White Fang by Jack LondonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I don't know how many times I have enjoyed this classic, but I'd say this reading makes at least three. The last time what struck me for some reason was White Fang's battle with the bull dog; White Fang's accomplishment as a fighter. This time, being older and having just read Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?, I am struck by how effectively (though I don't know if accurately), London has imagined the wolf's umwelt; it's point of view including deification of humans and a love for the hunt.
London I find so wondrously explores the ragged edge of where nature meets the human realm, and considers the drama arising from a citizen of one realm acting in the other. The scope of this tale is quite ambitious. The story begins before the wolf-dog hybrid White Fand is born, with two men and their sled dog team on a journey to deliver a coffin to a remote town and a large pack of starving wolves over the course of several days makes meal of this 'outllander' team. Then cub White Fang returns to where his wolfdog mother hailed and grows to become a savage, callous, morose, solitary, and deadly fighter, "the enemy of his kind" among mankind. The story ends with White Fang relaxing in the sun with the puppies he has fathered with a sheep-dog Collie making for a moving, tale across three canine generations.
View all my reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment