It would be fascinating to do a comparison between this and Kipling's Jungle Books. The portrayal of wild wolves is similar, but very different. This lacks the childlike magic of Mowgli's communication with the wolves, even though we theoretically get to know London's wolves better by being literally inside the head of his main character, White Fang.
Call of the Wild
Well, at this point, I'm kind of dogged out. This one is very similar to the other. Only difference is that this dog starts domestic and ends wild while the other was the opposite. Again, we have the crazy love between a dog and man. Meh. Again we have incidents of cruelty that make us cringe. Again we have some beautiful descriptions of the danger, freedom, and allure of living in the Wild. So there's that.
Big difference in theme in this one is the whole "man is god to dog" thing, which I find less interesting than the "we're all malleable like clay" thing. So, even though this one is shorter and more to the point, I think I prefer old White Fang. That being said, if London had cut off the last 50 pages or so of WF, I think it would have been even better.
I can see why this is a book that many boys used to read as almost a rite of passage in American lit. I hope I can get mine to read it, though with competition from Harry Potter, Rick Riordan and Artemis Fowl, he's not much in the mood for American Realism... Ah, we'll see!
White Fang
It's riveting. London writes with an amazing ability to stay completely in the present. This leaves the reader scrabbling to figure out what will come next, but there is no sneaky planting of clues or leading you along. You just take each bite of the text and rush to gulp down the next so you can make sense of it all. This places us in the same position as the protagonist, White Fang. The key distinction between man and animals as defined by London at one point, is that they don't ask Why. Without the Why, we're constantly trying to make sense of the What from the limited perspective of a wild dog/husky mix. It's pretty intense.
Not sure what I think of all this "clay" talk. Basically it's nature v. nurture, but sometimes it feels as though London is playing fast-and-loose with that one. Despite all the talk about how all beings are shaped by their circumstances, he still makes reference to WF's basic "nature" and that kind of defeats the whole thing, doesn't it? If pressed, I think we'd find that Beauty Smith's nature outweighed the circumstances of his treatment due to being one ugly sonuvagun.
And, candidly, when I think of animal nature, at some point, I think we should have seen WF deal with the "call of the wild" female dog. Not so much. I read the intro and there is mention of that happening toward the end when WF is domesticated, but why wasn't he pulled away before? After all, his mother lured dogs away pretty easily just by frolicking around and being--female. Made even domestic dogs ditch the camp.
The descriptions of the beatings are hard going. They could have been worse, but, man, they are a heavy trip.
I think the general portrayal of the Indians was pretty shabby. The sour doughs were better, despite being more cruel. And finally, we meet our Grey Eyed Love Master and are supposed to be confident that WF's savior has arrived. I find this all a bit saccharine. Wish WF had bonded with Matt, the dog musher, but, oh well, that's not up to me.
I'm still riveted despite the fact that we're getting really Hallmark-y with WF's desperate efforts to stay with Scott. A bit hokey, but still a good read.
It would be fascinating to do a comparison between this and Kipling's Jungle Books. The portrayal of wild wolves is similar, but very different. This lacks the childlike magic of Mowgli's communication with the wolves, even though we theoretically get to know London's wolves better by being literally inside the head of his main character, White Fang.
Call of the Wild
Well, at this point, I'm kind of dogged out. This one is very similar to the other. Only difference is that this dog starts domestic and ends wild while the other was the opposite. Again, we have the crazy love between a dog and man. Meh. Again we have incidents of cruelty that make us cringe. Again we have some beautiful descriptions of the danger, freedom, and allure of living in the Wild. So there's that.
Big difference in theme in this one is the whole "man is god to dog" thing, which I find less interesting than the "we're all malleable like clay" thing. So, even though this one is shorter and more to the point, I think I prefer old White Fang. That being said, if London had cut off the last 50 pages or so of WF, I think it would have been even better.
I can see why this is a book that many boys used to read as almost a rite of passage in American lit. I hope I can get mine to read it, though with competition from Harry Potter, Rick Riordan and Artemis Fowl, he's not much in the mood for American Realism... Ah, we'll see!
Jack London has crafted two amazing stories that, while depicted through animals are completely about human nature. Both stories illustrated the cultural shifts that the main characters respectively had to adapt to as well as the brutality of nature and the comforts of man. Jack London, in these two tales, shows us through Buck and White Fang the nature of our own being. We fight our own instincts and wrestle with trust and the brutality of the world we live in. We have to survive and trust others and at our own peril. Love wins out and in both stories, taming the hearts that can act out on instinct from experience. London wrote these during a time of very big ideological ideas being discussed and you will find elements in this book from Nietzsche, Marx, and Darwin. I think that is part of the book's brilliance in showing this anthropomorphically.
After reading this incredibly short book fo over a month I can confirm I am not a classic fiction type of girl because wow this was a struggle. I appreciate the time, effort and knowledge that was poured into these stories but despite being very much the target audience for these books just didn't care particularly about them.
I loved the animals sense of honesty, but some of it was as brutal and primal as any wolf
These two books are the best to have ever been written.
These books were quite well-written, but they were somewhat hard (emotionally) to read at times. Both were about dogs who went through a number of owners, many of which were harsh, uncaring, and even cruel. These included Charles, Hal, and Mercedes in The Call of the Wild, and Beauty Smith in White Fang. However, each dog had at least one owner at one point who shared with them an intensely loving relationship. These were John Thornton in The Call of the Wild and Weedon Scott in White Fang. The Call of the Wild began with Buck (the dog protagonist) being tame and ended with him becoming wild. White Fang began with White Fang (the wolf/dog protagonist) as a wild animal and ended with him having turned his back on the wild completely and having found a loving and beloved master. In The Call of the Wild, Buck is stolen and then works as a sled dog. In White Fang, White Fang works as a sled dog as well at one point, but he is also involved in dog fights.
I would recommend it to teenaged or adult reader who like reading books with an animal protagonist.
I would recommend it to teenaged or adult reader who like reading books with an animal protagonist.
I am very much a cat person. There are a few, specific, dogs that I like, and more than a few that I can't stand. That said, Call of the Wild is the only dog book I've read that I haven't detested, let alone enjoyed. I found that the author's superb writing style and powerful voice let me sympathize with the story itself. While this is nowhere near the most enjoyable book I have ever read, the fact that I enjoyed at all it is testament to its greatness.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Good storytelling but very brutal topics/events. Maybe too much cruelty in White Fang and a large dose of racism.
