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Title: To Build a Fire and Other Stories by Jack London ISBN: 0-553-21335-0 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 April, 1986 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (7 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: "To Build a Fire"
Comment: "To Build a Fire," written by Jack London is a moving story. It takes place in 1896 in the far northwest of Canada. The main character of the story, mentioned only as a man, was hiking along the Yukon River to the Henderson to meet up with the others. He was accompanied by only his dog, Pepper. Despite the warnings from an old timer, of the danger of hiking alone, the man felt he was at no danger.
He was soon to realize the danger the old timer was speaking of. After breaking through the ice he knew his only hope in surviving the -75 degree temperature was to build a fire before he froze. After several attempts of building a fire to restore feeling in his hands and feet, he realized he was unable to do so with his hands already frozen and nonfunctioning. His only other option was to kill his dog and use his body for warmth. Once again this was a failed attempt, with his hands not functioning and frozen. At this time the realization of freezing to death became an actuality. With this in mind he begins to run in the direction he was headed, hoping to get warm and even of reaching camp. He then sits down, knowing there is no hope in either. At this point he knows he is going to freeze to death.
This is where the story ends, leaving the viewer with the realization of how harsh the elements of nature are. I think that Jack London did an excellent job in describing how each thought goes through the man's mind as he is faced with different obstacles. I think Jack London is trying to tell us that life is much harder than most realize and that we often need the help of others. He does this throughout the story by showing that if the man had listened to the advice of the old timer, he could have had the help in building the fire he needed for survival. This story is a great example of how pride can get in the way of every day life, let alone the survival of some, such as the man in the story.
Rating: 4
Summary: Man Against Nature... The Classic Battle
Comment: Jack London knew the power of nature over and against humankind. And in this book we encounter his telling of yet another story of the fight for survival.
In this short story we are swept back to the Arctic in a brutally cold setting. So cold that the moisture from a person's mouth instantly becomes ice when it hits the air. So cold that to stop moving is to risk freezing to death. So cold that to get wet means certain death.... All of these risks are very real and can only be combatted by one element-- Fire!
Our main character struggles to travel to his camp, making his way up the bank of a frozen stream.
As he progresses in his travel the need arises for him to build a fire. In fact the only way he will survive is to build a fire. And that is the crux of this cracklingly dark short story.
Jack London sends us into this frigid environment and won't let us go until the story is resolved. I was honestly shivering as I read this story, because of the stark reality that London creates in lean story telling. London tells us just enough to set the scene and let's your own imagination take over.
This is a quickly paced story of survival. London drives the pace like a runaway freight train. Hang on tight and enjoy the ride!
Rating: 5
Summary: Against Nature
Comment: About 6 months ago our battery First Sgt. decided to have everybody ruck with over 40 pounds on their back through 12 inch snow and negative degree temperatures at 5 in the morning. I lasted through that march because I had been there before. Thanks to this GREAAAAAAT BOOOOOK. If you read London you actually get tougher!!! One of my favorite short stories is entitled THe ODYSSEY. It tells the story of a great young indian who pursues the maiden of his heart across the globe. She was captured by a rich,large and white conqueror. The ending is spectacular because you understand how this new frontierland could never go back to it's way of life. In addition to detailing man at his toughest London has a rich understanding of man's compassion. Also unlike all those writers who live in New York and hit the coctail circuit, London actually lived the stuff he wrote about. He lived on ships, met trappers, drank a lot of whisky and actually froze his behind many a night in Alaska. This is not fiction he is writing about but are stories he lived through or gathered on many a cold night, while a fire burned with his frontier bretheren out in the last North American frontier.
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Title: Jack London : Novels and Stories : Call of the Wild / White Fang / The Sea-Wolf / Klondike and Other Stories (Library of America) by Jack London, Donald Pizer ISBN: 0940450054 Publisher: Library of America Pub. Date: November, 1982 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
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Title: The Sea Wolf by Jack London ISBN: 0553212257 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 April, 1984 List Price(USD): $4.95 |
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Title: Best Short Stories of Jack London by Jack London ISBN: 0449300536 Publisher: Fawcett Books Pub. Date: 12 November, 1986 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: White Fang (Puffin Classics) by Jack London, Annabel Large ISBN: 0140366679 Publisher: Puffin Pub. Date: November, 1994 List Price(USD): $4.99 |
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Title: John Barleycorn by Pete Hamill, Jack London ISBN: 0375757929 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 11 September, 2001 List Price(USD): $8.95 |
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