Review: White Fang by Jack London

My first introduction to the Jack London classic, ‘White Fang’, was watching the film in my basement living room as a wee young lad. I think it was right around the time movies were coming out on VHS, because it’s possible I converted my previous copy from the old Betamax machine (this transfer occurred at a one to one watching/recording ratio by the way). As children, my brother and I loved the movie – adventure, animals, nature and the superb acting of Ethan Hawke.


As I continue my reminiscing mode I’ve been in for the past couple of months, I’m finding some solace in these young adult classics. The writing of Jack London improves slightly in the telling of this tale in comparison to ‘The Call of the Wild’, but the story has a more commercial feel to it which tends me to feel more strongly about the previous work. Also, when you compare this novel to some of the classics I have been reading, it’s obvious to me that the writing of Jack London is several levels below some of the great writers I have been used to. That said, you have to look at this work as an adventure book with some solid morality lessons for children and some glimmer of deeper meaning for adults.

**SPOILERS BEGIN HERE**

The book, similar to ‘The Call of the Wild’, is through the eyes of wolves. In this case, the book starts out through the eyes of a half wolf-half dog wild animal that takes the lives of a sledding team in the north again during the Gold Rush in the Yukon beginning in the summer of 1898. The wolves are so hungry, that they also take the lives of a human. Eventually, the ‘She-wolf’ mates with another (One Eye) and has a pup named White Fang… the only survivor from a litter of four.

White Fang begins to learn about the world around him and is eventually caught by Indians (along with his mother Kiche), whom he lives with for a number of years and acquires his namesake. It’s here that the author refers to men as Gods and the introduction to this topic is thus, “o his mind this was power unusual, power inconceivable and beyond the natural, power that was godlike.” Then Jack London goes as far as stating that dogs feel as though men are Gods when he states “in fashion distantly resembling the way men look upon the gods they create, so looked White Fang upon the man-animals before him. They were superior creatures, of a verity, gods.” The concept of men being Gods in relation to dogs is definitely a product of the time, but I also think it’s a white American man’s mentality of the time. Of course, I don’t have any other customs to compare it to other than the Inuit, and it has always seemed to me that dogs and men are on a more equal playing field. Either way, the way it’s presented makes me feel a little uneasy because it’s contrary to my own beliefs: “and so it came that White Fang learned that the right to punish was something the gods reserved for themselves and denied to the lesser creatures under them.”

Now, back to the plot. The Indian captor named Grey Beaver, eventually follows the white man into town in an effort to sell his wares. This, of course, is where the American self indulgence of the time comes through: “It was at Fort Yukon that White Fang saw his first white men. As compared with the Indians he had known, they were to him another race of beings, a race of superior gods. “ Doesn’t that make you feel a little sick? I like to believe that we’ve come great lengths in humanity since those days, but I’m not completely sure (in regards to the ‘Indians’ or otherwise). Back to the plot, again. Grey Beaver becomes very wealthy, making a 1000% profit and succumbs to alcoholism (another present by the white man). In poverty due to his addiction, he eventually sells White Fang for booze to Beauty Smith.

It is here that White Fang is abused and begins his dog fighting career… which is ‘successful’ up until he meets his first bull-dog (really, a pit-bull) and is saved from the clutches of death by a connected member in the community and his servant, Scott and Matt, the former of which becomes White Fang’s new master. They debate shooting him after he kills one of their dogs and attacks both men, but eventually Scott trains White Fang by showing him love – something White Fang has never seen. Then White Fang falls in love himself (I feel this is kind of hokey, but perhaps it’s just me). When Scott leaves White Fang doesn’t eat and approaches death, and then Scott reluctantly takes him to California where the dog eventually fits in, saves the family from a wrongly accused murderer escaped from prison and knocks up another dog and becomes a father. All very Disney without the Old Yeller heartache.

**END OF SPOILERS**

White Fang is portrayed as a sympathetic character. Because of his half dog-wolf breeding, he doesn’t fit in with other dogs and is constantly fighting with them. He finds man and obeys, but then he constantly fights against torture and torment until he finally finds someone who loves him. He has the ability to adapt very well to his changing surroundings, but his wolf instincts (as well as his past history) never allow him to fully trust any man other than Scott.

I suppose how you interpret the outcome of this book has a lot to do with the reader’s mindset. An optimist would say that White Fang finally finds love despite all the atrocities. The pessimist may say that with all the evil that man is capable of, perhaps it only makes sense to look out for yourself and confide in a small sample of people that you can trust.

The book is a nice easy read full of adventure, and probably a good one to read to children just entering elementary school or a nice read they can start out with on their own in about middle school. For me, I tried to focus more on the story and it was a relaxing book without too much literary intensity.

Review: The Analects of Confucius

The Analects of Confucius is a collection of quotations from Confucius and his disciples, from the course of Confucius' life in ancient China from 551BC and 479BC.  The name 'Confucius' is actually a Latin translation from K'ung Ch'iu, later named K'ung Fu-tzu (K'ung the Master).

Confucious was a book-keeper in early life and later a philosopher and politician.  As a politician of the State of Lu, he served as a Justice Minister under the Duke of Lu.  The neighbouring state of Qi thought Lu was becoming too powerful (some think this is evidence that Confucius' principles were working), so they sent 100 good horses and 80 beautiful dancing girls to the Duke of Lu.  Here is where it gets hazy for me.  After reading the introduction of my translation (translator: Lionel Giles), my impression was that the dancing girls caused Confucius to lose himself to indiscretion, though Wikipedia states that this was only prevalent with the Duke of Lu.  One account states that Confucius left from shame and another states he left because of the indiscretions of the Duke.  Perhaps I missed something here, so will be interesting to see what the book club thinks.

Confucius beliefs were deeply rooted in the social good (concept of virtue), referred to as 'jen'.  He tried to live his life by a code and impart this code on all who wished to learn, and during his wandering years after leaving the government in Lu, are where most of the sayings from this book arise from. 

The thing that interests me about ancient Chinese texts (the only other I have read is 'The Art of War' by Sun Tzu), is that the language is very structured and almost comes across as mathematical.  Despite this, it generally has a fluidity to it, though I must assume that much of this is lost in translation.  The translator I read, Lionel Giles, seemed very upset with a prior translation by James Legge, a devout Christian whom he believed committed a disservice to Confucius by translating based on his own Christian bias.  The notes in my translation are very negative towards Legge's translation - often freely criticizing the work for giving Westerners an incorrect opinion of Confucius and doing irreparable harm to his legacy.

When reading this work, I find it's more important to try to absorb as much of the quotes as possible and string them together like a popcorn garland on a Christmas tree.  You start to understand themes which translate into central views of Confucius.  Off the top of my head, he was very focused in leading a virtuous life - with the only way of doing so by self improvement and intrinsic focus.  By strengthening personal virtues, you would be able to help your fellow man if you lead a lifestyle congruent to your beliefs.  Many of the passages in this work talk about other figures in ancient Chinese society and discuss their characteristics and the way they handle things.  If Confucius did not know a figure well, he would state that he could not tell if someone was virtuous or not based on a select sample of events.  However, those that he loved and those that he hated, were angelicized or demonized according to Confucius' thoughts towards them (based on their personal actions).  Since there are many references, it becomes difficult to follow them with any sense of continuity - though strong translations have explanations in the footnotes in regards to the person being alluded to and the history of the situation being mentioned.

Confucius could also be very sarcastic.  I remember one person telling him he would never be famous, and he responded by saying that he would take up 'charioteering' to elicit fame.  It was enjoyable to me to see this side of Confucius, and I hope the other translations out there were able to pronounce this quality and do it justice.

Confucius hated ceremony for ceremony's sake.  He thought it was wasteful to perform certain funeral rights for the dead, because resources would be better utilized on the living.  He seemed content to either adhere or go against the norms, based on his own personal viewpoints on what he considered logical.  He was a strong believer in a three year mourning period for filial relations, probably stemming from his own mourning period following the death of his mother at age 23. 

The other thing that struck me as a key message was the importance, while acknowledging the difficulty, of practicing what you preach.  This theme is intertwined with the concept of virtue and self-improvement and was central to the teachings of Confucius.

The Analects of Confucius is one of those works that should be read slowly, so passages can be digested properly.  I found that if I tried to read more than 20 pages during a sit down, I would do the book a disservice.  It was tough to get through the work quickly, and I found myself re-reading many passages to dissect their meaning.  In some cases, even the translator was unsure of what Confucius was saying and in a few cases, some quotations were thought not to be attributed to either Confucius or his disciples. 

All in all, I was glad to read this book - though in truth, I have been very afraid of this review.  The book's sayings were loosely tied together in chapters, but truth be told, had very little flow.  This is indicative in my notes above as well, I think... but such is the reality given the way these quotations were probably recorded throughout history.  I'm glad they made it in some form, and am thankful for what I felt was a solid translation by Giles.

"Thought is the foundation of intelligence."

Review: The Call of the Wild by Jack London

I have been on a kick recently that involves reading some works that I should have probably read in my youth. Since I’ve been delving a lot into Ancient Greece and China, this kick has provided me with some lighter reading which I can still count towards my classics list.

Despite being Canadian, I don’t generally read a lot of Canadian fiction. There just doesn’t seem to be many classics in this area with the exception of some more modern works, like ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ by Atwood. That said, I have always wanted to read ‘The Call of the Wild’ by Jack London. I knew very little about the work prior to reading the short novel; I was under the assumption that it was about a wolf and set in the middle of the Gold Rush (the latter being the only true assumption).

In 1897, Jack London at the age of 21 joined the Klondike Gold Rush. I was struck by how cheerful everything seemed in ‘The Call of the Wild’, but later learned that London developed scurvy, lost his front four teeth and had constant pain in his hips and legs. I suppose this serves as a reminder that mom is always right about eating green vegetables.

Anyhow, this work was the third published novel by Jack London in 1903, and one of his best known in addition to ‘White Fang’, which was written three years later. ‘The Call of the Wild’ is split into seven chapters and chronicles the life of a dog named ‘Buck’ beginning in the Yukon, Canada in the fall of 1897.

**SPOILERS AFTER THIS PART**
Buck is a charismatic mutt, part Saint Bernard and part Scottish Sheppard, who starts his life off as the pet of a wealthy lawyer before being stolen and transported via ship to the Gold Rush where he is sold to Perrault, a courier for the postal service of the Canadian government. He sees something in Buck that he finds special and teaches him how to be part of a sled team (a dog musher).

Buck does not get along with the lead dog, Spitz, and the two constantly battle until one day Buck kills him. According to the author, this is a learned response from an episode seen aboard the ‘Narwal’, the ship which took Buck to the Gold Rush [see some of my criticism of London’s writing later on in the review]. Buck becomes the lead dog after the death of Spitz, and the team of dogs works more efficiently than ever before and the dogs are driven to exhaustion by the constant trips given to Perrault by the postal service. After the dogs are used up, they’re sold as part of a secondary market – to a man, his wife and her brother – who know nothing about dog sledding.

The dogs continue to suffer and some die in their ‘care’ due to pulling too much weight, lack of rest, lack of food, etc. When Buck refuses to go any more he is beaten until nearly death, and then saved by a man named John Thornton, who is infuriated with the owners. Despite John’s warnings, the group continues to traverse the thinning lake ice in the spring, and the rest of the surviving dogs and the three owners fall through and perish.

Buck finally learns what it’s like to love a human being after having endured so much abuse. There is a series of episodes after Buck heals where he saves John in a bar fight and from drowning in river rapids. Buck also makes John a great deal of money on a wager when he is able to pull a 1000lb sleigh by himself.

Then we get into the reason why this story is called ‘The Call of the Wild’. John and a few friends set-up camp in an unexplored area of Alaska (or the Yukon?), and Buck gets antsy about sitting in one place while the group continues to mine gold in the camp. He runs away periodically to the calling of the wilderness, and hunts his own food and has a great time – like a child in a sandbox. He comes back to camp after a long excursion with hunting a large bull moose, to find a catastrophe at camp before eventually making his way back to the wilderness to join a pack of wolves.

**END OF SPOILERS**

One problem I have with this work (alluded to above) is that Buck is given many human qualities, as if the author really understands what the dog is thinking and feeling at all times. I suppose this could be interpreted as realistic, but I found many instances where I just felt like it was too much of a stretch. I have no doubt that Jack London knew dogs like this much better than I do, but I had the sense that he would make presumptions that were probably not true to further the story. It reminded me a lot of Mark Haddon’s take on an autistic child in ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’.

The writing style was very fluid and simple, though I did find some parts laughable in their simplicity and general ignorance. For instance, in chapter seven, London calls man ‘the noblest game of all.’ First of all, I don’t know which definition of nobility that London was thinking of, but my guess is that it was “an exalted moral or mental character” and I found this laughable since humans as a general species were so horribly immoral in their treatment towards Buck. Also, the whole concept of a Gold Rush is based on sheer greed and not a morality quest or love of nature.

I enjoyed the book and probably would as a child too. Themes presented included morality, instinct, adventure, necessity, love, death, preparedness, greed and teamwork. If you’re wondering as a parent whether to allow your child to read something like this, like all things, it’s a matter of personal choice. The one caution is that there is a fair amount of violence and death.

Since I enjoyed this work, I think I’ll try another by Jack London – most likely ‘White Fang’. Have you read either one? What did you think?

QUOTES:
“With the aurora borealis flaming coldly overhead, or the stars leaping in the frost dance, and the land numb and frozen under its pall of snow, this song of the huskies might have been the defiance of life, only it was pitched in minor key, with long-drawn wailings and half-sobs, and was more the pleading of life, the articulate travail of existence.’ (CH 3)

“John Thornton was dead. The last tie was broken. Man and the claims of man no longer bound him.” (CH 7)

Review: The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

I have recently discovered that I really enjoy old science fiction classics. I’m a little upset that my parents didn’t see my fascination with The Hardy Boys mysteries (I should read a few to see how horribly they translate as an adult) and Tolkien fantasy in grade school and turned me on to some science fiction from the likes of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. I’m sure I’ve stated this in Verne posts prior to this review on “The Time Machine”, but there is something for everyone in these types of novels.


As a child, the adventure present in these works is very appealing and the book provides a completely different perspective on life and our place in the universe which was mind expanding during youth. However, due to a primitive understanding of the universe and how humans function within it, much of the subtleties of this work in particular would have gone over my head.

“The Time Machine” is a short novel by H.G. Wells that details the first created time machine and a professor’s experiment with time travel. As I understand it, the term “time machine” was originally introduced to society through this work. Can you imagine how intriguing it would have been to hear the term for the first time prior to reading the book and prior to humans being aware of what existed on planets like the moon? But I digress.

**SMALL DEGREE OF SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT**

This story was published in serial and reads like it. Each chapter has a very specific point, and as I read I wrote a one line synopsis for each one. The first chapter relates the professor’s initial trial with a model time machine and in the second chapter, the time traveler comes back to join his educated friends for dinner after a long time spent in the future – an event that comprises the whole of a novel through the re-telling of the story.

The professor travels forward in time to the year 802,701AD, where he encounters a very different earth. All the people are 4 feet tall, elegantly dressed and seem to spend all their time in leisure. They are slightly dimwitted, produce no goods and eat only fruit. Conversely, there is a subterranean race which only comes to the surface at night, eats meat and is very resourceful.

The theory postulated by the professor is that at some time, the working class was sent underground because the rich ended up owning all the surface land. Consequently, the surface people consumed and the subterranean produced and this happened for generations. Thus, the surface people devolved (physically and mentally) and Wells’ states the reasons for this quite eloquently: “There is no intelligence where there is no change and no need of change.” Ch10

The evolution of the subterranean people was like most organisms that live in caves. They lose their pigmentation and their eyes become very sensitive to light (I digress here, but after an even longer period most eyes are lost through evolution because they become superfluous). Due to the fact that they continued to produce and think, they became very intelligent and intuitive. Here’s what Wells states about the reasoning behind the evolution of the subterranean world:

“…industry had gradually lost its birthright in the sky. I mean that it had gone deeper and deeper into larger and ever larger underground factories, spending a still-increasing amount of its time therein, till, in the end—! Even now, does not an East-end worker live in such artificial conditions as practically to be cut off from the natural surface of the earth?” Ch5

I also love the fact that Wells’ blasts the functioning of modern society here, still applicable today in most areas of the globe. I have spent probably ¾ of my life indoors... and during this time in the fall/winter season, I no longer see the sun as I drive to and from work in the dark.

The concept of skills is also still practical today. I feel myself as if I have no tangible skills because I am not really producing any products, while people that earn far less than me are working in factories creating items for consumption or use. I have lost a large portion of natural intelligence because I do not need to do things like fix my car, because someone else will do it for me. Of course, I am still doing something... so I am not likely to lose all intelligence altogether. Think of for how many people are striving for a concept of spending their time NOT working but instead in leisure. That’s pretty much the definition of retirement for many people. In addition, this produces an interesting commentary about the trend of society at the time and foreshadows the growing divide between the rich and the poor.

My favourite line comes at the very end of the work, in the epilogue where Wells’ makes his most important and optimistic opinion of mankind when he states:

“And I have by me, for my comfort, two strange white flowers—shriveled now, and brown and flat and brittle—to witness that even when mind and strength had gone, gratitude and a mutual tenderness still lived on in the heart of man.” EPILOGUE

I will not delve into the meaning behind this, because it would ‘take the piss out of the whole thing’ – but even with the horror existent in such a society, there was still present the beauty of humanity. I wonder if the publisher made him change the ending to have an optimistic slant, to sell more books? ;)

Wells’ writing style was very simplistic and I didn’t find myself writing down literary devices used. It was more of a straight forward portrayal of ideas while making a commentary on the society at large and the direction the human race was going. I would recommend this to anyone looking for an easy but mind expanding read – probably a really interesting beach book for those of you who don’t really enjoy popular fiction. And if you have children in grade school, it may be a good idea to slip this book onto their bookshelf or next month, into their Christmas stocking.


Other works I’ve read by Wells:
“The Invisible Man” - read in grade school
“The War of the Worlds” – read between high school and university.

I remember the passion I had for 'The Invisible Man' as a child due to the story (reminds me now slightly of 'Dr. Jekyll and Hyde' which I read afterwards), but my thoughts on 'The War of the Worlds' have not withstood the test of time.